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?

Undercover

You've seen them around town, those rolling billboards that change any beater into a magnificent display of artistry. I even thought about getting one for my old Honda before we sold it.

"Is that a 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass? Well no, it's a steamy, cheesy slice of hot and ready pizza!"

It's the vehicle wrap: the cost-effective and broad-reaching advertising and marketing method. Did you know that one delivery truck with an effective vehicle wrap can generate millions of impressions? At least that is what the salesman will tell you.

Some of us, uh, I mean some of you, spend a lot of time deciding what we are going to wear for the day. We match, iron, tuck, press, shine, all so that we will look good when we are out in public. Then we grab our wrap, slip it on, head out the door, and viola...we cover up our true selves. We also carry wraps around in our pockets and purses just in case an advertising opportunity presents itself or we need to display a different product for our viewing audience.

There's Jane from the office. Better put on my "so good to see you" wrap.
There's the preacher. Better put on my "looking forward to Sunday" wrap.
Here comes you know who. Better put on my "I'm having a fake phone conversation so you won't talk to me" wrap.

Or how about this:

Time to go home. Better take off my "do anything for anyone" wrap and put on my "I've worked hard all day so you do it" wrap.

Those wraps are pretty convenient and we can be so creative with the design. But sometimes the impression we are generating is not the one that serves the best interest of ourselves and others. We need to practice more truth in advertising.
I know a place where you can find some inexpensive, attractive wraps that will benefit a lot of people, including yourself...

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Colossians 3:12-14

No other form of advertising offers more return on your investment.

Son Glasses

Have you ever felt like Thomas? "If I could only see the evidence God then I would believe."

Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." John 20:24

When I am on this side of a situation or circumstance that has tested my faith it is easy for me to look on that event and ask, "How could I have doubted or been uncertain?" My faith is much stronger today than it was even three months ago but the daily attention that a growing faith requires is sometimes very challenging to manage.

I have to learn to stop squinting through life. You know, like when a light is shining in your face so bright that you can't fully open your eyes - when you see someone having a physically painful experience - when a circumstance is so hard to watch that we must nearly shut our eyes.

Compare your life to that of the apostles:

• They stared at a hillside full of thousands of hungry people and asked what they were to do.
• They were tossed about in a torrential storm and cried out with fear.
• They saw time and again the power of Jesus revealed in healing and other miracles and still they did not instinctively turn their challenge over to Christ.

I find myself too many times seeking first my own solution to a challenge in life before taking that before my God. As the Casting Crowns song says

Oh what I would do to have the kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in, onto the crashing sea. To step out of my comfort zone into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is...

My prayer is that God will open the eyes of my faith to the way He has and does work in my life so that I might be an effective and powerful witness to His love and grace. I have to look at life through the eyes of Jesus.

Put your Son glasses on and open your eyes of faith to a world around you filled with possibilities to do and receive good. Squinting gives you crows feet anyway.

Mulligan

For those who do not golf a "mulligan" is the term used for a retake shot, usually after your first one has gone errant. It's like hitting the reset button. It's a do-over.

Okay. So I got up this morning not feeling very well. Sinus stuff starting and the cough is settling in for a drawn-out visit. The first thing on my mind was how tired I felt. Run-down. Shower - shave - dress - the entire time my mind was off thinking about

• All of the tasks I need to complete over the next few days.
• The commitments I have made that I am pressed to fulfill.
• The people I need to contact.
• The repairs that need to be made.
• The yard that needs to be mowed.
• The studying I need to do
• The...

Then my mind is defibrillated from its frantic and erratic path of non-productivity by the faint, yet familiar, sounds coming from the bedroom...

"I got 'da joey, joey, joey, joey, dow in 'na hart - where?..."

I'll take a mulligan on this hole please. Quite the contrast between how I started my day and how the kids started theirs. No wonder Jesus said

"Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

Thank you Lord for the blessing of this day.

Do you need a mulligan?

On the fringe...

When I was in Jamaica a few weeks ago, we ate at a cool restaurant named "The Ruins." They had a sizable waterfall that was the centerpiece of this outdoor establishment. After we ate we walked up to the top of the waterfall and I saw this...

These are some sort of hard-shelled something that fell from trees surrounding the waterfall. The peculiar thing was that these shells were in an alcove and were being grouped together by the pressure of the passing water. They were stuck on the fringe. They all came from the same source but these few had been pulled into perpetuity.

If they could just break free from the torrent of the passing water - if the water would just stop running - if they could just work together and use their collective strength - if some big stick or other debris would show up and maybe dislodge them - if one shell would just move a little to the right - then they might be freed from their hopeless situation. But, there they remain - in perpetuity.

Do you ever feel like these shells? Ever feel like you are stuck in perpetuity of a hopeless situation - trapped by the pressure of the world rushing by? Pinned down by the regret and shame of decisions you have made in your life? Maybe being blocked by someone else who is keeping you from reaching your goals? If only the water would just stop - if only someone else would come and dislodge me - if only this group surrounding me would move a little to the right - then I can be free.

"...If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin...so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:31-36)

We all come from the same source but our decisions can separate us from the same destination. Thanks to Jesus we are not left in a perpetual condition of uncertainty. We may find ourselves trapped by the torrent of this world, but we do not have to stay trapped. There is not only hope but certainty.

Are you abiding in the Word? Are you on the fringe of making a change?