Sometimes things are just so ridiculous that only God can make them happen says Glenys Nellist.
GLENYS NELLIST
Children’s Coordinator, West Michigan Conference
It was this time last year, when the sun shone hot over the water and the family of geese floated by. That’s when it happened.. something so ridiculous that only God could have done it.
We’re standing in the back yard, my husband and I. We’re not alone. There are others here too, perusing the papers passed to them by the realtor. They’re doing what we’re doing – trying to imagine themselves living in this home, this little home on the lake. But it is little. Cute… but would we have room for our family when they come to visit from England?
I blame the Fletters. It was that family, among others, who made us fall in love with the ridiculous idea of lake-living when we came to live in the United States. Fifteen long years ago it was when they took us to that lovely lake home where we were first introduced to the fun of tubing, and the crazy idea of swimming in a lake.
No-one in England swims in a lake. I can remember saying incredulously. They’re freezing!
But not in Michigan. In Michigan they are warm, and welcoming. And people live on them.
But not us. I remember thinking. We’ll never live on a lake, because we live in parsonages. We go where God sends, and that means a home I’ll never get to choose myself.
But who knows what God has in store? Not me.
So this time last year, the unimaginable is about to happen. And we’re thinking about this little home. We’re standing on the grass that looks and feels like a luxurious sponge, and we’re looking out over the water to where kayakers float effortlessly and two white swans drift by. And my husband turns around to look at the neighbor’s house. It’s much bigger. It has a lovely deck. And a cute little beach. And for some ridiculous reason, there’s an ‘Open House’ sign hanging there too.
Now that’s a lake home Glenys. He says. Look at next door! Look at that lovely deck! That’s a home big enough to share with our family from England. Let’s go and peek inside.
I remember saying it clearly:
Don’t be ridiculous.
And twelve months later, when those same white swans are drifting by, and the sun is sinking in a pool of red over the lake, that lovely deck is the one from which I write. That lovely home is the one we’re sharing right now with our family from England.
And all the thanks and praise goes to God, who whispers crazy things like:
Just hold your staff over the water Moses, and see what happens.
(Can’t you just hear Moses saying, Don’t be ridiculous!)
Or: Just march around those massive walls Joshua, and see what happens.
(Can’t you just hear Joshua saying, Don’t be ridiculous!)
Or: Just wait three days Mary …you will see me again.
(Can’t you just hear Mary saying, Don’t be ridiculous!)
But that’s our ridiculous God… who does the impossible, who whispers the incredible, who resurrects fifteen-year-old dreams and breathes them back to life.
Yes God is good: in earth and sky,
From ocean’s depth and spreading wood,
Ten thousand voices seem to cry,
God made us all, and God is good.
~Glenys Nellist blogs at http://www.glenysnellist.com/
Last Updated on August 23, 2016