There is More {to the Story than a Good Samaritan} {GratiTuesday}

A Jew and a Samaritan walk into an inn. Ok, well the Samaritan walks. The Jew is carried. And the familiar parable in Luke 10 tells the rest. So often I relate to the Good Samaritan. And honestly, that seemed to be the main point of Jesus’ parable. At the conclusion of the tale, He asks the question, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” (verse 36) And we all receive a very poignant message about the lifestyle of generosity.

Then there are those days when I may look like the Samaritan, but I feel like the victim. In fact, one of the most common struggles a chronically ill person encounters is that they don’t look sick. I can tell you that from experience, as well as from countless conversations with chronically ill buddies of mine.

And sometimes you even fool yourself into thinking maybe the outer appearance is telling the truth and you don’t need any help. You should be able to handle this. I’ve done that too.

Well this past summer I made an additional trip to see my rheumatologist. For the past 18 months or so, my wrist had become gradually more swollen and it was time to get that taken care of. So I went in for an ultrasound and a shot of steroids to reduce the swelling.

It was there that I looked into the eye of the monster that was slowly destroying my body. It is hard to explain, but up until that point I had never really seen evidence that my body was deteriorating. I had painfully swollen joints in the past, but even to myself I looked ok. And there were moments where I really felt ok too. But I was still sick.

In the ultrasound, my doctor showed me the literal, undeniable deterioration of my wrist. When I asked what caused the inflammation and fluid buildup her response was, “ That’s just your disease.”

“Oh, JUST my disease.” And we chuckled at the flippancy with which we now referred to my rheumatoid arthritis.

But something changed that day. When I felt my wrist, looked at it, I just couldn’t shake the knowledge that under that skin there was something toxic eating at me.

I went to pick up my children whom my friend had been entertaining at the zoo. God bless her. She prayed for me and over me. God bless her. The swelling went down. In a few days my wrist was tip top. And God and I had a little conversation about helping others. Did I want to be healed completely? You know it! But I had it in my heart that there was something larger at work than a miraculous healing. There was a ministry here.

Hurt people sometimes hurt people. But helped people also help people.

I wanted to be healed, but more than that. I wanted to be helped. Healing would come eventually one way or another, and maybe not on this earth. But the helping, that could happen immediately. And if that was God’s intention, then that was sufficient for me.

My disease is a constant reminder that there are a whole lot of people out there that look ok, but they aren’t ok. Not on the inside. And they need help too.

So what do the Samaritans do? Love. Serve. Help. Notice the Samaritan in Jesus’ story never healed the robbed man. He cared for him. He helped him.

None of us have a call to heal. Take that off your shoulders right now.  You were never meant to carry the burden of healing- only the Great Physician can handle that. But you were called to help and be helped. Not because God needs a hand, but because in helping others you get to join in the marvelously detailed process God uses to care for His creation. You get a front-row seat to the unfolding of His plan for His people. It is a blessing to bless.

But here is one more important note: Maybe at this point your head is spinning because you can’t even conceive of helping anyone else when you can’t even help yourself.  You are the Jew left for dead. You have been through the wringer of illness, betrayal, grief, or any number of tragedies. And for that there is no condemnation, only know this: you are being helped. Even when you can’t see or feel it, God loves you enough to endure your struggle right there with you. You are not encountering, in fact you CANNOT encounter, anything God hasn’t already overcome in your stead.

Read these words for you. In fact, make it personal. Read it aloud twice and substitute the parenthesized words the second time through.

“For we (I) do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our (my) weaknesses, but we (I) have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are (I am)- yet was without sin. Let us (me) then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we (I) may receive mercy and find grace to help us (me) in our (my) time of need.” Hebrews 4:15-16

Sometimes you are the Jew. Sometimes you are the Samaritan. At all times you are the beloved child of God. Even in helping you are being helped to help. You have a God who carries every detail of the ways of man, and you will not slip through His fingers.

God, bless us and open our eyes in thanksgiving for Your almighty and all-merciful help today. May it give us joy that bursts the bonds of our struggles and frees us to serve others in Your name. 

Let's Get Busy! (With the Good Stuff) {GratiTuesday} {Three Word Wednesday}

I don't do laundry because I want to or because I like to, or even because my family will go naked if I don't. Honestly, they have grown accustomed to trekking down to the basement and digging their clean clothes out of one of several filled laundry baskets, or the ever mounting heap of clean laundry in the middle of the cold cement floor.

I do it because if I don't, the mess of spiders and other nasty basement bugs that I find exploring the cotton blends and such could decide to move in permanently and I'll never get them back...

Am I the only one?

We are also doing a somewhat major eating overhaul of sorts around here, and laundry has gradually slipped back down to the bottom of the list. Especially with the family trekking and enabling all the way...

So where is the balance? Juggling laundry and cooking and cleaning and writing and praise team and little people and and exercising and bathing and more, all with a happy heart? All while trying to give God and my husband more than just the left overs?

Maybe the balls I'm juggling are different shades of chaos than the ones you are tossing up, but without balance don't they all come crashing down eventually?

And don't we all tend to juggle more than our hands can handle?

Well, I have some beautiful women who are taking a walk through Ruth with me (enter another projectile to keep aloft) and I have to tell you we are all busy. All of us. With stuff. And Ruth has been reminding me that we are all going to be busy and busy is not bad. Really busy can be really good. Ruth worked day and night. Gleaning and threshing day after day (save the Sabbath) for months on end to provide for herself and Naomi. All while grieving.

Was she worn out? You bet. Yet when Naomi told her to go, get up and head to threshing floor to lay at Boaz's feet and ask for marriage, she went. (Ruth 3) She responded, "All that you say I will do." She got dolled up and performed another task.

This was a super-woman to me.

She was busy for the Lord, and I couldn't be more grateful for it. The whole world was blessed by her obedience. She blessed her children and all the children that would come after her because her continual obedience to the Lord in the little things paved the way for the Savior we will welcome here again in a couple months.

So I look back at the laundry, at the meals, and the children, and the husband, and the praise team, and the Bible study and I am forced to make some choices as to what busy-ness to get busy with. Because when God calls me to obey, I don't want to be too worn out with the stuff that doesn't matter to actually heed His call.

We are coming upon busy days. Something like 10 or 11 Fridays until Christmas. I'm holding off on the Christmas lists and starting with a priority list. December leaves my head spinning every time. So this time I'm seeking wisdom and peace before the crazy to store up and draw from on the hard days. So that when I feel robbed of my time and energy, I can remember that none of it was truly mine to begin with.

Maybe we could do this together? And all those bits of peace and wisdom I collect, I will put right here for you and you can dish it right back out to me! Sound good? Great.

And the best part of all is that God promises to get in the busy with us! Love it! And love you all. Really. I'm so excited for us!

For All That He Is {GratiTuesday}

Ever read an article about a health issue and think wow that sounds like so-and-so, and then you visit your health care provider and they diagnose you with that thing that you thought applied to everyone but you?

I'll just assume yes for the moment. And say: Me too.

So was a pretty major happy point of last week. (Other than my husband having a marvelous and inspirational time at a conference and making it home safely.)

Because there is comfort in having someone look you in the eye and tell you that you aren't crazy for your blood pressure spiking when your all your children talk in the same house, in the same room, at the same time. And there is comfort in friends checking up on you because you finally admit out loud that you are stressed and need to say no because you are just tired of being a monster. And there is comfort in being held.

There is comfort in a professional writer telling me that I am a writer so act like it. And there is comfort in another professional mom writer telling me it's ok to cry because motherhood is like negotiating with tiny terrorists, only harder.

There is comfort in the surrender.When I tell God the honest truth that I am looking for the minimum. How much do I need to read, pray, write, sing to Him to just make everything ok? Twenty minutes before I start the day? A quick prayer before the I want's and I need's swallow my energy and patience?

Ok. That is all I am looking for. But that is not what God offers. He offers joy. Joy to the full. So a few mornings ago, I planned to climb the verses in the Psalms rung by rung out of my pit of exhaustion and I made it three verses before I saw Psalm 5:3.

O Lord, in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. 

About that time Pandora started playing one of my new most favoritest songs by Rend Collective:

All that I am for all that You Are, my Lord.

All that I have for all that You Are.

You're the pearl beyond price, greater than life.

All that I am for all that You Are.

Each morning is a surrender. Sacrifice it all. The fatigue. The plans. Give it all to the Lord- my Lord. Your Lord.

And then He does just the most amazing thing. He gives us Himself.

"Watch this," He says. And He takes the tired. He takes the schedules. Plans. Words. He infuses them with His Spirit, His love. He transforms it with His presence. He gives peacecomfortjoy without measure. He does what we would do for our own children whenever possible. What love. What treasure. Because He treasures us. He treasures you.

Lord, 

Surrender 

our ears to Your voice

our eyes to Your presence

our hands to Your work

our mouths to Your praise

our feet to Your will

our minds to Your wisdom

our hearts to Your love.

Happy, joy-full week to you all!