Day Fifteen - April 15, 2020
Today I awoke to no little pup snuggled up to my legs snoring loudly… Poor little Nellie apparently wandered about all night last night looking for Mommy… who was sleeping at Nanny’s.
The sun rose again in perfect beauty this morning, despite a global pandemic. Blue skies graced the sky as Andrei and I trudged through the freshly mowed grass… my shoes and sweatpants were drenched from the morning dew.
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Our kids were my absolute delight today. Flying in all directions throughout the house with their laptops trying to find a quiet place to study… FaceTiming and gaming with friends - laughing at seemingly nothing in particular.
Daniel “entertained” us to no end with non-stop chemistry monologues that we neither understood nor truly cared about in the same ways he finds fascinating!
Leah broke down with a news alert that she finally truly understood her current science module on the topic of atoms due to her extensive watching of “The Flash!” She even went on to explain in great detail the properties of an atom beyond just the proton, neutron, and electron… Oy vey!
Kat surprised us with a streak of exceptional good luck in correctly answering trivia questions of a mostly useless and random nature. Like the ladybug being considered to bring “good luck!”
Nellie and Papa took a long walk at lunchtime while we mixed another load of mushroom and topsoil into the raised garden beds.
I’ve remained stuck all day in my study of James on the word “consider.” - “Consider it pure joy, when you face trials of many kinds…”
Consider… ponder, wonder, study. Step back and away from standing too closely and look. Not with our physical eyes - but with the eyes of our heart. Take stock. Take inventory. Consider.
Consider - not with minds that process and plan, assess and fix… but with a quiet humility that asks the God of the Universe to speak. To speak in knowledge and wisdom to the deepest places of our hearts… that we may - consider.
Consider His ways that rarely make sense to humanity’s methods. Consider His ways that reach far beyond where our human eyes can see. Consider His ways that intricately work all things out for the good of those who are called according to His purpose.
Consider that He will finish the good work He began in us…
In order that we may continue to grow and develop, we must be willing to pause and consider … not my way, God… Yours.
He leans into His creation with overflowing mercy - seeking to guide, encourage, and bless. His heart longs to walk with the unforced rhythms of grace.
Usually we find ourselves consumed by our agendas and schedules, finding little time to pause and learn His ways. He calls, “Come to me - anyone who is weary and I will give you rest. Walk with me. Study with me. Learn from me. And I will give you rest.
And so tonight… I have paused. Here on the lumpy bed in Nanny’s guest room. I cannot understand her fall. I cannot understand the pain and worry. I cannot fully understand the nightmares and overwhelm that threaten to sometimes shake each of us. I can’t.
But I can consider. I can consider these circumstances pure joy. Because suffering brings about perseverance and perseverance must finish its work so that we may become mature and complete - not lacking anything.
I’m sure I’ll have an intense kink in my neck all day tomorrow from this bed… but nothing like my sore arm muscles from turning raised garden bed soil!
