It’s Time

On August 17, 2012 a little runt was born part Australian Shepherd and part something else that was beautiful enough to have blended two breeds into a perfect little dog for me.

Ziti.

A mere twelve years later and her rambunctious spunk has sadly since gone. Her frisk and frolic are no longer present.   There has been no hurry in her pace and she’s lost her jumps and leaps up places she shouldn’t be.  We have had to walk around her weary body that hardly moves and lifelessly rests in the middle of our floor like a permanent rug that I wish I could keep.  Because I would!

But, it’s time.

How do I tell the little ones?  The ones that have never known me without my Z.  They know this house and this yard with her in it.  At best, her play has mustered a tired head raise.  I’m so jealous of the dogs that live to be eighteen.  She’s only twelve.  If only I could give her six more years.  Because I would!

But, it’s time.

I’ve always called her out for digging holes in the ground, but now there’s a spot that we’ll dig for her.  It is ground that she has claimed as her own.  It’s a place that she loves and it makes me want to change my mind because it’s better for me, but nothing is getting better for her.

There’s a time for every activity under heaven:

A time to give birth and a time to die;

A time to plant and a time to uproot;

A time to kill and a time to heal;

A time to tear down and a time to build;

A time to weep and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn and a time to dance

A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing;

A time to search and a time to count as lost;

A time to keep and a time to throw away;

A time to tear and a time to sew;

A time to be silent and a time to speak;

A time to love and a time to hate;

A time for war and a time for peace.

I wish I could turn it all back.

Because I would!

But, it’s time.

Ecclesiastes 3

Genealogy

Ruth Grace LeSueur (1893-1921)

I have recently been given a typed narrative of our family’s genealogy written by my Great Aunt Edna.  When I say typed, I mean a manual typewritten manuscript with inked ribbon.  Think 1900’s. Think bell and carriage-return lever.  Think Classic Courier font before correction tape.  A mistake was a mistake unless you scratched it out.  There were some scratched out.

I had already heard many of these family stories about my great-grandmother who was an abandoned child left at the doorstep of a minister’s house.  She was later adopted and saved into a loving home.  She sadly died an early death from giving birth to her fifth child before “taken to heaven.”  My great-grandfather was left with five small children, yet “kept the family so close together.”

There was a joy in reading Aunt Edna’s perspective with a likeness to what I had heard over the years about the father that raised them in the absence of a mother. I fear writing for posterity like this is a long lost art.

It’s from where we’ve come.

I can tell my children and grandchildren that we’ve come from a man “never too busy to take his children swimming or on a picnic.”  A man who instilled that his children “choose folks for character instead of material values.”  He had advice which was “wonderful the way he gave it and no children could say otherwise.”

I can tell them we’re from church-goers who attended “just as regular as anyone ever could.”  This church was always a part of their spiritual living.  It was in believing that their “mother had a hand in it even though she is in heaven.”

I can tell them the character of my great-grandfather encourages my soul.  A man I had never met but blessed to be told of his stories from old.  He was the most “gentlemanly man among men whose voice they never heard raised that lived a life as an example for all.”

I have no reason to believe that these stories aren’t true. It’s written and passed down by my ancestor who walked and talked with the one who did such marvelous things for them.

There’s another beautifully written narrative where we each share a story of a man that lived a life as an example.  His character is revealed in Scripture. He has advice which is “wonderful the way He gave it and no children can say otherwise.  I have no doubt His stories are true.  It’s written and passed down by those who walked and talked with the one who did such marvelous things for them.

“We will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord about His power and mighty wonders.  He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children so the next generation might know them - even the children not yet born - and they in turn will teach their own children.  So each generation should set its hope anew on God not forgetting His glorious miracles…then they will not refuse to give their hearts to God.”

It’s from where we’ve come.

Psalm 78:5-8

Intentions

This little fella had some big ol’ intentions.

He spotted the largest of all the containers in the play area and worked hard to pick it up.  With his high hopes, he tilted, poured and emptied the entire contents onto the middle of the floor.  It took him no time to size up the heap before he swiped, scrambled, and spread the pieces outside of his reach.   Before you can say Duplex Legos he lost heart.

Someone who does not understand the concept of time and feeling it insurmountable when asked to pick them up says, “No, I’m going to let it stay there 45 minutes.”

Someone who does understand the concept of time knew he had no intention of ever doing so.

This little side-stepper had put me off before with a discarded mess. One Thursday he wanted me to wait until “Monsday.”

Are you familiar with this little toddler timetable?

I know it well.

I too have all these well-meaning intentions collected.  I let them get all piled up in a heap. I allow apprehension to set in and change my mind.  Then before you can say hopes and aspirations,  I’ve lost heart.

Feelings of inadequacies can make the toddler timetable feel very comfortable.

Begin.  Hesitate.  Wait.  Doubt.  Quit.  Repeat.

We’re not alone here.  One of God’s main men Moses began in a similar fashion.  Except he never quit.

Moses didn’t think he was adequate. He even had a past history that could prove this true.  And yet, he never quit.  Moses was about to embark on the biggest assignment of his life.  There was a wilderness to navigate and a mountain to climb.  And yet, he never quit.  He was many years in as a leader to 12 grumbling, complaining and criticizing tribes of people.  God used him until the age of 120.  He just never quit.

The Lord said, “Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see?  Is it not I, the Lord…You’ll be able to tell wonderful stories to your grandchildren about the marvelous things I am doing.”

Let’s take heart, little fella.  He does this in spite of our weaknesses not the absence of them.

There are marvelous things He is doing.

Let’s not quit.

Exodus 4:11, 10:2

Snowstorm

I got the snow I wanted!

I’m all good now, weather forecasters.

It just takes more than say the average 1 or 2 inches to do the trick.  And can I just say freezing everything in its place for a number of days afterwards is always a winter gift.  I know positive positions on precipitation of the frozen kind don’t win many popularity votes. I’m related to one of those.  She’ll tell you that winter dills her pickle.

But, snowstorm predictions come so few and far between. Who doesn’t need to be frozen in place for a solid rest?

“God sends the snow like white wool; he scatters frost upon the ground like ashes.  Then at His command, it all melts.  He sends His winds, and the ice thaws. ”

So, it’s going to melt. He’ll command it.

We’ll all be thawed out before you know it.  Real soon I’m going to be troubled by the heat and humidity.

I imagine God is familiar with His cranky crew and fair-weather friends.

But, hey!

Choose winter art on your television screen.  Swing curtains open.  Heat beverage.  Don comfortable thermals. Cuddle under fleece blanket. Place Bible in lap.  Rest.

(Wait for mocking memes from daughters with toddlers.)

Laugh.

What better way to enjoy a snow day!

“For all who enter into God’s rest will find rest from their labors, just as God rested after creating the world.”

Psalm 147:16

Hebrews 4:9-11