Sloth

I am reminded today that one of the seven deadly sins is sloth. After enjoying a day off yesterday celebrating my birthday by doing mostly just what I wanted to do, I'm finding it hard today to get back to work preparing to teach Sunday School and my classes next week, doing laundry, picking up and putting away and all those mundane chores that are required to keep a home functioning. Contemplating the work that needs to be done, I find myself wishing I could just goof off. But I also know myself well enough to know that I would not be content for too long if all I ever had to do was goof off. And besides as God has richly blessed me, I feel an obligation to use the gifts with which I have been blessed rather than just sitting here being slothful. I'm grateful for the ability and freedom to work at a job I like very much. Teaching is rewarding because of the interaction with the students, and because it forces me to keep learning. So this Labor Day weekend, I'm grateful for the opportunity and the ability to labor. Too many in this world are not so blessed.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

Signs of grace around us

As I was walking our dog, Moses, this morning, I was surprised to see an elderly neighbor buzzing down the road on his riding lawnmower. It was early and I've not seen him driving about the neighborhood before. But then I realized he was probably heading to the home of an elderly woman with Alzheimer's who lost her husband not long ago. And indeed he turned into her driveway. I had noticed her yard had grown up again. Shortly after her husband died, the neighbors got together and mowed, trimmed trees and hedges and generally fixed up the yard. Her husband had been frail for some time, but had insisted on continuing to do it for himself. His wife does not have the ability to keep the place up. In a world where the morning headlines speak of the unspeakable things we human beings do to each other on a regular basis, it was a small thing, but it warmed my heart. There are good things happening around us in this world. We just have to keep our eyes and hearts attuned to God's presence and to those who serve God here among us.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

And they shall come from east and west

We have been blessed to return for a visit with our new grandchild, now a week old, and our son and daughter-in-law and her mother, who is a blessing herself. It has also been an east-west cultural experience in which I have learned about Chinese customs surrounding a new baby, and have worked to try to care for our son as well by bringing his favorite dinner (spaghetti and meatballs) along. I've learned that the Chinese have a saying that the whole world is in a parents' heart, meaning that the children are a parent's whole world. Our son is now learning that about his son. How fast these innocent little ones capture our hearts. This is our third grandchild, and each is such a unique blessing. I'm so grateful to God for the grace of having lived long enough to experience this. To every thing there is a season, and my season now is that of a Grandmother/Abuela/Nai Nai,with a full heart. Thanks be to God!

Bittersweet

I talked with our neighbors this morning as I returned from walking our dog, Moses, and I learned that they are taking their oldest child off to college today. His mama commented that she couldn't believe how fast the time had gone (meaning his life since birth), and then said she knew I understood as we now have grandchildren. I wished her well and said I knew taking a child off to school for the first time is such a bittersweet experience. She agreed as we both got a little teary-eyed. I still remember taking our sons off to college (I even remember when they started kindergarten!), and while I would not trade the adult relationships we now have for the ones we had when they were teenagers, I do miss having them around.

As I watched our first born hold his first born for the first time a week ago, I was forcefully reminded that at the moment they are born,our children begin their journey away from us. Literally at birth, as well as when they leave home for college, but also in more subtle ways in between, and after they leave home for that matter as they create families of their own and pursue their own careers. After all that is the job of children, to learn to stand on their own and make their way in the world. And our job as parents is to help them do that using all the resources we can muster as we love them no matter what. But it is a bittersweet journey--full of pride, and love and grief as the tiny baby we held close grows to adulthood. Thankfully God is with us on this journey. Otherwise I would not have survived thus far!

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

New Every Morning

We just returned from choir practice (the first after a summer break) and rehearsing a Cindy Berry piece for Sunday, "New Every Morning." I love the lyrics, especially "in Your mercy You have given me an anchor for my soul." It's good to be reminded that God's mercies are new every morning. I found myself this morning still half-asleep walking Moses, our dog, and wondering why, since I had just walked around the old live oak tree at the end of our subdivision not many hours earlier after supper last night. But then I began to think about those who don't have a safe place to walk, or legs to walk with for that matter, and I found my eyes opening to the beauty of God's world around me as the day warmed up. I remembered that I walk every day because I try to take care of my body. I hope I will be around to dance at my grandchildren's weddings. I've learned that exercise is like brushing your teeth, you have to do it every day. It's not something you can do once in awhile and be effective. I've learned that prayer is like that too. A relationship with God is like any other relationship, it takes daily time and effort. I pray God will continue to allow me time to exercise this aging body in God's beautiful creation and my aging soul in God's presence through prayer.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

Forgiveness

I was struck by Eugene Peterson's version of a familiar verse from Mark, which I read this morning. In The Message, Mark 11:26, Jesus tells his disciples, "And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it's not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive--only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins."

I'm good at asking, but not so good at forgiving, not even the small things sometimes. I've learned that I am best able to forgive when I remember to ask God's help. On my own I simply cannot get there. And even with God's help, it frequently takes awhile. Perhaps that's why Jesus reminded the disciples that they needed to be willing to forgive if they expected God to forgive them.

I think there's more to this than a not-so-thinly-veiled threat. I think perhaps what Jesus meant was that unless we are willing to grant forgiveness to others, we will never be able to comprehend how God can possibly forgive us. And thus we will be unable to accept God's great gift of forgiveness for ourselves. For my part, I know I will have to keep working on this long as I live, and for all I know into the next life as well. For as the Psalmist wrote so long ago, I know my sins, and they are forever before me. Wash me clean, Lord, for You are the only one who can. May you find it in your heart, with God's help, to forgive others, so that you can experience God's mercy and love when you need forgiveness yourself.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

Great Peace

We have just returned home from visiting our son and daughter-in-law and our new grandson, whose Chinese name means Great Peace. He is a beautiful, healthy little boy, and I'm so grateful to God for his safe arrival and for his mom's well-being. He did not have an easy entry into this life. I'm thankful for the God who watches over me and my children and their children. And also for the blessing of this new life. I pray his life will be full of the Great Peace his name promises. May your life also be filled with the peace of God that passes all understanding.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue