Change for Change's Sake

My 91 year-old Grandfather has a treasure chest in his basement! At least, that's what we grand kids always considered it! Descend the creaky wooden stairs to the basement, and pull the long string at the bottom to turn on the lights, and across the neat, well organized workshop sits a large chest freezer. On top sits a cloth-covered anvil which holds the chest shut. The sealing mechanism on the freezer broke years ago, before I can even remember, and the anvil is still there today! Granddaddy would escort us children over, remove the anvil, and the chest would magically open with a frosty cloud revealing the "treasure" inside! What could get a kid so excited about a freezer? Well, treats, of course! Granddaddy always kept his freezer stocked with Hostess products that he would buy at the local bakery store. He would get them in large quantities for very cheap whenever they would bake too many, or if they were "day old". Then, he'd just freeze them for us to enjoy. Honey buns and chocolate cupcakes (with the little swirl on top), Twinkies and Ho-Ho's were always in the freezer! I don't think there was ever a time when my brother and I visited as children that we didn't get to select something from that treasure chest! What bliss!! Of course, I can't speak for my parents who then had to deal with our sugar buzz for the rest of the day!

Recently, I was visiting Grandaddy and asked him if he had any treats in the freezer that the kids could select. To my astonishment, he said that he had not stocked any such goodies for years! WHAT? No honey buns??! No Hostess cupcakes with the little swirl and the cream inside? Not a single Ho-Ho?! Why, this is just not right, I declared! The treasure chest simply MUST have treasure! It's not natural! Grandaddy chuckled, of course, at my dismay, and I was playing it up for his benefit. But. . . there was a part of me that, deep down, was really upset, not that the kids would be denied a sugary treat, but that the familiar had changed! I can remember feeling the same way when the Roanoke Wiener Stand gutted their downtown store, removing the old wrap-around, formica counters and stools, and replaced them with modern fixtures and stand-and-eat counters! The walls now depicted a mural painted by a local artist and not the old racks of Wrigley's gum, candies and other wares. Cokes sold in the little glass bottles were no longer offered. The food remained the same, but the atmosphere just didn't have the same feel, and I felt sad by it.

What's going on with me, I thought? Am I just turning into one of those cranky old people who sit around a talk about the "good old days?" And I thought about where these feeling may be rooted. I think that humans are, at their deepest level, creatures of habit. After all, when God created Adam and Eve, the garden was a predictable place. Not boring, just predictably peaceful and delightful. It was perfect. It had a routine. Adam and Eve knew that each day would bring new delights and surprises, but they were in the context of their perfect, familiar garden, and each evening God would personally visit and they could share their day's adventures with Him on their walk. "Change" to Adam and Eve always meant something positive and exciting! A new flower is discovered! A berry is found that is sweeter than any prior! They learn a new skill, or invent a new game together! But when sin entered into the picture, suddenly their predictable, familiar lives were thrust into the realm of constant negative change and unfamiliarity! How frightened they must have felt! Suddenly, change did not always mean change for the better! Change had immediate negative implications as they walked out of their beautiful garden into a completely different world full of hostility, pain and confusion! And most importantly, an inward change had taken place. Their hearts were darkened by sin. They were afraid of God. They were ashamed.

Thus began our love-hate relationship with change! We love positive change -- a baby learns to walk, a fresh coat of paint brightens an old room, a medicine cures an illness. But negative change hurts us deeply at times. A friend moves away. A job is lost. An incurable illness strikes a loved one. A crime takes place. A parent dies. John the Baptist had the awesome job, however, of heralding the greatest positive change ever to come! He shouted "Change"! "Repent!" For the Kingdom of Heaven was coming! Jesus embodies change -- positive change. One could say that He changed the way the people thought about change! The people wanted to change their circumstances. They wanted to end Roman oppression. But Christ showed them that inward, not outward, change is required. Our biggest enemy isn't "out there" -- it's us! It's who's sitting on the throne of our heart, not the throne of our country, that needs attention! Our outward circumstances are not going to be perfected in this life, but our inward heart change will enable us to live here with the same peace that Adam & Eve had despite them!

When I cringe at the things I don't like being changed, I am really longing for "the good old days" that Adam and Eve had in the garden! I am longing for heaven and mourning the effects of sin. When I felt sad about honey buns not being in my Granddaddy's freezer, what I was really feeling was the painful knowledge that I know that one day my Grandaddy will not be in that house! I pictured myself opening his door, like I opened his freezer, and not finding what has always been there. But THANKS BE TO GOD who has given us Jesus Christ. For I can handle the negative changes in this life IF I ALLOW GOD TO CHANGE MY HEART! Faith gives me the ability to weather the rough changes because I am confident in what lies ahead! I will mourn, but not as those who have no hope! I will weep, but joy comes in the morning! I can look forward to God's upcoming, ultimate change to all of creation when Christ returns and I can finally taste of what Adam and Eve lost, knowing that it will never be lost again! This is why we preach to the nations. This is why we long for our children and our family and friends to know Christ! For we know the hope we have through Christ is true, and it changes everything in this life and the next! Change for Change's sake? Yes! God changes our hearts so that we might know His peace in this life, and participate in the final change when one day death is swallowed up in life! "Change!" we shout like John. "So that you will be changed!"

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

Stretch

My Mom and I talk often of our respective growing-up years. I enjoy her tales of childhood during the "good old days" of the 40's & 50's (for a sample, see "Tunnel Vision" posted on March 28). This morning I was telling Mom about a lemonade stand the kids had set up in our yard a few days ago. We talked about how, these days, one cannot just let children operate such a stand unsupervised, not knowing exactly who such a business may attract. We reminisced about how much freedom we had as children -- running through the neighborhood with our friends and returning home only when hungry or out of daylight! I have vivid memories of riding my bike through the labyrinth of streets around our home with my friends, playing kick-the-can for hours, bouncing from one friend's house to another, all the while my Mom knowing basically where I was, but not worried that I would promptly return home when I heard my Dad whistle for dinner.

My Mother's childhood was similar, but decidedly more dangerous! While my brother and I enjoyed relative free reign when it came to the outdoors, my Mom and her siblings and playmates took it to a whole new level! Playing outside unsupervised was a given, but the games they played would make a modern Mommy quake with fear! Cowboys and Indians was played with real rope used to tie up your captives, who often remained in said condition for hours! Deep, treacherous ravines which I would forbid my children from approaching within 40 yards, were opportunities for my Mom and her friends to practice their log-crossing skills! Fire was a common plaything and they would dig large pits for roasting potatoes on a stick! My mother was so good at hide-and-seek that once she hid so well that her friends eventually gave up on her. She waited for several hours before leaving her winning hiding spot. . . a large water drain pipe which led underneath the nearby highway! "Everyone had BB guns, knives, and slingshots" my mother remarked! "It's truly a wonder that we did not seriously hurt or kill ourselves!"

One popular game my Mother played all the time was called Mumbly Peg (or "Stretch"). The object of the game is to get your opponent to stretch his/her legs to the point where they can no longer keep their balance. Sounds innocent enough, right? So, how do you play? Simple, really. Two players stand facing each other. One stands with his/her feet about shoulder length apart. The facing opponent then takes their trusty jack knife and throws it near his opponent's feet (which were typically bare)! Where ever the knife sticks into the ground, the other player must then stretch the nearest foot to that spot, trying to keep his balance. This is done over and over until the player loses his balance and falls over. Then players switch spots. Sort of like Twister ala Charles Manson! Ah, yes, the charm of the "good old days!"

I think sometimes Christians feel like we're playing a game of Mumbly Peg with God. He keeps throwing the knife and we must stretch to meet His target. We succeed with one throw, but always fear the next, anticipating either falling over, or worse, getting stuck with the knife. We often fear what God will have us "stretch" to do, so we play it safe, sitting on the side lines and watching others play, or we quit the game all together. But then I remember that the stretch goals God puts before us are not pointless exercises for spiritual playmates with serious thrill issues, nor are they the contrivance of a heavenly bully attempting to humiliate us! They are meant to sanctify us, glorify Him, and fit us for heaven. When we teeter or fall, we are reminded that we are unable in our own power to reach God's standard, but we stay in the game because we love Him and want to please Him, not because we are afraid of Him. We have the opportunity to, in faith, stretch beyond our human capabilities and experience God's hand in our lives as He time and again steps in and makes possible what is impossible for man! We say, "I can't stretch to that point, God!" And He says, "I know you can't! But I can!" And the big difference between God's plan to mold us into His Son's image, and a game of Mumbly Peg? The only one who gets pierced is Him.

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

1 Corinthians 9:25-26

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. Hebrews 12:1-3

Job Interview

When David was in Seminary, I worked as a recruiter for a management consulting company. This Python video represents every recruiters twisted fantasy to mess with their interviewee, but is also a great reminder that I'm glad that God doesn't find joy in messing with us in a similar fashion! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, to my sweetie! Fourteen years ago, I married a young, dashing accountant working in Washington, D.C. Since then, God has led us on an adventure which gets better and better each year. The adventure led us first to seminary, then parenthood, and then church planting. God has given me a wonderful gift in my husband! David, thank you for being my best friend, my companion for life, and such an awesome Daddy! I love you!