Holiday Pivot

“Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”” (Mark 12:29–31, NLT)

 

Every time I see an old threshing machine (a story for another day), I am reminded of the miraculous healing God brought to my heart many years ago. That launched me onto a path of glorious discovery of God’s ever-present love. I can look back at troublesome times and see his hand at work, his presence right there with me, tenderly encouraging me to keep going. The love in his eyes and in his voice overwhelms me.

The command to love the Lord your God with  all your heart, etc. is not some demand from a selfish tyrant God. It is a command to open our eyes, look around us and become aware of all the ways he is demonstrating his love for us. Love is our response to his initiative. He has been revealing his unfathomable love to us from the beginning of time. When I embrace his love and love him in return, I can then love those around me, fulfilling the last half of the above command, the ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ part (that story is also for another day).

My husband has been preaching a series called ‘Engaging the Pivot’. One of your feet must be firmly planted in order to pivot successfully. Our holidays were an exercise from the Lord where I had to practice ‘the pivot’. Had I not previously had my foot firmly planted in God’s love, I most likely would not have pivoted quite as smoothly.

As I have shared before, camping is one of the best ways we experience shalom with God. We had planned one week of camping with our family in a tranquil setting beside a lazy river in the forests of northern Alberta and follow that up with a week of camping just the two of us. The river plot was everything we had hoped for and more. It is a privately owned property so we could be as noisy as we wanted – and we are a noisy bunch: potato guns, frisbee golf, fireworks, etc.!  We had no curfew and no annoying neighbours (if you have ever camped in a campground, you have either been those or had those). I inhaled deeply of the fresh clean air. We had enough wood to burn all day long. I still smile when I recall those few days.

We had prayed about this holiday for a long time. Our kids had booked off time from their jobs to be there so we couldn’t change the dates. The forecast looked good for the first part of the week but not so much for the last half. We prayed some more. We arrived Friday evening fully expecting the forecast to change. By Tuesday, the girls had to go up out of the valley and to town to get supplies and check on the weather. God was not answering our prayers! I couldn’t believe it. He knew we need this time of rest!

The girls returned earlier than expected and were quite animated. “We have to pack up and get out of here asap!” they said. This was not what I wanted to hear. I did not want to give up this therapeutic place. But 50-75mm of rain was not something we could ignore. Even 10 more would have made it impossible to get back up the hill. With a heavy heart and dragging feet, we packed up and headed for our daughter and son-in-law’s home. Their yard is park-like, and we could continue camping. For 3 days the rain did not let up. For 3 days I had a conversation with the Lord about how he was planning on bringing us rest if we couldn’t go canoeing and hiking and camping in the great outdoors.

Eventually I came to the place where I could open my hands and say, “Lord, the main thing for us is that we experience your presence and return home refreshed, rejuvenated, ready to step back into ministry. Show us what you have for us.”

The rivers were overflowing their banks, so we got the hint that we were to cancel our campground reservation for the following week. It was raining everywhere in Alberta, except for home. What now? How are we going to find shalom now? Where are we going to find shalom? Surely, we are not supposed to go home?!

We went home.

The weather was amazing! Warm and sunny and no rain. We did a few day trips and ended our time by going down to Waterton for a few days. It wasn’t until we were almost home that I realized God had given us more than we had asked for.

1) We got to go camping in a glorious setting with our favourite people.

2) The rain on the camper was like white noise and I slept better than I have in years.

3) We made some wonderful memories with our kids and grandkids and later with just my sweetheart and me.

4) We got to see a part of our province we had never experienced before.

5) It has been a very long time since we returned from a vacation as rested and refreshed as we were this time.

Those are just a few things about our holiday time. To think I was second guessing God on his choice of weather for us. It is not hard to love God when I see the myriad of blessings he had poured out on us. But at the same time, had I not been grounded in his love before we left, I may not have seen any of it as gift. I would likely have stayed in my state of whining and complaining and even accusing him of withholding good things from me.

Had the weather been what I had been praying for I would not have slept as soundly, we would not have experienced Waterton, we would have just done the same old things. Our time in Waterton was such a gift from God! Somehow he took those two days and expanded them. I feel like he answered our prayers beyond what we asked. He took us on a different path than we had expected but he was definitely with us all the way. I feel refreshed in my whole being, body, soul, and spirit.

And just before we got home, we saw the most beautiful rainbow we have seen in years…an entire arch from one field to another -- a double one at that. Tom said he felt like it was an added blessing from God. God certainly did give us a wonderful holiday. I’m glad he didn’t give me what I asked for. I’m glad he loves me too much for that. I am so glad he took me on the journey of healing my love receiver all those years ago so that I could experience his love for me in this holiday pivot.

I love him because he loved me first.