Secret Place of Thunder

I hid in that secret place of thunder today. Dealing with swine flu while trying to battle an invasion of ants in my kitchen this week. This after having helped my daughter's family move. I had a bout of insomnia and was pretty well depleted when my cold turned into what must be swine flu. The column I wrote about swine flu was rejected by my editors for fear of offending pork producers, so in the middle of the haze of illness, dizziness, chills, I was trying to pound out an alternative column. Then, my son got sick. Not my robust son, but my thin-as-a-pencil-barely-consuming-enough-calories-to-stay-alive-as-it-is son. When I was at the lowest of the low, fearing for my son's life, calling in sick to work, wondering if I would ever breathe normally again, I receive a phone call. A call from a friend. Not a Facebook friend who knew I was sick and down, but a friend whose spiritual life I have seen blossom in the last few years, in desert places. At the end of our conversation, she asked if I'd like to pray. It was like water in the desert, with a little rolling thunder and promise of more water. Only God speaking to an attuned ear could have reached me in the hopelessness of that moment. But when He did, my soul healed, even though my body is still sick. More thunder!

Rejoicing even in times of scarcity

Oh No! Snow!

Snow is not supposed to come this early. Leaves should fall before snow does. It's weird seeing layers of mostly green leaves on the ground, sprinkled with white. The leaves hardly had a chance to age and turn.

Yet, Proverbs takes the view that snow at time of harvest is refreshing. As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters. Prov. 25:13

I look out the window and try to be refreshed. Laurie has no problem with this. She was wishing for snow a month before it got here, right after school started. I kept telling her no. No! You don’t wish for early snow.

So when I watched her walk home from school today, I could see her head perk up as the snow began to fall. Instead of dragging her backpack, she was suddenly alert and eager. SNOW! That magical, mystical substance that drops from heaven.

As an adult, I resist early snow. I have not yet harvested my apples. My lawn was in bad need of mowing even before the tree dumped all its leaves at once this morning. And that was before this layer of snow on top. The snow only makes me think of what I have to do. It burdens me.

When we forget “all His benefits” it’s just like that. We get burdened with all we have to do. We look at the law and feel depressed. Instead we should be looking at “the perfect law of liberty” and be refreshed.

All His benefits! They are myriad! They come at us fifty at a time: big, gorgeous, sparkling, no two alike -- and we swipe them away, grumbling and complaining about the hassle of it all.

Time to look up in wonder and be refreshed!

Prayer: an animation from Laurie, 9

Laurie's animation