But This I Call to Mind

The last days have been a whirlwind of change as we said good-bye for now to my grandfather and he went home to be with Jesus. I think we have all had moments when it seems as if a fog descends in our minds and it makes thought difficult, sleep difficult, and well - everything a little more difficult. Buzzing about in my brain, memories are like hummingbirds landing on one spot, just to fly to another and stubbornly refuse to stay in one spot but a moment. The to-do list is most definitely written and being added to, as it will otherwise soon be forgotten. The support of family and friend has been tremendous and means so much. My heart is so full that I wanted to capture a few of these things before they become lost in the moving fog of a tumultuous time and little sleep.

Lamentations 3 starts with “I am the man who has seen affliction.” The list is long and indeed full of terrible afflictions. He is besieged and turned away, made a prisoner with heavy chains, made desolate, brought low from others’ taunts, and left without endurance. Right at that heavy moment, when I can practically feel the writer being crushed into the ground with all of these immense difficulties, he says something tremendous.

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

Great is your faithfulness.

‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’”

Hope, mercy, faithfulness, my portion and again hope; these words are rich in meaning, strong and full of goodness. They resonate in my heart. Mercies have come abundantly in the form of helping hands bringing meals. The love has taken the shape of friends going out of their way to lend compassion. Supportive hands and backs have been reaching out to shoulder part of the burden. The faithfulness is in buoying words asking about what is going on and truly wanting to know the answer. Encouragement has come from many sources, both looked for and as surprises. The new mercies are a delight to keep looking for and find in a clear night sky with stars shining, doggy kisses, snuggles with little boys, warm quilts, fresh fruit and robins on nests. My to-do list seems to be ever growing, but not nearly at the rate of the portion of blessings. The sun brought beautiful colors to the sky and then a much needed rain cooled and freshened the air. Nurses with sensibility were kind in their honesty. Late night and very early morning laughter with a friend over a pile of papers that needed sorted through, travelers who unexpectedly surprised us here – just to tell us, “That is what family does.” I have seen the irises, the roses, and the peonies blooming; though they may not be the traditional lilies of the field, they have still been a source of steadfastness in their splendid arraignment. My heart is sad, but my soul is rejoicing. I indeed have hope in the great faithfulness of the Lord. I will continue to call these things to mind. 

Dishes and Abigail

   When I was a little girl, I liked doing the dishes just so I could play in the bubbles. Tonight after dinner, I spent a few minutes doing the dishes and was musing about what fun that was. Even now, I love the feel of the water and the bubbles on my hands, the smell of the clean kitchen. Then, my thoughts wandered to Abigail Adams, one of the main characters in a biography I’m reading. She is someone I think I would enjoy sitting down to a meal with and then the kitchen cleaning afterwards.

   Is there someone out of history that you would bring into your life for just a few hours if you could? So you could see them and hear them? Mrs. Adams is one I would love to spend some time with. She was a capable woman, capable of great strength, loyalty, courage, and endeavor. While her husband was away leading the nation during a war, she was back much closer to the front lines of battle. Troops walked past her front door on a daily basis. And yet, she carried on at the farm, writing her husband letters of what they were doing, how the crops were doing, how much he was missed, and her love for him. She had pluck, braving smallpox inoculations to help her children survive that dreadful disease. It must have been something to sit next to her and just listen to the stories.
   Yes, if I could play in the bubbles, wash the dishes and talk, I would love to talk with Abigail.

Attention Campers

Last week was Character Camp (like a Vacation Bible School) at my church. Regardless of what it is called, there are lots of kids, games, songs, lessons, and a desperate need on the part of the workers for ibuprofen by the last night. I really enjoyed this camp this year, not only due to the campers I had in my group, but largely due to the co-tent leader. She was wonderful. THANK YOU!!!

As a crowd control method in this squirmy, talkative, hyper, smore addicted bunch of kids, our camp leader would start out with bellowing a great big YOOOOO (a.k.a. yo). The kids and leaders responded in kind with YOOOOOOOOOOO. Some of the kids carried out a bit long at times. Then we received our instructions.
So, YOOOOO - attention campers, here are some camp lessons that I thought I would share.
- Smores are really good, but they taste better if worn on the face. For the very extraverted smore eater, try wearing it as a goatee.  - If you have the chance to pick your own camp spot in an Iowa July, head for the deepest bit of shade you can find with a breeze. You will need lots and lots of bug spray, but the break from the heat is worth it.  - When kids pick out meals a day ahead of time, write down their order. Something else sounds good the next day and they have completely forgotten what they ordered.  - Be dramatic and expressive, be dynamic in your volumes, be silly and laugh a lot.  - Encourage other leaders. We all need it.
- Encourage other campers. They may need it too.  - Don’t overreact when you see blood, it frightens everyone and they are already frightened to see blood.  - If there is a water balloon fight, know who has a secret stockpile of ammunition. Either ally yourself with them, or watch out for them. Unless it’s 100 degrees and then maybe you should go run through the sprinkler.  - Laugh a lot, it is a wonderful release in a tense moment and will also help reenergize you.  - Use good manners, practice what you preach, and model what you expect.   - For the lone boy in a tent of girls, he may say that he is miserable because he is vastly outnumbered, but if you give him a little extra responsibility and some extra attention, he will be just fine.  - At the end of a camp day, go home, kick off your shoes, and lay in the floor. It’s cool, it’s not buggy, and it’s a lot better than falling down from the sheer drain of the day.  - Drink lots and lots of water. Actually, the combination I found working was coffee, water, then a V8 Splash about 4, then more water.   - When you watch your teens in the youth group work hard, in the heat, for no pay and little recognition of the adults around them, you are burst your buttons kind of proud. When they get excited because they just made a little kid’s day, you are leap tall building proud. When they want to make an impact on the life of a kid and work harder and dig deeper, just in case they can, you are over the moon proud.  - Thank the kitchen workers and the clean-uppers, and the traffic controllers, and security-watchers, laundry-doers, and all the behind the scene-ers. They do more than you realize and are absolutely vital.  - As a leader, you need to dance around with the music or most of the kids won’t feel free to do so either.   - Praise lots, pray for patience, and love each camper.