Life Is a Stew

April 3, 2023

A million things combined today to remind me God is remaking me. I can’t help but smile.

As I rush through life, at times I get frustrated. That just means I want to be in control, but I’m not. Thank you, God, for not letting me lead! I’m gradually learning patience with your great plan. As I look back I am amazed at what great work you’ve done while leading me, a child constantly trying to pull my hand from your grip.

God chooses the people that intersect my life. One of them yesterday shared an incredible picture of smiling as she swam with a dolphin…who was also smiling joyously! Another reminded me that the cornerstone I’ve built my life on has the extraordinary shape of a cross.

If I could choose the events on my timeline, I’d miss some strange and wonderful happenings. Saturday I got to pitch horseshoes in a tournament after a rainstorm. Clay from a horseshoe pit can get ridiculously slick with too much water. At first it was disgusting, but as we all continued to share in the mess, it became fun. Didn’t I love playing in the mud as a small child?

My life is a wonderful stew. I can relate to the historically mixed up events of the first Holy Week. Jesus rides into town riding a donkey, as Jair’s sons did in Judges 12:14 and Solomon also did years later, the center of a joyous parade. Passover week was always a celebration week in Jerusalem, with people everywhere, and family and friends you hadn’t seen in a while. Thursday night was the holy, solemn Passover feast. What a contrast, on Friday, as the Romans crucified three Jews, including our Savior. The biggest contrast was that Jesus’ death, and coming back to life, opened the door to eternity.

God makes incredible good out of wild combinations. I’m proud to be one of his projects.

“And we know that all things work together for good, for those who love God and are the called according to his purpose,” Romans 8:28.