Watering An Oak Tree

Last Thursday (6/28), I read something written by St. Irenaeus of Lyons (third century missionary).
He wrote-
"Could not God make people perfect right at the beginning?" someone may ask. Take the example of a very small child. The mother can give her baby grown up food, but the baby is still unable to take adult nourishment. Similarly, God could have given humanity perfection right at the beginning, but humanity could not have received it because it was only a child.

For that reason our Lord, who sums up all things in Himself, when He came on earth in these last days, came not in the full glory which He could have done, but in a form we could see. Certainly, He could have come in His imperishable glory, but we should not have been able to bear the greatness of His majesty.

Therefore, like giving milk to infants, the perfect Bread of the Father revealed Himself to us on earth in human form, so that we might be nourished by His Word like babes at the breast and so by degrees become strong enough to digest the whole Word of God.
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I dwelt on it for a little while and thought I understood what God was telling me. Today, I happened to open Outlook to check my emails before I started to write the blog. I opened one that was sent to me on Tuesday 6/26. The title was 'Oak or Squash?'.

" When God wants to make an oak, He takes a hundred years, but He takes only two months to make a squash. If you want to reach your full potential,you must be willing to pay the price of full preparation. It doesn't take much time or effort if you are willing to settle for less than you can be. There are no credible shortcuts available if you want want to achieve any other worthwhile goal. For example, many people want instant spirituality; like instant coffee or instant potatoes. Genuine spirituality is not gained that way. There are no shortcuts to spiritual growth. No gimmicks! It takes time to grow. Growth is a sequence, an orderly arrangement based on a rational decision to pay whatever price necessary. Paul describes what happens when Christians are unwilling to grow: "Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature,who because of the practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." (Hebrews 5:12-14 )Is spiritual immaturity your problem? If so, perhaps you have been unwilling to spend consistent time in worship through Bible study and prayer.It takes time to grow - that is, if you want to be an oak! "

Very simple lesson indeed. One more time God is reminding me that in all things, the timing is His and if I accept it, I will grow as He intends. I admit that in the back of my mind, I want Him to hurry and bring a quick and full recovery for Paul. I want the 'instant cure'. We all see the 'instant' everything around us in life. Everything is about doing it quicker, acquiring it faster. God, in His wisdom, shows us a different example. God knows what is in my mind and He is shining a light on the error of my thinking!

Slowly He is bringing Paul along his own pathway. Paul has the serenity needed to accept the slow pace that has been set by God. He enjoys his good days fully and patiently endures his painful days. His 'brain injury' has not affected his wisdom of God's ways in his life. He has said some of the most incredible things to me as a reminder that God's hand is guiding and directing our lives. He has taught me to accept my own painful headaches with less complaining. In fact, my sister Mary Beth said that she and her husband Mike both suffer from really bad migraine headaches. When they get one, they ask God to let Paul have relief from his pain while they are in pain. I have done that too and it helps me endure my pain so much more easily when I give the pain a 'point and purpose'. My awareness of others suffering has grown also. Slowly God is teaching us new ways to become the men and women He needs us to be. I find myself thanking God almost everyday now for the saving lessons that have come from the accident of 11/11/05. To be honest, it is a contradiction in terms to call it an accident. It has become a gift. Some oak trees were planted.

Paul has been having the time of his life at Topsail Island. He has taken daily walks with Abby on the beach and has really enjoyed letting the waves come splashing around his legs. (God waters an Oak tree!) He said Abby runs down the beach, but doesn't really get into the water. She isn't really crazy about letting the water get more than half way up her legs. (I hear you girl! My problem is that I am really afraid in water I can't see through. The ocean is awesome to look at and listen to, but I only enjoy getting into it up to my shins.) Paul's voice has taken on a deeper tone too. He talks without the slurring that was happening weeks ago and he speaks more assuredly. He doesn't repeat so many words in a sentence either. Mary Beth said that he got up the first morning at 6:30 AM to get his medicine all by himself. He had been up past 11 PM the night before! Jon called him yesterday around the time of his afternoon medication and he told Jon he was already on his way back to the house to get it. He has been very active and is really enjoying being with the family. He has been on a boat ride where the boat was driven slowly so it would not be too jarring for him. He had a terrific time and his voice was filled with joy when he described it.

Michael left last night and James leaves today. I am prayerful they will be able to enjoy some of the 'well' days with their brother. It has been a long walk for them too and they have not received as much attention from us as before. They too have learned more about love, patience and sharing. Last night, I came home from work and it had been a really difficult day. James and Jon both had really busy days too. I was extremely tired when I got home and was really worried about Mike leaving the house so late to drive over to the island. It is a 7 hour drive and it meant he would not get there until 1:00 AM. I have learned to trust God a lot more, but I felt Mike and Matt (he and Jerry are just like sons to us) were adding too much risk to the trip by leaving so late. I was upset before they left and after they left. I started to complain about other little things as I started my normal response to stress - I started to clean the house. When I start to really clean the house as I complain, the men in my house know I am upset. It's how I relieve the built up stress. James asked me to stop moving for a moment and come join him on the front porch. I followed him outside and he asked me to tell him what was really bothering me. I started to list everything and he said, "No, what is really bothering you." I thought about it and realized I was stricken with fear that something would happen to Michael and Matt and I had no control over it. He said, "Exactly. So pray about it and know that God will keep them from harm." He told me how he has to work so hard at the very same impulsive reaction as I had earlier. We all had really busy days and we still had to get ready ourselves, so there was that added stress. But is was the fear that put me over the top. James has grown so much since Paul's accident and he understands how quickly life can change. But he has grown in his trust in God and has really tried to look at himself and find the things that need to be changed, while he still has time to do it. He works hard at taking the time to stop and think about his emotions before they take control of him. He said he repeats the prayer he told me months ago and it helps him so much. Prayer................it does a body good.

Paul was calling Jon or me 2-3 times a day. We have only received 2 calls since he left. He called last night and said his ears were ringing really badly and there are now 3 tones he hears in his left ear. After talking to Mary Beth, we believe it might be a sinus issue. Mary Beth said she has some pressure in her ears and Kelly has had a sinus headache since she got there. He took a decongestant pill as he went to bed and I have not heard if it helped. I hope he doesn't start sliding backwards. He is so deserving of a pleasant vacation. He said his head has not hurt much at all, but the ringing was becoming intolerable. It was worse with the movement of sitting up in bed and standing up. Please pray for us to be guided in our helping him past this problem.

I will post pictures of him at the beach once I get there. I asked if anyone had taken pictures and they haven't yet. Everyone is having so much fun, they haven't thought about pictures. Since I will be the one 'standing' on the beach with the waves splashing around my ankles, I will cover that duty.

God bless you all on this feast day of St. Thomas the Apostle.
"You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord. Blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe."

Help us in our unbelief, Our Lord and Our God.
Love,
Jon and Rebecca