Author: kmmccaleb

Weeds

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Weeds grow, well, like weeds. They grow tall and thick and quickly. They don’t need much water and they can grow in terrible soil.

At church, Pastor Matt recently did a sermon on the need to pull the weeds out of our souls. The context was a sermon series on the fruit of the Spirit and how the fruit won’t / can’t grow if our souls are full of weeds.

The weeds will always win, Pastor Matt said, unless we get rid of them. They will continuously take over unless pulled out by the roots.

I was mulling over this sermon as I was riding my horse through a particularly thick patch of weeds in an remote pasture the other night. The weeds were over my head even as I was sitting on my horse. In other words, they were about 8-9 feet tall. This forest of unwelcome foliage had grown and flourished in spite of a particularly bad drought and in mostly terribly rocky soil and with zero effort on part of the land owner.

I then thought about the correlation of the weeds in this field and the weeds in my soul:

  • weeds = sins, roots of sins, sickness of soul
  • soil choked in drought = a soul with no nourishment from Scripture
  • remote pasture = no community, no fellowship, no soul care-taking

As my horse and I navigated this ugly patch of tall, strong, smelly weeds, I received renewed encouragement to weed in the pasture of my soul and bring to it the water of Scripture and the care-taking of community and fellowship 

Deep thoughts on riding horses

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This past Saturday I went out riding with some barn buddies. At any given point on our ride, at least one of our horses was being goofy.

I was riding my four year old, Caspian, who has frequent bouts of no steering and no brakes. It’s a four year old thing, and won’t last forever, I keep telling myself.

Another horse on the ride freaked at a bird in a bush and jumped like a deer.

We started having a conversation shortly after this that went as follows:

We get on 1000+ pound animals who have a strong flight instinct.
They may or may not stop and turn when we need them to.
They only get scared by two things (things that move and things that don’t move), but when they do, they jump and run like deer.
They have the mind of two year old humans and you have to use that kind of “reasoning” to talk them through whatever stubborn, angry, scared, or all of the above emotions they may be currently feeling. 

And we do all this under no duress and very willingly! We ARE crazy horse people!

Daily Life

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My life looks very different from (one of) my sister(s). This sister has the hardest job in the world – she is raising the next generation. She is not only raising kiddos, but she is also raising one tiger, one bear, and a future to-be-named (I’m voting for a lion cub). Read her blog and she will quickly become your new heroine.

In contrast to her daily life, here is a snapshot of mine of late:

  • work projects that are both tedious and rewarding
  • wrapping up one job this month and venturing into a completely new one next month
  • twice daily walks with Mr. Darcy as he is wrapping his physical therapy post-surgery.
  • complete enjoyment of working with and riding Caspian. This has been a long-time coming and the fruit of efforts from Eryn, Virginia, Shelly, JR, and many more. 
  • root beer floats and tex mex!
  • working with a blind horse and a paralytic student at ROCK and getting perpetually reminded that even the seeming “worthless” things have reason and beauty and purpose. 
  • a weekly small group at church of dear friends, where we are learning to go through life’s ups and downs and sideways turns together

I trust that while I am not raising the next generation, the work I’m doing is nonetheless exactly where He wants me.

For eternity

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Life on Earth is a Prologue. It is a whisper of eternity. When our life on earth ends, it is not THE END. It is the BEGINNING. The life we live prepares us for eternity. How differently we would live our lives if we thought of it as training or preparation for a different life in another place.

Life is a proving ground where we learn our own strength. It’s where we learn to be what we were originally created to be. But instead of being able to live as we were created to live, we must spend our lives re-learning what was erased by the Fall. We must re-learn how to love, how to hope, how to have joy. And all this must be done in the confines of a fleshly body that is decaying and prone to limp and stray.
It’s all part of Restoration. God is about the Restoration and has asked a frail, ragged army of skeletons to join Him in the work. And as we join in, we are slowly and painfully transformed from skeleton to sculpture and from sculpture to saint. This transformation is a mystery that is not beyond God. It’s all part of His Restoration process. And when the Restoration is complete, there will be no more tears, all things will be made new, and we will be with Him for eternity.

Not as a stranger

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I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord;
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live;
and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

I know that my Redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth;
and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God;
whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold,
and not as a stranger.

For none of us liveth to himself,
and no man dieth to himself.
For if we live, we live unto the Lord;
and if we die, we die unto the Lord.
Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord;
even so saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors.

~ Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde
Anthem in Procession from Chuck Colson’s funeral

Girls’ Week

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  • many Jane Austen movies.
  • walks.
  • interrupted sleep by little ones.
  • reading.
  • lightbulbs.
  • dead mice and very large bugs.
  • conversation over dinner about the topic of crying. We discussed it from every angle.
  • a cabin in the woods.
  • discovering new music.
  • telling our stories.
  • fork the shirt!
  • reunion of the fearsome foursome.
  • popcorn and brownies.
  • Eryn’s homemade chai lattes.
  • canasta and dutch blitz.
  • foggy, misty morning.
  • naps.

A Classic and a Reminder

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When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul. 
    It is well, with my soul,
    It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Proverbs 12:10 (a)

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Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast. ~ Proverbs 12:10

I am a little bit of a basket-case this morning and I am working in my office alone, with no Mr. Darcy. He is currently at the vet getting x-rays and measurements for hip surgery next week. I dropped him off this morning and as they took him back, he cheerfully trotted with the vet tech and looked back at me like he was asking if I was coming with him. It’s a good thing no one at the front desk talked to me, since I wouldn’t have been able to talk.

The verse above from Proverbs has comforted me this morning as we prep for a difficult few weeks ahead.

Sunday in Jerusalem

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Luke 24:1-12; John 20: the Tomb is empty and Jesus is risen, just like He said He would!

The Garden of the tomb is absolutely beautiful.

the empty tomb

 
Revelation 21:4-5: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”