I Need What??!!

When Mom was 94 she fell and broke her thigh. The normal course of events for people who fall at Mother’s age is to become bedfast and then to die. Mom knew that. But when the days passed and she didn’t develop life-threatening complications, Mother’s focus shifted. She determined that not only was she going to heal, but that she was going to walk again!

Her orthopedic surgeon assured her that such a goal was attainable if she was willing to follow through with the prescribed therapy and to allow adequate time for the process. Fortunately Mom’s lifelong practice of pursuing a healthy lifestyle had prepared her for this physical and emotional challenge.

First she had to completely rest the leg and allow others to help her with the most intimate details of her life. She was mortified. Her sense of propriety and her vaunted independence were both utterly destroyed.

Next she had to work to increase her upper body strength so she could eventually transfer herself from bed to wheelchair to toilet to wheelchair to… wherever. By the time she accomplished this feat, she became quite adept at maneuvering her wheelchair. And she realized that life was still very much worth living—even if she never walked again.

Slowly, the bone began to mend.

Now the surgeon explained that Mother had to put stress on it so it would grow stronger. He said that if it were not adequately stressed, it would never become strong enough to support her weight. So Mom learned how to put 10, then 20, then 30 pounds of weights on her leg. And she exercised. And the X-rays showed progress. And six months later—at the age of 95—Mom walked again!

Many lessons were learned during those six months. But one that stands out is that, when it comes to bones, avoiding stress results in developing weakness. Mother had to apply stress to her leg to enable it to grow strong. True—it was calculated; it was supervised; it was managed. But it was stress. And it led to physical, emotional (and spiritual) growth.

I’m afraid that too many of us choose to avoid anything that might give us stress in our lives. The challenges of returning to school, of taking up an exercise program, of getting involved in our communities and churches—of changing jobs. These are all stressful events.

But I encourage you to embrace the stress and to allow God, the ultimate Healer, to teach you how to walk daily in His presence so that you may grow in faith, grace, and strength in the face of life’s unexpected falls. My Mother did.

Pastor Kit

Practicing His Presence

Some time ago there was a TV series titled, “Joan Of Arcadia.” Joan was a teenager who could see God. She could hear Him and talk to Him when others were completely unaware of His presence. And she wasn’t particularly thrilled about this ability… because God had the annoying habit of showing up when she least wanted Him to! Such as at a party where there was underage drinking. Or in situations where peer pressures were influencing her to act in ways that were contrary to her conscience. God’s presence in these circumstances served to remind Joan that she did have a choice—and that her choice could, and probably would, impact others for good or for ill.

Christians have a word for this “presence of God in everyday circumstances” thinking. It’s prayer. Prayer is nothing less than actively practicing God’s presence—inviting Him into your everyday life.

The apostle Paul wrote: “…Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8(b)-9, NLT)

What choices would you make if you could actually see God sitting in the room while you surfed the Internet, watched a movie, played a video game, or interacted with your family? What topics would you talk about? What language would you use? What pictures would you dwell on? What thoughts would you think—knowing that God could read them?

Prayer—practicing the presence of God. How real is God’s presence in your life today? Do you see Him or hear Him when others around you are unaware of His presence? What choices are you making?

Pastor Kit

Life Interrupted ... By Transitions

I was literally knee deep in my wallpaper eradication project—piles and boxes all over the living room—when illness and death interrupted “normal” life. Pat and I made four trips home between Christmas Day and Groundhog Day because my sister’s husband died on January 15 and Pat’s brother died on February 1.

While Pat was back burying his brother, I finished stripping and painting the upstairs hallway. The blue and white wallpaper became history! (I framed a remnant so I would always have a reminder of what had been.) As I applied the final coat of paint, I thought about how I now saw a spackled and primed wall as a thing of beauty in its own right because the wall was now just one step away from a new identity. Wallpaper stripped away, glue washed off, damage mended, surface primed … the wall now ready for the final step in its transition from the old to the new.

My brothers-in-law have undergone transitions too, transitions that we can only understand by faith. Christianity speaks of a transition from an earthly body to a resurrected body, a body that will never experience pain or disease. A transition guaranteed by the Resurrected Christ … our hope made sure.

But their wives are now beginning different transitions. They have suddenly been stripped of their former identities and must now go through the process of grieving, healing and forming new identities as single women. And they, too, will go through times of identity crisis, as did my walls during their transitions. It seems that transitions are inevitable … illness, death, divorce, job loss, transfers, natural disasters, aging … they’re all part of living.

Jesus said, “God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” and “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (Matthew 5:4, and John 16:33b) In the Old Testament we read that “weeping may go on all night, but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5b)

Our families are in the middle of a night of sorrow … and at times it is difficult to believe that joy will ever return. But as I look around me, I realize that spring has never failed to follow winter … that sunrise has never failed to follow sunset … that God has never failed to walk with me through the most difficult times of my life … that every season of difficulty has eventually passed … that spackled and primed walls do get painted … and that there literally has been “joy in the morning” when I finally complete the transition.

What transition have you recently undergone? Are you currently in the middle of one? If so, take heart … we have a Savior who has overcome the world … and He promises us that joy will come in the morning!

Pastor Kit