Pearls Rise from Irritation

The years go marching by, 2013 poised to be sealed with all it's joys and sadness as 2014 opens it's doors with all the hopes and dreams, expectancy and excitement on the cusp of unfolding.    But isn't that how last year and all the other years ended and started?  Don't get me wrong, I sit here, as I do every year looking both backwards and forwards with thankfulness.  Each passing year a greater appreciation sprouts from the ripples and cracks found in the more parched, arid mud pits of recent years.  The safe waters of our youth once covered our living, but as years pass, we find increase of tribulation rising, evaporating the waters of youth around us.  Yet, as it does, our deepening relationship with God provides insight and peace forging deep and meaningful thanksgiving in our hearts. So, last night, as 2013 breathed it's last, Carrie and I laid heads on pillows a little after 11 pm finding ourselves waking after restful sleep in 2014.

In the season of youth, there seems a longing, an instinctual anticipation for the sweetness life will provide next.  Maybe it starts with transition from crawling to walking, then potty training, learning to ride a bicycle, drive a car, vote, become an 'adult', marry, have children and then grand children, each a seeming blessed rite of passage.  Yet as I am allowed progress there seems a longing rising in my aging heart.  While each of these rites bring challenge and great joy into our lives as we live through them and mature, a growing understanding of taintedness also begins to rise.  Our world, seemingly perfect while young develops chinks in the protective armor.

I started out putting my hope and faith into life itself for it seemed to have everything I desired.  Before I became an adult, the world was my oyster but a foreign substance was introduced and I discovered pearls arise from irritations placed within.  When Carrie and I said "I do", we thought a blissful, unencumbered, romantic union would be the results of our decades together (strange we didn't notice that our parents clearly demonstrated this not true though they were content).  Our revelation  as years progressed uncovered the discovery that bliss rose out of struggle and the working through it together.  We thought kids would 'bring it', only to discover that great kids don't just happen, but require constant intervention and leading, and that we would fail in that perfect leading.  In spite of frequent failure we still have the blessing of wonderful kids thanks to God.  And then there's our first and only grandson, perfect in every way...well, almost.  He, like our kids gets sick and cranky and has plenty of bouts of independence (being a two year old), needing constant intervention and leading, his parents learning the lessons themselves of the choices they make.

The year 2013 was a year of discovery for this fifty six year old leaving footprints of faith.  We have heard many speak of the 'golden years' to which we are heading, and I'm not sure there is a lot of 'gold' (by the world's standards) left for us to gather.  Don't get me wrong, we have made reasonable financial plans for retirement, but money isn't enough.  Health isn't either.  Nor is a fine looking physique.  As I continue living, a great discovery has been made.  It is quite easy to notice that Carrie and I are past our worldly 'prime'.  Our bodies are letting us know that they are growing weary, complaining regularly.  Our doctor prescribes more pills to 'bring us into compliance' with insurance company's mandates.  And reigning large in our lives is the loss of my father this year.

What continues as irritations in our lives though, is producing a pearl of enormous thanksgiving and joy in the midst of growing irritation.  Jesus is enough.  Indeed, we followers of Jesus have assurance that these irritations will one day end eternally.  Interesting enough is that as we age and life's irritations grow, so does His grace and peace as we engage Him integrally into our lives.  Trust in everything we thought important pales to trust in Him.

You will find no complaining here.  At least I hope you do not sense any inkling of such.  I can take what God allows because I see Him forging, in me, more character and greater trust in His leading, satisfied with all He has bestowed upon me in life.  I have a beautiful and wonderfully caring wife.  My mother is still alive and we have her in our home with regularity since the recent passing of my dad.  Our family is mostly in good health.  Today I have watched and learned how to cook some of my favorite New Year dishes that graced our family table, cooked by mom, every year of my life.  And mostly, I am thankful to know and understand that pearls, in life, rise from irritations God allows us to experience, as we trust Him to build His character into us.  May your year ahead be filled with His grace and leading as your pearls rise from irritation injected deep inside our shell.