Wednesday, March 26, 2008

"God Lives Under The Bed"

Hey, Y'all,

This is "a nice reminder of the importance of having a simple God-filled life...that's all you ever really need (or matters)." Thank you--you know who you are :-)

God Lives Under The Bed

I envy Kevin. My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night.

He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped to listen, 'Are you there, God?' he said. 'Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed...'

I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room. Kevin's unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in.

He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (he's 6-foot-2), there are few ways in which he is an adult.

He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them.

I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life? Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the
disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner, and later to bed. nnThe only variation in the entire scheme is laundry, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child.

He does not seem dissatisfied.

He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work. He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's laundry chores.

And Saturdays-oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my Dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculates loudly on the destination of each passenger inside. 'That one's goin' to Chi-car-go!' Kevin shouts as he claps his hands. His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights.

And so goes his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips. He doesn't know what it means to be discontent. His life is simple.

He will never know the entanglements of wealth of power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be.

His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it. He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax.

He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue.

Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God.

Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God -- to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an 'educated' person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.

In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith. It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions.

It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances - they all become disabilities when I do not trust them to God's care.

Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the
goodness and love of God.

And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed.

And Kevin? He won't be surprised at all!


You've been prayed for today...

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Sustained, Not Shaken...

Hey, Y'all,

Got this from Michelle (pointing out how "coincidences" happen where God is)--thanks for sharing it with the list...

"I went on a walk today to spend some time with The Lord and I was just pouring out my heart and talking to him because lately I have been in a funk. After my morning walk I came home and opened my email and this was the verse for the day. It was perfect...EXACTLY what I needed. I thought others would enjoy knowing that God wants to hear about our problems and desires to be there for us. He is in love with us! Then I thought, well I am not perfect and mess up all the time and maybe He is unhappy with me...Then the thought flooded in, 'It's not because of who you are--it's because of who He is!' And we can meditate on that and come boldly before Him in prayer--knowing we don't deserve it--and thank Him for loving us while we were yet sinners. That's a pretty amazing concept. He made everything and knows about everything that is happening in the world and yet--He still has the longing (and ability) to talk one on one with each of us. Now this is LOVE..."

Cast your burdens upon the LORD and He will sustain you;
He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

Psalm 55:22

(Thanks, Michelle)

You've been prayed for today...

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Growing Through The Motions: "Faint Not"

Hey, Y'all,

Pardon the interruption :-) minor home network issues slowin' me down some, but fret not, we're back. Today's thought is by Joel Kibble (yes, one of the guys in Take 6)--it's a little longer than usual, but it's a great story with a great point, and besides, I know y'all are big boys and girls :-). So, here we go...

"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Galatians 6:9

Most of the people who have known me for a long time know that I have always been a swimmer. Between the ages of 7 and 14, I swam for various swim teams in Alabama, finally joining a Junior Olympic team in Huntsville.


The swimming schedule was hectic. Every afternoon during the school year, I would leave school at 3 p.m. and head directly to swimming practice for two to two-and-a-half hours. The remainder of the evening would be devoted to doing homework until bedtime. Twice a week, I would be required to attend early morning training before school for an hour and a half, rising at 4:30 a.m. to be on time. When school let out for the summer and most kids departed for vacation fun, training for me was increased to every morning and every afternoon. Needless to say, it seemed as though there wasn't enough time in the day to do what I wanted to do before I had to return to the swimming pool.

In practice, most of the workout was devoted to technique and muscle training, spending large amounts of time exploding from the starting blocks and speeding up our flip turns at the other end. I can't forget to mention the drudgery of long distance swimming, and the lung-burning sprints. We were required to swim with floats positioned between our legs, while our feet were bound together to strengthen our arms. Then we kicked for miles holding on to a kickboard to strengthen our legs. Day in and day out, summer after school year, school year after summer, this was my schedule.

It is an understatement to say that I was bored to tears at times. The possibility of hanging out with friends and getting to know girls often gave way to that perpetual black line at the bottom of the pool. I hated the fact that I didn't have much of a social life, and while my body was in training, my mind was often somewhere else. Many times, I felt that my heart wasn't into it. I was just going through the motions, and because of that, I felt like I was simply "faking it." I often questioned myself. "If my heart isn't into the grueling swimming practices," I thought, "shouldn't I just quit and find something else that excites me? Why should I continue to go through the motions?" "I'm not accomplishing anything!"

Well, going through the motions does accomplish something. The truth of the matter is that all the instances of "going through the motions," whether my heart was in it or not, taught my muscles proper muscle response that only consistency could. Long afternoons of endless distance stroking I could have done asleep…that's how much I repeated the same motions; but those same motions were being committed to muscle memory every morning before school and every afternoon following school. When the big swimming competitions came, I simply needed to allow my body to do what it had been trained to do for years. I could then focus on doing my best rather than focusing on executing technique. Proper technique had been firmly entrenched into my soul during the drudgery of the many hours of practice I had logged over the years. Interestingly enough, I owe the blue ribbons, trophies and victories to the process of, you guessed it, "going through the motions."

It's funny then, that I've since decided that, in life, going through the motions has been less than noble. The process of going through the right motions is not fruitless, no matter how monotonous.

There have been a thousand times since that I've found myself going through the motions with marriage, child rearing, Take 6, ministry, family duties, finances, health issues, interpersonal relationships, etc. I can truly say that my heart has been in and out of each of these commitments; but the reason God admonishes us not to "be weary in well-doing" is because quite often, we may not be "feeling it." At times, "doing well" may feel like nothing more than going through the motions, but the right motions do accomplish something.

If you feel that you are going through the motions in some aspect of your life, take courage. "Feeling it" is not a requirement in doing God's will; but obedience is. Your heart will return if you are faithful to God and "faint not." No matter what you are feeling or not feeling, with God, you'll find that while going though the motions, you've been growing through the motions…right into what He wants you to be.


Amen to that, huh? Now mind you, I don't believe God created us for perpetual drudgery, but it's good to know that in God's economy, nothing is ever wasted--not even those stretches where all you can do is breathe in, breathe out, and put one foot in front of the other. God is good, and that's the truth.

You've been prayed for today...