Good Morning,
Our weather warmed up for a couple of days and now it is headed back to the deep freeze. I really don't mind it getting colder. The fireplace is glowing right now. The dog is right next to me. Rene is still sleeping and my mug is filled with hot Door County Country Morning Blend Coffee. It is my imagination for sure, but it seems that when the temperature is super cold, the mornings are quieter.
We are usually and always will be some of the last people to take down our Christmas decorations. It takes days to get them all set out and days to pack them away. When our marriage began I came into it not owning any Christmas decorations except for one hand made wreath. Rene was more "Christmas established" than me.
Last week we packed that wreath away. Rene knew what I was thinking as I said "too soon". The wreath was given to me by a friend many years ago. We did youth work together, for quite awhile. God called her to foreign missions and she left for an area that is still contentious with strife and terrorism.
I remember her asking me how I was going to celebrate Christmas the first year we knew each other. Personal times in my life were very tough that year and my reply was that I was not in the mood for much Christmas. She handed me a wrapped gift which turned out to be a wreath she had made from scraps of cloth. I actually hung it up that year and it has always been a bright spot for me when I display it for the holidays. Both Rene and I would love to keep the Christmas decorations up all year. But we choose to conform to social standards and they come down, but later than most.
Last week the process began and the wreath was put away for another year, wrapped in a protective cover. We have many Christmas treasures now, with memories of family, teens we worked with, dogs and trips we have taken. The wreath is one I cherish.
You see, my friend was gunned down by terrorists while working in a hospital in a far away land that was built to help all. This happened several years ago. I always say "too soon", when I look at that wreath. Her heart was set on serving our Lord in obedience to His call. She was extremely happy doing that and had no fear. There are times when I look at the wreath and can remember all the good we did together and all the things I learned as a new Christian from her. Then there are times when I get angry about the life that was taken by people she was sent to help.
Here is my point. My friend is in heaven, and did what she was called to do. She was gunned down instantly and never was captured or tortured. I believe I should find some happiness in that. Her personal happiness was in serving the Lord. I realized this week that I still struggle with her death and now it is time to get over it. Someone told me yesterday that they heard the anger in a statement I made and wondered what set me off. The questioning of why this happened had to stop. In her life she inspired many teens and adults. In her death she inspired more, including me. I settled my struggle last night and it was through God's Word. It is not my job to judge those who did it. Their punishment or no punishment is in God's hands. He will deal with them in His way. It is not my right to question God as to why He called her to that region, or why He called her home at such a young age. She may have instilled a seed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in someone over there who can make a difference. I am sure she tried.
The content of the following verses is unusually long for this blog. But I share my heart and how I was confronted last night buy God through His word. I think next Christmas might have a little more peace for me.
Job 38
38 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who gives the ibis wisdom
or gives the rooster understanding?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38 when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Have a great day. I am pretty tired. Last night was a long one. But well worth it.
Marty
