Category: Humble & Kind

Anchored in the His Harvest…

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A friend of mine was once  given a vision and a strong mental picture of harvesting. She saw a girl walking through a corn field, ripe for harvest. As the girl walked, the storm winds blew & endangered all that had grown. As she faced the storm, she carried a large anchor, & began to cast it against the wind, into the harvest field. Again & again, as the storms buffeted all that had been produced by hard labor & careful care, the girl made this choice. Again & again, she threw her anchor into the harvest.

 

It reminds me of Bebo Norman’s song entitled “All That I Have Sown”, which describes what ultimately comes of each of our lives:

 

And all that grows is our story told

As life unfolds here before

The peace we found in that broken ground

I can see them in the harvest…of all that I have sown

And when my life is done

I pray the kingdom come

And take me to Glory

It’s living inside me

It was planted like a seed

All to tell a story
It’s “all to tell a story”. The tasks given to each of us may require a hard, committed constant endeavor, and at times, can feel very lonely. We must encourage each other to take heart, and together, courageously cast out our anchors over and over again. Matthew tells us that Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Pray therefore that the Lord will send out workers into His harvest field.” Even prayer may feel like a long labor, and trusting the season of harvest awaits us may require immense faith; we are only capable of this great work as we are filled with God’s strength. As we anchor ourselves in a harvest that is most often unseen, truly, we anchor ourselves in Him. In Him is “all our hope & stay” (On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand).

“You Don’t Owe Me a Thing”

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My sweet sis always says everything happens for a reason. She’s ridden enough of the roller coaster of life that this statement is deserving of respect. I find her calm and steady assurance that all will work for the good ever reassuring. Though my “little” sister and I have always been friends, it wasn’t until our adulthood that we became true allies to one another in every area of life. It is she, more than any other, who offers me the greatest sense of belonging, strength and understanding. She gave me a gift for my high school graduation that set us off on this new depth of connection. It is a framed picture that still sits on my dresser; our smiling faces look enthusiastically up at the camera from the lens of childhood, our arms protectively around one another. It also holds a short poem: “My sister deserves to know, that even though I don’t always show it, she is absolutely essential to the happiness that lives within my heart.” Reading that, I knew that whatever sense of juvenile competition or disagreement had kept us apart, she had loved me always, and always would. She deserves to know this too…she is forever my love.
She became a mother young, and has always been a working mother. Though of course I may be a trifle biased, her two daughters are amazing and beautiful, soft and strong, sharing many of my sis’s wonderful qualities. Her name is Alyssa, recognizing the sweet fragrance and appearance of the alyssum flower, but meaning logical. Though she is quite rational, and this appellation indeed fits her, I think it’s her bold and logic-defying belief in the presence of God’s master plan in all things that inspires me most. She has worked hard at shaping her thoughts in this way, and to do what Winston Churchill suggests of optimists: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”  Coupled with this strength is an unshakeable loyalty and dedication to those she loves, accentuating her beauty more and more every day. Another quote, by an unknown author, reflects the power of her life best: “After all this time, the sun has yet to say to the earth, ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens with a love like that: it lights up the world!” What a powerful gift, to pour yourself out for others, and still look them in the eye as if to say, “You don’t owe me a thing”. Her love most certainly shines as one of the brightest lights in my journey. “Blessed are those who give without remembering, and take without forgetting” (Elizabeth Bibesco).

Trees of Life…

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There’s not much that stirs my soul quite so much as the simplicity of a tree blowing in a strong wind. All those leaves, the growth, the color & life, the resiliency, the acceptance of the sun & wind & warmth & cold…it moves me. The thing about trees is that they are rooted. If those roots go down deep & have been steadily nourished over time, there’s not much that can budge a tree. We too, need our roots to sink down deep into rich soil. If we are founded in Him, fed by His Word, then, we too shall be unmoved by the storms & circumstantial weather of life. The songwriter Dennis Jernigan sings about this beautifully: “Though the winds may blow, He is my shelter….He is constantly watching over me.”

 

In Proverbs 3, Solomon speaks of wisdom being “a tree of life to those who embrace her”. It seems that’s a promise for us as well, at least in two senses:

  1. We can embrace the wisdom of God, & be given Life….maybe even a taste of the Life that was offered in the Garden of Eden, where that tree was originally found.
  2. As we pursue that Life, we can share its wisdom with others, offering them to chance to embrace it too, becoming shelter for them as they root themselves in Him.  

The prophet Isaiah assures us in Chapter 62: “This will be for the Lord’s renown, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.”

Success Defined

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Though I know I shouldn’t, I worry about success all the time. I’m an eldest child who grew up in a Legalistic church, so it’s really no surprise I became a task-oriented perfectionist.  In part, that’s well and good. It’s has to be fitting and right to desire to do things well, to find satisfaction in a job well-done, to cultivate the harvest of whatever realm we give ourselves. These kinds of desires have played out in the lives of influential people for all time. As cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”  And yet, at the same time, one can become quite driven, focused on outcome instead of process. As Ann Voskamp has said, “Perfectionism is a slow death by self.” It’s all too easy to spend ourselves on things that aren’t truly worthy of the cost of our lives, all too common to find ourselves with a need to please those around us. Too often, we become anchored unstably in our perceived notions of their expectations. Too often, we live under the impression we’re casting our cares away, but if we refuse to share their burdens with others in intentional ways, our cares have made us castaways to the people we love the most. No small wonder all my life, I’ve found myself craving Life I can’t generate on my own.
How should we measure success? Does a perfect God require perfection, and if not, exactly what does He expect of us? The prophet Micah answers this question quite simply and succinctly: “What does the Lord require of you, but to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Ralph Waldo Emerson also offered a great definition of what success looks like: “To laugh often & much, to win the respect of intelligent people & the affection of children, to know even ONE  life has breathed easier because you have lived, THIS is to succeed.” May we be fair to those we encounter, maintain a passion for compassion, and walk in authenticity and humility with God and one another. May we each help even one life to breath easier through the givenness and offering of our lives.

“It’s a Pleasure”…

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Sometime in college, a group of friends and I took hold of the phrase, “It’s a pleasure” when we would perform some small act of service for one another. The phrase revolutionized our views on anything that could be considered work, though long before looking positively at the long devotion of the daily “grind” became an exercise of the will, instead of merely a passion of youth. There’s this friend of mine who truly seems to radiate this truth. We served together on the same team of middle school teachers, and I saw her live out her delight in helping others again and again. I’d also call her my processing friend. She’s always prompting her students to think critically and imaginatively, helping others think through things positively, always processing things herself. Though she puzzles often at the heartache and flawed systems in the world, that only seems to inspire her more to do whatever she can to help them change for the better.

 

Since she also took me in as her friend, and even an adopted daughter, I have since become the beneficiary of her kindness over and over again. She would often graciously help me navigate the small community in which she’d lived most of her adult life as I got to know it for myself. When illness hit and my family wasn’t nearby, she did everything in her power to help me get the care I needed and continue to teach. With everything from driving me to long distance appointments and providing a listening ear, to helping me grade papers and plan lessons, the phrase I’d receive in return for any thanks was, “It’s my pleasure. I would LOVE to do that for you.”
There aren’t many people that regularly render any service with such flexibility and joy. This friend convinced me more than ever how crucial it is to adopt this attitude toward life and relationships and work. It’s not only that she’s touched my life profoundly with her friendship and kindness, it’s also watching the world change ever so slightly with each act. How much lighter any task seems when we can gladly and enthusiastically offer it, whether it is in service to a friend or to God, for the good of humanity, or even just for ourselves. In I Corinthians 10:31, the Apostle Paul encourages us to take every task, even eating and drinking, and do each in a way that it can indeed be seen as an offering for the greater good: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it ALL for the glory of God.”

“Adios”: Goodbyes of Blessing

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When returning from a beautiful, yet challenging, year of work in the Dominican Republic, I attended an excellent missions’ debriefing course, with a wonderfully wise instructor originally from South Africa. One of the rich lessens he taught us was on the importance of saying a good goodbye. Often in life, in our hurry to move on to the next thing, or our eagerness to arrive at new seasons, we can give our farewells hurriedly, even carelessly. Our manner of doing so is deeply shaped by both our cultures & individual experiences. Our teacher told us that in South Africa, it is very important that people complete the job of being a good & welcoming host by attentively sending off their guests. A South African host will not only walk a guest out, but also accompany him out the road, & then finally waving with his whole body until the visiting friend is fully out of sight. Perhaps I was especially struck by this because I had just come from saying a series of hard goodbyes to my Dominican friends, who had shared their lives & love with me so fully. I was also reminded of the many friends throughout my life who have made me feel surrounded by their love & generosity of spirit by blessing me in their manner of presence & farewells.
What if we did the same? When loved ones come to visit, what if we took just a minute to watch their passing…to give thanks for their presence? What if we took that moment to pray a benediction over them such as the one offered in Numbers 6:24: “The LORD bless you & keep you. The LORD make His face to shine upon you, & give you peace.”? As a Spanish speaker, I’ve often wondered if their word for “goodbye”, “Adios”, is literally a combination of two words, “a” & “Dios”, meaning “to” & “God”. Perhaps the original intention of that culture, as well, was to purposefully place those they encountered in the hands of God with each goodbye. What if we purposed to do the same? This could be a simple, but powerful, offering of God’s love & Spirit to all those He places in our paths.

“Love WILL Keep Us Alive”

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In His time on earth, Jesus talked about the love that it typical of our humanity…we love those who love us…it’s natural. Author Erwin Lutzer (Managing Your Emotions, 1981) discusses this nature of human love versus divine love:

“Human love is subject to change. Because it depends on the one being love, it needs to be fed by the stimulus that the one loved provides. If that changes, love may change….Remember the old adage ‘Love conquers all’? Don’t you believe it! Human love has clear limits because it is based on something in you or about you-it’s to my advantage to be associated with you….Human love is always transferable because it depends on what the other person can do for me….[but] Divine love is based on & dependent on the lover. The first characteristic that makes divine love radically different from human love is that divine love always involves sacrificial action….You cannot divinely love someone unless you have sacrificed on his behalf.”

This divine love is an integral part of the fruit of His Spirit (Galatians 6). Not only has He bestowed on us His love, but He’s filled us with the ability to share it with others. He’s filled us with the faithfulness to sacrifice for others.
Old adages such as, “Love conquers all.”, “Love Will Keep Us Alive” (The Eagles), or “All You  Need is Love” (The Beatles), or “What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love” (Dionne Warwick)…are all true! As it turns out, however,  it’s also true our human love won’t, or can’t, always do all of those things. God can. His love conquers ALL. Once we’ve accepted Christ’s sacrifice for us, there’s nothing that can separate us from the great, big love that really keeps this great big broken world in tact (Romans 8:35-39). That’s the love that really keeps us alive, & can even enable us to thrive. That kind of love really could change the world. Mother Teresa says it best: “What I do, you cannot do, but what you do, I cannot do. The needs are great, & none of us, including me, can do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, & together, we can do something wonderful.” As Dionne Warwick continued, it’s…” not just for some, but for everyone”.

“Always Stay Humble & Kind”: Working with Him

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A short stint as a missionary in the Dominican Republic taught me many lessons that have taken years to process; it was simultaneously one of the most challenging  & rewarding experiences of my life. My first time in a third-world country, the poverty & conditions in which people lived often took my breath away & broke my heart. They also mystified me, for even if the Dominican families didn’t know where their next meal was coming from, they seemed so happy. Those I knew, & some I didn’t, welcomed me to all they had. I taught school, & was often invited to lunch at the home of my students. One seventh grade girl & her sisters lived totally on their own, with parents living in other countries where each had found reliable jobs. I remember sitting with the four sisters, all under the age of seventeen, as a drenching rain poured through the many holes in the rusting roof of their small & unfinished cement home. I wondered how they could laugh so much when they had so little. There was such a sense of peace in the home, simply because they had placed Christ at the center of the lives they lived together. It struck home that truly, this was all that was needed for a happy & fulfilling life. Writer Ann Voskamp succinctly challenges us to live likewise: “In everything surrender, & trust Jesus as center.”

There’s nothing wrong with being blessed, & yet…it is good to know that we are, in fact, blessed. We’ve been given so much more than we deserve or should expect…but our eyes are often closed to countless reminders of His love & provision all around us. The Bible includes many prayers for blessing, such as in the Psalms: “May God be gracious to us & bless us, & make His face to shine upon us.” This is what they call “top-line worship”: our prayers of petition, our acknowledgements of our reliance on God. But there is also a bottom-line: our requests that ultimately, these gifts will not only be for our good, but also for His glory. The Psalm finishes: “…that your ways may be known on the earth, your salvation among all nations.”

This prayer is an echo of the Abrahamic Covenant offered in Genesis 12:1-3:

Now the Lord said1 to Abram, “Go from your country2 and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 nAnd I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 oI will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and pin you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”3

God wants to bless us, yes…but He wants to bless us to BE a blessing. We are each equipped & gifted in unique ways…to BE a blessing. We each have our cups filled….to BE a blessing. We each are qualified to offer hope to a hurting world & step into the lives of others…to BE a blessing. As secular country singer Tim McGraw offers, we must “always be humble & kind”. His song offers many pieces of wisdom to awaken our sense of gratitude, & remind us that true fulfillment comes in pouring out that gratitude to others.

 

I know you got mountains to climb but

Always stay humble and kind

When the dreams you’re dreamin’ come to you

When the work you put in is realized

Let yourself feel the pride but

Always stay humble and kind

Don’t expect a free ride from no one

Don’t hold a grudge or a chip and here’s why

Bitterness keeps you from flyin’

Always stay humble and kind

Don’t take for granted the love this life gives you

When you get where you’re goin

Don’t forget turn back around

And help the next one in line

Always stay humble and kind

Humble & Kind

The world may call it karma, but this is really just saying what He has said all along. The “Parable of the Sowers” told in the Gospels tells us as much: you get what you give. The great thing is that although we’re called to give anytime we’ve been blessed, the reverse is also true…we’re blessed anytime that we give. Isaiah 58: 10-11 tells us that if we will spend our lives on behalf of the hungry and downtrodden, that He will make us as deeply-rooted trees, whose lives bear fruit season after season. As we are promised in God’s Word, so we are assured in the song: “It won’t be wasted time; Always stay humble and kind.”