The Family

The Family

Thursday, January 1, 2015

The Severest School

We started a family conversation like this: "What event or lesson has impacted you this year?" Answers varied from, "House fire," to "Co-workers," to "Stepping out of my comfort zone," to "All the big things rolled into one." Then we talked about the memories generated from those events, both personally and as a family. As we looked back, with no exception, we were thankful for what God allowed. Thankful for His choosing. Thankful to have each other to ride the bumps with. Thankful for where we are now and what God is allowing us to enjoy. But then I read this: "We should remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school." (Thucydides) I have no idea who Thucydides is, and I don't much like statements like this. Why? Well, because it lines up with scripture and is truth. The statement was quoted in a book on how the elite Navy SEALs are trained, and turned from ordinary people to exceptional warriors. Said another way, when we experience life's difficult/tragic/heartbreaking/ruthless moments, by God's grace we CAN come out, as Thucydides said, "he [who] is best". Before I go further and you think I'm claiming we've endured life's difficult/tragic/heartbreaking/ruthless moments and have become the best, I will say, for me and my house, "We have not." However, we HAVE been through some difficult things. As we talked we mentally walked through the ones that showed up as familial mile markers for us: House fire Closed ministry door Experiencing (with Seth) unexplained neurological questions and fears (Seth's migraine seizure) Learning we had to move shortly after settling into a home Not knowing within days where our next home would be Difficulty with persons at work Together these were difficult and heartbreaking and somewhat ruthless events, out of our control, that left us wondering what God was trying to do in us, in our family. When talking about the house fire that God used to remove almost everything we "owned", a common response has been, "How tragic." Honestly, the fire was the least tragic for us, even though we experienced (and still do) some very difficult moments of remembering what was lost (pictures, journals, etc.). Back to my point. If people are best when trained in the severest school, then God graciously - NO, lovingly brought each event onto our timeline. Because He desperately loves our family, each of us, and wants to make us elite servants for His honor and attention. STOP!!! I did NOT say that we ARE elite servants. I said God desperately wants to make us that way. So as we talked, we also talked about the impact. What I heard my family, the individuals in my home say was that our collective and individual thinking has changed this year. WE ARE NOT elite servants of our Savior. BUT, our thinking has changed, and we are seeking to obediently submit to God's plan. God's severest classrooms are never fun, but they CAN ALWAYS produce the best. Elite servants. Those who obediently submit to God. Those who obediently want to bring all attention to God, the Holy Spirit, the Son. Final thought. Last January, Michelle and I chose to pick a word that would hopefully define our character by the end of the year. We chose resilience. Then as we talked we decided we didn't like what that might bring. So we settled on "Graceful Resilience." Such a soft gentle improvement, no? So we decided this year to pick something less painful. Or should we? If the best come from the severest school, we should eagerly choose a very tough character quality. Just a thot.