The Spring is Moving

Well, after much thought and counsel I have decided to move the blog to Wordpress.  As of March 13, 2010, Caller's Spring on Blogger will no longer be updated. 

Please follow me to http://www.seanashberry.wordpress.com/ and thank you for reading my blog.  I look forward to growing with this new opportunity...Sean

The W-Zone

I noticed a sign like this one the other day and it got me to thinking.

What did the "w" stand for?  Well, it was obvious in that area that the "w" referred to "work zone."  So, at my present rate of travel and barring no traffic delays I should be cleared of the orange barrels in about 40 minutes...one playlist on my I-Pod.  And then I would be through this messy, inconvenient, and dangerous area of interstate.

Wouldn't it be nice if we had a sign in our lives that told us when we would be through the messy, inconvenient, and dangerous areas of our lives;  when the relief would come?  I mean, imagine:

• "2 months until end of unemployment zone"
• "3 days until end of sickness zone"
• "8 hours until end of worry zone"
• "10 minutes until end of pain zone"
  
• "5 weeks until end of ..."

How much easier it would be to endure life's messes and inconveniences.

When I worked in EMS one of the most frequent complaints we received was that we weren't moving fast enough.  Relief was not getting there as quickly as the one in need expected.  No one EVER called to complain that we arrived too soon!

The apostle Paul needed relief from something that burdened him.  He called it his "thorn in the flesh."  He wanted relief, he prayed for relief, and yet relief had not come.  Did God not love him?  After all, he had given his life to God and was sharing God's salvation with everyone he met.  Was he not doing enough?

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

2 Corinthians 12:8-9

Not everything we suffer in this world has a short duration.  But we can know that the love of God will remain with us not just through the w-zone but beyond.  That process is called faith and it is not something that is easy to develop.  It takes endurance with God's help.  (see Hebrews 11). 

But knowing that the power of Christ is made perfect in the times when we are weak, the times when we don't think we can make it through, is a promise that we, in Christ, have.

Because Jesus became weak, to the point of death on a cross, and God raised him up to a greater glory, he will also raise us up.

I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

Teetering

The title says it all.  That is what I have been doing since September...the last post...teetering on the verge of writing another one.  It is so easy to get out of the routine and it's not like I haven't had anything to say.  It's just that the phone doesn't work in the shower, texting while driving is against the law here, and various other inopportune moments have partnered with my moments of inspiration.  Okay, life got in the way.  BUT...thanks for coming back to the 'Spring' and I resolve in this new decade to be more diligent in maintaining the blog!  So, with that said...

Our 3-year old loves to run.  He loves to be chased.  So one of our evening rituals is that I chase him through the house.  Now, at 40/30 (that's 40 years old and 30lbs outta shape) it is to my advantage that we live in a small house and the span of our living room is just a few steps across.  But, for him it is enough and that is what is important.

One thing I have always done is stay close to him while we run and kind of nudge him in the back.  He will fall in quite the dramatic fashion and roll across the carpet laying there doing his best "possum" impersonation.  Then he jumps up and off we go again.

I have noticed over time that it takes a little more nudge to get him off balance.  He is growing .  He is getting stronger and his balance and coordination are improving.  He is learning how to handle losing his balance. 

Reminds me of what Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome:

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:1-5)

 Life pushes us at different times and at different strengths.  But, as our experience with God and subsequently our faith grow, then we become better able to maintain our balance.  There will be times when we still fall.  But it is also through those times that we build endurance and our time lying on life's basement floor will be shorter.  And the peace of God which comes from his Spirit in us will produce the character that continues to produce hope. 

None of this is automatic.  It is not without our desire for our faith to grow stronger.  It is not without our willingness to allow God to work through the good AND the not so good times in our lives.  It is not without an effort to cultivate a closer relationship with Him.  We have to make a choice.

Are you teetering?