Elisha had told the woman

     whose son he had brought back to life,

“Take your family and move

     to some other place,

     for the Lord has called

     for a famine on Israel

     that will last for seven years.”

(2 Kings 8:1)

 

The woman of Shumen followed good advice; and after the famine was over, brought her family back home and then went to see the king about reclaiming her house and land.

 

As she came in,

     the king was talking with Gehazi,

     the servant of the man of God.

The king had just said,

     “Tell me some stories

      about the great things Elisha has done.”

 

And Gehazi was telling the king about the time

     Elisha had brought a boy back to life.

At that very moment,

     the mother of the boy walked in

     to make her appeal to the king

     about her house and land.

 

“Look, my lord the king!”

     Gehazi exclaimed.

“Here is the woman now,

     and this is her son—

     the very one Elisha brought back to life!”  

(2 Kings 8:4-5)

 

“Is this true?”

     the king asked her.

     And she told him the story.

So he directed one of his officials to see that

     everything she had lost

     was restored to her,

     including the value

     of any crops that had been harvested

     during her absence.

(2 Kings 8:6)

 

Not many of our life stories could begin the way this one did, but they could all finish up the same way.

 

Restored.

 

Because the Lord God, Maker of heaven and earth, Redeemer of all people, and the One whose throne room I enter every time I pray, has said…

 

“Then I will make up to you for the years

     that the swarming locust has eaten,

     the creeping locust,

     the stripping locust

     and the gnawing locust,

     my great army which I sent among you…”

Joel 2:25

 

Our game closet shelves are stacked with games and overflowing with memories.

 

One of my favorite mental snapshots is from the first fall and winter after April and Michael married. They came over at least two evenings every week, possibly to eat supper; but also to laugh, tell stories and play games.

 

BLOKUS was our hands-down favorite game that season.

 

It was a new strategy game where each player placed one color of variously conglomerated squares on a grid board.

 

It always started with the board wide open and full of great opportunities; but that would quickly change as the other players began moving their pieces into your space.

 

The printed rules object of the game was to finish using all your pieces first, but some of us played more aggressively and strategized our moves to block out the other players. It took me almost an entire game to realize Michael was deliberately mirror-mimicking my exact moves.

 

It’s no secret that we love ice cream at our house and I kept the freezer stocked with popsicles that fall and winter; so we’d eat popsicles and wear our coats while we played BLOKUS at the kitchen table.

 

That always encouraged April to remind us, once more, that I kept the house so cold when she lived here that she had to sleep in her snowsuit to stay warm. Possible truth.  🙂 🙂 🙂

 

Fast-forward 9 years and now Faith is dragging games out of the game closet. Most of the boxed games are too advanced for her, but we examine and play with their pieces. She took out BLOKUS the other day and we sat on the floor played.

 

I told her about Mommy, Day, Mama Jan, and Papa Dan sitting at the kitchen table playing BLOKUS and eating popsicles. She doesn’t know her Papa Dan, but she’ll meet him someday; and I’d like her to have a few good stories under her belt when she does.

 

True stories have purpose and there are many many good reasons to tell them.

 

 

Hear this,

you leaders of the people.

Listen,

all who live in the land.

In all your history,

has anything like this

happened before?

Tell your children about it

in the years to come,

and let your children

tell their children.

Pass the story down

from generation to generation.

Joel 1:2-3

 

God’s war tactics are out-of-this-world. Modern day meta-materials and invisible-cloak technology have nothing on him. Everything about my thinking stretches when I read the inexplicable stories that showcase his otherness.

 

Now there were four men with leprosy

sitting at the entrance of the city gates.

 

“Why should we sit here waiting to die?”

they asked each other.

 

“We will starve if we stay here,

but with the famine in the city,

we will starve if we go back there.

 

So we might as well go out

and surrender to the Aramean army.

If they let us live,

so much the better.

But if they kill us,

we would have died anyway.” 

 

So at twilight

they set out for the camp

of the Arameans.

But when they came to the edge of the camp,

no one was there! 

 

For the Lord had caused the Aramean army

to hear the clatter of speeding chariots

and the galloping of horses

and the sounds of a great army approaching…

2 Kings 7:3-6

 

Talk about psychological warfare and mass hysteria—there were no visible chariots, horses or great army—just the approaching sounds of a mighty galloping and clattering horde.

 

Why in the world would I ever act as if I could outsmart God?

 

I love huge stories told in few words.

 

Kings of Aram and Israel were at war.

 

King of Aram privately conferred war maneuvers with his officers.

 

Elisha, man of God, immediately warned King of Israel about those privately made plans.

 

Over. And over. Again.

 

How did he do that???

 

King of Aram suspected traitors in his ranks

 

“It’s not us, my lord the king,”

     one of the officers replied.

“Elisha, the prophet in Israel,

     tells the king of Israel

     even the words you speak

     in the privacy of your bedroom!”

2 Kings 6:12

 

How did they know that???

 

King of Aram sent soldiers to seize Elisha.

 

Elisha’s servant was terrified by the great multitude of troops,     horses, and chariots.

 

“Don’t be afraid!”

     Elisha told him.

“For there are more

     on our side

     than on theirs!”

2 Kings 6:16

 

How did Elisha know that???

 

Then Elisha prayed,

     “O Lord, open his eyes

     and let him see!”

The Lord opened the young man’s eyes,

     and when he looked up,

     he saw that the hillside around Elisha

     was filled with horses and chariots of fire.

2 Kings 6:17

 

How could I forget God does this for me too???

 

I grew up drinking Southern sweet tea…the kind where you didn’t measure how much cane sugar you poured from its brown paper bag into the pitcher. You just poured until you figured you’d reached saturation level—too little and it wasn’t sweet enough…too much and you’d end up with grainy sugar at the bottom. Then you poured boiling hot, strong black tea over the sugar, stirred, and filled the pitcher with cold tap water.

 

I grimace now to even think about drinking that much sugar.

 

I love unsweetened tea; and always order mine with lots and lots of extra ice. It’s so frustrating to go through a drive through, pull out of the parking lot, take a long drink and then discover it’s sweet sweet Southern tea. I’ve thought of spitting it out, but I haven’t. Yet.

 

Sometimes I hold up the cars behind me while I taste my tea before I leave the window. There’s no other way to be sure that my order is correct because I can’t see or smell the sugar; and if I want to know for sure, I have to test it.

 

Dear friends,

     do not believe everyone

     who claims to speak by the Spirit.

You must test them

     to see if the spirit they have

     comes from God.

For there are many false prophets

     in the world.

1 John 4:1-5

 

 

Taste tests are best.

 

 

Our family has a long history of silly exchanges with telemarketers. Dan was the champ; and would nearly always stay on the line until the exasperated caller hung up on him.

 

Years ago our sister-in-law’s phone company promoted a Friends and Family calls program; and she received a discount by giving them our name and number. They called and within minutes Dan had the lady convinced he believed she was calling to give him bad news about his family in Missouri. He repeatedly refused to understand her assurances to the contrary and nearly drove the poor lady to tears.

 

Another caller promised him $1500 if he could name the three colors of the American flag. He hum-hawed aloud before finally saying he thought one color was red. The telemarketer encouraged him to continue. Then he agonizingly hmmm hmmm’d for a while before saying he thought maybe the next color was white. The caller, really wanting the sale, excitedly encouraged him to name the final color. Dan said that he’d seen a flag just the other day….and man, oh man, if he could only just remember what color it was….then he finally guessed green. The guy hung up on him.

 

The calls I receive these days are more along the lines of tele-scammers instead of tele-marketers. I’ve gone the gamut from not saying a word to being sarcastic and rude before hanging up. But I don’t really like to do that even though they are trying to steal my computer passwords, credit cards and identify.

 

So I decided to take a new approach. I’m polite, but non-committal as I listen to their spiel. Then I turn the tables and ask them if they ever pray. This always catches the caller off guard, but so far, they’ve all said yes.

 

One caller even volunteered that he’d had dreams about Jesus and that Jesus had told him he should call and help the people with their computer problems.

 

That made me smile, but I told him that I didn’t think Jesus would really say that, but that maybe Jesus did want him to talk to me.

 

And then I talked about God and Jesus and faith. And he was still with me after that, so I read him the prayer that Dan prayed at the end of each church service.

 

He very respectfully ended our call; and I was smiling when I hung up.

 

As Elijah stood sheltered in a mountain cave in the presence of the LORD…

 

…a great and powerful wind

     tore the mountains apart

     and shattered the rocks

     before the Lord,

     but the Lord was not in the wind.

After the wind there was an earthquake,

     but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

After the earthquake came a fire,

     but the Lord was not in the fire.

And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

1 Kings 19:11-12

 

After he shattered the immovable; shook the earth’s foundation; flashed flames of fire; and set Elijah’s senses to high alert…

 

…then God whispered.

 

 

What a powerful God I serve. He moves heaven and earth to get my attention; and paints himself with word pictures to let me know his incredible power and invisible presence.

 

Sometimes when he speaks, it’s so clear and nuanced that I’ve no doubt it’s his voice.

 

But other times this unfathomable God, who tabernacles with me, doesn’t speak. So then I try to be very quiet; and use Scripture and common sense to discern what he’s telling me.

 

Because…

 

Who among the gods

     is like you, Lord?

Who is like you—

     majestic in holiness,

     awesome in glory,

     working wonders?

Exodus 15:11

 

Kind words are like honey—

   sweet to the soul

     and healthy for the body.

Proverbs 16:24

 

Good memories are also a little like honey—sweet, sticky, and healthy for the heart.

 

When I told my son I was replacing my truly awful, and original-to-his-childhood, vinyl and carpet floors, he said:

 

Those old floors have just had a lot of memories spilled on them over the years.

 

No argument there.

 

From leaky baby bottles to farm boots clumped with red mud…

 

…from smoky bonfire clothes piled high by the back door to cowboy boots two-steppin’ across the kitchen…

 

…from Curious George waltzes in the living room to kitchen cabinet door climbs up to the big window ledge…

 

Every memory covered scratch, scuff, and stain in the house told part of a laughter-filled love story that I wouldn’t have exchanged for any amount of perceived perfection.

 

We marked our house as we lived and raised our family here; and it occurred to me, the evening before my new floors were to be installed, that I really really wanted to do more of the same.

 

 

…Unless the LORD builds a house,

     the work of the builders is wasted…

Psalm 127:1

 

Following the special ceremony Dan facilitated his last night on earth; I commented that his feet were barely touching the ground. Could I have ever made a more apropos comment?

 

I’ve no doubt Dan’s body will someday rise from the grave and be transformed and reunited with his spirit. Which is what I was hoping would happen right that minute as I sat front row at his funeral three plus years ago.

 

As a pastor’s wife, I attended a lot of funerals over the years; but I avoid them these days as much as I reasonably can. They tangle up my thoughts and it takes considerable energy to sort them all out afterwards.

 

However, I do think it would be flat out amazing to be sitting front row at the funeral of a believer when the body disappears. And I can only imagine the amazing news stories and photo ops that will follow.

 

I rarely go anywhere without my camera; but if I’m at that particular funeral, I won’t be taking any after-the-event pictures. Because my feet will no longer be touching the ground; and I’ll be dancing through the clouds to meet Jesus face to face.

 

I won’t be back.

 

 

…We who are still living

     when the Lord returns

     will not meet him ahead of those

     who have died.

For the Lord himself

     will come down from heaven

     with a commanding shout,

     with the voice of the archangel,

     and with the trumpet call of God.

First, the believers who have died

     will rise from their graves.

Then, together with them,

     we who are still alive

     and remain on the earth

     will be caught up in the clouds

     to meet the Lord in the air.

Then we will be with the Lord forever.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

 

First Ahab built a temple

     and an altar

     for Baal in Samaria.

Then he set up an Asherah pole.

He did more to provoke

     the anger of the LORD,

     the God of Israel,

     than any of the other

     kings of Israel before him.

1 Kings 16:32-33

 

Not an accomplishment many would hope to emulate.

 

And I saw a great white throne

     and the one sitting on it.

The earth and sky fled from his presence,

     but they found no place to hide.  

I saw the dead, both great and small,

     standing before God’s throne.

And the books were opened,

     including the Book of Life.

And the dead were judged

     according to what they had done,

          as recorded in the books.  

The sea gave up its dead,

     and death and the grave

          gave up their dead.

And all were judged

     according to their deeds.  

Then death and the grave

     were thrown into the lake of fire.

This lake of fire is the second death.

And anyone whose name

     was not found recorded

          in the Book of Life

              was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:11-15

 

“Though I used to complain about the indecency of the idea of God’s wrath, I came to think that I would have to rebel against a God who wasn’t wrathful at the sight of the world’s evil. God isn’t wrathful in spite of being love. God is wrathful because God is love.” *

 

The above paragraph binds it together for me.

(Israeli cityscape)

 

* Free of Charge by Miroslav Volf