Anticipation

Anticipation is a good thing, like waiting for a bulging bud to burst open into a gorgeous flower.  When we are anticipating, we are excited about something that is coming, something good that is just around the corner.  It may be anticipating our wedding day or the birth of our first baby or our first grandbaby.  It may be anticipating an acceptance letter from the college we applied to.  Or we may be looking forward to starting a new job that we are excited about. Or taking a fun trip.

All of these things have something in common.  We are excited and hopeful.  We can’t wait to see how things turn out.  We are joyfully looking forward to something that is good.  We feel happy as we think about what is about to happen.

But sometimes we are facing an event that is not so good.  And then our anticipation may turn to dread.  I’m reflecting today on the connection between the level of our faith and the speed with which our expectation turns to dread.

Imagine with me for a moment if you had complete and total trust is God without a single doubt.  When something difficult of painful shows up, would you go into fear and dread?  Or would you rest peacefully in the presence of our loving Father who has everything in control?

A clear measure of my trust in God, when tough things show up in my life, is how quickly I turn to fear.  I am like Peter, looking at the waves and thinking about what can happen, instead of trusting that God is working all things together for good.  (Rom. 8:28)  It’s like having a spiritual thermometer checking the real measure of my faith.

Now, I know that God never condemns me when I struggle, but I know that He always calls me up to higher level of faith and trust.  One of the areas where I have had my faith challenged the last year or two has been in writing a book and going thru the  publishing process.  The book is called Pain, Suffering, and Overcoming . . . While We Wait to Hatch. In it, I share some of my struggles with hard things and God challenging my faith, and what He taught me in the process.

And now, finally, after all the struggles to get my words down on paper, all of the rounds of edits, and the page layout changes, we are nearing the end of the journey.  The cover is being designed as we speak, and now my anticipation is growing.  I should have a copy in my hands in the next few weeks.

I am excited to finally see the finished result of many months of labor and to share it with others, in the hope that it may be an encouragement to those who are struggling.

With joyful anticipation!

My husband, Mark, did a project awhile back with two of our grandsons. They wanted to make a simple telegraph device, so Papa agreed to help them. They had a great time working in the shop together, and made a wonderful memory. When they were done they could actually send messages to each other. What fun!

The most important message that was sent was “I love you, and you are worth spending time with.” Of course they also learned other things about using their hands and having the confidence to try new things. Let me just say that we can never underestimate the power of spending quality time with our kids or grandkids!

Grandparents can play a very special role in their grandchildren’s lives. We can encourage, build self esteem, show them how to do various tasks, teach them godly principles, model for them how important God is in our decisions, tell them stories of how God has worked in our lives, and most of all we can give them unconditional love.

The time in the shop with Papa is one example. Here is another. We are planning to move to a smaller house – 5 bedrooms for two people is a bit much. We recently took our daughter and grandkids to look at a house we were considering. They ran around the empty house, rolling on the carpets and having a blast while we discussed the pros and cons of the house. When we were done and standing out front, I asked our daughter and each of the kids if they thought this was God’s house for us.

What are the messages that I was sending? God is important to us. I want to know what He thinks about this house. His sheep hear His voice, and you are sheep, so I want to know what you are hearing. Your voice matters.

When we bring our God-walk into the everyday things of our lives, our children and grand children notice. We don’t have to preach at them, because we are sending messages all the time. I hope your are sending the best messages to the lives on the other end of your telegraph machine.

Blessings,
Linnea

June 21st, it’s the first day of summer.  It’s also our anniversary, and this year we celebrated 53 years of marriage.   We went to the beach for the day and had a wonderful time together holding hands and enjoying each other.  It was one of those rare perfect days at the Oregon coast when the sky was crystal clear blue, and the fog didn’t roll in at 4 o’clock like usual.  Ahhh, summer!

Those beautiful days when the sun is shining and my garden is in full bloom are a delight to the soul. But there have been many days in my life when a dark cloud of trouble or despair hung heavily over me, and it felt that it would never end.  My marriage has not always been a joy and a delight.  My husband and I are very different and have very strong personalities, which results in clashes of opinion and heated arguments.  Can any of you relate?

In those times when the struggles, strife, anger, and tension come in our lives, what are we to do?  Give up?  Throw in the towel? Become bitter and hateful?  Well, those are options, but maybe not the best choices.

There have been times earlier in our relationship, when I have wanted to throw in the towel, times when I was desperate.  But my commitment to my marriage vows and to God kept we crying out to God for help and answers.  And as I did that, God gradually changed me, and he changed my husband, as he cried out to God as well.  There was no instant change, but God worked His amazing grace in our lives and changed us to be more quick to repent and say “I’m sorry”, to be more forgiving, more kind, more loving, less angry and resentful.

As a result, we have grown to have a happy and loving relationship, because we didn’t give up when it got tough, and God answered our prayers.  So I encourage you, for the sake of your marriage and for the sake of your kids, to keep praying and press on.  The effort it worth it!

My garden looks brown and barren in the winter, no signs of life.  But when spring comes, little green shoots appear, which rapidly grown into larger plants.  And then flowers begin to bloom.  And by the first day of summer, my garden is full of beautiful with blossoms that you could never have imagined in the winter.

So if your relationship is in the winter right now, dig out your sins, fertilize with prayer and love, plant some kindness and generous forgiveness, and after a season, you will have a beautiful garden of love to enjoy.

We just recently returned from Tennessee where we were helping one of our daughters set up her new home.  We were all excited and full of hope when we left Oregon.  We had spent weeks researching and ordering things that would be delivered after we got there.  She was starting from scratch, so there was a lot to do.  It was so exciting to look at Pinterest together and plan furniture and décor.  It is unbelievable how many things you have to supply to set up a new home when you have almost nothing.

We had planned to stay for two weeks to help buy furniture, unpack deliveries, do a few upgrades, and hang pictures.  But, of course, things rarely go as planned.  When we got there, there were more things to do to upgrade the house than we expected from the photos.  The back splash needed to be replaced, two new light fixtures, new exhaust fans in the bathrooms, cabinet door handles, bathroom faucets, closet storage racks needed to be re-configured, the washer/dryer closet was too shallow for the new appliances so it needed to be reconfigured, the lawn was a disaster. . .

We had maids come and clean completely when we first got there.  Then the painter pointed out the big cracks in the ceilings of two rooms, but he knew a great plaster guy who could fix it at a good price.  What we didn’t count on, was the plaster dust that would filter through the whole house.  Now we had to clean everything again!

The painter also  discovered mold in the ductwork when he removed the vents – not unusual for Tennessee.  So we had to hire a company to come clean the ducts.  While they were there, we had them clean the dryer duct, which was not working well.

It turned out to be very difficult to find furniture that didn’t have to be ordered 6-12 weeks out.  We spent days searching through every furniture store we could find.  Bed frames and end tables had to be assembled with very poor directions.  Home Depot became a regular stop almost every day for project supplies.

When we went to put shelf paper in the kitchen cabinets, we discovered that they were particle board shelves, which had gotten wet, and they were all pebbly.  So Mark sanded them down.  Now, there was dust everywhere, and we had to clean everything once again.  Arrg!

When you are tired and overwhelmed, it’s easy to get discouraged and wonder if you made a huge mistake.  But God showed up several times, connecting us with helpful neighbors, and the exact service providers that we needed in amazing ways – just the right people at the right time.  In the midst of our exhaustion, the God of hope showed up and gave us the reassurance that He was with us and we were doing exactly what we were suppose to be doing.

Two weeks turned into three.  Another daughter who had joined us, and was a huge help, had to return home.  Three weeks turned into four, working from early to late every day.  Almost every project expanded from a simple task to some re-do or extended project.  Our exhaustion increased, and every day we prayed for God’s strength just to make it through the day.  And when we thought we couldn’t go on, He gave us the strength and grace to continue.  We could not have done it without God’s grace.

Now we are home trying to recover.  Whew!  What a whirlwind.  But the result is a beautiful home where our daughter can start a new season of her life with fresh hope.

Jeremiah 29:11  ‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

I am so grateful that He never leaves us without hope, even in difficult seasons.

Winter can bring some nasty storms.  Sometimes the wind and rain, or snow, are fierce and furious, creating all kinds of damage.  In the last year we have seen wind storms, ice storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and snow storms.  The destruction and devastation are horrific and heartbreaking.

And sometimes in our personal lives we are going through a storm as well.  We can feel crushed with the weight of the pain and devastation, like a tree bent to the ground under the weight of heavy ice.  How are we supposed to cope when life just feels too hard, too painful?

Here are some things I have learned while going through the intense trials of my own life.  One day I was complaining to God that this was all “too hard”.  And God gently spoke to me, “It’s hard, but it’s not too  hard.”  Such a simple statement, but it contained a wealth of truth for me.

When I am saying “it’s too hard”, I am completely eliminating the power and possibilities of a mighty God.  And I am counting as null and void the truth that He has given me in His word.  For example, ( Philippians 14:13)  “ I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  If I can do all things with His help, then is what I am going through too hard?  No!  Hard, yes!  But we have someone to help us make it through trials.  “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

We have a God right by our side to help us.  The problem is, we want to do it in our own strength – or think that we have to.  So we don’t put our full weight on Him and let Him strengthen us and help us carry the load.  He has promised to uphold us.  We just have to let Him.

Is that easy to do?  No.  Our human flesh rebels against it.  We want to somehow take control and solve the problem or make it go away.  But that’s not always what God wants to do.  He wants us to stretch our faith muscles and strengthen them under the load He gives us to bear, because He has a greater purpose than just making our lives easier.  And here it is: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”  (2 Corinthians 4:17 )

God has amazing eternal glory waiting for us.  Yield to Him and to His strength, and let Him help you walk through your trials in His grace.  The day is coming when the branches of your tree will thaw, and you will stand tall in the beauty and wonder of an eternal glory that has been achieved in your suffering.

We don’t get a lot of snow in Oregon, but two nights ago, on Christmas day about 10:00 pm, it began to snow.  It was light at first, but beautiful, with the streetlight highlighting each unique flake as it drifted quietly down.

In the morning we awoke to an incredible winter wonderland, snow piled high on our evergreen trees, every shrub mounded with billows of white, every inch of ground covered with a beautiful, pure, clean blanket of snow. So today, I’m reflecting on what a wonder snow is.  I am always so amazed by God’s incredible wisdom in design.

How different would it be if all we ever got were little clear droplets of hard ice?  What a difference that would make!  No one would ever sing “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” or be sitting by the fire that is “so delightful” singing “let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.”  There would be no Frosty the Snowman, no snowball fights, no snow forts or igloos. There would be no riding in a one-horse open sleigh with “jingle bells’ ringing.  There would be no “moon on the  crest of the new fallen snow”.

No one would ever go sledding, or snowboarding, or skiing. There would be no winter Olympics, except maybe ice skating. No one would get on their toboggan or inner tube and go racing down the snowy slopes.  Think of the fun our world would miss. And we have all of this because God, in his infinite wisdom, designed water to form crystals as it freezes while falling from the sky, rather that freezing in a solid state.

I am so grateful to God for the gift of snow!  Aren’t you?  It makes even the ugliest, dirtiest, most unsightly places look amazingly beautiful.  And that is exactly what Jesus does for us when we believe in Him.  His blood covers all of our ugly sins and makes us whiter than snow.  That’s another awesome gift from God that I am so so grateful for!