Junk Drawer or Junque Drawer?

Do you have a junk drawer? You know what I mean:

• that drawer you hope no guest ever opens
• the drawer you keep meaning to clean out but don't have the time or energy
• the drawer that is a handy place to drop in everything you don't know what to do with

I have such a drawer and here it is:

I finally bit the bullet and cleaned the thing out this week. Here is the "After" photo:

 Improvement? I should say so. I wonder how long it will stay like that? What are all those keys for? I know if I toss them, I'll come across the locks they fit. Better hang on to them.

These photos are a real metaphor for life. I can't resist working in a spiritual message here. (You just knew I was going there, right?)

My life gets junked up with a lot of useless odds and ends, worry being the biggest one for me.

• What clutters your brain and keeps you awake at night?
• What junks up your days?
• What messes up important relationships?
• Are you hanging on to useless things from the past? (Like my old keys, grudges are useless.)

In a sermon recently, I heard this comment: "God saw what a mess mankind made of things. He heard mankind crying out to him and he sent his Son to clean up our messes." 

My junk drawer is a good illustration of that concept.

The Bible gives us some beautiful words to help us clean up our acts:

"...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (Philippians 4:8) NIV

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22) NIV

Familiar verses to be sure, but oh how they can help us clean out the garbage in our lives.

Do you have a junk drawer that needs cleaning? Do you have some messes in your life that need God's loving, healing touch?

Ten Questions

A magazine reporter interviewed a business woman by asking ten simple questions. It was interesting to read her answers, but even more fun to imagine what my own would be.

Interview yourself. Answer the following questions and see what it reveals about you. It's fun to do.

 Here are my answers:

1. What is your personal style?
• Conservative traditional. Yuck. How boring. I really need to zip it up a notch.
2. What inspires you?
• Leaves. I have a collection of laminated fall leaves from my home in Ohio. My sister picked them from the woods in the neighborhood where I grew up. They're very special and remind me of a terrific childhood. 
3. What are words you live by?
• Honor God.
4. What are you currently reading?
• Anything with words. On road trips I read truck flaps. "If you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you." 
5. What is your obsession?
• Reading. See #4.
6. What is the perfect meal?
• Anything someone else cooks.
7. What is an entertaining tip?
• K-I-S-S. Do as much ahead as you can.
8. What is your favorite decorating advice?
• Every room should have something practical, something attractive, and something meaningful. 
9. What is your hidden talent?
• I have an internal GPS. Give me a map and I'll find my way anywhere. Even navigating Washington D.C. doesn't scare me. It's a family thing. My siblings are the same. Audible GPS systems annoy me.
10. What is your favorite escape?
• A little cabin surrounded by trees. My mansion in Heaven is going to be a log cabin, for sure.

It's your turn. How would you answer these questions?

Let me know in the Comments section if you learned anything new about YOU.

Harper Lee Revisited

Readers of Harper Lee's new novel, Go Set a Watchman, either love it or hate it. Devoted fans of her classic To Kill a Mockingbird, are devastated to learn Atticus Finch exhibits racism in the second novel.

Good fiction writing presents a protagonist who displays both good and bad traits. They are not all good or all bad, but a realistic combination--sort of like us. Likewise, the antagonist (the bad guy) is not all bad but also has some redeeming qualities. This makes for good writing and interesting reading.

I believe so many readers dislike Go Set a Watchman because they can't handle Atticus Finch being less than perfect. In To Kill a Mockingbird, everything he did was right. Who has a father like that? No one can match up, other than Gregory Peck in the movie. And that was acting, folks.

In this second novel, Lee reveals Atticus' humanity and it disturbs us. He's a hero with flaws.

I understand the differing reactions:

• On one hand, we're disappointed. That always happens when a person on a pedestal cracks.
• But, reality is reality. Perhaps we ordinary people can relate better to a character when we glimpse both the positive and negative traits of their personalities.

Whatever you feel about Watchman, we can agree on two things:

1. Harper Lee is a gifted writer and observer of the Southern culture.
2. The message of To Kill a Mockingbird speaks to today's race issues, just as it did in 1960.

I suspect English teachers are jumping on the opportunity to teach both of these novels in parallel. Fantastic discussions would result.

(See the July 23rd blog post for my first review of Go Set a Watchman.)

Imprint

While channel surfing during the summer lull in television choices, I came across a nature show about a woman who cares for injured wild animals. Some of the animals can be treated and released back into their natural habitats. Many of them cannot because of something called "imprint".

Imprint, she explained, means the animal becomes accustomed to human interaction and loses something of their wild nature. Because of this, they can't survive on their own. Animal lovers recognize the danger of humans interacting too much with the animal species.

Grizzly bear in the rainforest on Vancouver Island, B.C. Viewed from a safe distance to avoid stressing the bear!

The word imprint:

 

This concept got me thinking about how various people in my life left their imprint on me. I can look back at my personal history and name several key people. Most influences were beneficial, yet there was a snooty old fifth-grade teacher who made my life miserable! She actually taught me what not to do as a classroom teacher.

What about you?

 

Who imprinted your life? Were those imprints positive or negative? How do you handle the negative ones? Only God can heal the hurt that comes from a devastating past. The good news is he will walk with you as you journey to overcome. It may take professional counseling and it surely will take courageous choices. Lean on God for strength.

I pray your imprints were mostly positive. We are the sum of our personal histories and those histories are filled with people who are important to our development.

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Perhaps a more important question is, "Whom do I imprint?" You might be surprised to learn your influence is wide-ranging. Our attitudes, dispositions, faith, value-systems, words--even the expressions on our faces leave their touch on others we encounter.

As I mull over this word imprint, some interesting concepts come to mind. Imprints are all around me. I'm affected by the books I read, the music I listen to, the movies I watch, and even the news commentators on television that capture my attention.

Key to happy living: Let God imprint your life

Homework:

• Take the word imprint with you today. Be aware of influences all around you. Are they valuable?
• List 5 people from your past who influenced you in positive ways.

Simbiosis

I learned a new word while on vacation in the remote forests of Vancouver Island, British Columbia: "Symbiosis." The naturalist leading our group of hikers through an old-growth forest pointed out mosses and lichen that grew around and on the trees--some of which were 1000 years old.

He explained symbiosis (simplified for us non-science people) as two different biological species relying on each other to survive. The Greek term comes from two words meaning "living" and "together." Originally, the term was used to depict people living together in community. The scientists apply it to living things in nature that are mutually beneficial.




A good example is the clown fish (think Nemo)

He feeds on small invertebrates that are harmful to the sea anemone. In turn, the waste matter from the clownfish provides nutrients to the sea anemone. The anemone also protects the clownfish from predators by it's stinging cells, to which the clownfish is immune. And...there's more! The clownfish emits a high pitched sound that deters butterfly fish, which would like to eat the anemone. They are real buddies, these two.

I'd like to skip back to the original definition of depicting people living together in community. Add the scientific use of the term where one organism helps out another and you have a powerful concept.

Isn't that what we all are called to do? Live together while helping out one another? What a beautiful image.The implications are amazing. Ponder them as you read these verses from the New Testament:

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6: 2)

"Live in harmony with one another." (Romans 12: 16)

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." (1 Peter 3: 8-9)

AZ Resources

If you run into someone from Arizona and you want to make small talk, ask them this:

What are the five C's?

If they were educated in Arizona and paid attention in elementary school, they should be able to rattle off:

Cattle, Copper, Citrus, Cotton, and Climate

Those are the main resources of the Grand Canyon State. Here are some other bits of trivia (in case you're ever on Jeopardy):

• More copper is mined in Arizona than all the other states combined, and the Morenci Mine is the largest copper producer in all of North America.
• Bisbee, Arizona, is known as the Queen of the Copper Mines because during its mining heyday it produced nearly 25 percent of the world's copper. At one time it was the largest city in the Southwest between St. Louis and San Francisco.
• Bisbee is the nation's southernmost mile-high city.
• The amount of copper utilized to make the copper dome atop Arizona's Capitol building is equivalent to the amount used in 4.8 million pennies. (Who counts this?)
• Arizona grows enough cotton each year to make more than one pair of jeans for every person in the United States.

Can you tell I like my adopted home state in the desert southwest? I love the beauty of the Midwest--specifically Ohio and Michigan where I lived years ago--but I have come to appreciate the uniqueness of Arizona.

Come visit. Just don't come now because it's still over 100 degrees.

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Abbreviated Wisdom

Here are several powerful statements that jumped out at me from a devotional I read recently. See if they resonate with you:

"It sounds so easy to talk about 'resting in the Lord' and 'waiting patiently for Him' until the nest is upset--..."

"Resting in the Lord does not depend on external circumstances at all, but on your relationship to God Himself."

"Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way....Fretting is wicked if you are a child of God."

"Have you been bolstering up that stupid soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God?...All our fret and worry is caused by calculating without God."

Questions to ask yourself:

• Is your nest upset?
• How is your relationship with God?
• Can God handle whatever issue you're dealing with now?

(Quotes from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. July 4th entry, page 134.)