Learning Along The Way

On this Memorial Day

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We stop today to thank those who have served our country, served each of us, and have paid with the ultimate price: their life.

Our freedom has never been free.  It comes at a high cost.

Whether we think about the sacrifices on a national, history – wide level or more personally, on an individual life level, there have been many lives suddenly cut short because of war.

I never think of Memorial Day only at a National level.

This is a real family photo: my mother and her brother at Christmas 1956. He was a senior at USMA at West Point; she a newlywed of three months.  All of life ahead with many joys yet to be experienced.  And sorrows.

Life is like that here. Joys and sorrows mingle; peace is fragile and fleeting.

Vietnam.

Our lives were changed because of that war.

Lives are changed by war.

Memorial Day is intended for us to pause, reflect upon and acknowledge the very real sacrifices that have been made for our benefit.

I was 10 when my uncle was killed in Vietnam; he left a young wife with two young children alone. His family forever changed; his extended family as well. The day he was buried, my 5th grade class recited the Gettysburg Address at the school assembly. An activity that impacted me deeply.

“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom…”

But the truth is, there is no lasting freedom, no lasting peace on this earth.  True freedom and lasting peace can only be found in and through the Prince of Peace. The world is in an eternal conflict that will one day result in destruction that is unimaginable.

I am bent toward happy thoughts.  Like imagining my mom and her brother enjoying eternity in the Presence of their Savior.  I like to imagine that.  Like thanking God for all those who were willing to serve this country with their very life.  Today we have choices.  We won’t always have choices. You might be of the mind like Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind: ” I won’t think about that today; I’ll think about that tomorrow!”  Funny thing is: tomorrow never comes.  There is only today. Have you responded to the Call to “Come Follow Me?”

“…choose for yourselves today whom you will serve…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

 

Sunday Celebrations: Honoring the Work of St. Patrick on This Day

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Ibind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

Top o’ the mornin’ to ya!

You may be of Irish decent and already know the true history of Patrick of Ireland.

Like many things at the hands of revisionist historians, the original work of Patrick has been assaulted by today’s cultural whims.

Who was this Patrick? Why does he have a day attributed to him?  Why all the green beer?  How do they relate?

The words above are attributed to the Breastplate Prayer of St. Patrick which later became and song which later became a hymn.

I am not going to tell you the history of Patrick of Ireland but if you’re curious, you can find it here.

I will tell you some of the things I have learned about him over the years.

He was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland.

He loved Jesus and wanted others to know Him truly.

He spent his adult years learning the Scriptures and then took it to the people who had been his masters.

God used Patrick mightily to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to all of Ireland.

How did we go from telling people of Jesus Christ to drinking copious amounts of green beer to “celebrate” St Patrick?

Ironically like most of cultural elements in America, this became an exploited holiday that was once only a religious remembrance.

The first St Patrick’s Day parade was On March 17, 1762; Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City.

Now annually, the St Patrick’s Day parade in NYC is the largest parade of its kind in the world.

If you are interested in learning more of the cultural progression from sharing Christ with the lost to drinking at the break of dawn check out this site.

The work and words of Patrick of Ireland are worth celebrating today, this Sunday in Lent.

He made personal sacrifices so that others could have food and shelter.

He demonstrated his love for Jesus through actions as well as words.

He helped those he served among.

That is a character worth copying.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

(photo credit M. Dahl)

Reflections on the Cost of Being Frugal

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This past week of Lent has been very challenging for me.  Not because the theme has been frugality.  But in thinking of all the ways my husband and I have battled the culture and its influences for over 20 years in this specific area has really caused me to see what some of the costs have been to live a frugal life style.

And the hard part is the battle of resentment toward others. For being misunderstood.  For not seeing the value in the long run and ridiculing us for our choices.  For whining at me to “aw come on just this once” in trying to get me to go against my DH and his leadership.

It is not easy to see my black heart.  In fact it sickens me.  Oh how I need saving from myself!

Yes, we have chosen again and again to be like salmon. Going upstream against the current of culture. Making quiet sacrifices for the benefit of our sons and those who are less fortunate than ourselves.  I am not talking about these sacrifices for any one of you who read this to think “Wow what a super Christian Lisa is!” or even for you to think I am tooting my own horn and then say “How dare she point out all that she has done!”  Nope.  I am simply counting the cost of a frugal life.

I have died daily.  I want nice, brand new clothes. From Nordstrom or Dillards or Bloomingdales.  I want to remodel the bathrooms and use expensive materials and not do the work myself.  Actually I want to buy a bigger house already done up to the nines with acreage so I can have horses.  I want a new car every three years with all the bells and whistles.  I want. I want. I want.

Blegh!

I retired early from teaching; 1993 was the last year I was full time employed in a school district.  At that time I laid down my identity as a teacher to take up the identity of a stay at home mom.  Going from two professional salaries to one caused some upheaval for me.  Ask my DH.  He’s a saint to have stayed committed to me and this marriage.

This one was just 4 and 1/2 years old when I left teaching.  His smiles and fun loving personality made being at home and helping in his classroom at school a joy!

During his next two years there was a baby to come who went on ahead to wait for us and then this one joined our family.

Two sons.  So blessed.

Lots of work, folding, cleaning, reading, singing, camping, changing, growing, praying, learning, repeat.

The sacrifices of stuff compared to the time I had with them was the cost of a frugal life.

 

As I was folding the socks today and praying for the feet of the one still at home, it hit me.

The cost of a frugal life has been spent on the character of these two men.  I was struck by the realization.

And then struck by my own pettiness in holding onto the hurts from being misunderstood for our choices.  The cost of a frugal life has been real.  It has been external.  It has been temporal.

The money, career, prestige, and stuff will burn.  Who these men are toward God, His people and each other is eternal.

All I can do is say Thank You Lord for using what was hard for me to do without to in turn benefit others in ways I may never know.

Skin in the Game

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Interesting thought: to be really invested in something requires at least a piece of yourself. Skin in the game.

This morning as I read through the devotional entries and the Advent devotionals (yes plural) I saw something I had not put together before.  You may have already made this connection but I didn’t see it this way until today.

Way back, at the beginning of the Story, when our great-grandparents, Adam & Eve, made the choice to believe Satan’s lie, God came looking for them and asked “Where are you?”

It’s not like God didn’t know where Adam & Eve were.  He knew.  He questioned to allow them to confess.  When they did, God sacrificed a piece of Himself, His creation, and made coverings for them.

Fast forward to the Cross.  Jesus, the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God, sacrificed Himself for ALL humanity so that we can come home; home in the Presence of God. Wearing the covering He made through the sacrifice of Himself.

God has had skin in the game of Life since the beginning.  His plan is for us to be with Him.  Being in the game of Life with Him will cost you something: pride.

Are you in?

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