One More Thing About Plateaus

So here we are running free and running wild on this remarkable plateau. We feel the refreshment of a cold mountain waterfall after a hot summer day’s hike. Discovering, growing, learning, renewing. It’s great! But there is one more thing about plateaus. They often come at price. And some times they come at a very painful price.

I discovered the eye-popping, grace-awakening truth of submission to the Lordship of Christ just before I turned twenty. At that point in my life I was finally ready to acknowledge that there wasn’t peace doing things my way. But it took four years of stiff-necked selfishness and emptiness before I was open for God to swoop in with this life giving truth.

The next big plateau came almost twenty years later. I desperately needed to learn that Christ lives His life in me through the indwelling work of the Spirit. That nugget was received only after more personal struggle. Reflecting on that time I’ve said things such as, “Trying harder just wasn’t enough, and honestly we were both feeling like failures in marriage…Being a husband and father is enough to break a person. It seemed I was often reacting out of frustration. I remember one evening saying to God, ‘I just can't live the Christian life. I am a failure.’”

It seems that there is something in our humanness that makes us most prepared to receive a golden nugget of truth at our point of weakness. In humiliation and struggles, in brokenness and floundering the Lord is ready and willing to reveal Himself in new ways. It’s like He’s saying, “I’ve been waiting for you to get to the end of your rope, but is it ever worth it. I’ve got something really special waiting for you.”

I’ll have to tell you about our Mexico experience sometime. It was filled with challenges but has yielded up one of those valued plateaus. In the meantime let’s ask ourselves what lies behind the door of our current difficulties and what lush stately garden awaits us.

Plateaus

Plateaus get a bad rap. No athlete wants to hear the death blow whispers - “He’s plateaued.” It’s a kin to saying “washed up” or “failure.” I prefer to see plateaus as high lands filled with lush green fields, surrounded by dense forests with a stunning view of the valley below. It’s a place to be explored and refreshed before embarking on next part of the climb.

At a backward glance I can see that my personal growth has been one of plateaus. Life places where God has been very intentional to plunk a spiritual nugget in my heart, then give a few years and freedom to discover, to grow and to be refreshed before the ascent to the next plateau.

Without going out on a limb to say this is a norm, I do wonder if many of us haven’t had a similar experience. More than likely the nugget wasn’t brand new, but became so much more real that we were left wondering how we could have been blind to it for so long.

For me one of those plateaus was the ministry of the indwelling Spirit, and another was my true identity as a reconciled son of God. For others it might be an awareness of the depths of personal sin or the riches of the grace of God or the daily ministry of the Trinity. The specific truth theme isn’t so much the issue as is the refreshing aliveness God brings to it in our heart.

A few years ago a friend wrote a Christmas letter summing up his particular plateau. He said, “…while listening to that tape something dawned on me that 14 years of Christian School, 4 years of Bible College and a lifetime of Christian experience had never occurred to me. I realized that I was living my life for Christ instead of letting Him live His life through me. It was as if someone had opened a drapery and let the sunlight flood into a darkened room. Everything in the room was in order, but I had been stumbling in the dark. And now the orderliness of the room made sense for the first time because I can see its purpose more clearly.” He goes on to say, "This revelation is still so new to me that I haven't quite got a handle on it, and I suspect that I may never handle it because it is too wonderful for human comprehension."

Another friend paints this word picture of his, “Most of my life I have known the words of the Christian life, I just now feel as though I’m hearing the music.”

So, maybe we should give this whole plateau idea a second thought and a second chance. Expecting that for a life time God is going to surprise us with a twist on what we thought we already knew and letting us run wild on His plateaus.

Stories Worth Remembering…and Telling

“Daddy, what do these rocks mean piled up by the river?” “Grandpa, why on all other nights do we eat sitting, but on this night we eat reclining?” “Mommy, why is that altar built on the mountain?” “Why do you have shoe strings on the shelf?” “What is the meaning of that key?”

“Children, you do my heart good with your inquires. Curious items indeed and all part of the telling. I have a true and fascinating story to share with you of how God wondrously intersected our family’s life.”

Our first encounter with a memorial shelf came while visiting friends five years ago. Each item was thoughtfully placed to represent a significant story in their lives and one they want to be passed on from one generation to the next. Stories that say, we are a royal priesthood and a peculiar people. Stories that say that the Lord our God is not safe…but He is goodly awesome.

“Go over before the ark of the LORD your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.” Joshua 4:5-7b

“I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old – what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done…so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.” Psalm 78:2-4;6-7

So, being a man, a husband and a father who wants to rehearse to our children the faithfulness, power, wonders and praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, I figure it’s high time I get started. After a little coaching from the Scriptures and a little mentoring from our friends, we now have among other things a scrap of wood, a scorpion, shoe strings, wristband from Colombia and a key on our own memorial shelf. It’s just waiting for you to stop by for a cup of loose leaf tea and hear a story worth remembering…and telling.

Q & A For Home Ministry (aka Furlough)

So, what are you up to these days? Between traveling to report to our supporters, going for doctor and dentist check-ups and reconnecting with friends, we are moving into and organizing our house. It’s pure pandemonium.

Any first impressions of the US? I could take a whole journal to answer this one, but what we continually notice is the bigness of the United States. We seem to take some special satisfaction in doing things big – overstuffed furniture, big vehicles, wide lanes, super sized meals and big screen TV’s. The list goes on and on.

What do you miss about Mexico? Mexico is filled with open air cafes and restaurants. We miss having that available year round. Bright colors, fresh corn tortillas and u-turns. I really like the idea of u-turns – anytime, any place.

Anything you don’t miss? We don’t miss Microdyn! It’s the solution we used to soaked our fruits and vegetables. It’s really nice to just wash, rinse and eat. We don’t miss always watching over our shoulder for the police and the paranoia of it all. Nor do we miss altars, shrines, scorpions and dry itchy skin.

What foods have you been enjoying since returning? I know this sounds absurdly crazy, but we like Taco Bell even though it has little resemblance to authentic Mexican. And the $1 ice tea at McDonalds. Oh yeah, Turkey Hill ice cream. Which by the way I’m finishing off some chocolate peanut butter cup at 11:47 p.m. while I wait for Maria to get back from a trip to Carowinds.

What’s the funniest thing one of your kids has said in the last 24 hours? Christina and I were on the way to pick up one of her friends today when we passed a “bump” sign on the road. She said, “That was a bump? That wasn’t a bump daddy. Americans are so civilized.” Funny thing is she’s right.

And your plans for the next couple of months? Maria and Christina get back into the swing of things next week with school. They are so excited – not really! Daniel has settled on going to a Torchbearer’s school for the coming year. They have schools all across the world. This particular one is in Colorado. We still need to travel to Pittsburg, Vermont, Tennessee, Virginia and as well as make some stops in West Virginia.

Tell us a couple of interesting things in parting. I’m not sure how interesting it is, but we loved picking blueberries last week. I got a bocce ball set for my birthday if there are any bocce ball enthusiasts out there.