Merry Christmas!

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System Restore

Restore Point

1 Samuel 12:20  “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.

 Computers have a handy dandy function called System Restore.  Its purpose is to “undo harmful changes to your system and to restore its performance and settings.”  This set up provides an easy fix when you’ve upset the mysterious critical balance inside a computer.  It takes you back to a restore point, a time previous to the change.  In effect, it’s as if that change had never happened.  Somehow the slate, or hard drive, is wiped clean of the mistake.

I wish we had a restore point.  I wish somehow we could go back to just before we said that mean thing, or did that spiteful, selfish or reckless deed, and restore our performance and settings.  I’m not talking about time travel, because that’s much too complicated and the time/space continuum is too easily disrupted.  (I know that from watching Star Trek.) When you perform a system restore, you don’t lose your recent work.  Somehow the computer figures out the critical error and only makes an adjustment in that area.  I’d like to reset my spirit without losing all my experiences and work, to the time just before I’d sinned.  I’d like to be clean, innocent, unburdened, and unashamed.

Our instinct is to turn away from God when we know we’ve sinned.  Adam and Eve tried to hide because of their guilt. Several years ago, during a visit with our eldest son and his family, my youngest granddaughter, not yet three, came to me crying.  She lisped, “Sorry,” as she looked everywhere but at me.  I took her little shoulders, turned her to me and asked her why she was saying sorry.  She cried out, “Broke...lamp!”

We all know how she felt.  When we’ve deliberately played with temptation and been carried away, out of control, the last thing we want to do is talk to God about it.  It’s easy to put off or forget time with the Lord, when we know that confession must come first.  We find excuses for not praying, or we let our work consume us.  Our performance and settings do not function properly.  In other words, we turn away.

In chapter twelve of 1 Samuel, the old prophet is giving his farewell speech.  He leans quite heavily on the Israelites and speaks convincingly of the enormity of their sin in requesting a king.  He reiterates how faithful God has been from the time he brought them out of Egypt, through the conquest of the Promised Land until now.  They have taken their eyes off God, and think a king will save them.  Samuel has them persuaded of their sin, and evidently their shame is evident - for he tells them, yes, you’ve done all these evil things...but don’t turn away from God.  Rather, jump in wholeheartedly and serve him again.  Even with a king, even with the evidence of their sin in front of their eyes, he asked them to try again.

How can we do this?  Only because of mercy, and by grace.  Forgiveness is akin to a system restore.  Here is the promise: If we confess , he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all the wrongs.  In other words, He takes the critical error off our hard drive and wipes it clean.  And it isn’t even kept in his memory so he can bring it up later and remind us.  I think God knows that between us and Satan there is enough memory to go around.  My husband says it well - Guilt is the gift that keeps on giving. But truly, our sin is remembered no more by the only one who has the right to forgive it.  With confession, System Restore becomes a reality and we emerge clean, innocent, unburdened and unashamed.

Hope Persists

We had a family birthday party a while ago, celebrating three birthdays that all occur within three weeks or so. We met at Neal and Tracy's house: all my siblings, my parents and some of the grand kids. Picture taking started, and it wasn't long before someone said, let's get all the siblings. They counted off six, and said, you're all here. And in my mind I thought, no, we are seven.

I talked with Russell about it later, telling him I didn't want a picture without Neal. There were only two brothers there, not three, and even though I've navigated some of this journey through grief, I still have a tenuous sense of reality sometimes - how is it possible that Neal is not here?

I'm old to be starting Grief 101. Many have been acquainted with it far longer and at an earlier age. I'm learning, taking baby steps, just like my four year old grandson, whose counting and alphabet are perfect one day, then all over the spectrum the next. I'll think I've turned a corner, and then I'm crying every day again. I hear a song and feel like I've been punched in the chest. I read a book and dissolve into a tangle of questions. I speak boldly about trusting God and his goodness at the same time that I'm wrestling with  niggling doubts.

I think grief may always be there, like a bad sunburn, just below the surface of each day. At birthdays, reunions, anniversaries it will flare up and hurt again, for a while.

My big-hearted husband held me, and cried with me, then gently said, this is your family now. This is the new normal. And I know he's right. The picture has changed, and it will change some more, probably many times. But hope persists, and we will be seven again someday.

Christmas 2018

Christmas 2018

  

God has made so many promises to us and has proven himself faithful time after time. In a year defined by upheaval, uncertainty, adjustments and grief, those promises are bedrock. The world changes, but he never does!

We moved to Maine in April where Russell is now pastor at the Goodwins Mills Advent Christian Church. Incidentally, Noelle’s grandfather pastored here in the 40s. Our first Sunday here, Noelle’s beloved brother Neal, passed away from esophageal cancer. Thankfully we were able to see him two days before, and we know he is with Jesus now. But this loss has been difficult. Other family illnesses and struggles have occurred that made us thankful to be close to Noelle’s parents and siblings.

Our church family has been kind and gracious as we’ve settled in. Our new home is in a lovely spot and we’re delighting in an abundance of water, woods and (sort of) winter! (Our blood got so thin in Oklahoma…we’re really feeling the cold!)

Russell is enjoying ministry in southern Maine, and apart from his work at the church, he serves on the Ministerial Board for the state conference. He still lifts weights, enjoys video games, and plays Scrabble and Words with Friends and chess with his favorite gamers! We were thankful to be able to visit his mom in Florida recently for her 90^th birthday! We adopted two middle-aged cats in November – 7-year-old siblings named Gooseberry and Moose. After their own adjustment, they have enhanced our lives by sleeping and eating!

Noelle finished book number four this year and is actively working towards finding an agent for this one. She cares for Owen and the whole family, and enjoys reading, writing and other crafts in her spare time. It’s a blessing to be so close to family and to see many of her siblings quite routinely. We had twenty-five here for Thanksgiving!

Emily was in the middle of classes for radiography when we moved, and she wasn’t able to get into a similar course until next fall, or later. So now she is pursuing a slightly different course beginning in January. She is going to be certified in massage therapy and be finished by the end of July. For now, she’s working part time at Target and is caring for Owen.

Speaking of Owen, he started preschool in October and has transitioned to a new routine fairly smoothly. He keeps us all busy and laughing and frustrated and enamored every day! At four, he is articulate, loving, funny and has a great imagination. We are also reaping the benefits of helping with Owen: according to several studies, caring for grandchildren staves off Alzheimer’s and dementia!

Peter has one semester until he finishes his next degree in Cyber Security. He is looking at working while doing his masters and is pursuing several options. He has integrated into our new church at Goodwins Mills and is beloved by many!

Our Texas kids are busy and growing: this year they got a new dog, several chickens, a lizard and a hedgehog, in addition to their two dogs and two cats, and three kids. Gracen is fifteen and has her driver’s permit now. Zoe, at fourteen, is active in cross fit training and dead lifted 185 pounds!  Naomi will be twelve in March and she loves all the animals and cares for them and her family. Ryan and Crystal minister at Open Door Church apart from full time work and homeschooling. 

We’re grateful for our home, our family and friends, and we pray that you can see the blessings around you, and know the depth of God’s love, especially now in this Christmas season.  Love from all of us Carles and Storeys                                                                                             

Slow Fall

Go now.  You
  say there's nothing for you here - 
  but look - the black vault of sky,
  the still earth preparing, to hold its

  breath, for a time.

Go now.  You
  see - it's only a slow fall,
  revealing and baring
  their stark and lovely forms, to

  stand for a season,  

  unveiled.

Go now.  You
  miss the iron rising,
  still and frosted over - 
  stars spilled to earth, 

  alike for these days,
  in moonlight.

Go now.  We
  are buttoned up, protected,
  and in wonder, 

  sparing little thought 

  for the day we must -  

  no doubt,
  go too.

For Neal

Here is the book you never wrote.
Here are the secrets you couldn't suppress.
Here is the heart of what we needed to know.
Here is the song you never composed,
the poem in its infancy, tiny bones just unbending.

It's the joy a man has, you said - with joy! -  
even in a broken world.
The joy in coaxing music and grace from a thing once dead...
The joy in a simple life lived with purpose...
The joy in loving one so well and so long that love returned
staggers you.

Joy in faith.

Joy in the unknown.

Joy in beauty and truth and hope...
Even in sorrow and pain and doubt.

You, with your crooked smile - laughing at yourself, shrugging - said, 
I want to write about joy,
but I don't know how.

Oh my brother, your heart...

Your heart,
Your laugh,
Your song.

Your love, your mind, your faith, your great soul...

Oh my brother, your heart...

You are the book you never wrote.

You Be Okay

He placed his chubby hand on my chest, looked into my eyes and spoke gravely. "You be okay. You be okay." Owen, my three year old grandson, was pretending to pierce my ears with his Nerf dart gun. I was pretending to be nervous. So, he soothed me in a way that he obviously has been soothed.

His momma rocks him and holds him when he's hurt, upset, or afraid. She knows that his boo boos will heal and that his frustrations will pass. She realizes that his fears really won't harm him, (barking dogs, moving curtains) and that he can sleep in peace. So she tells him, even if he can't see it yet, that he'll be okay.

Sometimes I still feel like a kid. I am irrational, fearful and nervous. I know that life is unfair. I've seen it countless times. Yet I still expect fairness, and feel the sting when I'm disappointed.

I know that hurting happens. People get hurt, loved ones are lost. Grief must be endured. Yet I still reverberate with shock and surprise at the pain that comes.

I have been disappointed, disillusioned and disenchanted, and still fear that my plans may fall through, or my great idea will be rejected. See...a little kid.

My daughter has suffered with obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, for half her lifetime. It is an anxiety disorder which manifests itself through repetitive behaviors and obsessive thoughts. The workings of her mind are hidden. I can't see the fears that burden her, although I see what they do to her. She herself can discern how irrational her anxiety is, but that doesn't make it any less real. Once in a while she'll ask me, is everything going to be okay?

There is a reason that I always say - yes, everything is going to be okay, even when sometimes I ask that question myself. It's because of these words which are a balm to me, not just because they sound good, but because I know there is truth behind them. For every time I've been disappointed, hurt, sorrowful and anxious, there has been comfort, courage, hope and love in the words that I hold in my heart. Words like - 

When my heart was anxious within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. (Psalm 94:19 )

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28)

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1).

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalm 27:14)

Or these words from men and women of integrity who attest to the truth of God's presence and help - 

When we choose deliberately to obey him, then he will tax the remotest star and the last grain of sand to assist us with his almighty power. (Oswald Chambers)

The blacker the night around us grew, the brighter, truer and more beautiful burned the Word of God. (Corrie ten Boom)

Sometimes fear does not subside and one must choose to do it afraid. (Elisabeth Eliot)


Because I know that God is LOVE himself, that his timing is always perfect, that he knows our needs and that he cares about every little detail of our lives, because I trust that he has the answers even when I can't see them yet, and because he's promised to take all my fears, I can know, like Owen with his chubby little hand and his fathomless blue eyes, You be okay, you be okay.