Recent Change Maze Encounter No. 4 - A Change of Heart
Recent Change Maze Encounter No. 5 - Where the Weeds Grow
A Change of Heart
We were a bit awestruck when we settled into our seats at a newly opened sanctuary – Autumn Ridge Church in Rochester, Minnesota. Everything was new and an example of excellence without extravagance. What a change from the old church Cheke and I had been part of 25 years earlier.
I’ll admit it! It was difficult to focus on worship when there were so many changes since the last time we had been to a worship service there: the music, the casual attire, the new sanctuary, the informality, the new level of excitement, and above all, the new mix of people. We were supposed to be singing but we both looked around to see who we could recognize. We saw Max and Bev in the row behind us, Bill and Peg a few rows forward and to the right, young Carlson on the left, and Harold in the front row on the side near the organ where Katherine, his wife, played as beautifully as ever. And that was it! Although the sanctuary was filled, those were the only people we could identify. The place was filled with people we didn’t know. And many of them were young families. Wow, it made us feel very old.
During the time when people worshipped the Lord with their offerings, I continued to scan. And then I saw a youngish (by my standards) looking guy across the aisle and down a couple of rows. “Hmmm, he looks familiar – but I sure can’t place him.” Then he turned his head. “It can’t be. But it is. That’s Gary. He’s older than I am and when we left town 20 plus years ago, he had just had a triple by-pass heart operation and, to tell the truth, looked like he wouldn’t last more than another 6 months.” He was slim, his hair was its natural light color, his skin wasn’t wrinkled, and he showed vigor as he sang.
After church Gary was one of the first in line for the book signing I was doing in the church bookstore (Christos Book Center). After we greeted each other with hugs, I blurted out, “Gary, you look so young. The last time I saw you I thought you were about to go home to the Lord. What happened? How did you do it?”
“I got a new heart! Shortly after you left town, I had a heart transplant. I warned my wife that she’d have to work to keep up with me. I was in my late 40’s and got the heart of a 19 year old.”
“How old are you now? Are you retired?” I asked. “Well, I’m in my early 70’s. But remember, my heart is a whole lot younger. So I started a new business a couple of years ago and God is giving me plenty to do both for Him and for the business. Think about it. I’ve gotten two new hearts in my life-time. One when I received Christ and He took over my spiritual heart and another when I got a new physical heart that gave me more years to praise Him.” Now THAT is change!
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Where the Weeds Grow
We spend our summers at a small cabin on a little lake in Minnesota. There is enough room for the kids and grandkids to visit if they don’t stay too long. Seriously, it is never too crowded for them and friends and clients to drop in on us. We love it. And it is a great place to hunker down to read and write. In fact, I’m sitting at my computer in the loft trying to focus on the monitor while I continually get distracted by the trees and lake and squirrels and deer outside my window.
The lake is crystal clear with a nice sandy beach. The lake bottom is usually a sandy slop until it gets too deep for an adult to stand. But this year is different. About 15 feet from shore the weeds are beginning to show and the bottom is getting mucky. This is our seventh summer up here and there was no such problem for the previous six. I asked my sister-in-law’s husband (I really count him my brother both physically and spiritually) what’s happened. He’s a retired teacher (but he never really retires from teaching) with a marvelous career of helping young men and women understand the ins and outs of agriculture and making the great outdoors a better place for all of us.
“Tom, it takes activity to keep the weeds out and stop the muck from settling in.”
Come to think about it, this summer is different. Tom Jr.’s family is really going through a lot of changes. With grandson TJ driving and working now, Nate mowing yards, Chris taking swimming lessons, Merren becoming a real success in gymnastics, baseball and soccer schedules, a dynamic youth group at church, mission trips and camps, and two newly adopted infants in the home, they don’t have much time to drive to the cabin and stir up the lake bottom.
And with my broken ankle that God has chosen not to heal yet, I decided not to launch the pontoon boat this year. That means we don’t take it out in the evenings for a relaxing 20 minute trip around the lake. (In fact, sometimes, in previous years, the trip would take 40 minutes – one time around clockwise and the second time, counter clockwise.) I don’t swim in the morning and evening, and people that come to visit sit on the shore instead splashing around in the water. No wonder the water weeds have been allowed to take root and the muck has settled in to cover the smooth sand.
Think about it. When change doesn’t stir our lives, the weeds start to grow and the muck moves in. There are so many examples. As we grow older, we’re told to do thinking activities to keep our minds keen; read books, solve crossword puzzles, write letters, use the internet, take classes, visit with friends. We’re told to exercise; walk, laugh, play, go to the gym, sweep the floor, swim, play softball. Just before I broke my ankle, Cheke and I went to softball rookie camp for 8 weeks. They even taught us how to exercise to tone up our softball muscles. I didn’t even know those muscles existed but we sure did get rid of some weeds and muck.
When kids sit in front of the TV all day all summer, mental, emotional, and physical weeds and muck move in.
Above all, God wants us to continually grow to become more like His Son. Christ- centered growth is change that keeps the spiritual weeds from taking root and the muck from settling in.
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