Safe

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Last week, my wife gave birth to our third daughter.

As I held this sweet and tiny bundle today, she sneezed several times, creating snotted nose and running eyes. Unfazed by such substances (Super-Dad I am!), I began swiping and wiping “sans Scotties“. My daughter held stone-still as I cleaned her nose.  But my movement toward her eyes caused a forceful flinch. An audible word escaped my mouth:

“Safe.”

Gently, I urged her toward stillness, “You are safe, my dear one.”

And she took me at my word.

As she stilled, I re-approached. She locked her gaze on me and watched intently as I de-gunked her eyes.  Not a jump, nor a jitter.

Her small shining eyes upon me made wonder:

  • What can she possibly grasp on this day?
  • Can she know with confidence that her Dad will do her no damage?
  • How certain can she be that this still-blurred figure holding her will bring healing rather than harm?

Truths be told: Very little, she cannot, and uncertain at best.

Those dark reflective eyes displayed my face and forced forward a question: How still can YOU lie?

The everything-Maker and forever-Father envisions for us dreams that dwarf our drafts.  He then moves, absolutely aware of what is required to transport us from our “here” to His “there”.  Intimate inspiration, divine discipline, and everything in between: He will use every means necessary to move us.  God’s touch is precise, His nudging as nuanced as need be. He can wield the stick, tend the heart, or de-gunk the eyes, whatever it takes to poke and prod us toward our destiny of overflowing and overwhelming life.

And our “forever issue” is trust.

  • Can I trust Him?
  • Will He hurt me?
  • Does He have my best interests in mind?

Today, my friends, take this to heart: You are safe in God’s hands.

In fact, a more secure spot does not exist.

Rest in it. Revel in it. Look upward at the still-blurred Presence of your Creator, and dare to take Him at His word:

For I know the plans I have for you: Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Call on me and come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

Editing this post earlier, my nine-day-old daughter was still in my arms, silently studying my face. Was she certain of my love for her? After barely a week, she cannot know for sure. Yet her peaceful expression spoke to the childlike nature of faith: Here she was in her entirety, in my hands, awaiting me to lovingly touch and teach as I see fit.

That is what good fathers do.

That is what YOUR Father is moving to do today.

Hold still. Trust Him.

“You are safe, my dear one.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday Trick: Keeping Your Tie Straight

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Many of my Tuesday Tricks focus on issues of productivity and organization.  Today’s offering will help you look sharp WHILE pursuing such ventures.

Here is Whitson Gordon on how to keep your tie straight without spending a cent OR wearing an awkward tie clip.  (I intend to try this the next time I “tie one on”.  And yes, I feel a suspicion that I may have misused that idiom.)

Saturday Six-Pack (14)

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Welcome to the weekend, and thanks for spending some time “Wandering & Wondering”.

This weekend’s Six-Pack features a half-dozen online offerings from the past week.  As usual, these articles are mostly faith-focused or ministry-geared, with a bit of disorderly-pile-of-who-knows-what tossed in!

Today’s edition:

1) Cheap Law
In his latest post for Gospel Coalition, Tullian Tchividjian shares this word: “Jesus shows that because God’s demands are unqualified and undiluted, the grace we desperately need must be unqualified and undiluted.”  He warns that the great problem in the church today is the same problem Jesus addressed in Matthew 5–cheap law, not cheap grace.  He then directs us to a very sharp piece by John Dink.

2) When the Church Lost Its Voice
Scot McKnight summarizes a chapter from Ross Douthat’s recent book, “Bad Religion” that sketches five major shifts that have undermined the faithful witness of the church over the past six decades.

3) The Enemy of Innovation and Creativity
That quest that many of us have toward ever higher levels of efficiency?  Patrick Lencioni has a warning about that.

4) Sectarianism Sucks
Frank Viola’s more proper title opens this piece that includes some powerful text from Watchman Nee on this divisive disease that still damagingly infects Christ’s Body.

5) Five Warning Signs of Declining Church Health
From his archives, Thom Rainer shares these five tip-offs for diagnosing un-health within one’s church before it hits dangerous extents.

6) The Moral Importance of the iPhone
This very brief piece from John Pattison provides a few provocative questions for any of us who depends regularly on technology.

Enjoy your weekend, friends, through renewing yourself and reverencing God.

Tuesday Trick: How to Focus When You’re Juggling Lots of Different Tasks

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Any site named Dumb Little Man is going to grab my eye–“takes one to know one” or something like that.  Last week, this short four-point article was part of the scenery for silly small fellows like myself.

For anyone who has ever wrestled toward greater productivity, numbers one and two on this list are likely familiar, perhaps even constant habits.

However, numbers three and four will strike many readers as counter-intuitive.  The third point resonates with a truth I swear by, yet struggle to implement as militantly as I should.  The final suggestion may make more difference than I could even vouch for, as I am not very skilled in this discipline.

Beyond these four, how do YOU lock in and focus when you need it most?

Please hit “Leave a Reply” at the bottom this post OR the speech bubble at the top of this post to share.

Birth Announcement: Elena Blaise Bandura

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Welcome, small one!

Today, we beheld your face, tiny and flawless.  We held your fingers, weak and wrinkled. Already, you are a wonder.

The nurse who checked you chose the adjective, “Perfect.” We nodded an obvious agreement.

Who are you exactly?  And who will you be, as we watch revelation unfold for the rest of our days?

Calculations and charts marked today for your arrival. Are we to presume that your cooperative and punctual spirit will always display itself so clearly?

Then there was your stealthy approach, nudging your mother toward a routine middle-of-the-night bathroom break, only to thrust us into a rushed I-hope-we-make-it-to-the-hospital version of labor. Will this unassuming-yet-undeniably-influential presence be your standard mode of operation?

In our dimly lit room, surrounded by quiet tones, your first day with us was relaxed and restful.  And you appeared to effortlessly embrace this rhythm.  Will such calm steadiness be part of your natural stride?

Your sisters adore you. As gently as they know how, they eagerly place kisses on your cheeks and nuzzle their faces to yours.  They are attentive to the spaces you will fill–the bassinet in our room, the seat in our van, the place in our family.  Will you always know that love surrounds you? Will you forever rest in the affections of family and Father?

Your mother and I have eagerly awaited you, excited to “meet” you.

And here you are.

For all our days together, we will discover each other how to blessingly weave ourselves together.

For today, we’ve announced you this way:

Baby Bandura has arrived!  Elena (ee-LAY-na) Blaise was born on May 28 at 3:33 AM; 7 lbs, 14 oz, 20 inches.  As one said of our third daughter: “A hat trick of beauty and grace.” God IS good.