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God Bless America

May28

Today is Memorial Day. Unlike Veteran’s Day, which is set aside to honor those who have served our country in military service, Memorial Day is to remember those who have actually paid the ultimate sacrifice: They lost their lives in the service of their country. Neither my dad nor my brother ever served in the military, but my grandfather did. He earned a Purple Heart for being injured in the Battle of the Argonne Forest in WWI. I also had a great-uncle I never got to meet because he died in WWII. And my uncle is a WWII vet. My father-in-law is a veteran. David’s grandfather was a veteran. My pastor’s son is an active-duty marine.

We are touched every day by those in the military service. But not all of us have experienced the death of a loved one because of it. My eldest child has aspirations of being a fighter pilot in the Air Force. I fully support him in that effort, but the idea of him actually flying in war scares me to death. He thinks it sounds exciting and adventurous. I only picture his handsome, youthful body being blown to bits. Would I hold him back? Not in a million years. Even if at this moment, his idea is not that of protecting freedom but simply doing what he loves, I think his goal is honorable.

Some people deride our military and our leaders by saying they have callously sent young men off to fight needless battles in foreign countries. I picture this:

Say you were out watering your lawn one warm summer afternoon, living the high life, loving your freedom, when all of a sudden you hear a scream from the house next door. What in the world is going on over there?  you might wonder. You might even look closer to see what was happening. You might see a husband beating his wife and children. You would be shocked, or maybe even annoyed that this drama is playing out next to your quiet yard.

But, you may think, that’s their problem. Let them take care of it. It’s not on my property they’re having this trouble. 

Really? Wouldn’t you call the police and report a case of domestic violence? If you saw someone threatening a young child with a gun, wouldn’t you do something about it, even if it wasn’t your own family? Or is your motto “don’t get involved”?

That’s how I pictured the situation in Iraq years ago. The people were being beaten down, killed, evilly oppressed by Sadam Hussein. It was not right for us to just sit by and do nothing. When people can’t fight for themselves, we have a moral obligation to fight for them. Proverbs 31:8 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed” (New Living Translation.)

Do our leaders always make the right decisions? No. Is war a terrible thing? Yes. Is it necessary to battle evil? Absolutely. I’m no war monger. Ask my boys. I hate guns and fighting and weapons of all kinds. But do I believe the oppressed need to be fought for? Yes.

Thank you, all you who have sent loved ones off to their deaths in the service of our country, to help ensure freedom everywhere, not just on American soil. I’m so sorry for your loss.

God bless America.

Thankful today for:

321. All our military personnel: past, present and future

322. A day to remember those who have died in service to their country

323. Finally being able to use my massage coupon from my sisters

324. Friends coming over this afternoon

325. Only a bit of wind from Beryl (as of yet)

326. The testimony of a family I don’t even know during the hard-fought battle of their infant son. He lost the battle yesterday and is now in the arms of Jesus.

What Teaching Has Taught Me

May26

Tuesday ends my second year as a second-grade teacher. If I think that I have been in that classroom simply to teach those 10 8- and 9-year-olds reading, writing and arithmetic, then I am sorely mistaken. I’ve been in there to learn things myself. Here are a few of those things:

Our innate desire for justice is very strong.

Other people cannot know what we need if we don’t tell them.

Forgiveness sought and given restores relationships.

Our desire to flee increases exponentially with the difficulty of the task before us.

Even though we might fight it, we thrive when there is order. Chaos makes us crazy.

I may hear you, but sometimes I’m not really listening.

I won’t really learn if I don’t participate.

Every time we get together is a reason to celebrate.

Thankful today for:
312. A good school year
313. Bug spray
314. Life lessons
315. Seeing old friends
316. 3-day weekends
317. Those who gave their lives in the service of our country
318. My nephew Aaron whose golden birthday was yesterday
319. The sound of a horse’s whinny
320. My co-teacher and TA this past year

Tough Lovin’

May16

“In the end, love must be a kind of discipline. If we love only with our feelings, we’re sunk–we may feel love one day and something quite other the next. Soon  after he came to live with me–he was eleven years old at the time–I realized I must learn to love with my will, not my feelings. I had to love him when he threw his shoe at the wall and cussed my dog, love him when he called me names I won’t repeat, love him when he refused to eat what I’d cooked after celebrating and preaching at three Sunday services . . . you get the idea.

“And so I enjoyed the warm feelings, the stuff of the heart, when it was present between us, as it sometimes was, even in the beginning. And when it wasn’t, there was the will to love him something like . . . a generator kicking in, a back up.

“I learned over a long period of trial and error to see in him what God made him to be. Wounded people use a lot of smoke and mirrors, they thrust the bitterness and rage out there like a shield. Then it becomes their banner, and finally, their weapon. But I stopped falling for the bitterness and rage. I didn’t stop knowing it was there–and there for a very good reason–but I stopped taking the bullet for it. With God’s help, I was able to start seeing through the smoke. I saw how bright he was, . . . how talented, and how possible it was for him to triumph over so much that hounded him.

“I stopped praying for God to change Dooley; I asked God to change me–to give me His eyes to see into the spirit of this exceptional broken boy.”

Father Tim Cavanagh, on how he loved his adopted son through the hard early years. (In the Company of Others by Jan Karon)

Family Sized

May9

Our family went out for dinner last night to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday. At the counter of the salad-bar restaurant, I was struck by something that I often see or hear: Posted on the glass was a coupon for a discount for a family meal. So what, right? Well, to them, “family” meant 2 adults and 2 kids. If you had more than that, you couldn’t get the discount. In our family, we happen to have 3 kids and 3 adults, as David’s mom lives with us. But even if extended family like that didn’t count, we’d be over their limit.

So why did this bother me last night as opposed to all the other times I’ve seen it? Well, I’ve been bothered by it before when I’ve heard a local radio station give away “family 4 packs.” I never try to win those prizes, because then I’d be leaving someone out. Even Disney World, the “happiest place on earth,” gets in on the conspiracy: If your child wins the Disney Doers and Dreamers award at their school, they only get 4 tickets to the park. If my child wins, which family member gets left out?

This might be pushing things a bit, but it spoke to me of how our society as a whole does not value children. Look at all the flack the Duggars have taken. Amongst my friends, we often joke about how outnumbered we are. The mom of one of my students recently invited all the teachers of her 3 boys to dinner at their house. They are new to our school, but wanted to keep the tradition they had started when their first child started school. Only, in the past, their boys had each had one teacher, and some of them were single, or older with no kids still at home. This year, their kids each have two teachers, and each of us has more than the requisite 2 kids. In fact, when added all together, the 6 of us have 23 kids.

Yes, family size is a choice–although sometimes it’s just God’s choice, not the choice of the family who might have wanted more, but God allowed them fewer for whatever reason–but wouldn’t it be great to see some advertisement or coupon stating that, whatever the size of your family, you get the discount? Why not just a “family pack,” adjusted to whatever size your family happens to be? Why doesn’t Disney just award a certificate for “family entry”? They could specify that it’s limited to nuclear families only. Now, granted, Disney doesn’t have to give away anything, and I should be grateful for what they do, but it’s just another of those subtle way of saying “smaller families are better.”

Most people I hear are appalled at the family-size limitations China dictates, but we get the same message in a more subtle way. My friend who just had her 6th kid hears, Are they all yours?” Like that’s just crazy.

Am I overreacting? Maybe. What do you think?

Psalm 127:3-5: “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.”

Thankful today for:

264. my 3 children

265. the rain

266. finding muffins in the refrigerator

267. a day off after an emotionally hard day

268. seeing God’s provision after I labor over our budget

269. the kids’ excitement over a hailstorm in the spring

What Do You Know?

May4

Several years ago, when Morgan was only about 4 or 5, her oldest brother went to a birthday party at a park. While they were there, the boys fished in the little lake for minnows. Justin caught one and put it in a little plastic bottle of water to bring home to show us. After showing it to me, he left it on the counter for Dad to see when he got home.

When David arrived, Justin went to get the bottle to show him his prize.

But where was the bottle?

What you need to know now is that young Morgan was in the habit of drinking from whatever cup or bottle she happened to see sitting around.

Morgan!

Sure enough, there in her room was the bottle. Apparently, she had drunk from it. Upon closer inspection, we saw that the fish was dead.

Eww.

Come to find out that the bottle had been full of the clean bottled water, and Justin had put the fish into it. The fish couldn’t survive in that environment, but at least Morgan hadn’t drunk the pond water.

I prayed for God’s mercy on a child’s foolishness, and watched for signs of some dread disease over the next several days. Thankfully, all was well.

My point is this: Sometimes we do things out of ignorance, not knowing that we’re hurting someone else or doing anything wrong. That doesn’t make us innocent, just as Morgan had no less drunk that water, but God’s mercy is great.

When I go clothes shopping or use my iPhone or watch something on TV, I don’t know all that has gone into getting that product into my hands. Has everyone been paid a fair wage for the work they’ve done to make that product? Has the CEO of the company been above board in his tax reporting or hiring practices? Are people anywhere at any time suffering so that I can watch my HDTV?

These are unanswered questions. I can’t follow the manufacturing trail for each and every product I use. Nor can I know the private lives of the executives of the companies from which I buy. I trust that God sees the suffering of the innocent. I don’t purposely buy or use things that have been brought to me by ill-gotten means. But there is evil in the world, and we have dedicated our lives to bringing the gospel into dark places. I just can’t know it all. In order to do that, I’d have to go back to the ways of my ancestors; living off the land I plow and plant, making my own clothes after weaving my own cloth after picking my own cotton. No electricity, no electronics, nothing that did not come by my own hand.

That just isn’t realistic in this day and age.

Pray for the persecuted. Bring the gospel to the lost. Listen to the voice and heart of God.

There is justice in the end. Now there’s something we can know.

Thankful today for:

249. mercy

250. 18 more days of school

251. knowing what’s for dinner

252. a playdate for my girl

253. a surprise in the mail from a friend

254. Facebook posts that make me laugh