Soap in our bed

So, here's one for you. I recently read that people suffering from restless leg syndrome (RLS) sometimes gain relief by putting a small bar of hand soap under their bed mattress, or under their fitted sheet at the foot of their bed.

As my wife suffers from RLS, we decided to try it. Once the soap was placed, I checked to make sure we hadn't inadvertently opened a door to darkness, and after some time of prayer, felt there was nothing amiss.

Interestingly, my wife began sleeping more comfortably that very night, but I started having weird dreams. After about a week of this, we removed the soap and my wife's discomfort started to return while my weird dreams stopped.

While praying about all this, we came up with a thought. Could it be that putting the soap at our feet at the base of our bed was actually a statement to the LORD that we want to have clean feet? Were we actually inviting the LORD to cleanse us with Hyssop?

(Psa 51:7 – NASB+) Purify²³⁹⁸ me with hyssop²³¹, and I shall be clean²⁸⁹¹; Wash³⁵²⁶ me, and I shall be whiter^3835a than⁴⁴⁸⁰ snow⁷⁹⁵⁰.

So, we decided to put the soap back at the foot of the bed, but this time, we would put it between us (it had been on my wife's side before) and we both slept more comfortably that evening.

In fact, as I went to sleep that night, I felt what I would have to describe as a gentle washing/draining out through my feet; and I actually had a dream/vision of 'dirt' and 'grime' being washed off of both of us during the night.

And in case all that isn't enough to get you scratching your head, try this idea: When the soap was on my wife's side of the bed, she was being 'cleansed' and I was picking up the 'stuff' being drained off of her; and hence the 'weird' dreams. When we put the soap in the middle, I too was being cleansed and slept more comfortably, instead of just 'picking up' what she was being 'cleansed' of in the night seasons.

So with these interesting events going on (to say the least), I'm pondering some things:

• What is the nature of a symbol?

• What 'power' or 'meaning' does it intrinsically have (if any)?

• What 'power' or 'meaning' do we intentionally or unintentionally give to symbols?

• Does a symbol still have 'power' or 'meaning' if you don't know what the symbol represents?

• Can you decide for yourself what the symbol means and have it operate as that even if it has had a different meaning before you started interacting with it?

What I’m learning from my plant

Some dear and wonderful friends of ours sent us a Butterfly Orchid upon hearing the news of the arrival of our youngest son. It was a very thoughtful and unique gift; I've never received a plant like an orchid before.

It was beautiful - with four complete blooms on one long stem and lots of green healthy leaves coming up out of the soil. The instructions that came with the orchid said that if I cared properly for it, it would live for years and years and even told me that I should plan on repotting it every second year!! I was intrigued and read all the instructions through several times.

I added some glass marbles to the bottom of the decorative container so that the plant in its small pot with holes in the bottom would be able to receive moisture from the water that I would pour into the container, but not be sitting in the water itself.

I bought a mister to mist the plant leaves, I picked a place in my den for the orchid that is right next to an east facing window because this particular type of orchid likes morning sun.

I bought a moisture gauge to track how moist the soil in the pot was, because I had read that orchids like to get pretty much completely dry before being watered again.

Every morning I would come down to my office and check the moisture, mist the plant and add a little bit of water to the base container. Everything was going according to plan, and quite frankly, I was having a good deal of fun caring for this beautiful living thing.

Then, it happened...

The blooms started to wither and die. I was sad when the first one went, but hey, I've got three more still on the plant. Then the second one went. Now I was starting to look intensely at my plant each day in hopes that I would find either new buds on the existing stem, or another stem coming up that would bud and give me more glorious blooms to enjoy. When the third one went, I knew it wouldn't be long until all the purple loveliness was gone. Sure enough, the final blossom withered away and then the stem itself began to turn yellow and die.

I kept my hopes up for several days that another blooming was just around the corner; but morning after morning, nothing but green greeted me.

And then another strange thing happened...

I started to lose interest in caring for my orchid. The thrill was gone; now it was just going to be work. I'm ashamed to admit that I even 'skipped' a few days of checking on it, misting it, watering it.

In the midst of this, I realized that there was a lesson to learn here. There are times in my life when I burst forth in beauty, blessing all who are around. I'm a magnificent testimony to my Creator. Then, the blossoms fade and fall off, and I go back to being just another green plant, in a green garden on a green earth.

But my Heavenly Father never stops caring for me. He knows just what I need and when I need it. He mists me with His presence; He waters me from His Word. He knows that there will be another season of blooming, and He's bound and determined to get me from here to there.

If only we were as patient, kind and gentle with ourselves and everyone else around us as God is!

So, now I'm dutifully caring for my orchid with determination. And I suspect that the next time it flowers, I'm going to be even more awed at the beauty because this time I've had to work for it.

--Peter

Do we really know what we're praying?

At the beginning of April of 2005 we lost a baby at 9 weeks gestation. We were devastated. We had never been through a miscarriage before. In April of 2006 we lost a baby girl whom we named Grace Noelle. She was 26 weeks gestation at the time of her demise. Our world was rocked beyond belief.

Before the consecutive miscarriage and stillbirth, we had had 6 wonderful pregnancies, leading to 4 very healthy girls and 2 very healthy boys. We had been so blessed we hadn't even pondered the kind of tragedy that could come in the midst of 'waiting' for another arrival.

Now the doctors, having done some pathology work on Grace's placenta, decided that something was happening in my wife's body that was causing the placenta to 'abrupt' or pull away from the uterine lining pre-term. We did not feel we were done having children, and so agreed to have some tests run. We were told that we should not get pregnant while the testing was underway, as some of the procedures could be damaging to a newly conceived fetus, so we researched every possible method of contraception but found no peace with any of them.

Finally, a few weeks later, in a moment of complete clarity, my lovely wife said "You know, we've said we'll trust God with everything in our lives, why can't we trust Him with our fertility too?"

So that's what we did. We prayed "Lord, you have our lives in your hands; we give you our fertility as well. We'll use any means of contraception you direct us to, but as of right now, we've investigated everything and have no peace regarding any of it." That, we thought, would be the end of that.

Several months later, I was on my way home from a business trip when my wife called me. We were 9 weeks pregnant - again. She was crying and said "I don't know what to do. I'm 9 weeks pregnant, but I don't feel pregnant at all. What are we going to do? What if something happens to this baby too?" I reassured her as best I could and when we hung up, I got right in God's face...

"What exactly do you think you are doing God? We did everything we knew to do. We offered you everything. We told you we'd do anything, even abstaining. And here we are, pregnant again." (I was on a roll and I wasn't going to let God off the hook for this one.)

"Do you have any idea what it's like to lose a child?!!!" I thundered at the sky...

...and in the deafening silence that fell, I suddenly realized just how dumb a question that had been.

Did He know what it was like to lose a child? Did He know?! Of course He knew. Not only did He know, He CHOSE to give His Son, Jesus for the likes of me. Not only did He GIVE His Son, He had been watching countless hundreds maybe even thousands of His children die each day without choosing Him.

If there was anyone in this conversation that didn't know what it was like to lose a child, it was me. And then it hit me. God had 'set me up'.

I suddenly remembered that weeks ago I had started praying "God, please give me your heart for mine. I have to feel what you feel. I have to know what you are feeling." And here in that moment, God had answered my prayer and given me just a tiny sliver of a fraction of a percentage of what goes on in His heart continuously.

I spent a good long time riding in silence after that, as I pondered just how little we actually understand about the prayer requests we make of Him and just how awesome He is that He overlooks our lack of understanding and answers us anyway.

--Peter

What was Solomon's greatest resource?

I believe that Solomon's greatest resource was his relationship to God. A right relationship with God had been modeled for him by his father David (flaws and all).

Starting in 1 Kings 3:5 we see the account of God coming to meet with Solomon and asking "What should I do for you?"

Solomon's answer illustrates his understanding of what it is going to take to develop and maintain a right relationship with God. He does not ask for silver or gold, or wealth or power, but said instead:

"So give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?" ( 1 Ki 3:9 NASB )

God was pleased with Solomon's request (see 1 Ki 3:10) and the fulfillment of that request became what I consider Solomon's most valuable treasure - an understanding and properly discerning heart.

May we also receive understanding hearts and begin to truly discern between good and evil as Solomon learned to do under God's direction.

--Peter