Month: October 2021

Quack, quack, went the duck.

Or something like that. We’re up to ‘Q’ in our alphabet themed walks. I needed some groceries from Woolworths, which is conveniently located by a pond and a large park.

‘Quack’ starts with Q, so I figured that a duck picture would suffice for our photo scavenger hunt style walk today. The real aim, of course, is to maintain a sense of community with the gym ladies during this season in which restrictions prevent us from exercising at Curves, while also getting outside and moving.

So I bought a fluffy coffee and sat by the pond … yes, yes, I know it was meant to be a walk. The walk would come.

As I sat, I meditated on a passage which we are studying in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) this week.

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:11 NIV

Messy

I felt messy. I was messy. Hair LONG overdue for a trim, dressed in tracksuit pants and fleecy jacket, I was frustrated. I have so much to do, but struggle to knuckle down and focus. Hence a midday walk rather than my usual late afternoon walk. At least, I figured, I could achieve my ‘Q walk’ goal for the day.

“Heavenly Father,” I prayed. “You give your children good gifts. Here I am. Is there anything particular that you would communicate? Please help me to hear.”

Then, as if to reinforce my messiness, something white and sloppy splashed onto my leg. I looked up at the underside of an Australian magpie.

Ugh.

Eccentric lady and little girl

No, I’m not talking about myself. Although there are perhaps arguments to support the idea that I am becoming a little eccentric as I age.

It was a lady with pink zinc over her nose and cheeks, a pretty dress and a shopping bag full of bird feed that I’m talking about.

She walked about an open grassy area near the pond scattering seed as she went. Birds of every feather – black, brown, ducks, swamp hens, magpies and more – flew down or waddled fast to the open area.

I sat and watched, awe-filled at the quirkiness of God’s good creation. The little duck family particularly caught my eye.

Enter a little girl. Running faster than her father, she, too, was captivated by the duck family. The eccentric lady stopped her.

“See that daddy duck,” she said. “He loves his ducklings so much that he will do anything to protect them. And that means that he might hurt you. So you mustn’t run near them. Just watch from here.”

Daddy duck…..

Something went ‘ding’ in my muddled mind.

A song and a walk

The eccentric lady and I both watched the birds for a long time. We outstayed the little girl and her father.

I may be messy, but since when has that stopped a father loving his daughter? Let alone a Heavenly Father.

Finally, having long finished my coffee, I picked up my earphones and set off on my walk. I had intended to listen to a language lesson as I walked, but was reluctant to leave this special moment. So instead I put the song ‘Good, good Father’ (sung by Chris Tomlin – look it up) on repeat.

As I walked, I sang. Perhaps passers-by thought that I was an eccentric lady, and perhaps they would have been right. In any case, I’m a child of God, and his opinion of me is all that matters.

You’re a good, good Father,
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are,
And I’m loved by you,
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am.

Songwriters: Tony Brown and Pat Barrett

One more song

All good things come to an end, and it was time to get my groceries and head home.

At which point, I realised that I couldn’t find my shopping list. It was in my bag somewhere, I’m quite sure. Oh dear, I am such a mess. Scruffy hair, comfy clothing splattered with white, no list, shopping in the middle of the day when most self-respecting workers would be hard at work … aaaaargh.

Having purchased some of what I needed … not all, as I have since realised … I hopped in the car for the five minute drive home. Halfway back, a song on the radio caught my attention. No, it wasn’t the song I had been singing in the park, but it was quite apt for a windblown, bird-excrement-splattered woman. It is called ‘Known’, by Tauren Wells. Look it up.

It’s so unusual, it’s frightening,
You see right through the mess inside me….
I’m fully known and loved by you….
It’s hard truth and ridiculous grace to be fully known and loved by you.

Songwriters: Tauren Wells / Jordan Douglas Sapp / Ethan Gregory Hulse

Daddy Duck type care

Now I am home and at the computer. Yesterday I drafted a long blog post summarising some insights from a recent course I took which was designed to help participants prayerfully discern where the Lord would have us focus in this next season of life. I did not post it, though, because I wasn’t happy with it. It wasn’t focused enough, which, of course, reflects the fact that I feel inadequately focused.

(The course was good, incidentally. And the re-worked blog post about it may yet appear in coming days in short segments.)

In the context of feeling messy … unfocused, poorly groomed and even splattered upon … our Heavenly Father co-ordinated a lovely lesson for me today.

I started out meditating on a verse from Matthew, in which Jesus told us to ask our heavenly father for what we need, knowing that he longs to give us good gifts.

If daddy ducks passionately and lovingly care for their own, how much more will our Heavenly Father care for us, his redeemed, restored creation. Even, perhaps, to the extent of co-ordinating a daddy duck care lesson for this child today.

And so, messy and unfocused, I ask…..

‘Jehovah Jireh’ – the Lord will provide. 

I can once again attest to that truth. The Lord has provided in a very specific way this past month, and I am grateful. Yesterday, I picked up the spare keys to my home from the last worker who needed access.

But that’s the end of the story. Let me backtrack……

Problem 1 – the bath

It was a long overdue renovation.

The problem was the shower over the bath. 

For starters, one had to step up and over the bath to access the shower, which wasn’t ideal, especially as my friends, who sometimes stay with me, are ageing. I was okay with it, of course. I’m not ageing … much … right?

Second, the tiled walls weren’t exactly keeping the moisture out, as evidenced by the mushrooms that would grow from the grout in summer. I didn’t mind mushrooms. It was quite satisfying to pluck them off. It was the termites that were the real problem, and apparently they had been attracted by the moisture. 

Third, the cold tap would burst off the wall from time to time with a great deal of pent up energy. I would explain to guests that they needn’t panic. They need simply pick up the bits (tap, spring and central doodad) and stick them all back on, then turn the tap off. Nobody was ever injured since the taps were some distance from the shower. 

And finally, the enamel on the old iron bath was looking pretty bad. Forty or more years of regular use had taken its toll.

Solution 1 – shower / pantry

Actually, it was better than a solution. It was a massive improvement. 

A wonderful handyman, a friend of friends, had suggested that I put in a small shower, and turn what was currently empty space over the bath into a kitchen pantry. That meant adding a small extra wall in the bathroom, and replacing another bit of wall with a sliding door opening into the adjacent kitchen. 

But how much would it cost? That was the real question.

“It all depends,” explained the handyman. “It depends on what we find under the bath and behind the walls.”

Right……..

I’m staying with family during lockdown (again), so it was a good time to get the work done. 

Problem 2 – money

Before long, it became apparent that my savings would be inadequate. 

What was behind the walls? A very great mess of power lines, gas lines, water pipes and lots of dust. 

What was under the bath? Absolutely nothing. Literally. Once the bath had been removed, one could stand on the soil under the house. I needed a whole new section of floor. Timber is apparently like gold at the moment due to supply issues. Uh oh.

Furthermore, it seems that part of the electrical wiring was dangerous, illegal and essentially invalidated my insurance in case of electrical faults. 

“Just take your problems to the one who has all power,” the preacher said that Sunday, in the context of a sermon about a faith-filled official in Jesus’ day.

So I did. I walked and I prayed and I laid out the issues before the One who sees.

Solution 2 – money 

In the space of a week, I received an unexpected gift AND an unexpected payment. Incredible!

This is an unexpected blessing, I reasoned. Surely I need not tithe this extra income. That was a Tuesday evening. 

On the Wednesday morning, on Zoom, some Chinese ladies and I studied Luke 6:38 in our weekly simple English Bible study. 

Give, and it will be given to you. A good amount will be poured into your lap. It will be pressed down, shaken together, and running over. The same amount you give will be measured out to you.

Luke 6:38 NIRV

One of the ladies in the group had grown up in a rural setting. Better than me, she understood the context in which Jesus gave this instruction. “It’s just like me giving a wooden box of rice to my neighbour. When she returns it, she doesn’t return exactly the same amount. No, she shakes the box so as to fit in the maximum amount of rice. Even so, the box is so full that it overflows into my lap.” 

I was convicted.

Immediately our study finished, I made a donation as the tithe of that extra income for the month.

That very afternoon, I received yet another payment, this time a reimbursement for claims I had submitted some time earlier. Yes, it was as much as I had tithed and a little bit more.

Jehovah Jireh – he provided the money that was needed AND the tithe! 

Problem 3 – tiles

I had to choose tiles for the shower walls and pantry floor. Because of lockdown, I could only browse online, though I did go to a local store to collect some samples. I later returned to the store to discuss details with a salesperson and return the samples, then put in my order.

The handyman wasn’t impressed with my choices. To put it bluntly, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. The size was wrong, the colour was wrong, and it seems I had paid WAY too much. 

Solution 3 – tiles

But guess what? The tile shop completely messed up my order. 

First, they forgot to put in the transfer papers so, although my order had been prepared, it had not been shipped to our local store. I waited, waited, and waited some more, and finally chased it up. 

Then even after they did ship it, they got confused about where it was. It was on a truck on its way to me, I was told. No, it was not, it was still at the main depot, I was informed later that day. The handyman needed the tiles. It was apparent that nobody quite knew where my order was in the system.

And so I cancelled the order. 

The shop manager apologised profusely and processed a refund.

I called around several other local tile stores and found one which had in stock the sort of tiles I now understood I needed. The tiles were half the price of those I had originally ordered.

The handyman was still not impressed with my choice of floor tiles for the kitchen pantry, but he had something suitable stashed under his house which he kindly gave me.

Jehovah Jireh – the Lord even provided the tiles for the job. And at a fair price. 

Jehovah Jireh – God sees

In the Bible, the name ‘Jehovah Jireh’ actually refers to a place rather than to God himself. The name ‘Jehovah’ refers to God, while the word ‘Jireh’ actually means ‘God sees.’

The term was first used in the context of a life-and-death situation. It was a long and awful story. (See Genesis 22 and Hebrews 11:17-19 for more details.)  

In my case, the odds were a lot smaller.

Either way, God sees.

That doesn’t mean that I should go ahead and commit to projects without a care for how the bills will be paid. We are not to put the Lord our God to the test.

Nor does it mean that God will always make our life comfortable. 

Yet in this brief tale of my lockdown renovations, I want to attest to God’s kindness, generosity and faithfulness. To the dollar, he has provided. Again. 

Jehovah Jireh.

And now it’s time to organise my pantry!