The time passed slowly, and so to distract my patient from her symptoms, one morning we played Mastermind. Playing the pattern-finding game always reminds me of when I played it with my sister in my grandparents’ home. I can still almost feel the rough avocado green carpet under my elbows as we propped ourselves up on the living room floor, the adult conversation swirling above us.
On this trip home, Jacob discovered that God had not forsaken him, even though he had messed up years before. As Jacob worries himself to sleepless nights about the fate of his family, God visits him.
"So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met with him. When Jacob saw them, he said, 'This is God’s camp.' And he called the name of that place Manhanaim" (Genesis 32:1, 2).
My wife and I were living in Tennessee. We had taken a two-hour trip down to the Chattanooga area and were on our way back home. The weather had turned for the worse and we were caught driving through icy conditions. We had made it to the stop sign approximately a quarter-mile from our home where our progress was delayed by a car accident at the intersection.
Last week, gas dropped to forty-seven cents in Michigan, prompting headlines that asked, “How Low Can Gas Go?” Of course, the gas-war price in Michigan was not available nation-wide, but gas did drop to nearly a buck and a half elsewhere. Filling the car has never felt so . . . cheap. Not since the 1990s, anyway, when I remember complaining about gas that crept up over a dollar a gallon.
My dad was 69 years old at the time and he took a selfie and posted it on social media. When my oldest daughter and niece—both 14 years old at the time—discovered it they giggled hysterically. And, not because they thought Grandad was embarrassing. No, the opposite was true. They loved it and giggled with glee!
Taking selfies is a normal part of our kids’ and grandkids’ lives. It is a part of how they express themselves and mold their “public image”. The selfie obsession might’ve started with teens, but it has spread with abandon.
Yesterday, knowing that it would be a long night, I decided to stay up late to give time for life to settle in the lobby. But, at around the time I thought things were quieting down, someone started coughing incessantly. After several minutes of putting up with the noise, I decided I needed to move. I opened my door and took two steps to the front desk but there was no one there. I waited around for some time but the clerk was no where to be found. The only person there was the coughing culprit (probably couldn’t sleep so came out to the lobby instead).
Early on in 1525, the Reformers noticed that in some communities, the exciting new notion of religious liberty could give way to what they perceived as excess. Inspired by the success of Luther, some people were willing to adopt ideas the Reformers themselves considered heretical, which put them in the uncomfortable position of having to deal with heresy without resorting to the coercive tactics of Rome.
Change. This word creates discomfort—even fear—in most of us at different points in our lives. Oh, it may seem alluring when we daydream about change: a new job, a new home, an upcoming wedding, a healthy eating or exercise regimen. These ideas can quicken our hearts and be exciting places to allow our minds to linger in imagination. But the real honest to goodness work of change? This always involves a little (or a lot of) discomfort.
The discomfort of change, at least in my experience, comes when honest reality differs from what was imagined.
I was tensely comfortable as I drove knowing that any unforeseen incident could cause me to be late but realistically expecting a smooth ride with an on-time finish. After all, I’d driven this same route every morning for some time now without incident. Then I saw it. Every morning commuter’s nightmare. Let’s see if you can guess: big, yellow, ugly, flashing lights, stop and go, and red stop sign. If you guessed school bus, you’re right on. Seriously! How have I not met up with a school bus on this road over the past several months?
But, it’s not just the exhaustion of a long day that betrays my age. Aging is beginning to show up in other places. I used to be able to eat anything I wanted without gaining weight–not true anymore! Then there are the aches and pains that follow manual labor around the house. And my eyes? Well, I’m wearing bifocal contacts now and struggling with those.
My wife and I were living in Tennessee. We had taken a two-hour trip down to the Chattanooga area and were on our way back home. The weather had turned for the worse and we were caught driving through icy conditions. We had made it to the stop sign approximately a quarter-mile from our home where our progress was delayed by a car accident at the intersection.
