If I Could Just Understand!

Not understanding what's happening, and why, is one of the hardest challenges we face in life. When something goes wrong, we immediately want to know, "Why?" If we can't figure it out, it can be hard to recover, and it can be hard to let go of pain and sadness.

The thing is, God doesn't always tell us why; in fact, he usually doesn't. His thinking is so different from ours. He says, "Trust in me with all your heart, and don't depend on your own understanding." (Pr. 3:5)

When we finally manage to relinquish control of our lives, when we relax into him with trust and faith, we can also give up the quest to understand everything. "Since the Lord is directing our steps, why try to understand everything that happens along the way?" (Pr. 20:24)

"What will become of any of us? I mean, tell me honestly, Dora. Did you ever imagine that this would be your life?" (Caroline in The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards.

Have you ever felt like that, shell-shocked by life, wondering how some tornado had been able to swoop down, pick you up and set you stunned and reeling in the Land of Oz? I have.

Look around, even here, for the Tree of Life. Pick its fruit, for from it comes fresh-squeezed Life. There is nothing like it. Sometimes it tastes like lemon juice, I'll admit, but you can trust it, for the One who puts it before you here in this alien land is eminently trustworthy.

This is the One of whom is said, "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory; like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. John pointed him out and called, "This is the One!" (from John 1, THE MESSAGE)

This is the one I call "As Real As Apples."

Honor Your Own Heart

When disaster strikes, the damage can be far-reaching. We look around and count one loss after another, until it feels as if we have lost everything. We have a tendency to tell each other "chin up" messages at these times. If you've ever been in the middle of complete devastation, you know what it feels like to be told some variation of, "It's probably for the best," or "It could be worse." It's interesting to me that God doesn't respond to us this way. In Joel 1:8, when swarms of locusts had destroyed every crop, God told his people to mourn as if someone had died. We are expected to grieve when bad things happen to us. We need to grieve. Grieving is painful, and when you're in the middle of it, it seems to go on forever. In order to stop grieving, though, we have to go ahead and admit how horrible things are, how hurt we are: grieve. Don't let anyone tell you anything different. Honor your own heart by admitting how much you've lost. Your pain matters to God, and it will matter to those who know how to be true friends.

When Things Go Terribly Wrong

When things go terribly wrong in our lives, we have some predictable questions we ask ourselves: "What did I ever do to deserve this?" "Why me?" "Why does this always happen to me?" and complaints: "This isn't fair!" "But I'm a good person!" I know there have been times when I thought to myself, "I'm throwing a raging tantrum in my head, and it's been a long time since I was two!"

What do you do when you find yourself in this situation?

The Book Goes to the Printer!

Today a few last-minute revisions were handled over the phone, and I faxed the galley and cover approvals to the publisher. The book should go to the printer by the end of this week, and within 2-3 weeks Welcome to the Fresh-Squeezed Life Cafe will be available.

Somehow I managed to do my part to make this happen, despite my design consultant leaving my publisher as of today, my car battery going dead, prevailing on two different neighbors to buy and use jumper cables to get me started, the office store Staples for the second time in a row being unable to successfully fax my forms to the publisher, my neighbor letting me use her home office fax machine to get the forms in today, driving around and leaving my car running while I ran into various auto parts stores to see if they would replace my battery, and a family member having emergency surgery. All this happened today: We just never know what kind of a day we're going to have, do we? (Surgery went well.)

Life has probably squeezed you, today, too, in small ways--and for some of you, in big ways. Maybe nothing was tied up and brought to a nice close, and your mind is not at ease. Maybe you're unhappy with the way you handled things. Take a deep breath. And another. Close your eyes and imagine God's hand reaching down to you, to pick you up, to stroke your hair, whatever you need. You are imagining the real, not the imaginary; He really loves you. He wants to give you beauty where you've had only ashes. There is good stuff ahead. Wait for it!

Fill in the Blanks! How would you finish this sentence?

You know you're being squeezed by life when