Do you want to 'know how to do stuff,' also? I do.
And something else-- Lately I've wondered how my own grandparents would have, in the 1970's, handled a looming possibility of being knocked off-grid by terrorists.
Would they have panicked? Sat in their kitchen, shades pulled, thinking gloomy thoughts? Ignored the threat? Whined about it or our government's lack of preparedness?
No. They were way more like this:
"...in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength..." Isaiah 30:15
Perhaps you had grandparents like mine. Ones who, over coffee at their Formica table, would have said, "Well! We've made it through hard times before. At least we've had a warning this time and can prepare. Just in case."
Then methodically, calmly, they'd make plans. Address their present skills and ways to relearn and practice old ones. List current supplies and ones to be purchased. They'd check-out instructional library books. Study. Arrange and store things. Do what they could, then trust God to do what they could not.
But they'd never be all que sera sera-ish. Nor gamble with Fate, sigh a lot, or be like Scarlet O'Hara with her, "I'll think about it tomorrow!"
Seriously, uhm, no.
Which reminds me. After yesterday's violent tragedy in California, I felt tempted to just ignore the whole thing. Not read about this one, especially since, just hours before, Naomi had flown to California with her band. Plus, I was missing Naomi, readjusting to Life without her here (after just growing accustomed to her presence).
I wanted to pretend it was an earlier decade when, yes--violence happened--but not, like, every single week.
Yet God! He reminded me of the necessity of dealing with things. How it's healthy. How you must feel before you can heal. How I can't move on to pray for others (and whatever else He asks) until addressing, processing what has happened.
But oh, still, I'm tempted to close my curtains, my mind, my heart in these Last Days. But it would, eventually, catch up with me. Nick my sanity. And how would I recover from my own hard times if I never learned to receive my comfort from God during world-wide disasters? With Him, I come away stronger, not wrecked, with my sanity intact, not shattered.
With a very real sense of the presence of God, something which will get me through anything waiting up the road ahead. But only if I soak in that keep-me-strong presence, not in the bad news.
There is a difference. There is balance. There is wisdom.
"...who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." ... 2 Corinthians 1:4
"But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." ... Isaiah 40:31
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." ... Matthew 11:28
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Did your copy of Re-Uses arrive yet? (Some of you told me you ordered it.)
If not, perhaps you'd like to check-out my Pinterest page with ideas using throw-aways. I only added the easy, I-could-maybe-do-this ones, but I saw soo many clever, beyond-my-ability others.
You'll find a bazillion of those here.
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Oh! And a personal little gift God gave me yesterday in the midst of adjusting and accepting? Return to Mayberry via YouTube. Hadn't watched it in years and it was the perfect movie for yesterday. Perfect.
And I don't care how many so-called rabid fans of the original show say the movie was bad. It wasn't! I've probably watched that film 6 times since the 80's. The only thing I found odd/weird is that Andy hadn't been back to Mayberry in 20 years. It was especially strange since his son, Opie, (and his wife) still lived there(!)
Yet color me oh-so-grateful that this movie was made before the majority of these dear people began passing away.
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What's cooking in my crockpot? Barbecued chicken.
Two days before it was vegetable chicken soup.
And our grandparents didn't have a 'whiny - safe' spot nor ask for one as some college students are doing. They had a conscience to know right from wrong .. and didn't blame their 'hurt' feelings on others .. but knew about sin nature and having their consciences pricked!
ReplyDeleteToday's generation has gone soft and will not survive without 'intervention' ... Good post.
I'm waiting for my copy of the book you recommended to arrive. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteI recently wrote about my mother in love's visit this summer. I have learned a lot from her determination. She could build a house from the ground up...honestly! She has torn apart condemned homes to re-use the wood to remodel a current home. I've watched her swing a hammer that would put a lot of men to shame. She has many skills she has acquired through the years and is the best cook I know. She has shared about times when they were so poor that she didn't know where their next meal would come from and then shares about a knock on the door only to find bags of groceries with no one in sight. I would say she has a determined spirit and is NOT a quitter. I've learned a lot from her over the past 30 plus years and hope to learn even more.
All four of my grandparents were hard workers who lived simply. Their homes were small and spare, but those homes were filled with fragrant smells from the kitchens, music and lots of love. They were all committed to a strong faith in God and were probably too busy working to worry about much. I sure do miss them!!
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