Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Forgotten, But not Gone!

Well, I know my three readers must be awfully put out with me. If they are looking to this blog for internet entertainment lately, they have been sorely disappointed. I am sorry to have been AWOL so long, but duty calls from so many different places, I have been having trouble answering all the calls.

Spring is a hard time to get to stay on the computer very much around here. My four kids still at home continually have something pulling us in another direction, or chores call, or there is some special project awaiting, or someone needs visiting, etc. I made up my mind a month or so ago that I was not going to get frustrated by the amount of things that need doing, and just set to work doing the most important things first. I am trying to meet deadlines, so I just set priorities every day and try not to worry about tomorrow. It really helps to keep the stress levels down.

I always wondered when I was in high school why it had to be so difficult at that stage of life. In addition to having about 6 college-prep courses per year taught on a level harder than anything I came up against in college, I participated in drama, speech, volleyball, softball, honor guard, chorus, and some other assorted "after-school" activities. I used to have classes all day, go straight to athletic practice until dinner time, run home and eat dinner, and come back to the school for play practice or chorus until 10 at night. Then, I would go home and do homework til all hours, and get up at 6 to start all over again. Looking back, I know that only the vitality that comes with youth allowed me to accomplish so much. It is a little disheartening as you lose that vitality and cannot achieve as much in your days at 45 as you did when you were 16. I think, though, that the practical lesson I brought away from those days was that you are always stronger than you think you are, and you can do more than you think you can do. That lesson was hammered into my brain again when I found myself in my 30's a single parent of 3 active boys.

Sometimes you just have to reach down deep into your being and pull out the strength to do something that is neither fun nor emotionally stimulating. Laundry would be a good example, right Jen? It's hard to believe that doing history at 2 in the morning with your body battered and bruised from volleyball practice could prepare you to hold a vomiting child years later. The thing that those two activities have in common was that you have to be willing to sacrifice something very important to you (usually sleep) for another important goal to be met. Love is a huge motivating force--whether it be love for a sport early in life, or love for a person as you mature.

Now, 27 years later, as I prepare to see my second-born graduate, I understand some things that I did not when I was 18. Those teachers were driving us beyond the limits of human endurance at times to show us that it could be done. Students who went on to be doctors, lawyers, soldiers, mothers and fathers, and a host of other things have assuredly used those lessons to get through unimaginable challenges in their lives as well.

There are spiritual implications, too. We can always do more in the spiritual realm than we think we can. Sometimes when the Lord allows us to go into unimaginable spiritual battles, He, in His infinite wisdom, knows that we will come out the other side of life's battles stronger and more able to handle the next confrontation. The trying of our faith does indeed produce patience. I feel that patience growing, and for that, I am happy.

The washer and dryer will run today continually, and I will be going over math facts with a seven-year-old while I fold. I'll probably have a "wild card" thrown in there, as I did yesterday when the toddler exploded a whole bottle of soda on the dining room carpet. I have a biography to write, a bible class lesson to create, photo sessions to schedule, three cards to make and send, a yard sale to put together, people to call, kids to nurture, and a patient husband who awaits some "quality time" with me. Doubtless, all of it is not going to get done today. I just have to "forgive" myself tonight as I pillow my head, and resolve to do it all again tomorrow, hopefully a little better than I did today.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Another Mighty Warrior Falls

Alvin Lunn
1934-2007
AlvinLunn-1
"By humility and the fear of the LORD
Are riches and honor and life."
Proverbs 22:4

Monday afternoon, on toward dinnertime, brother Alvin Lunn, beloved elder in the Collegevue church in Columbia, Tennessee, departed this life. I trust in faith that he was carried to Abraham’s bosom, just as Lazarus was in Luke 16. The simple but beautiful picture of angels carrying one vexed in his final days on earth by pain and suffering to the restful peace and comfort of Abraham’s bosom brings a smile to my lips. I am confident that this soldier of the cross and follower of the Lamb has now entered into peace and rest!

"But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope." (I Thess. 5:13)

I was not privileged to know brother Alvin for many years. We first met him when we became members at Collegevue just a few short years ago. He and his wife were the first to invite us to eat in their home. We subsequently enjoyed some hayrides and bonfires there and celebrated one special birthday with him. He was the kind of man you wish you had known all your life. He was a man to be held in the highest esteem.

"Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly...." (1 Peter 5:2)

I had no doubt that brother Alvin was watching for my soul from the first day that I entered "his flock." I loved his eyes! The fire in them reflected the seriousness with which he held his office among us and the passion he had for the uncompromised truth of the gospel, yet you could look into those same eyes and unquestionably see the love he had for each one of us, also.

He was so tender with the children--a beautiful mirroring of the Good Shepherd with the little children. Yet, like the Chief Shepherd, he was a formidable foe to the wolves that threatened the flock. Sin and error and discord and all the negative darts that Satan could hurl would not reach his charges if he had anything to do with it.

"Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you."(Hebrews 13:17)

It was a blessing to be able to submit to the rule of this overseer. I always loved it when he stepped before the congregation, because you knew that wisdom, knowledge, and instruction would drip, as it were, from everything that he said. He wisely heeded the words of scripture that said, "Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few. (Ecclesiastes 5:2) He was a man of few words, but his words were indeed "deep waters." (Proverbs 18:4) He used every opportunity to make learning experiences for all of us. I think even when the flock gave him grief, that he was glad to do his work humbly and effectively. Though we sometimes let him down, he never gave up on us.

When technology "burst forth" in the form of an innovative internet radio program that the church could use to teach all over the world, he, as an elderly gentleman of the "old school" was not the least bit intimidated or afraid to try something new. That radio broadcast has continued, with him dropping into the "studio" in the earlier days before he got so ill, to contribute what he could to the live on-air discussion. I am sure his encouragement behind the scenes helped to make that program the success it has become.

We were all devastated when we learned that bro. Lunn had a bad form of cancer that invaded his mouth and throat, though he never smoked or chewed, I was told. He fought valiantly at this battle, too. He never gave up. He never took the easy way out. I am told by those closest to him that he never, ever complained through it all. He handled unsufferable torment with the same dignity and grace with which he always carried himself. He would often get out of bed to go to services on Sunday morning, go home and sleep a little and get back up and go back Sunday night. That continued until just a few short weeks ago, whenever he could possibly make it. Through chemo, and radiation, and feeding tubes, and the inability to talk for the pain, he persevered, with that fire still in his eyes. His manner of life taught a lesson that could never be conveyed by words. His handling of suffering will long stand as an example to us all.

Christopher Reeve once said, "A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." In many ways, he appeared to be just an ordinary man. I believe, however, that he was an extraordinary man posing as an ordinary man, clothed in the finest suit of humility I have seen in many years. He was a Christian above all, and a husband, father and grandfather, successful businessman, farmer, and friend to many, among other things. But in the end, brother Lunn definitely found that strength which is not ordinary in times of deep trouble, undoubtedly sustained by his great faith in the Lord. For these reasons, and so many others, he will be numbered with the rare men who have been my heroes.

The fire has been briefly extinguished. Bro. Lunn now waits with the rest of the faithful dead for the Last Day, when one Shepherd will lovingly and proudly look upon another who so beautifully reflected His own love for us, and utter those promised words...

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord!"