Asbestos and Asurgery (haha, a surgery :))
November 11, 2024
Our circumstances are anything BUT peaceful right now!
As I write this I’m sitting in a surgical waiting room. This isn’t a first, and the reality is that it probably won’t be the last. But as I cozy up in the corner of this OR waiting room, this IS the first time I’ve quickly been displaced from my home the weekend before a surgery! And I hope it’s the last!
Last week we found out we had a renovation-gone-wrong issue: loose asbestos in high quantities in the basement, but having traveled in high quantities upstairs. All weekend we flipped our lives upside down to vacate the home, waiting on an abatement team to do clean-up.
We are headed into an extended period of time of recovering from surgery AND recovering from a much more massive project than we expected. We had to pack for the week, wash all the clothes, wipe down possessions, put it all in tubs to store in the garage. It’s been a massive clean-up effort. It was like moving AGAIN, but this time in a huge hurry and with very little sense of organization.
My mind was swirling with so many thoughts over the weekend. It’s all far more than I can possibly handle. It’s like we are moving and simultaneously having a major surgery. Russ is on his own juggling the four kids NOT in surgery, and trying to finish things up to prepare for the abatement team.
So. Much. Beyond. Us. But here are the things I’m so thankful for:
-It was cool and not raining last night as we took things outside to wipe them down.
-We are able to address the problems.
-We have been blessed by so many people who have reached out to help with food, shuttling kids, letting them come to homes to do school or to play, people in NC reaching out to help with food gift cards… just so much love and support.
-Anytime we are stretched beyond what we are “able” to do it’s a good thing. Dependence on the Lord is a good thing.
This morning I got up and went to the hotel lobby to have some time with the Lord. He encouraged my heart so much through the reading of John 15 and 16.
I had read John 15 last week when we realized we needed to leave the house. This chapter is all about God’s gracious pruning work. Fruit comes from pruning!
After moving, having a baby and losing a baby, experiencing job transitions, then moving again locally, then dealing with septic issues, losing a close friend, discovering a natural spring under the house we are renting out, learning of more losses that are coming, and a whole host of other things big and small, what else can I do but just receive all the pruning?
I must believe that this pruning will be fruitful in the end!
Right now I just feel like one of those branches that’s been whacked, almost like it is just barely a stub against the vine. Oh wait, that might be the best place to be– closest to the Vine! Nothing extending! Nothing that I could claim as my own fruit. I need to see Him, that Vine. Yes, God, if the branch needs to be trimmed WAY back, so be it!! You are doing good things, and Your nearness is my good!
God is glorified in the fruit-bearing, but I must always keep in mind that pruning comes before fruitfulness. God has chosen people to bear fruit and so prove to be his disciples! It comes with a cost: expect persecution. Expect to be hated. But expect a HELPER! The Spirit of truth is coming to dwell inside of every believer.
I love that Jesus says all of this to keep us from stumbling. It must’ve seemed so topsy turvy to the disciples! “Wait, it’ll be better if you LEAVE US?” Yes, it’s good! He will soon fill the life of every believer with loads of benefits. Look at some of them:
-He is the spirit of TRUTH. No lies. He guides in all truth.
-He is a helper
-He does not speak on His own initiative
-He will disclose what is to come
-He will speak (He won’t stay silent!)
-He will glorify Jesus
If those aren’t enough words of comfort, hang on– there’s more! Jesus knows they will weep and lament, but their grief will be turned to joy! At the end of chapter 16, he says, “These things I have spoken to you, so that IN ME you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
This makes me think about a prayer Paul prayed at the end of his second letter to the Thessalonian church: “Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. “The Lord be with you all!” 2 Thessalonians 3:16. Paul doesn’t pray for different circumstances, but for peace IN every circumstance!
So here I am. Very jumbled in this processing with crazy circumstances, but peace IS within reach. Why? Because our peace doesn’t come from peaceful circumstances! It comes from the never-changing, always loving, Prince of Peace!
Don’t take my words for it. This was just my personal worship opportunity. Go read John chapters 15 and 16 and let it sink into your heart in the midst of whatever worship opportunities you find yourself in! Take HIS Word for it!
Worship Opportunities 