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Bill Storey’s Memorial Service

My head is buzzing with all the new impressions, new information, and experiences from the weekend in Clarkston, WA for Bill Storey’s Memorial Service. And with all the old stories and family memories. And some tears and laughter.

Bill Storey was my wife Jean’s uncle – her Dad’s oldest brother. He was 94 when he passed away recently, outliving his wife Della by about six years. Because Jean and I lived outside the US for so many years, we only occasionally connected with the extended family, a couple of times at family reunions and mostly at funerals. So it was good to be able to be there with all the family this time.

Bill’s four sons, Dale, Ron, Roy, and Bruce were there this weekend with their families. Then there were families of families. Then there was Jean and me. Bill Storey was Jean’s uncle – Jean’s dad’s oldest brother. We went over to Clarkston with Jean’s sister Barbara and her husband Dan. It was good to have the weekend with Dan and Barbara and we came back to Richland and spent Sunday night with them after the weekend’s activities.

The Memorial Service was really good. The four sons shared stories of their Dad. His character, integrity, work ethic, and his faith were the most common topics in the stories we heard from them and others. Not a bad way to finish and not a bad legacy to leave behind. Well done, Bill Storey!

There were also several (noisy) meals together in nearby restaurants with 30 or more (mostly noisy) people catching up on family news and telling stories. I think I have a better picture of the Storey family and who’s who and what’s what than at any time in my almost fifty years of association with them and of being part of the extended “in-law” network.

It was really good saying goodbye to Uncle Bill (bittersweet) and saying hello to so many of the Storey extended family (sweet). Maybe next time we can connect at a family reunion instead of a funeral.

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After You Are Gone

The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin to worship foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I have made with them.” (Deuteronomy 31:16 NLT)

Moses had given the last forty years of his life to leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, teaching them to follow God, and preparing them to enter their God-given promised land.  He had just spent an entire month reviewing all that God had done and taught them.  He had put Joshua, their new leader, in place.  Now he learned that after he was gone, the people would abandon God and break his covenant.

Since Moses didn’t get to build cities or temples or palaces or establish the national boundaries of a great nation, all he had to leave behind as a legacy was his influence on the people who were standing before him and a collection of books and stories!  And then to hear God say that the people were going to break the covenant with God and worship idols!  It must have felt like, “What’s the point!?”  (Who could have known that Moses had lived and written the first five books of what would be the most-read book in all of human history!)

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been reading, thinking, and writing a lot about leaving a legacy.  I know this – a real legacy isn’t property or buildings or possessions.  A real legacy doesn’t come from a position or from popularity.  A real legacy is the influence you and I have had in people’s lives.  It’s character demonstrated and imitated.  It’s lessons learned and lived and stories told and repeated.

We’re already building the legacy we will leave behind, one decision, one action, one relationship at a time.  Is what you are building the legacy you really want to leave?

So for me today, the point is this:  If I will simply be who I am, live what I believe, and do what I can do, God will take care of all the ups and downs after I’m gone.

Prayer:

Father, Please help me to do the very best I can with “Here and Now” and completely leave “After I’m Gone” to you.  May I faithfully live my one-day-at-a-time life, love you and the people in my world, and leave the rest up to you.  Amen.

 

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Don’t Be Afraid – I’ll Take Care Of You

Lessons I’ve Learned From Buddy the Dog – Part 2 – Trust

But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. (Psalm 56:3 NLT)

Last summer we had dramatic thunderstorms two nights in a row here in Central Oregon.  They were full-on storms of intense lightning, rolling thunder, strong gusty winds, and torrential rains.  It’s good that we were at home during both of those storms, because Buddy the Dog doesn’t do well with the thunder and lightning and the roar of the rain on the roof and the deck.

When there’s a violent, noisy storm Buddy the Dog trembles and pants nervously.  He paces the floor, white-eyed and afraid.  He is torn between wanting to be near me and wanting to find a dark corner to hide in.

When I put my hand on him I can feel that he is actually trembling!  I feel bad for him, because I know that we are safe from this storm and that it will soon pass.  The house is solid and even if the storm takes some shingles off the roof, we’ll be fine.  There may be some cleanup to do in the yard after it’s over, and I may have to wait to put the rubbish bins out for pickup in the morning until the wind dies down.  The power may go out, but the infrastructure in Central Oregon is sound and it will be back soon.

But Buddy the Dog is afraid in the storm.  I speak reassuring words to him, but it doesn’t seem to help him very much.  It frustrates me that I can’t make him know he’s safe and I’ll protect him.  I’m not mad at him, just a little sad that I can’t give him the same peace and confidence I have.

I wonder if Father God ever feels that way about me.  When the storms of life blow strong and loud, when major change comes fast and I can’t control the situation, I get afraid too.  I know God has promised to take care of me, to provide for Jean and me, to protect us, but I still get anxious.  Sometimes I lose sleep, sometimes I complain, sometimes I’m a prayer worrier instead of a prayer warrior!  Sometimes I feel like I want to find a place to hide – just like Buddy the Dog.

I know God will take care of me.  He promised he will.  He has always been faithful.  But, like Buddy the Dog, sometimes I get scared in the storm!

Father, I’m sorry if it frustrates you when I get anxious and worried.  I know that, like me with Buddy the Dog, you’re not mad at me, you just want me to trust you.  I do trust you.  I will learn to trust you more.  You are a faithful God and your unfailing love is everlasting.  Amen.

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Watching Buddy Run

Lessons I’ve Learned From Buddy The Dog – Part 1 Joy

…For the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)

One sunny winter afternoon I walked along an old track in the Juniper forest east of my Central Oregon home and watched my dog Buddy run. Buddy runs with such abandon, dodging sagebrush, leaping over weather-bleached juniper logs, chasing imaginary rabbits and deer. I’ve learned that when Buddy runs, he’s not running to get somewhere or to catch something, he’s running for the sheer joy of running!

Sometimes watching Buddy run, I just laugh out loud. I can see the joy in him, joy that comes from doing what God created him to do. I believe I can feel the joy of the Lord when I watch Buddy run.

When Buddy runs, he’s doing exactly what God created him to do. Because God is so good, I believe he made us to have the same joy in doing what he created us to do that my dog Buddy has in running through the forest and the fields.

Why does it so often seem so hard for us to simply do what God created us to do? Why is it so hard to know what God created us to do and experience the simple, profound joy in doing it?

Eric Liddell, the Scottish distance runner featured in the 1981 movie “Chariots of Fire,” is quoted, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.”

Just as I often take Buddy to the forest or the desert to create opportunities for him to run, I think God loves to create opportunities for people like you and me to “run!” And I believe that when we are simply doing what God created us to do, he rejoices – he feels the pleasure of it with us!

What if we parents and teachers and pastors and other influencers looked carefully and caringly at those in our care and helped each of them find just what God created them to do? What if we made it our joy to create opportunities for each person we love and influence to do the things that they were created for – the things that give them joy? What if we did that? I’m just sayin’…

You will go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:12 NIV)

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Forgiveness

I’ve thought about this quite a bit.  Forgiveness is so counter-intuitive.  And hard.  I can feel it in myself when I watch a movie in which bad guys beat the crap out of good guys or strong bad guys abuse weak and helpless good people (or dogs!) and something very fundamental to my nature wants to see and rejoices to see the bad guys get what they deserve.  And in my story, I’m pretty much always a good guy! So you know what that means when someone does me wrong!

But I see that there is more and there is other.  I’ve seen it and am walking forward toward the spot where I got the last glimpse of it.  I get these occasional glimpses of it in scripture, in people, in Buddy the Dog, and in me.  I’m going there.  I’ll get there or die on the way.  In the big picture, I think either of those counts about the same.

 In a sense, some sense, I think unforgiveness ties me to a time, place, person, emotion, situation, in the past and keeps me from ever moving on.  From ever moving on at all!  Even though I think I’ve moved on.  Still tied to that X in my past.  Forgiving cuts the tie.  If it’s been a long time, then there’s a lot of catching up to do to be where I could/need/want to be.  But the freedom to move forward is immediate and accelerated! I think.  But then what do I know!?!

I know the present moment is the right time for whatever is the next right thing.

Another note from my journey,

Jim Stephens – Pilgrim

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Benediction

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  (2 Corinthians 13:14 NLT)

This is Paul’s Benediction to the Corinthians at the end of his very challenging and difficult letter.  Bene Dictus – Blessing Spoken.

During the years we lived in the United Kingdom we ministered in churches of many denominations and cultures.  It was always a significant thing to me when we were in one of the more traditional churches and the leader of the service (often me) would pronounce a Benediction.  I loved to speak these very words from Paul’s letter over the congregation as the people were dismissed, “May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Saying “The Grace” had become a tradition for many of them, a ritual that merely signaled the close of a Sunday morning church service.  To me it was fresh and real, the speaking of a blessing over the people by the one in authority.

This concept of Bene Dictus, the speaking of a blessing, is important.  We have authority in the Name of Jesus.  When we speak to others and about others, we speak for Jesus.  Think about that for a minute.  Pretty sobering.  Pretty exciting!

I’m free to choose the words I speak.  It’s disturbingly easy to get drawn into a conversation that is not Bene Dictus, a conversation that involves spoken words that do anything but bless.  But I can choose the words I use.  I can make the decision to be one whose words are Bene Dictus – Blessing Spoken.  Then I can discipline myself to awareness and improvement.  I can repent and confess and move on when I mess up and speak words that don’t bless.  I can speak a Benediction!

Prayer:

Father, thanks for blessing me.  Thanks for blessing my friends and family.  Thanks for your Word which speaks words of blessing and hope and encouragement to me and about me.  Help me to speak the words of Bene Dictus to others and about others.  In Jesus’ Name.  I speak The Grace over all who read this:  May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen.

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One of Those Days

It’s been one of Those Days.  Most of us have “Those Days,” I suppose.  And Those Days are probably different for everyone.  But for all of us, they’re those days when someone asks you how you’re doing and you can’t think of anything to say but, “It’s been one of Those Days!”

For some people, Those Days are the days when the button comes off your shirt, the car won’t start, the traffic is terrible (Traffic is always the other people in the other cars), and your boss wants the report that wasn’t supposed to be due until Thursday by noon on Monday.

It’s one of Those Days when the alarm doesn’t go off (or you hit the snooze button one time too many), the kids are grumpy and can’t find two socks that match, the toast gets burned, the orange juice spills, the car keys get lost, and you’re all fifteen minutes late getting out the door.

For me, One of Those Days is a Monday like this one, following a weekend when I’ve spoken four times at church – once Saturday night and three times Sunday morning.

It’s a day when I think too much and accomplish too little.  It’s a day I spend mostly thinking about what I shouldn’t have said, what I should have said instead, and how I could have communicated so much more effectively if I was someone else!  And it’s a day when I repeatedly ask myself what ever made me think I should stand up on a stage and try to say something significant to a room full of people.

Buddy the Dog doesn’t like Those Days much either.  He keeps coming over and pushing me with his nose and saying, “Let’s go for a ride in the car!  Let’s go for a walk!  Let’s go chase cats!  Come on, boss, let’s do something!”

Well, you know what they say, “Tomorrow’s another day!”  And by God’s grace it won’t be one of “Those Days!”

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How Trees Feel

I wonder if trees feel like their life is over when the pickers have finished picking this season’s fruit.  And I wonder if they go though feelings of  loss and hopelessness again in October when their leaves fall off.  And I wonder if they think they’re dying when the first cold wind blows and the first snow of winter blankets their bare branches.  And I wonder if they think the orchardist is a brutal and cruel person who only wishes to cut and slash and take away their beautiful limbs and branches and twigs and leave them like skeletons standing.  And I wonder if they think it’s all going to be wonderful from now on and that they’ll never struggle again when their leaves and blossoms come out in the spring. And I wonder if they feel like they’re really, finally worth something and that now they’ll always feel productive and that from now on they’ll always live with a deep sense of satisfaction and worth when their branches are weighed down with luscious fruit in the late summer.  Nah, probably not.  They’re probably smarter than me.

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Old Dog

I was standing on the porch of Philip and Stephanie’s house in Tacoma late one afternoon and I saw an old dog walking along the sidewalk in front of the house, from my right to left. He was black and white, long haired, some kind of shepherd breed, with a grey muzzle. He walked slowly with a little limp in his left hind leg. I felt bad for him as he was obviously out of bounds and maybe lost.

As he went along the sidewalk, two or three houses down, he approached a house where lives a very aggressive dog, part pit bull, which came barking and lunging at the fence as the old dog approached. The old dog just stopped, turned around, and started slowly back along the sidewalk toward me. I just went inside. I keep wondering if he found his way home. I can’t shake the feeling of sadness.

Wonder how many people I encounter are going through life walking slowly along with a little limp? Wonder how many times the pit bull of opposition or hard circumstance stops them in their tracks and they just turn around and slowly walk back the way they came? I wonder if they find their way home…

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. Plato

 

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Jude and the Brick Step

One day when Jude was arriving at Grandma’s house for his after-shopping time with the grandparents, he fell coming up the front steps. He was, as usual, carrying an armload of toys, and he missed a step and fell, hitting his forehead on the edge of the brick step.

Jude screamed, blood poured forth, and the priorities of the day changed in a moment. Mommy deposited Zane and his chair in the living room, Grandma got cold wet cloths, Grandpa looked wisely at the cut and said, “That’s gonna need some stitches all right! Bet that’ll leave a scar!”

Mommy considered the options and wisely phoned the pediatrician’s office instead of heading for the ER. They would see him right away, so Grandpa drove, Mommy comforted, and we got to the doctor’s office. Grandpa bravely entered a world of women and children, where women are the masters and children are the focus. (Sometimes guys feel like we live in that world all the time!)

Soon Mommy and Grandpa were forcibly holding Jude down on a table while the competent, confident doctor lady (about 10 years younger than my youngest child) cleaned the wound and did some magic with “medical grade super glue.” Grandpa felt validated when the doctor lady said, “That’s gonna leave a scar.”

It was pretty cool to see my daughter be Melissa be the competent Mommy and calmly and coolly take charge in a crisis. I thought, “She’s doing what Jean and I did a generation back when she faced crisis at Roosevelt Elementary in Medford, or when she got stranded a city away from us in Jamaica at her school!”

Lesson trusting children learn: Parents can’t always prevent the injury, or make the pain go away, or make it like it never happened. But parents can be there, be with the child, through the entire process from hurt to healing.

When you fall, it hurts. When the wound is being treated, it hurts. When it’s healing, it hurts. And it’s probably going to leave a scar. But Mommy will be with you all the way.

Like Father God and us. He can’t always prevent the wound, or take away the pain, or make it like it never happened. But he will always be with us. In it, through it, beyond it.