Rusty

by Barbara Chadwick

Kenneth said, "Once upon a time this vehicle was new and shiny! Just think how proud they were of it. They brought it home and looked at it and polished it and showed it to their friends. They never thought that one day it would look like this."

It got me to thinking about rusty things:

• a closet door that squeaks (it could wake the dead!)
• an SOS pad used for three weeks
• a certain cookie pan if I put it in the dishwasher
• et cetera and ad infinitum

I'm sure you have your own list because we can't seem to get through life without some rust somewhere, especially here in Southeast Alaska!

There are things in my life that are rusty too. When someone asks me to play for a wedding, the first thought in my brain is, "I'm so rusty!" I have stressed daily practice with an emphasis on scales, chords and arpeggios for umpteen years of teaching piano. This kind of practice keeps your fingers nimble and responsive. When you neglect this practice your fingers act like they're rusty. You can play but the music isn't melodic and flowing. Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could just rub a little WD40 on my fingers and they would respond to my brain signals in an instant tickling the ivories as in years past?!

"If you don't use it you lose it." We often hear that phrase. It's true with a second language. After getting a diploma in Spanish at a Language School in San Antonio, Texas, Kenneth and I got to where we even dreamed in Spanish. We thought it was a milestone. We could converse fluently. But, we have not served in a Spanish church since 1982 and when we meet someone today who speaks only Spanish we can converse but our thoughts don't flow as they once did.

I'm trying to memorize one scripture verse each week. I think I'm doing well until I start to review from the beginning of the year. Then it feels like my brain is corroded. I stutter and hem and haw trying to get the right words in the correct order.

Wikipedea says that, "rust left alone will corrode, destroy, damage, degrade, disintegrate, cause collapse and breakdown."

In controlling rust every method mentioned has to do with taking some kind of action. You have to do something. In our spiritual lives we must guard against corrosion.

When you first see rust you have to scrub it away before it can do damage. Ann Graham Lotz says in I Saw The Lord, " Sin is deceptive and temptation always lurks at your doorstep. ... from time to time, I need a wake-up call to personal revival - a fresh experience and vision of Christ in order to open my eyes to His holiness and my helplessness and the eternal hope of the Cross. I need to come back to the Cross and get right with Him - not for forgiveness, since I am forgiven forever, but for sweet fellowship with Him and for power in His service. " (p.118)

We get lax and rusty in praising the God of all creation. It is easy to forget to thank Him for daily blessings. In Philippians chapter 4 Paul calls us to Rejoice. Then he reiterates, Rejoice!... in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

If We Do Not Give Up!

I can honestly say that I never really liked to exercise. It is hot and sweaty, I never really felt good when I got done, and it didn’t seem to make any difference. So, I just didn’t … exercise that is … until recently.

I have a friend who goes to the gym religiously and I had been watching her. She always has a lot of energy and she looks great. Then in the small group at our church two women have had to have knee surgeries and I know a couple of others outside of our group who’ve had knee troubles. So when I was out walking my dog and took a turn a bit sharply and my knee twinged and I thought, “Oh no, I’m old! My knees are giving out and I’m in my early 50’s! What am I going to do?” The answer was obvious … I was going to have to exercise. Ick! Or so I thought.

I joined a gym. I joined the first of June and went every day religiously for two months. Unbelievably, I found out several things about myself. First: I LOVE Zumba … it’s a kind of dance/exercise class. Unfortunately, my knees are not ready for Zumba. After three weeks I was forced to try out some of the other classes. I tried the yoga class … ick. I’m not a yoga person. I tried a cardio-kick class … ick X’s 2 … too much like trying to be the Karate Kid. But I found that I liked the Step class and Cardio Sculpt class. So, I went there for the rest of the summer. I enjoyed going to the classes because: there were other women to talk to and commiserate with; the music and the instructor kept pushing me to continue just a bit more; and when the class was over …. Well in about 30 minutes … I felt great! Like seriously, I felt better. Now my clothes fit better, I have more energy, and I enjoy the rush of being successful at something that I formerly was NOT successful at.

The Christian walk … or as the early Christians calledl it … The Way … is a bit like that sometimes. Sometimes it’s hard to see the benefit or profit in what you’re asked to do … loving others, serving others, self-sacrifice, self-discipline, fasting, praying, considering others as better than yourself … but if you persist, if you find a group of people to do it with, if you don’t give up … you WILL reap a reward … and it WILL be worth it!

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus

One smile of His dear face all sorrows will erase

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time We Will Reap A Harvest IF WE DO NOT GIVE UP. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galations 6:7-10

The Purse

by Barbara Chadwick

I almost bought a purse this afternoon.

My granddaughter, Abigail, was trying on some clothes for school so I was walking around and behold there was the neatest purse! I picked it up to check if it had enough pockets for all the things I have to carry!

You know, Kleenex, 3 shades of lipstick, a notebook (in case I think of something incredible to write!) my calendar, cell phone, 2 pens and a pencil, a zippered pouch for loose change, one side for make-up and one side for cough drops, gum and Gas X, and a place for my keys. Only the essentials.

I take it with me at all times just like the mother on Golden Girls (Well, actually, I don't carry it to the living room like she did.)

Anyway, so here I am, in the purses, waiting for Abigail. I am enthralled with this purse. So I put it in the cart and start to move away - but wait - here's a different one. It might even be more sassy. I examine it, put it back and note where it is in case it might really be the one.

But lest I go away and actually miss the right one, I begin to look at all of them. I put a couple more into the cart (to be able to make an intelligent decision.) It has now been about 45 minutes since I saw the first purse.

I reach for a kleenex and my eyes see my old purse. I bought it in March. It still looks nice. There are no smudges or scratches. It is not discolored. It has not lost it's shape. In fact, it looks good. I like it.

I begin to put the purses back on the shelf.

I start thinking about why I wanted to buy a purse in the first place. Oh yeah, because it caught my eye and I do have that gift certificate from my birthday.

Jesus said, Don't collect for youselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth... Matthew 6:19-20

OK. I don't think moths or rust will destroy a new purse and probably thieves wouldn't break in to steal it. However, it also is not a treasure for heaven. Kenneth will not put it in the casket with me!

In verse 28 He says, Why do you worry about clothes? (or purses to carry) Ouch!

Verse 31, So, don't worry saying...What will we wear (or carry?) ... Seek first the kingdom of God and His Righteousness...

I don't think the Lord cares what purse I carry but I know He wants First Place in my heart. And that's what I really want - for Jesus to have First Place in my heart and in my thoughts.

The Progress of One Pilgrim

Re-reading Pilgrim’s Progress has been so inspiring for me this time around. Not sure why, but perhaps I’m just relating more closely to this particular Pilgrim’s progress J For example: Christian and Hopeful made it through Vanity Fair and though they lost their dear friend Faithful (he was killed by the people in town) they are encouraged in their desire to be more faithful. They arrive at Pleasant Meadows and are so refreshed, it’s been such a long time since they were really able to relax.

But when they leave Pleasant Meadows they find that the going is really rough. And just outside The Way … I mean it’s so close that they had difficulty telling which way they should go … they saw this other path that was running parallel to The Way and Christian is like “Look, this path is so much easier and we can still see The Way and it’s going the same way. When it veer’s off we’ll just get back on The Way.” So what could be wrong with that? The problem? Well they got to focusing on the pleasantness of their walk and soon they lost sight of The Way and when they stopped to rest they fell asleep and they awoke to Giant Despair poking them and he took them off to Doubting Castle.

My husband and I have traveled quite a bit. We’ve lived in England, Panama, California (Oh wait that’s part of the US J We’ve lived in Alaska, California, New Mexico, Texas, Utah. We (one or both of us) have traveled from Washington State to Washington D.C. and 20+ states in between as well as out of country to: France, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Ecuador. And in all our travels, I have never seen a map as straight at the map of Pilgrim’s Progress.

As I was reading this, it was brought back to my mind the number of times that I’ve just done something that was “easier”, “quicker”, a “short-cut” and found myself feeling so lost & alone, full of doubts & despair. And just like Christian, when I remembered that I had a key to get out of that dungeon I found that the key opened all the locks and I got free!

The Key? The promises of God. Here’s the difference between faith and religion. Faith doesn’t see how it will work, doesn’t really care. Faith knows that there’s hope and it believes. That belief is not a “head” knowledge but an action verb. Faith is NOT a noun; it’s a verb. If faith is not acted on, then it’s not faith … it’s religion. Pilgrim acted on his faith, claimed the promises of God and was freed from Doubting Castle and from the cruel hand of Giant Despair.

Today, I claim the promise of 1 John 1:9 “… if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” (NLT)

What promises do you need to claim today?