Lessons from a mud bog… or something like that. Logan is our eldest son and is generally quiet, laid back, and a little bit shy. A long conversation with him is about five minutes or so. So I was surprised as he shared a conversation with me today that he had with an amazing man called Spider Monkey. Logan and Beth were in Eastman at some large outdoor redneck event that involves mud, trucks, big tires… well you get the picture. And no… I was not there. But Logan was there on a divine appointment. Someone else had previously mentioned Spider Monkey to me and I had filed the name away with a grin. But Logan reports great wisdom from this fellow. Logan approached this stranger because he was so obviously living with joy from a wheelchair. Logan wanted some of this for Seth….. Spider Monkey has been disabled for several years and arranges “handicapped hunts” to enable folks with disabilities to continue to enjoy outdoor activities like hunting, getting out in the woods, etc. He has a souped-up electric wheelchair that is equipped for rugged terrain. Spider Monkey understands not only the outdoors, but the internal battles that Seth and others like him must wage… Logan was all excited about the wheelchair, the hunts, and Spider Monkey. But the real take home message that resonated with Logan was this piece of wisdom… “the real battle is not from the neck down, it is from the neck up.” So out of the miry clay of the mud bog, Logan grew in his understanding of the real war here. Seth’s body is not being very cooperative, but that is only a small piece of the fight. As Brother Billy and I discussed this week, attitude is everything… So for now, we are fighting for attitude, joy, perseverance, and peace. Seth has had the best attitude over the last 4 months, but has been battling illness the last few weeks and that has affected our outlook. He needs some sun, some mud, and some pine trees. God’s creation has always been a place of strengthening for our boys… it is a big part of their firm foundation. I am going to take this a step further and say… the REAL battle is not just from the neck up, it is from the heart up… Jonah had a heart problem that landed him on a ship from which he was overthrown. His desire for reconciliation with God led him to a time out in the belly of a big fish. Maybe that is where we are… in the belly of the fish. Our hearts are under the anvil of God as He makes all things beautiful…and that takes intimate one on one time with the Father. So remember, whether fighting the battle of the bulge, trying to learn to walk again, or trying to control the flesh in other ways, the war is not from the neck down… it is from the heart up. A pure heart will guide our thoughts and reflection on the things of the Lord will enable us to win any war. But for today….how does love look? It looks like a stinky, mud-covered redneck brother who is willing to step WAY outside his comfort zone and talk for 45 minutes with a stranger in a quest to normalize his baby brother’s life… and then willingness to recount the whole thing to his mother. That, my friends, is love. With tongue in cheek, I will share this verse (since our lesson today is from a mud bog) He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. (Psalm 40:2)
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 21:21:47 +0000
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