Today

Today is Friday. It’s 6:20am. It’s cold and rainy outside, but from the radar, this may be the last rain we get in this particular storm. I understand this storm dumped snow in the Rockies and has brought down some cold, chilly air from the North to a large part of the country. It’s time. We need the change.
The girls are rousting out and are getting breakfast. That usually consists of cereal, either hot or cold, juice, and sometimes bagels and/or toast. They seem to like that about as well as anything. On Saturdays, we sometimes fix waffles or some such.
Several girls are in a state of decision-making right now. One has just enlisted in the Air Force on a delayed-entry plan and will go in a few days following her graduation in May. One has a grandmother who is terminal and must hold it together (decent behavior) through this process. Still another is deciding if she will continue to act out and thereby be removed from this place to go to a more secure environment. Yet another is trying to decide whether she has intrinsic value or not to both herself and others.
You get the picture. It’s always something here at the home. We have about a week to go before we get a week off, but we’re not counting the days any more. We’re doing fine, as I thought we would all along. Although there were times….
Thanks so much for your prayers and your concern. Our Creator is indeed overshadowing this place and yours.

I Have Enough

As I was taking the girls to school this morning, they were talking about watching one of the many reality shows that is now on television. They were saying that they really enjoyed the show because it showed the real world.
Now, I’m no connoisseur of these shows, and I thought to myself, “What, don’t you guys think you’re living in the real world right now?”
Reality television is far from the reality that most of us know. If someone were to do a reality series based on the lives of ordinary people, it would tank rather quickly, because that reality is one that is mostly mundane, routine, and ordinary. There’s not the drama and crisis that is shown on the so-called reality shows.
Yes, what those shows portray is, in many cases, reality for someone. There truly are car accidents, tense moments in the emergency room, stress-filled meetings, etc. I know…I’ve been there and done that. But in the ordinary course of events for most of us, reality consists of school, exercise, getting along with others, homework, earning money, raising kids, going to church, and keeping the house clean.
I may ask my girls if they think they are living in the real world, or if the real world is somehow beyond what they are experiencing right now. I might be surprised at their answers. We all think we are living the dull life and that everyone else has a much better existence than we do. That is, we think that until we jump the fence into the greener pastures of someone else’s life and discover that they too have weeds, rocks, and other things that make our routine existence seem rather inviting once again.
I don’t know about you, but I see enough reality every day. I see the effects of rape and neglect. I deal with mental and emotional issues that would try anyone’s soul. I know that there are girls “out there” that are hurting far beyond what anyone should have to bear, and that we just don’t have the resources to care for them. I don’t need to live someone else’s reality in order to fulfill my life. I have enough on my plate.

Connections

It’s been a few days since I last wrote.  I dunno.  It just seems like the days fly around here.  Then at night when things quiet down, I’m too tired to do much thinking, let alone writing.  So, that’s the way it is.
We’re thinking about going to Western Kansas on our next weekend off.  We used to live out there, and think that maybe seeing the folks at church on a Sunday next month might be a good thing.  Of course, we’d stop in Central Kansas on the way out there, in order to see the in-laws.  We’d then take our time going on out to God’s country.
In many ways, it is indeed God’s country.  Sparse, expansive, and exquisite, the Western Kansas prairie is truly one of the wonders of the world.  If you haven’t taken the time to become acquainted with the short-grass prairie and the people who live with it, you’ve truly missed something special.
Impossible to tame, the prairies of Western Kansas only allow humanity to scratch out an existence and a living in accordance with the laws of the prairie, not the laws of mankind.  When man understands that it is the prairie that is in control, he does rather well, living in a sort of symbiotic relationship with it.  When man forgets and thinks he’s the cheese, the prairie bites back, and does so in a way that makes for an indelible lesson in humility.
That kind of living also makes the people who are there a bit different than those who live in a more citified and artificial existence.  Folks there are more down to earth…pragmatic…normal, if you will.  Yes, they still have the normal human frailties…greedy…gossips…indulgent.  But they also have a way of thinking, living, and relating to others that is refreshing and soulful.
We cherish our Western Kansas connections, and hope we’ll be able to make the trip soon.

The Full Measure

Our minister pointed us to a verse, in closing his sermon yesterday, that I had never really seen before.  It’s found in Revelation (yeah, that book that no one can understand), chapter 21 and verse 7.  The New American Standard Bible renders it thus, “He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”
Note especially the first part.  “He who overcomes shall inherit these things.”
Now, we could get into a discussion of what “these things” are, but I think if one looks at prior verses, he can get a good idea of what these things are.  My point is that it doesn’t say that all who overcome will share in an inheritance.  I think it is saying that each one who overcomes will inherit a full measure of “these things” and not have to share or divide an inheritance with anyone.
How can that be?  I don’t know the answer to that any more than I can know how God can be omnipresent or three persons in one.  Put this one in the “unknowable” bin and mark it as “wondrous” along with so many other grand things we find in God.
My kids aren’t going to get much of an inheritance from me.  And what they do get, they’ll have to share.  But it won’t be that way, I think, with God and me.  I’ll get the full measure of the inheritance, just as you’ll also get the full measure of the inheritance.  Think about that today.

Who Would Have Thought?

I was in the local Subway sandwich shoppe this evening buying sandwiches for the girls for movie night. On Fridays, we often rent a movie and have movie night at our house. I had orders for five sandwiches, and was telling the young man what to put on what sandwich, when someone standing in line behind me said, “Jay,” and I turned. There were several people in line and I wasn’t sure which one said it until she said it again.
It was someone from my hometown not far from here. She recognized my voice, she said, as I ordered sandwiches. I didn’t recognize her until she said who she was.
Turns out she was a teen playing softball years ago and recognized me because she caught and I umpired…calling balls and strikes right behind her.
Life sends everyone into some twists and turns from time to time. Who would have thought that such a meeting would ever take place in a sandwich shop? Moreover, who would have thought that she’s living not far from us? I have to wonder just how many people I know are living within 5 miles of me? 10 miles of me? 20 miles?
I’d like to see a map of this area with the pins stuck in it wherever someone lives that I know or have known over the years. I think I’d be surprised, and I’d like to think that I’d remember them all with memories that are pleasant.
But that map will never happen, and I probably won’t ever know who is near me that I know. And maybe that’s for the better.

Do I Really Want to Know?

For a very few months a couple years ago, I taught at a vocational school in Lawrence.  I taught Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel to older youth and young adults who were in the school’s program.
The classes I had were a very diverse population.  A couple of the classes had two women who were Muslim and who wore the full-length brown dress with a full head covering and a kind of crosshatch cloth covering their faces.
At first, they were somewhat difficult to get to know, as I am used to facial expression and observation of body language.  Both of these kinds of communication were virtually impossible with these women.
I soon learned, however, that voice inflection played a big part in how they communicated with the outside world.  I also listened closely to the actual words they said and the way they structured their sentences, although it was clear that English was a second language for them.
I learned to communicate with these women and pick up nuances from their speech and actions that told me things they had never actually said in words.  It was good for me to have these women in my classes, and I grew to like them and see them as more than anomalies or abnormalities that had to be dealt with somehow in the name of diversity and political correctness.
I wonder about Sadiqah and Abeer now.  I have not a clue where they are, what they are doing, or what their situation in life is like.  I think I would like to know, but then again….

Organization of the Heart

I went into the maintenance shop on campus today.  We no longer have a maintenance man, and those of us on campus are sharing responsibilities for that job.  I have been in the shop before to look for something specific, but this time, I just looked around to be certain that I had an idea of what we have there in case I need something.
I was pleasantly surprised at the good condition of the tools and the arrangement of the spare parts for electrical, plumbing, etc.  Someone has taken good care of that area.  So often, those areas are messy and unorganized.  Not so with this shop.
I had to think that the condition of that maintenance shop is in many ways similar to the conditions of our hearts…not our physical blood pumps, but the place of our being within us.  Sometimes, there’s nothing there but a big disorganized mess.  But when we allow God to come in, He cleans up and cleans out.  He organizes.  He directs.  He cleans.  And He keeps it that way as long as we allow Him to do so.
I hope we’re able to keep the maintenance shop some semblance of clean and organized.  It’s so much easier to work in one when all of the tools and spare parts are easily located, and the work area is clean and inviting.  I also hope I’m able to keep my heart clean and organized, as always, relying on my God to do all the real work in that area.

No More War

Today is the first day of a week off for Pat and me. The girls are with the relief houseparent, and we have the place to ourselves. We aren’t loafing, though, because we have a re-dedication of Harrold Cottage this coming Sunday and we’re sprucing up the place in preparation for the ceremony and open house that follows.
It is an awesome thing to be recognized in this capacity. I personally feel a bit bashful and very humbled. We certainly are not up to the task on our own, and recognize and realize that there is a Greater Hand in this than we know.
It will be fun to see some folks from Topeka who will make the trip down, and it will be good to see some of Pat’s relations as well. Our son and his family will be here, as will others from the Wichita area.
I think sometimes that is one reason why we are able to continue with this work. There are, as the Hebrew writer says in chapter 11, a “great cloud of witnesses” urging us on and giving us an example, that we should follow in it. That great cloud consists not only of those who are alive and well on the earth today, but folks from times long past and gone who have struggled, wrestled, fought, and won the battle. They cheer us (all of us) onward and upward as we continue the war in battles present and yet to come.
One day, however, the war will be over. There’ll be no more battles. There’ll be no more war. As the song says,

It is finished! The battle is over,
It is finished! There’ll be no more war.
It is finished! The end of the conflict,
It is finished, and Jesus is Lord!

"It Is Finished"
Written by William Gaither and Gloria Gaither

Family

It is good to be a part of a family.  Whether that family is biological or otherwise, one of the needs of every human is the need to belong.  Families that function properly make sure that all who are a part of that family are assured of their acceptance.
I am fortunate to be part of several families.  My biological family is, I think, a truly unusual family if for no other reason than we made a commitment long ago to get along and to look after one-another.  We’ve done that well over the years, especially since our mother and father passed on.  We’ve gotten together almost every year for the last 20 or more years, and have a good number of children, cousins, nieces, nephews, and in-laws who join us in these gatherings.
Pat and I are also part of a church family.  We tried out one church when we moved to Wichita, liked it, and have stayed.  We never looked beyond this one.  It’s unique, and fills a real need in the lives of its family members.
One Sunday morning, the minister made an announcement regarding the health condition of one of his biological family.  He asked the congregation for prayers and became emotional as he talked.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone approach the stage area.  The man went up on stage while the minister was talking, put his arm around the minister, and said something to the effect of, “We’re gonna pray right now.”  He took over the microphone and led the entire congregation in prayer for the minister’s relative.
The man who did this was an Elder of the church and is himself battling cancer.  But he put aside his own aches, pains, and troubles to reach out to someone who has made it his life’s work to reach out to others.  I’m not sure there was a dry eye in the place when the Elder finished that prayer.
That’s what family is all about.

True Intelligence

I have always thought I was a reasonably intelligent individual.  Graduated ninth in my class in high school, with honors, 3.86 overall college GPA, 4.00 in the core courses.  I’ve held jobs that often required thought and work.  I consider myself to be at least moderately well-read and knowledgeable.
However, there are several things that I just look at and shake my head, because I have no clue how or why and probably never will.  One of those things is child abuse.
My wife and I are now in an occupation (houseparents) where the reality of child abuse (I don’t care if it’s physical, mental, emotional, or sexual…which includes all of the others) is before us every day.  Children are starved, chained, neglected, used for sex, given drugs, traded, passed around, and drained of all semblance of humanity or dignity.  This may not mean much to you, but when you see the effects every day and work with the effects every day and deal with the effects every day, it suddenly means a whole lot more.
The verse I am now thinking of suddenly means a whole lot more, too.  Mark records in Mark 10:13-16, “And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.  But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”  And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.”
Now, I don’t know about you, but I believe that children have a special place in the heart of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.  And if you knew the way children were many times treated in those days, you would also know that Jesus made a powerful and compelling statement about His love for children and His desire that children be treated with dignity and respect.
I think I would rather stand before Jesus one day and answer to Him for just about anything OTHER than my mistreatment of a child.  I have a feeling there will not be much in the way of mercy or compassion for those who abuse the little ones among us.  I shudder at the thought that I may have, at some time, been guilty of some kind of improper action toward a child and thank God Almighty that the blood of Jesus Christ even covers these sins.