I Plan on Doing My Laundry on May 21, 2011

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Lynn

I plan on doing my laundry on May 21, 2011.  I also plan on going to my son’s graduation on May 27th.  I plan on celebrating my 32nd anniversary on June 2nd, my husband’s birthday, June 29th; going on holidays end of July and celebrating my daughter’s sweet sixteen birthday at the end of August.  I plan on visiting my grandbaby for Canadian Thanksgiving (Oct. 10) in Louisville, Kentucky and when I get home, I plan on helping my youth group fill 50 or more Samaritan Purse Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes (an event we’ve done for years at our church around Halloween).  Yeah, and every week I’ll still plan to do grocery shopping, house cleaning, car pooling, and more laundry.  Every day I’ll load (or unload) the dishwasher, plan what to make for supper and set about doing other menial everyday tasks with a minimum amount of grumbling and complaining.  And knowing that my nature is to grumble and complain I will find strength every day as I spend time in the Word, prayerfully going before the Lord and then go about doing my daily tasks as we are instructed to do until Jesus’ return.  “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.”  (Luke 12: 35-36)

Now what’s so special about me doing my laundry on May 21st?  Well, it’s supposed to be the day of “Rapture”….well, at least to a Rev. Harold Camping who claims to have studied scripture for well over fifty years and has pinpointed the day of Christ’s return.  The day of rapture for the followers of Christ will be May 21st and those left behind (unbelievers) will face a massive world-wide earthquake that will eventually lead to the earth’s ultimate destruction on Oct. 22.  Camping has so convinced his followers of this date that many have sold all their possessions and they are spending their remaining days telling everyone they know to prepare themselves for God’s judgement.  Repent and be saved they say before it’s too late.

When I was in San Diego a month ago there were huge billboard signs put up all around the city like this one:

Now can I fault their message?  No, scripture is clear that Christ will one day return.  The problem is that no one knows the day or hour of Christ’s return.  Scripture is clear about that as well: “But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven , but my Father only.” (Matthew 24:36 NKJV)

Should we be preparing ourselves for Christ’s return?  Absolutely.  As Christians we are called by God to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with everyone so that “none should perish”.  (2 Peter 3:9)  I will admit I am not an evangelist.  I don’t pound on doors or raise billboards to get the Message out.  I write.  I have lunch with friends and I live so that others (hopefully) will see the Light of Christ living in me.  My hope is when people ask me, I have an answer that sparks conversation and I am able to share my love for the Father with real people, who see a real person (me) living in the real world, facing real heartache and real pain at times, but plugging on because I have a Saviour.

I don’t know the day of Christ’s return, according to 2 Peter the “Lord will come like a thief.  The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.  Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?  You ought to live holy (set apart) and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” (2 Peter 3:10-12 NIV)

How should we live?  “…since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him.” (2 Peter 3:14)  I live expecting God to return on any given day at any given time.  I don’t want to be surprised by His arrival, I want to be ready for His arrival.

It means keep on keeping on.  If by some obscure chance, Camping has somehow cracked the code of Christ’s return and the day of Judgement is indeed May 21st, let me be found faithful on that day as in all the days leading up to that day and all the days after.  And if that day comes and goes without God’s glorious reappearing (as I suspect it probably will), I plan on doing my laundry on May 21st because my family will still need clean clothes for May 22nd.  Just sayin’………..

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9

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Graduation

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Lynn

My daughter headed off to Lethbridge shortly after her high school graduation, to go to university to get her Education degree.  It was a tear-filled day for me as we said, “Good-bye” and left her there at the student residences on campus.  I wept the entire three hour drive home.  I knew that she was following her dream to becoming a teacher, but now she was truly on her own.  She didn’t live under my roof any more.  She had left the nest, returning for visits (and much of her laundry for me to wash) regularly, but for all intents and purposes, she was on her own.  She had been planning and coordinating her move to Lethbridge for months and although I may have struggled with letting her go, she seemed more than a little excited,…and even ready…to move.

Several months passed.  She phoned us one evening and said that she was coming home for the weekend…oh….and she wasn’t coming home alone.  After weeks of hinting to us over the phone that she had met a young man in Lethbridge, finally she wanted us to meet him.  She said he looked like the rapper, “Eminem” and he was tall.  I started to worry.

I remember Charles (my husband) meeting my parents the first time.  My Dad was short in stature, 5′ 5″ (or thereabouts) and when my 6’2″ boyfriend looked down at my Dad he said, “Pardon me, Sir.  But are you standing in a hole?”

We had met other boys Laurelle had dated throughout the years, but as she prattled on and on with us about her new boyfriend over the phone, there was something different in the tone of her voice when she talked about this one.  I suspected this boy had actually captured her heart.

I had to laugh when Matt walked through the door.  He had to bend over to get through the doorway, his six foot seven frame towering over all of us.  My husband, bless his heart, asked Matt, “How’s the air up there?”  Matt’s smile lit up the room.  Laurelle looked up at him and I knew that my girl was in love.

From that day on, Matt has become like a son to my husband and I.  Matt and Laurelle married in 2005 and we have watched with delight as they have grown more and more in love with each other and how they have dedicated their lives in serving God in ministry.

Matt is the “big brother” to our two other teenagers living at home and he is father to Jaxon, our precious grandson.  Matt and I have a great son-in-law/mother-in-law relationship.  Yes, he’s called me an “Old Bat” when I beat him at mini-golf and yes, the first thing he does when he comes to our house is head straight for the refrigerator, (LOL), but he is our joy and delight and we love him with all our hearts.

On Saturday, he will walk the stage and receive his Bachelor of Christian Ministry degree from the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary. We will watch proudly as he stands tall with his cap and gown on.  No doubt he will tower over the other graduates (literally and figuratively,) our hearts drawn to him more than the others,…and we will applaud his accomplishments when he receives his degree, three years of hard work and determination behind him.    We’re going to host his “after grad” party in our home along with his parents and friends to celebrate his achievement.  It will be a great day!

But Graduation means much more than a cap, gown and a diploma for my son-in-law.  It is a stepping stone towards another God-called objective for him.  God has called him to full time ministry, and Matt will move (along with my daughter and grandson) to Louisville, Kentucky so Matt can get his Masters and a Biblical Counseling degree.  God has a plan and a purpose for Matt in Kingdom building.  As much as I struggle with having to say, “Good bye” to them in a few weeks, as I hear them plan and coordinate their move to the States, they seem more than a little excited,…and ready…to move on.

That’s what graduation is all about.  Graduation is forward motion.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 1:6

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Here Comes the Bride!

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Lynn

You would have to be dead or living in Edmonton (that’s a saying here in our fair town 🙂 ) if you haven’t heard about the upcoming marriage of the future King and Queen of England, William and Kate.  I must admit I have been as much caught up with the pomp and pageantry as everyone else.  The last royal wedding I saw was the one between Princess Diana and Prince Charles.  At the time they called it a “Fairy Tale Wedding”.  Tragically the fairy tale ended shortly after the “I do’s”.

British tabloids and the media enjoy comparing Princess Diana’s and Charles’ wedding with the upcoming wedding of William and Kate and it disturbs me how the media (and others) tend to make early predictions on whether the marriage will succeed or fail based on criteria that compares Kate with Diana.

I thought it was a sweet gesture on William’s part to give Kate his mother’s engagement ring…the media thinks it’s a bad omen…”look what happened to Diana” they say.  Some media folk wonder if Kate will handle the paparazzi that hounds her like they hounded Diana.  Odds-makers are laying bets on how soon Kate will “crack” under the pressure.  Are you kidding me???

Then there is the disturbing comparison that Diana was a virgin when she married Charles and according to the gossip media, that explained one reason why the marriage failed.  Kate and William lived together during their eight year relationship before marriage, so according to the media, their marriage will succeed because they “knew” each other before marriage.  What kind of a message does THAT send to our young people?

Here are some statistics on living together before marriage from Michael McManus, author of the book Marriage Savers. Statistically speaking, living together is not a trial of marriage, but rather a training for divorce.

  • The number of unmarried couples living together soared 12-fold from 430,000 in 1960 to 5.4 million in 2005.
  • More than eight out of ten couples who live together will break up either before the wedding or afterwards in divorce.
  • About 45 percent of those who begin cohabiting, do not marry. Another 5-10 percent continue living together and do not marry.
  • Couples who do marry after living together are 50% more likely to divorce than those who did not.
  • Only 12 percent of couples who have begun their relationship with cohabitation end up with a marriage lasting 10 years or more.
  • A Penn State study reports that even a month’s cohabitation decreases the quality of the couple’s relationship.

Here are some more statistics relating to the children of cohabiting parents.

  • Children of cohabiting parents are ten times more likely to be sexually abused by a stepparent than by a parent.
  • Children of cohabiting parents are three times as likely to be expelled from school or to get pregnant as teenagers than children from an intact home with married parents.
  • Children of cohabiting parents are five times more apt to live in poverty, and 22 times more likely to be incarcerated.

I will admit that there is a “fairy tale” fascination with Royalty and the wedding tomorrow will likely be watched by billions of people around the world, including myself, swept up in the story.  But after the “I do’s”, William and Kate, like it or not, will be the role models to this generation’s youth.  Certainly, I wish William and Kate all the best, but more importantly I pray that they will think beyond their wedding day to focus on their marriage that should stand the test of time if they take their vows seriously, if not, the odds are already stacked against them.

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