Patience, Future Grace, and John Piper

It’s a lovely WA, late-Autumn day…I say its lovely not because the sun is shining, but because inside my home it is cozy and I have yummy smelling candles lit, and my cuddle-bunny is sleeping, and my coffee is hot and rich. I’m overlooking a pile of laundry and the dirt-bunnies skipping around under my table so that I can have this moment of relaxation. There will be time for that when my coffee’s gone.

This morning’s quiet time was a little bleary-eyed after a busy weekend, but I did glean a couple John Piper comments that seemed to hit my heart a little hard – probably because this is an area of conviction for me. I thought I’d share them as a sequel to my post, “Inconvenience Store”.

This is from John Piper's book, Battling Unbelief.

“Impatience is a form of unbelief. It’s what we begin to feel when we start to doubt the wisdom of God’s timing or the goodness of God’s guidance. It springs up in our hearts when our plan is interrupted or shattered….

…The opposite of impatience is…a deepening, ripening, peaceful willingness to wait for God in the unplanned place of obedience, and to walk with God at the unplanned place of obedience – to wait in his place, and go at his pace. And the key is faith in future grace.”

This definition strikes me. It seems like I spend my life learning to wait on the Lord’s place and time and never get past Kindergarten. The most notable and difficult wait of my life was the wait for God’s answer to my heart’s prayer for a child. I praise him for his perfect timing and his perfect answer and then fight him in my heart as I learn to wait in a new day. John Piper says, “Patience is the capacity to ‘wait and to endure’ without murmuring and disillusionment.” I’ve got a long way to go, baby!

He goes on, “ If we believed that our hold-up at the long red light was God’s keeping us back from an accident about to happen, we would be patient and happy to wait…

…The key to patience is faith in the future grace of God’s ‘glorious might’ to transform all our interruptions into rewards.” And the hard part is potentially not seeing any reward to the wait in this present age. I love to praise him for the wait he gave Jon and me when I look at Sarah Grace and see the perfect answer to our 7 years of prayer. But obviously, not all answers are as tangible, huggable, and present…sometimes the wait doesn’t end. I love this: “The strength of patience hangs on our capacity to believe that God is up to something good for us in all our delays and detours.” I’m so thankful that my God is compassionate and merciful, that his sovereign plan will not be thwarted (especially by me),

that in his sovereignty he is gracious.

This is not meant to be preachy. This is meant for me and for my heart that is ever wandering from these truths. As Jon and I fill out another application for adoption, start an update to our home-study, and deal with masses of paperwork, I pray that we will both rest in the strength that faith in future grace supplies. I love this quote from William Cowper,

“Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust him for his grace,

Behind a frowning providence,

He hides a smiling face.”

And this from Isaiah 64:4,

"From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear,

no eye has seen a God besides you,

who acts for those who wait for him.”

With that, my coffee is getting cold, and my laundry pile has not shrunk on iota, so I will go attend my home that desperately needs attending. Stay tuned for the much less preachy shoe blog…

Coffee Conniption

This will surprise you. Yesterday morning found me in the drive-up line at my convenient Bonney Lake Starbucks. Go ahead, smirk and nod your knowing little head. My excuse for yesterday's stop was wrapped up in having pulled out my hoard of Christmas music just that morning, a list of necessary errands yet to tackle, and the distinctive call of the new red cup. Frankly, I didn’t try very hard to resist. “Welcome to Starbucks! What can I get started for you?” The words alone make me happy.

I wasn’t prepared for the drama that was about to unfold before me. After I ordered my first peppermint mocha of the year, I waited. And waited. And…WHAT could be taking so long? The SUV with tinted windows and the Obama sticker had been stalled out at the window for EVER! Then I realized I could see the driver of the car reflecting in her side mirrors and she was not a happy lady. I watched as the barista attempted to hand first one rejected iced caramel macchiato then another to the Warped, Frustrated, too-tanned, too-jeweled driver. Of course, because I am my father’s daughter, I rolled down my window in spite of the rain so that I could get a better take on the situation.

I could go on, but in short, it took three baristas, and the store manager, and four attempts at the perfect iced macchiato before our coffee prima dona decided she’d ruined enough people’s mornings and drove off. As I drove up to the window with a very amused expression on my face, the barista hung his head and said something about it being a fun morning. I just laughed. Driving away with my nearly (I say ‘nearly’ because I didn’t spill it) perfect peppermint mocha I wondered what lesson I could take out of my little private theater and this is what I arrived upon:

1.) Let those who have called me a coffee snob take note.

2.) Be wary of iced caramel macchiato s as they are apparently very hard to make correctly.

3.) It should be made known that once The Red Cup has been introduced one should refrain from ordering iced drinks as it might negatively affect your attitude.

Deep stuff, I know.

Inconvenience Store

This is what Mr. Webster has to say about Convenience:
Pronunciation: \kən-ˈvēn-yən(t)s\
Function: noun

Date: 14th century

1 : fitness or suitability for performing an action or fulfilling a requirement

2 : something (as an appliance, device, or service) conducive to comfort or ease

3 : a suitable or convenient time

4 : freedom from discomfort : ease

On my drive home from Bible-study this morning, I lost count of how many convenience stores I passed after six. Funny thing to count, I agree. My little princess was sleeping blissfully in the back seat, having been fed and changed at Starbucks, and as I drove my thoughts were on how convenient it was that all was going according to my plan. I would get home, wrap her up in the blankets that I’d laid out before leaving this morning, and then I would have several hours to myself as she slept off her exhaustion, having played herself out in the nursery this morning. As I drove I was aware of my feelings of peace. I felt good about my mommy-role, and I felt good about the java in my red Starbucks cup. Funny thing, though. I knew that if my plan were disrupted, if my princess woke up when I went to transfer her from car to crib, if my coffee spilt, if I ran out of gas, or if any number of if’s happened, my sense of peace would vanish and I would become frustrated and irritable. Thus, my count of convenience stores began as I became aware of my obsession with all things convenient.

Here’s the facts, Ma’am: Being a mommy is not convenient. Being a wife is not convenient. Why? Because in order to fulfill those roles in a God-honoring way I must give up myself and my desires. Living in a culture of ease and comfort, it is so easy for me to fall into a self-focused mentality where the highest aim of my life is to eliminate discomfort. How contrary that is to God’s Word! My Father who graciously gives me all things, has promised me not a convenience store, but suffering, trial and persecution. A store of inconvenience. It is part of His good plan for my life to not make it a bed of roses and ease. My flesh finds this very inconvenient. My spirit knows that no good parent would deny difficulty to their child. In His infinite love for me He promises to rain on my garden that I might grow. He promises me a store of inconvenience.

This is the part I trip over (tell me I’m not alone!) - “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2-3) I tend to think of trials as big things like a job loss or persecution by unbelievers, but I’m pretty sure that this Scripture is also referring to when my princess wakes up an hour and a half early from her nap, or won’t stop fussing while I’m trying to fix dinner, or when I spill my coffee (undoubtedly a perfect cup) all over my lap in the car while I’m on the way to someplace that I’d like to look nice. These little inconveniences can throw off my joy-groove quicker than anything I know. And how sad that must be to my Father who is giving me good things. It is my prayer that I would not just accept what he gives me, but that I would rejoice in it steadfastly, convenient or not. That I would take the opportunity to grow when He waters me. I want my joy to be rooted in deeper stuff than whether things are comfortable and easy for me at the moment. I’m very convinced, however, that its not possible apart from God’s grace, which is why I hang my heart on this Scripture: “My grace is sufficient for you, My power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

                                                                   

Thank you, Lord!

At the Break

First blog.
Let's set the scene.
After 10,000 "wha-sat?"s, 26 exclamations of "Ouch!", and uncountable attempts to tell Mommy "NO" all within the first four hours of the day, I am presented with the beautiful sound of alone. I am at the forfront of the break otherwise known as naptime for my 18 month old whirlwind. The beauty of alone shines only once a day, usually around 12:15, and then for at least two hours, I hear my thoughts reuminating around and find that I can listen.  Often times my thoughts are centered on organizing the 31 tasks that need to be accomplished before alone is over, and yet today I find that I need to stop and enjoy the sound of my thoughts.

Lest the above paragraph sound like the rant of a disgruntaled and discontent house-wife, let me say that my happiest hours are spent in the company of my husband and princess. All the noise and sloppy kisses and messes are the answer to years of pointed prayer for a family. I will always take a day with my teething baby over a day with no children. I only mean to express the relief and refreshment that comes from solitude...the chance to enjoy from a distance.

So today, sitting with a pot of tea, a chocolate chip cookie, and the beautiful Fall sunlight attempting to refresh my fading freckles, I write my first blog at the break. The scene is set.

What's that I hear? Alone is over. I am being summoned back to Mommy-land by the sound of a certain new talker calling me to rescue her. What a beautiful sound...