We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are chosen to be a part of His plan. … Since God is for us, who can be against us? [Romans 8:28,31b (NLV)]
As I looked through my basket of Christmas cards, I thought of all the people who have passed through my life. Contained in that basket is a fair amount of sorrow and misfortune—divorce, heart failure, assorted diseases, surgeries (some successful and others not), heartbreak, disappointment, cancer, mental illness, addiction, paralysis, birth defects, financial difficulty, and loss. Yet, within that basket, I also find hope, faith, resilience, peace, joy, perseverance, strength and love. There are children who defied the odds, families facing tremendous challenges with great courage, people who’ve forgiven the unforgiveable, widows and widowers meeting their new normal with confidence, hurt people determined to heal, caregivers finding strength to continue when many would quit, parents prayerfully waiting for prodigals to return, and people who can still laugh in the face of adversity.
On its campus, our local hospital has a beautiful retreat, The Garden of Hope and Courage, with a one-acre lake surrounded by flowers, trees, benches, and lovely sculpture. My basket of cards is a mini garden of hope and courage and is no less beautiful. I am blessed that God brought people like these into my life—people who have inspired, encouraged, loved, challenged, and taught me.
I pick up one card from friends; it has several photos of their eight beautiful grandchildren. When we were neighbors forty-five years ago, they certainly never envisioned those eight smiling faces nor did we picture the faces of our five equally beautiful grands. Young parents then, we just were trying to get through the challenges of the week that lay ahead of us. We never pictured ourselves in our seventies and retired in Florida! Of course, we never envisioned the illnesses, challenges, pain, heartbreak and loss that lay ahead either. Nevertheless, just as I’d never want to erase the face of any of those grandchildren, I’d never want to erase one moment of the past, no matter how painful it was. I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am now without passing through those dark valleys.
Is my life perfect? Is yours? Of course not—yet it is the life God gave us and we are incredibly blessed by every moment of it. We have people to love and people who love us and, best of all, we have a God who loved us enough to send us His very best! Sometimes I think I should pinch myself to be sure it’s not a dream! Then again, if it’s all a dream, I have no desire to wake up!
Perhaps it’s the end of one year and the beginning of yet another that has me waxing so nostalgic or maybe it’s just the Christmas music playing in the background. I gather up the cards and wrap a band around them. They will be placed in my prayer basket. During this year, I’ll pull out a card or two each morning and offer prayers for the sender. This year, I’ll also remember to thank God for the part each one has played in my life.
I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and new. [Ralph Waldo Emerson]
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. [C.S. Lewis]
Be happy in your hope. Do not give up when trouble comes. Do not let anything stop you from praying. … Be happy with those who are happy. Be sad with those who are sad. [Romans 12:12,15 (NLV)]
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Hoping to get a good cardio workout, I’d ramped up the resistance and programmed the machine for a variety of hills, some of which were real killers. Whenever I glanced down at the screen, I groaned at what lay ahead of me. No matter where I was in the program, I was already looking ahead and dreading the next big challenge. Every time I looked at the timer, I lamented the length of time remaining for this self-inflicted torture. After placing my towel over the screen, the workout seemed easier. No longer able to see the hills or time remaining, I stopped dreading the next challenge and the ones after that. I just pumped away, secure in the knowledge that, eventually, my workout would be over.
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” [Luke 2:7-12 (NLT)]
It’s that time of year again. Signs in stores say it, holiday lights in yards and on rooftops proclaim it, and we might greet one another in church with it. We send out cards with its message, sing of it and, yet, we’re bereft of it. We think we’ll have it when our chores are done, the cards mailed, the house cleaned, the tree decorated, the lights up, the cookies baked, the gifts purchased, the packages wrapped, and the bills paid. We sure we’ll get it if we reach our destination without delay or losing luggage or once our children arrive safely home. As long as everyone stays healthy, no food gets burnt, nothing is broken, politics isn’t discussed, no one gets drunk, and the back-ordered gift arrives in time, we’re sure to have it then. Yet, even when everything goes as planned (and believe me it won’t), it seems to escape us.
We just received one of those beautiful edible arrangements of fruit. The fruit was displayed as if we had an enormous flower arrangement. It seemed a pity to pull off the enormous ripe strawberries or take the melon balls from the centers of the pineapple slices but it was necessary if we were ever going to truly appreciate it. Fruit is meant to be eaten and that much fruit was meant to be shared before it spoiled. As I packed it up (all the while tasting as I worked), I couldn’t help but think of another gift of fruit—the fruit of the Spirit. Like juicy strawberries and sweet melon, it’s meant to be shared. Moreover, the Holy Spirit’s fruit doesn’t need to be refrigerated, can’t spoil, and is even more beautiful than real fruit, no matter how artfully arranged.
As the weather up north cools, our snowbird neighbors have begun returning to their southwest Florida homes. One neighbor recently arrived from Portland, Oregon, a city that ranks third in a list of cities with the most depressing winters. Their weather forecast alternates between cloudy with rain showers to partly cloudy with a 60% chance of rain and that’s not likely to improve! Their early November temperatures will range from highs in the mid-60s to lows in the mid-40s with a UV index that never gets above a 2. On the other hand, our ten-day forecast fluctuates between sunny and mostly sunny with no more than a 10% chance of rain. Temperatures will rise to the mid-80s during the day and fall to the mid-60s at night; the UV index is 6 or 7. In short, Portland is damp, gray and dreary and we’re dry, warm and sunny (and should wear sunblock). On my neighbor’s first day back in our tropical paradise, while relaxing on her lanai with a book, she happened to fall asleep. Upon waking, hearing the mockingbird’s happy song and feeling the warm gentle breeze on her face, she had a moment of confusion and forgot where she was. Feeling incredibly peaceful, relaxed and refreshed, for a moment she actually thought she’d died and gone to heaven!
Devotions of the Heart 