4:04 p.m. Today's project was to spend a blessed and productive day at home with Steve, unlike the blessed and productive day I spent away from home yesterday! I must have needed an extra 80 minutes of sleep, because when I opened my eyes at 8:20, Steve was already up and getting dressed. Apparently the dogs didn't mind missing their usual 7 a.m. wake-up call either, because they went out shortly afterwards, same as usual. I guess I set my cellphone alarm and forgot to press "on." My devotions were about over, with just my journal entry to write, when Kriss called, as we had arranged, at 9:00. We had a great conversation, on speakerphone at his end, I suppose, as he commuted to work. I needed to get his okay to be the second in line on a power of attorney to carry out his dad's wishes should he become incapacitated and if I am deceased by then. Since Heidi and Heather already have responsibilities with life insurance policies and any remaining pension proceeds, and youngest son Steven may be living who knows where his bodybuilding/trainer/chiropractor career may lead him, it will be Kriss' job. He agreed readily. He told me that the band he's singing with, "Red Giant," is busy putting his vocals over the instrumentals they have already recorded. They have been giving him encouraging and strengthening tips for his voice. Kriss is naturally a gifted singer, but never had formal vocal coaching, so he loves it. He also is writing songs for the group, another gift he has been blessed with since high school. I love that he has a solid opportunity to do his music! Today Steve and I vanquished an underground agent of the enemy together--a gopher had chewed and weakened the stalks of two of my big broccoli plants, causing them to topple over! Steve discovered that the batteries in our ground vibrator were dead, thus the evil vermin had sneaked back. I got some new "C" batteries and that enemy is vanquished, but the Battle of Broccoli was just the opening salvo in the war that is organic gardening. As I watched Steve weeding the garden, I am reminded of the curse God spoke to Adam, and thus to all mankind, concerning growing crops after the Fall, Genesis 3:17-19, (NLT): Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return. People struggle to make a living and feed their families no matter what their vocation, don't we? If the Lord is gracious to us and gives us the means to buy or produce food, we then work very hard to harvest, clean, cook, creatively serve and safely preserve it. As we well know, "there's no such thing as a free lunch." You can take that concept back to Genesis 3! Yet, in Jesus Christ, God has given a path to peace and hope even in the hardest times. Those who have trusted Him for salvation and an eternal home in heaven also find comfort and wonderful joy in this life, an unusual peace in the darkest trials, and hope when the future looks tenuous, as the Apostle Paul experienced, when he "despaired even of life." (II Corinthians 1:8) My conversation with a pharmacy tech at CVS clearly illustrated this fact. She's somewhat new, so I said, "You'll get used to seeing me a lot. My husband has lots of prescriptions--he has Alzheimers." She replied, "I like seeing you. You're one of the nice ones. You're not like the lady I just had, who yelled at me so rudely over nothing at all! What is it when you just greet a person nicely and they just "grrrr" right from the start?! She's just unhappy..." (The young lady was visibly agitated, I realized). I said, "That is so hard! It doesn't have anything to do with you. She's hurting inside and taking it out on anyone who's there." Recognizing a Divine Set-up, I went on, "She doesn't have the Lord! When people know the Lord, they're Christians, it's not like a magic wand to take away your troubles, but Jesus can at least give you peace, hope, and help you cope with your life." She listened wide-eyed, very attentively and nodded, smiled, visibly relaxed, and we completed the transaction. Pray I'll get another chance to "complete the transaction," and lead her to the Lord, but meanwhile, may those of us who claim the Name of Jesus be "one of the nice ones."
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
"One of the nice ones"
4:04 p.m. Today's project was to spend a blessed and productive day at home with Steve, unlike the blessed and productive day I spent away from home yesterday! I must have needed an extra 80 minutes of sleep, because when I opened my eyes at 8:20, Steve was already up and getting dressed. Apparently the dogs didn't mind missing their usual 7 a.m. wake-up call either, because they went out shortly afterwards, same as usual. I guess I set my cellphone alarm and forgot to press "on." My devotions were about over, with just my journal entry to write, when Kriss called, as we had arranged, at 9:00. We had a great conversation, on speakerphone at his end, I suppose, as he commuted to work. I needed to get his okay to be the second in line on a power of attorney to carry out his dad's wishes should he become incapacitated and if I am deceased by then. Since Heidi and Heather already have responsibilities with life insurance policies and any remaining pension proceeds, and youngest son Steven may be living who knows where his bodybuilding/trainer/chiropractor career may lead him, it will be Kriss' job. He agreed readily. He told me that the band he's singing with, "Red Giant," is busy putting his vocals over the instrumentals they have already recorded. They have been giving him encouraging and strengthening tips for his voice. Kriss is naturally a gifted singer, but never had formal vocal coaching, so he loves it. He also is writing songs for the group, another gift he has been blessed with since high school. I love that he has a solid opportunity to do his music! Today Steve and I vanquished an underground agent of the enemy together--a gopher had chewed and weakened the stalks of two of my big broccoli plants, causing them to topple over! Steve discovered that the batteries in our ground vibrator were dead, thus the evil vermin had sneaked back. I got some new "C" batteries and that enemy is vanquished, but the Battle of Broccoli was just the opening salvo in the war that is organic gardening. As I watched Steve weeding the garden, I am reminded of the curse God spoke to Adam, and thus to all mankind, concerning growing crops after the Fall, Genesis 3:17-19, (NLT): Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return. People struggle to make a living and feed their families no matter what their vocation, don't we? If the Lord is gracious to us and gives us the means to buy or produce food, we then work very hard to harvest, clean, cook, creatively serve and safely preserve it. As we well know, "there's no such thing as a free lunch." You can take that concept back to Genesis 3! Yet, in Jesus Christ, God has given a path to peace and hope even in the hardest times. Those who have trusted Him for salvation and an eternal home in heaven also find comfort and wonderful joy in this life, an unusual peace in the darkest trials, and hope when the future looks tenuous, as the Apostle Paul experienced, when he "despaired even of life." (II Corinthians 1:8) My conversation with a pharmacy tech at CVS clearly illustrated this fact. She's somewhat new, so I said, "You'll get used to seeing me a lot. My husband has lots of prescriptions--he has Alzheimers." She replied, "I like seeing you. You're one of the nice ones. You're not like the lady I just had, who yelled at me so rudely over nothing at all! What is it when you just greet a person nicely and they just "grrrr" right from the start?! She's just unhappy..." (The young lady was visibly agitated, I realized). I said, "That is so hard! It doesn't have anything to do with you. She's hurting inside and taking it out on anyone who's there." Recognizing a Divine Set-up, I went on, "She doesn't have the Lord! When people know the Lord, they're Christians, it's not like a magic wand to take away your troubles, but Jesus can at least give you peace, hope, and help you cope with your life." She listened wide-eyed, very attentively and nodded, smiled, visibly relaxed, and we completed the transaction. Pray I'll get another chance to "complete the transaction," and lead her to the Lord, but meanwhile, may those of us who claim the Name of Jesus be "one of the nice ones."
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