Hand

A few years ago, as I was single parenting the children for a weekend, the inevitable happened.  It never seems to fail, that some unexpected, perhaps even catastrophic, event will always occur during these, “Mommy is gone, Daddy is in charge weekends.” It could be a vomiting 5 year old or a concussed toddler.  It could be a broken, glass mixing bowl or a small fire in the oven.  Nothing is really off limits.

On this particular Saturday afternoon, I sent my son Isaac out to the minivan, which was parked in the garage, to clean it.  I commissioned him to throw away all of the trash, which there was A LOT of trash. He was to remove the items that didn’t belong in the van, (i.e. bowls, spoons, notebooks, pens, toys, etc…) and vacuum out all of the dirt.  While he was diligently working in the van, I was still in the house working on cleaning up other areas of the home.  I empowered the 3 girls to help me.  I encouraged them with exasperated exclamations, beckoning them to clean up their messes…and stop making more messes. 

Isaac had been at his work for about 20 minutes when, between my barks at the girls I would hear a periodic… squeak…from somewhere that I could not place.

“Girls! You need to take care of your Lego Friends and your dolls!”…squeak…

“Ok, Daddy!” they replied…but continued to do nothing. …squeak…

“Girls! Why is there milk spilled all over the kitchen floor? I just cleaned it!” …squeak…

“We don’t know Daddy!” they squawked back cheerily.  …squeak…

As this squeak continued…it seemed that the noise began to take on a literary form.

“Girls! Why are your clothes on the kitchen floor!”  …Dweack

“We used them to clean up the milk Daddy!”  …Dwaaadck

“Girls! Do you hear something?” Dwaaaaad!

“Like what Daddy?”

“Quiet girls!...Listen…” … … …Dwaaaaad!...

“There…did you hear that?”

Dwaaaaad!   The sound squeaked again.  It sounded as if it were coming from the garage.  I went out to check on Isaac, and as I stepped into the garage, I heard the squeaking sound much clearer.  My son’s small but muffled voiced echoed from inside the van.

“Daaaaaad”

I looked and saw his screaming face through the window of the sliding side door of the van.

 “Daaaad! Heeeaaallllppp!”

I reach to open the door. It wouldn’t move. My son continued to scream.

“Daaaad! Heeealp! Ouououch!”

I scurried to the other side of the van and opened the opposite door and crawled inside next to him. 

“What’s going on?”

“Myyyy haaand! Ahhh!” he squelched as tears flowed from his eyes.

I now saw that his hand had been slammed in and was stuck in the closed door.  I reached across and attempted to open the door.  It still would not open.  I checked the lock.  It was unlocked, but completely stuck with his hand caught tightly inside.  He couldn’t pull it out and I couldn’t open the door.  He continued to wail as I hopelessly worked to open the non-functioning door. 

Finally, all I could do was brace my feet on the opposite side of the car while pressing outward on the jammed door, and performed my best horizontal squat.  I gritted my teeth and growled in effort, pushing as hard as I could against the door, not knowing what I could actually accomplish.  To my relief, I was able to create just enough clearance for his hand to slip out of the lodged van door.

I think that this is the picture that Paul is referring to when we read Galatians 6:1-5.  Paul describes a person who is “caught in sin.” In Paul’s context, to be “caught” is to be “trapped.”  Paul then calls for those who are “walking in step with the Spirit,” to help restore them.

Consider how absurd it would have been for me to walk away from my son who was trapped with his hand stuck in the door.  Consider how absurd it would be for me to sit down next to my screaming son and tell him how foolish he was to close the door on his hand and tell him how messed up he really is.  It wouldn’t make sense.  Likewise, when we are following the Spirit…we are led to help one another…we are led to “carry one another’s burdens.”  Paul is calling people to help one another out of the trap of sin.  Paul is not calling us to point out everything that a person is doing wrong.  There is a huge difference.  Yet…we are responsible to HELP restore!

May we come to see the Spirit’s work in our lives and help to carry one another’s burdens.

 The Race

“Hey Dad, do you wanna race?” asked my 8^th grade son.  It was the spring of 2020 and the entire country was shut down due to the COVID 19 pandemic…including the schools.  The snow had recently melted and the ground was still soft and soggy as the frost worked to break free from the grip of winter. 

“No, I do not want to race,” I replied.

“Why not? Are you afraid that I will beat you?”

“No…I am not afraid that you will beat me…I am afraid of getting injured.”

“Oh, come on! We can race just one lap around the house.”

“One lap is plenty of distance for someone to get injured…namely me.”

“Oh, come on Ryan! Race the boy!” interjected the wife of my youth.

 “I will probably get sore muscles in my legs!”

“Oh Please! With all the biking that you do, I don’t think that is going to be your biggest pain.  Your biggest pain will be the blow to your ego when you realize that your 8^th grade son is faster than you.”

“That’s it! Fine…I will race!...Let’s go!” I barked, and then I took off without warning. 

I realize that some may call this cheating. I would have to argue.  Though technically I did leave before anyone “else” said go…someone in fact DID say “go.”  It was me…and thus…I went.  My head start garnered me at least a 10m lead before my son took up the challenge and sprinted behind me.  I held the lead around the first two corners and as I came up on the North side of the home I could foresee a dilemma spread before me.  The North side of our home was a muddy swamp, residual from the still melting frozen winter ground.  The North side wall had been shielding the ground all spring from the penetrating and drying effects of the sun. 

I made the decision to run right through the swamp, as straight as I could.  My path veered wide, allowing a wide gap to my left…the “inside” of the path, that could potentially allow a would be runner…a younger runner…an 8^th grade runner…a faster runner, to get past me.  But, I knew better than to try and get traction and “turn” while immersed in the wet ground.  The 8^th grader behind me…did not.

As Isaac tried to cut in and pass me on the inside, he lost traction.  His feet went out from beneath him and he landed hard onto…no…into the wet, swampy, muddy ground.  I finished my race by trotting the rest of the way around the house.  I was both dry and injury free,  My son however, was not.

I am convinced that if Isaac had continued to follow my path.  If he had gone in the exact same spot and the exact same way as I did, he would have beat me around the house.  He was faster, but, I knew the way.  I find a picture of what Paul is talking about in Galatians 5:13-25 here.  In vs. 16 and 25, Paul says that we are to be led by the Spirit.  When we try and take our own path rather than the path of the Spirit it leads to the perpetual slip in the swamp of life.  So often in my life I think that I can be better if I just try harder.  It is in times like this…when I lose sight of the Spirit and rely on my own strength or confidence that I find myself, “down on my backside”…in the swamp.  Oh may we come to keep in step with the Spirit.  May we trust in the way that He is leading.

 Keep Up!

Recently, I was visiting with some friends.  We were reminiscing about the state of the world before cell phones.  I know that this is hard for people, namely my children, to comprehend, but there once was an entire world that existed and functioned before the invention of the cell phone.  One notable difference between the prehistoric world of non-cellular technology and today is the regular implementation of…a map. 

When Sarah and I were in our early dating years, I began making trips across the Midwest from central Minnesota to the Detroit Michigan area (her home town).  This trip wouldn’t be so bad if it were not for the incredibly large lake that lies between these two lands…namely, Lake Michigan.  The fact that this lake is there forces would be travelers to navigate through the pernicious city of Chicago, (or the Upper Peninsula, but that is even farther).

The first time I drove the perilous paths of the city of Chicago, I tuned into local traffic reports, while trying to read any one of the half dozen maps scattered across my lap and the front seat.  It is incredibly challenging to read a map, eat a Big Mac, avoid collisions on all four sides…AND count out .40 cents for what felt like unending toll booths along the way.

The city of Chicago uses names rather than numbers for their highways system, which made the local traffic reports confusing and of absolutely NO value. “The Dan Ryan is at a total stand still, while the Kennedy is struggling to clear a 12 car pileup.  The Eisenhower is under construction, so the Jane Adams is about your only way out of the city…but I wouldn’t get your hopes up about leaving the city any time soon.  Whatever you do stay off of the Tri-State!”

I didn’t know where any of those roads were or where they were going…but considering that I was at a complete standstill on I294…I assumed that I was on one of them.

One time, before the inundation of the cell phone and its GPS capabilities, I found myself without a map and needing to head into downtown Minneapolis. The good news however, was that I had a friend who was also heading into the city and he said that we, (my wife and I), could “follow” him.  What he did not say however, was that in this process of “following” he was going to do all that he could do to “lose” me. 

Just as he pulled his Ford Taurus away from the curb and I my Chevy Lumina, he gunned the throttle and took off screaming down the country back road like Ricky Rudd.  I did my best to keep up with him, but being a compulsively cheep person, I struggled to push forcefully enough on the accelerator for fear of consuming too much fuel.

At each stop, acceleration and turn, he continued to put distance between our two cars.  When we hit the interstate he was weaving in and out of traffic and I was white knuckling the steering wheel, with beads of sweat running into my eyes.  The stresses of the driving and the wasting of fuel were getting to me. 

I barely caught sight of him as he took the downtown Minneapolis exit.  By this time, it was getting dark so I kept my eyes glued to his red taillights.  I knew that if I lost him now, I was hopeless.  I didn’t know the Twin Cities at all and if I got lost, I would be lost indeed.  I did not know the way.  I NEEDED to keep up with him! I gunned the accelerator, did some weaving of my own, even going so far as to cut off some other “city” drivers.  They seem to have experienced this before, as they all seem to share the same knowledge of hand gestures that were mutually shared with me.  I HAD to keep up! I needed to keep in step!  I watched him enter the parking ramp…on two wheels. I followed suit…barely avoiding a collision with a yellow concrete post.  I had done it…I made it into the city…I made it into the parking garage.  I parked the car and asked Sarah pry my hands off the steering wheel and massage my forearms just so I could open my car door. 

“Were you trying to lose me?” I asked my friend.

“Huh?” He replied.  “What do you mean?”

“Never mind” I said.

I have since learned to traverse many areas of the country, including Chicago and the Twin Cities…but I still don’t like them.  Yet, in that one night, I am reminded of my desperate need of direction.  In our days of cell phones, GPS and even maps…we rarely have a need to “follow” any longer.  In fact, as people we have become incredibly independent.  We don’t need anyone or anything…except maybe our cell phones.   

Paul reveals a different picture in Galatians 5:13-26.  Here, we find a battle that rages on within every believer in Jesus.  That battle is between the Spirit and the Flesh.  The Flesh wants to produce fleshly fruit and the Spirit wants to produce Spirit fruit.  Our job…is found in vs. 16…to “walk in step with the Spirit.”

May you grow in your walk with the Spirit…that He may produce in you ALL of the good fruit of the Spirit.

 Expert

According to some sources it takes 10 years to become an expert at anything. I have been a parent for over 18 years now…that must make me an expert…nearly two times over in fact.  Other sources say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert…well, if that were the case, I had that covered in less than 14 months…although I must admit I slept through a good portion of that.

I would like to take a moment and encourage every parent out there.  Even though I may be an expert…you are likely still a better parent than at least one person…me.  I have made more mistakes as a parent than I would care to admit or am even aware of.  On one occasion I accused my third born child of “faking an illness,” because she didn’t want to go to school.  By lunchtime that day I sat down to eat my slice of humble pie as my daughter spewed hers.  Upon the completion of my slice of pie and her “vomitous” (made up word), episode, she spitefully proclaimed to her mother, “Dad said I was faking.”

On another occasion, as I was wrestling with my son, I dislocated his jaw.  It wasn’t a huge deal really...a quick jerk to the mandible set it right back in place.  I had no problems with my own jaw however, as I ate yet another slice of pie.

Despite all of my parenting mishaps, I am astounded as to how well my children have turned out…it must be their mother.  Throughout the formidable years of teaching and disciplining, my children have vacillated between choices of obedience and disobedience, (as I am sure all children do). It often leaves me in awe as to how quickly these moments can piggyback each other.  One moment children do exactly what you ask, the next moment they have done the exact opposite.  These moments leave me pondering, “What draws my children to obey or disobey.” I am sure that there are many physiological factors…but I am not an expert in that…just parenting.

Just a few days ago my son did something that truly left me astounded me.  Sarah and I had endured another day of exhausting parenting, yes, even experts get exhausted.  As supper was being finished, we were pressing hard to get the children to engage in the clean up.  This act alone brings a plethora of obedience and disobedience opportunities.  In the midst of these efforts, we asked our son to take the dog out to do his doggy duty.  The request was followed by the usual arguments and resistance that a non-expert parent may have conceded to…but I, being an expert parent, pretended to care about his concerns…and then made him take the dog out.  As I watched Isaac approach the back door upon finishing the duty, he stopped and opened the lid of the grill and brushed the surface, preparing it for next cookout…WITHOUT BEING ASKED!

WOW! I was dumbfounded!…blessed!…honored!...yes I…even as an expert parent, couldn’t believe what I had just seen.

I pondered this…“Why do you suppose he did that?” I wondered.  I am convinced that as he walked by the grill, that something in him knew that cleaning the grill was the right thing to do.  I think he actually “wanted” to clean the grill! Why???  There are times when this kid doesn’t seem to “want” to do anything.   But I think he really wanted to do this…at least at this time.

Here is my conclusion.  I think he wanted to do it…because he knew that I would appreciate it.  This is an illustration of sorts of what Paul is showing us in Galatians 5:1-15.  Isaac did not need to clean the grill…or even walk the dog to “gain my acceptance.”  He is accepted no matter what.  Even if he never walks the dog again…he will be my son, (though he may receive some consequence if he does not). Yet, he did something that will please me even though he was not obligated to do so.  He was not obligated, but he was motivated.  I believe that he was motivated out of love.    

Paul is telling us that we are free…we are accepted by our faith in the grace of God.  We do not have to do anything to earn that acceptance.  Yet, Paul is saying…“obey the law…keep the law.” Obeying the law does not “appease God,” but it does “please God.” I want to please God…because I love him…and he loves me.

May we come to obey Him as His Spirit leads us.  May we be motivated by His love for us…and our love for Him. 

 Broke

 

A few years ago my younger brother gave me a car.  It is a 2004 Lexus GX470.  Perhaps upon hearing the fact that I own a “Lexus” you now think higher of me…or at the very least have placed me in the upper echelons of the automotive elite.  To further this uppity image, I like to use a raspy rich voice every time I say the word “Lexus.” For example, I may snootily ask; “Sarah, do you think we should use the Lexus to pull the yacht to the lake this weekend?” 

To which my elegant wife might respond, “We are not going to the lake this weekend…you are going to mow the lawn with your broken 1980 Lawnboy push mower and then you will fix the axle in that Lexus…and we don’t have a yacht and we are not getting a yacht…we have a fishing boat with a motor that runs on only one of the two cylinders.”

She is not wrong. Many of the things that we have are broke, including many aspects of the Lexus.  The Lexus desperately needs ball joints, tie rods, alignment, a radio and some serious work on the computer sensors as the dash looks like a decorated Christmas tree with all of the colored blinking lights.  It is quite obvious that the Lexus is broke and I would be broke if I tried to fix them all.  In fact, as mechanically inclined as I am, I don’t think that I would even be able to come close to fixing all of my automotive problems, which goes beyond the Lexus. If you add in the Dodge Grand Caravan, the GMC Pickup and the Chevy Suburban you would find a plethora of broken items from broken tailgates, signal lights, brake lights, tail lights, side doors, mirrors, parking sensors, running boards, tires, tire leaks, seat warmers, 4 wheel drive train…the list goes on. 

The bottom line is that my vehicles are broke…and so am I. 

I am not the only broken one.  One would only have to look at the news this past week to see that our world is broke and it is broke beyond repair.  We see the senseless death of so many, incredible violence, countries fighting and killing, abuse in our cultures leaders which includes many churches.

When we get even a glimpse our brokenness, we will naturally react.  These reactions are often attempts to fix that which is broken so that these things will never happen again.  It seems that we are bound and determined to figure out a way where “we” can fix it.  We are rightfully appalled by such occurrences and it is only reasonable to “do” something to prevent them from happening again.  Thus we try and it isn’t for lack of effort on our part,  that we continue to see these things happening time and time again. 

So why do they keep happening?  This might be a disheartening reality to some…but…perhaps it is because we can’t fix it.  It won’t matter what “we” do…bad things will continue to happen. Why?  Because just like me…this world is broken.

Mankind will NEVER be successful in fixing the world.  It was actually mankind that broke this world in the first place so what makes us think that we can fix it.  Jesus on the other hand…WILL FIX IT!  We see it promised and he KEEPS his promise.  He WILL fix it.

So what do I/we do?  At the core…I think that we need to see that we are indeed broke.  We are spiritually broke.  I am broken and in need of repair and I am spiritually broke and have nothing to bring to the table to earn any of the “fix” that Jesus is offering…and so is everyone else.  I want to know my brokenness and my need for Jesus. Likewise, I want you to know your brokenness and your need for Jesus.

The world has never needed Jesus as bad as it does today.  The world is filled with more broken people today than ever before.  So from one broken person to another broken person, I ask you, “Can you fix it? Can you fix…you?”

I then ask, “Will you invite Jesus to do that which only he can do…to save you from your brokenness?”

May we all come to see that we are broken and we all need a Savior, and Jesus IS that Savior.

 Fire in the Hole

 

They say that the male brain does not fully develop until well after a man’s teenage years.  In fact, recent studies have suggested that perhaps this development even extends into a man’s late 40’s…looks like I might still be in the process of “growing up.”

The prefrontal cortex is known to be the personality control center of the brain. This is the area of the brain that helps individuals decide on what the possible effects of certain actions may be.  An example of a young man without a fully developed prefrontal cortex could be that of a young college student, who intentionally slams the front bumper of his 1980 Plymouth Grand Fury into the huge, slushy, wet snow bank.  If his prefrontal cortex had been developed further, he may have taken the time to observe that the temperature was forecasted to plummet from 40 degrees to -60 degrees overnight.  Since his brain had not yet developed, he did not become aware of his error in judgment until it was time for him to head to work the next day, where he found his car is literally frozen into the snow bank becoming its own rusty ice sculpture.  Perhaps, this young college student thought, “Woo Hoo! I don’t have to go to work! I get the night off, now I can take my girlfriend out on a date.”  What he had not yet realized is that his car was still frozen into a snow bank…and…he had no way of getting money for the desired night on the town. 

For many males, this think-less pattern continues until they get married, at which time, (If they happen to get lucky and choose a good wife), their newly acquired spouse will beat this undeveloped brain into development.  Those who choose poorly will find themselves living in a perpetual circle of brainless in-activities.

Even if that previous example hadn’t been about  me…I would still be a victim of an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex.  One college afternoon, following a nice lunch of 2 pounds of bacon and a slice of pie, I studiously sat in the classroom of Christian Counseling 301 waiting for the humble professor to arrive.  Just as the respectable, Mrs. Dirks, walked through the door, I, along with a friend to my left and to my right, (also both males), grabbed the edge of the table and overturned it while screaming, “Fire in the Hole! Take Cover.”

The respectable Mrs. Dirks calmly replied, “Mr. Olson, could I see you in my office after class.”  I obliged, only to have her calmly diagnose me with ADHD.  Hmm…I wonder where she came up with that.

Looking back on my life and decisions, I find myself stupefied by my choices.  If I were ever to come came face to face with the respectable Professor Dirks I am certain that I would blush from shame and humiliation at my actions. Those actions were indeed shameful.

How much more am I overwhelmed with the shame of my sin.  When I consider coming face to face with God Almighty, I am convinced that I will be able to do nothing but slam my face to the ground in shame…even face planted in the dirt is too respectable of a position for me. 

Incredibly, Jesus, who had never performed a single shameful act…was shamed and mocked, beaten and crucified.  He was abused for shameful sins that he NEVER committed.  In fact, I have come to see that Jesus even willingly walked into shameful humility at his own baptism.  In Matthew 3:1-17 we find John the Baptist was calling for people to repent…to admit their sin and turn from it.  John was challenging people to publicly declare that they are shameful people.  It is at this time that Jesus approached John and asked to be baptized.  John’s jaw probably hit the water and he said, “No way! I am the one who should be baptized by you!”

Jesus replies that it needs to be this way. Why? 

I have become convinced that Jesus sets for us an example.  He exemplifies that we too should be baptized. He shows us that we too should be humble.  But even more so, I think Jesus wants for us to know…that he is offering grace…he is taking our shame.  He wants us to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that though He had no sin…he was willing to become sin…for our sakes, because he loved us and gave his life for us.  We certainly see this in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, but I think that we also see it in his baptism.

If I have ever had a reason to believe, repent and be baptized…this is it.

 Known

Tomorrow is Mother’s day and you know what that means…it’s time for men to scramble to the local Wal-Mart and pick up a last minute Mother’s Day card from the scant remnants from the greeting card display.  It is, in fact, mildly possible that the only remaining cards are the “singing cards” which are as expensive as they are annoying.  So instead of buying an overwhelmingly costly card that exceeds the expense of the $5 Caribou card that most men were planning on putting inside, they will decide to have the kids whip together a “homemade card,” with white computer paper and crayons that were pilfered from the local Perkins. 

I am happy to say that this is not the case with me…this year.  I have finished my Mother’s Day gift shopping hours ago. 

I tend to rebel against certain trends…like Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day.  This has at times generated some tension in the Olson home.  I guess I resist them, because I don’t want Hallmark telling me when to give a gift to the people that I care about…although…sometimes I guess maybe someone should.  Incidentally, I also don’t want Hallmark to make Christmas movies anymore either…but that topic is for a different day. 

I am not always the most aware husband, or son in regards to gift giving, yet I find that I am drawn to give.  One year I was drawn to give my wife a brand new vacuum for Mother’s Day! Despite what you are all thinking…she loved it…and she in fact wanted it.  I knew that she wanted it and thus I knew that it was safe to give.  This kind of knowledge comes only from relationship.

In Galatians 4:8-20, Paul draws our attention to the beauty of a relationship with Jesus. This is an incredible statement that Paul makes in that culture, and it is just as incredible in our culture today.  We CAN have a REAL relationship with God.  Our interactions with God are not just a one sided effort on our part to “appease” Him or somehow earn the right to be “accepted” by Him. 

May we come to know that we can have a real relationship with God… to know God and to be known by God.