Poop happens

A few days ago, I wasn’t watching where I was going and stepped in dog poop. I felt the warm mush ooze under my bare foot and, without looking, immediately knew what I had done, even before the smell reached my nostrils. Standing on my other foot, I yelled in utter disgust for my husband to come rescue me. He quickly arrived and removed the majority of the mess off my foot, and I proceeded to the bathroom for a good foot washing.

The unpleasant incident pushed my Recall button: I was 5 years old and my mother had just dressed me up real pretty in a new blouse and skirt she had recently sewn. We were going on a family outing, and I went outside to wait for our departure. As I waited, a little neighbor girl stopped by, just to hang out. We played for a short while, then, all of a sudden and with no warning, my friend picked up a stick, dipped it in nearby dog poop and smeared it down the front of my nice new white blouse. Shocked, hurt and angry, I ran into our house, crying. As my mother consoled me, she washed my face, pulled the dirty shirt off and replaced it with a clean one. She then undertook the unpleasant task of contacting the girl’s parents to inform them of what their little, jealous “angel” had done. As for me, it didn’t take long to recover from the trauma, and I went on to face many other unpleasant experiences common to young girls.

In mulling over these two incidents in my mind—one past, the other present—I thought, “There must be a spiritual application here.” And, sure enough, as I am apt to do, I came up with one.

As we walk through life in this downfallen, sinful world, we occasionally step in crud, because we don’t pay attention to where we are going, or we sin. Other times, we are just standing around minding our own business and, unexpectedly, someone picks up a stick and smears the “poop” of our culture all over us. How do we get rid of the crap and stench? Run crying to Jesus, who washes us clean, removes the filthy rags, replaces them with new ones and heals our spirits. Renewed, we get back in the game of life, until next time.

“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7, NIV).

Copyright © 2010

Saddle up your horses. We've got a trail to blaze!

I just returned from the funeral of my nephew, who died in a tragic accident, and, once again, have been prompted to think more deeply about life and death. My nephew was a charismatic man who embraced life and lived it with joy and enthusiasm. I believe in the blessed hope, that those who are followers of Jesus go to heaven but, initially, his passing overwhelmed me with a sense of fatalism. How could someone so vibrant and full of life suddenly be dead, gone? Why? When I woke up the morning after the accident, I didn't want to get out of bed. I felt incredible heaviness and depression, and told myself life is too painful, too hard.

Each day, my husband and I read several passages from the Bible and, that day we read, "The path of the wise leads to life above; they leave the grave behind" (Proverbs 15:24). It was a reminder that my nephew, a follower of Christ, was not actually dead. He is in heaven, still alive! He is gone from this earth, for sure, but lives on. If we, too, accept the free gift of salvation and follow Christ, we will live eternally. Such hope puts a whole different perspective on the passing of a loved one.

On the day of the funeral, Steven Curtis Chapman's song "The Great Adventure" kept going through my mind and it occurred to me that the lyrics describe the life of my nephew. Afterward, I learned from my son that, when he worked with my nephew in the early 1990s, "The Great Adventure" was one of my nephew's favorite songs.

Life is a great adventure, a gift from God to be embraced with enthusiasm. The task for those of us still on this earth is not to allow grief or hardship to stop us, but to do as my nephew did: Live life to the hilt, doing our utmost to follow Christ into the glorious unknown and the exciting adventures he has planned for us.

The Great Adventure

Started out this morning in the usual way. Chasing thoughts inside my head of all I had to do today.
Another time around the circle, try to make it better than the last.
I opened up the Bible, and I read about me. Said I'd been a prisoner and God's grace had set me free.
And somewhere between the pages, it hit me like a lightning bolt.
I saw a big frontier in front of me, and I heard somebody say, "Let's go!"


(chorus)
Saddle up your horses. We've got a trail to blaze! Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace.
Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown. This is a life like no other ... this is The Great Adventure!


(bridge)
Come on, get ready for the ride of your life. Gonna leave long-faced religion in a cloud of dust behind.
And discover all the new horizons just waiting to be explored. This is what we were created for.


(chorus)
Saddle up your horses. We've got a trail to blaze! Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace.
Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown. This is a life like no other ... this is The Great Adventure!


We'll travel over, over mountains so high. We'll go through valleys below.
Still, through it all, we'll find that this is the greatest journey that the human heart will ever see.
The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams.

Yeah ... O, saddle up your horses ... come on, get ready to ride!


(chorus)
Saddle up your horses. We've got a trail to blaze! Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace.
Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown. This is a life like no other ... this is The Great Adventure!

Copyright © 2010