Remembering Isaac

In loving memory of Isaac Firman Poole



Some babies are so precious they change your life without being born. The sound of nothing where there should have been a heartbeat hurt my ears more than bad music. When I think of your birthday I can’t stomach the thought of cake.

There must be millions of kids like you in Heaven. The ones unplanned, unwanted, unloved. Do you know you’re different? That you were our special surprise, much wanted and very loved. Do you know that I’m jealous that Jesus gets to hold you while I just cry and hold your Mom?
You drew your first breath in Eternity.

You’ll never cough or choke from secondhand smoke.
You never scraped your knee or bumped your head.
I never rocked you before going to bed.
I wanted you to pee on me during bath time and burp up on my nice clean shirt.
I won’t hear your first cries, or laughter, or words.
You drew your first breath in Eternity.

You’d really love Hans and Esther. They would take you everywhere with them and be so proud of their little brother. And I’m sure you would teach them to share. Hans is just learning about his shadow and you’ve never even seen the sunlight, yet you live in the brilliance of the glory of God.
You drew your first breath in Eternity.

The Imperfect Perfectionist

Tuesday I asked, "What's on your desk?"

Maybe one good question deserves another: Are you cluttered or simply prepared for the worst?

I am a naturally curious person who always wants to find a use for everything. (politically correct translation: "easily amused and distracted like an above average two-year-old") This leads to some interesting scenarios when you remember the privileged access I have to garbage via my profession. Ten days ago I couldn't help but dig a plastic bottle out of the recycle bin to construct a portable home for a Chrysalis that I found during my cleaning rounds. I doubt it will complete the metamorphosis but I'm waiting to find out anyway.

It's strange trying to wrestle and reconcile the dual personality traits of being a saver (some say clutterbug, I just say I'm prepared) and a neat freak. Last winter I used some spare styrofoam and cardboard parts to build a desk cabinet for the tea and granola that I like to keep stocked and handy. That lasted fine until I actually needed something that wasn't on the top and in my quest to select the desired piece from my snack inventory I collapsed the whole thing and it fell into the trash can, which is where I and the styrofoam were first acquainted.

You may also rightly conclude that I'm cheap, or if you're kind you'd say frugal. The only things on the list of my desk items that I personally bought are the Nalgene bottle, the dry food/beverage supplies, the pictures, and one of the picture frames.

Even though I could easily survive a severe storm overnight in my office, let's just conclude in general by agreeing that I'm not cluttered, just prepared for the worst.

But what if the "worst case" isn't a natural disaster but rather the dread of having a cluttered desk? How do I prepare for that?

What's on your desk?

Today I had a brief discussion with my supervisor regarding an appropriate and effective strategy to clean offices and cubicles without disrupting the unique and eclectic systems of orderliness within someone's professional work space. We quickly agreed that order and organization is somewhat relative in a typical office community and thus I should only feel responsible for floors, periodic dusting, and emptying trash.

Even though I bear the title of Junior Assistant Flat Surface Technician responsible for cleaning the workspace of others, my shared office area is far from the model of perfection. I cut myself some slack (and I hope you would also) because approximately 98.7% of my professional time is spent actively working in rooms other than my office.

A witty person once told me, "Normal is only a setting on your dryer". So as I began thinking about the things on my desk I wondered what, if anything, they reveal about me. And naturally I wondered if other people like you (or you, or even you!) would draw similar or different conclusions about me based on the condition of my desk.

I'll go first with the confession of everything on my desk at the moment from east to west or right to left:

Cordless phone charging base

Chysalis in an empty 16.9oz water bottle

Computer

Computer mouse without a mouse pad

Prayer calendar for some friends overseas this week

Prayer request sheets from church office

Three Family pictures: All wallet sized, whole family in the center, Hans to the right, Esther to the left

Two shoebox-sized boxes containing napkins, plasticware utensils, a bag of cereal granola, daily supplements and an assortment of tea: White Asian Plum, Green, EveryDay Detox, and Throat Coat

A makeshift styrofoam 'coaster'

A hot beverage tumbler

An empty napkin holder

My NIV Bible


After I spend some reflective time in the vast ocean of custodial solitude I'll share my own introspective conclusions. Feel free to add your own comments at any point along the way.

Standing against the Dandelions

Isaiah 40 declares that all men are like grass, and just like grass all of us wither and fall.

Develop this analogy further and allow dandelions to represent sin. They may look attractive (or at least tolerable for an inexpensive flower) and even harmless in the beginning. If you give them any chance to take root, they spread everywhere and take over an otherwise healthy lawn. You can't just mow them down to get them out of sight, because they come back. In fact, they often come back stronger because you are helping to spread them by the mowing process.

Getting rid of dandelions is slow, and tedious. There is no way to get around digging them out by the roots. So must it be in our hearts where sinful attitudes and thoughts are often given a small foothold.

God will not neglect his inner yardwork but prunes us to bear fruit that will last.

Reduce the Recycling

In our national quest to proliferate the "three R's" (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) it seems that some entities assume we neglected to focus on the original three R's, particularly reading.

Consider this quote from the instruction packet for a LaserJet printer:

" [Company Name] is committed to providing inventive, high-quality products and services that are environmentally sound, from product design and manufacturing to distribution, customer use and recycling. When you participate in the [Company Name] Planet Partners program, we ensure your [Company Name] LaserJet print cartridges are recycled properly, processing them to recover plastics and metals for new products and diverting millions of tons of waste from landfills. Please note that the cartridge will not be returned to you. (Emphasis mine) Thank you for being environmentally responsible!"

How stupid do they think we are? If I am so naive as to expect my ink cartridge to be returned after they have recovered the plastic and metal from it then what gives anyone the hopeful idea I can figure out how to correctly apply the pre-addressed shipping label?

The potential consequences of this program could be devastating to an unsuspecting and unprepared populace. Someone might end up wearing the label on their shirt as a nametag, get abducted by the UPS, and end up taking a cargo ride to the recycling center. At least the trip would give them time to practice their reading comprehension skills.

The Original Renewable Resource

Consider Jesus' words from Matthew 5:14-16 ..."let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (NIV)



If Darwinian natural selection was the only explanation for all of the biodiversity on our beloved blue planet, then wouldn't you think by now some of the bugs would have figured out not to fly into the light fixtures? Oh, my bad. I forgot they must have evolved without the gene for long-term memory. Maybe we should be glad they haven't figured it out or we might be overrun by beetles.



I find it interesting that these common bugs are attracted to the very thing that ends up killing them. Maybe they think it's a way out of the cage or maybe they can't tell the difference between a light and the open window or door through which they entered. If only they recognized the artificial or counterfeit nature of the light they would run (or fly, I suppose) away from it.



We aren't shining the light for the point of extinguishing all the 'bugs' that lurk in the darkness. Our good works can get people caught up and trapped like bugs in a light fixture, or we can shine in a way that results in men praising our Father in heaven.



What kind of bulb are you?

A blog by any other name...

...would be plagiarism, to say the least. Thanks to those who contributed ideas in my quest for a blog title.

The committee vote (made in absence of a quorum due to the rest of the committee taking a congressional-style recess) has resulted in the title you now see in the header.


I want to stimulate you to take your stand for Jesus Christ by joyfully serving Him and wholeheartedly seeking the Truth. I pray that you would imitate Him as a fragrant offering to God.

You name it, I claim it

I've got so many writer's blocks over the blog title dilemma, I could build a tower with them. So I thought we'd wax interactive, if not necessarily eloquent that's OK.

You submit a name for my blog. Something you think represents my personality or style, etc. And I've appointed a committee to vote on the proposed names by Saturday, June 21.
Please run your name through a Google search to make sure it isn't already taken by another blog and especially to ensure it doesn't have some unknown double meaning that is inappropriate or lame.

If you'd rather not add your suggestion as a public comment, I'll take it via email @ intheword@gmail.com

Thanks,

Lance

Great Minds think alike?

Before I dive into this blog I am going to have to find a creative title that hasn't been chosen yet. All three I came up with led me to other blogs and websites and I didn't see the link to this page anywhere on the early pages of the Google results.
So I guess this effort will remain on hold while I try to come up with a better name. On one hand it's nice to see that others liked the name so much they had already chosen it for their blog - so it must have merit. On the other hand you want something original when you start writing like this. So I will continue to think of titles and you're welcome to check back to see what I settle on.

All But Dissertation

Have you ever had an experience or maybe a 'season' of life in which you decided if you could do anything to help others avoid the same pitfalls you would do it? Perhaps you have discovered something so joyous or wonderful you must share it with everyone you meet.


Well, consider yourself warned...Some of my posts will merely be written out of compassionate service to those who are suffering from insomnia in one of its many forms. Not all, but some, and I'll let you be the judge to that end. But I suppose some of my posts may cause otherwise normal people to suffer from insomnia induced by hyperthinking - also known as the inability to turn off your brain.


And if we reach both coasts of that literary landscape while tilling much meaningful soil inbetween then my efforts will be fruitful as together we are strengthened by grace.