Broken Washer

 

There are times that are more unhandy than others to have the washer break down.  For instance, like this weekend.  My son was home visiting me over the weekend.  He has epilepsy and as a result, there are occasional times in his sleep when he has a seizure and becomes incontinent.  It is of little consequence to us; he takes a shower upon awakening, and I throw his sheets and blanket in the washer.  That's what happened this weekend.

As usual, after my son got up, I put his wet laundry in the washer, added detergent and turned on the washer.  The washer made all the right noises.  It hummed and clicked its way all through its cycle.  Water came in and pumped out.  When the cycle was done I reached in the washer to pull out what I expected to be clean laundry.  That was when I discovered that my front loading washer had not tumbled or spun.  The laundry hadn't been cleaned; it was just more wet from water being pumped over it.  I tried over and over to get the washer to tumble and spin, but it wouldn't!  It was broken!

As a result I hung the wet, smelly laundry outside on my split rail fence to dry... that is, I hung it there until it rained.  Then I moved it inside to put over the bars in the bathroom to dry until I could get it to the laudromat.   In the meantime, I knew I needed to open the back of the washer to see if the driver belt was broken.  If that was the problem, I could order the part and replace it.  Anything more serious than that, I knew I needed to summon a repairman. 

The washer is a stackable unit with the drier attached to the top.  The unit is in a small alcove that contains a large cabinet that stores my art supplies.  In addition, a bunch of folding chairs are stored in the alcove.  I knew these would have to be moved from that space to get to the back of the washer.  Furthermore, the drier would have to be removed from the top of the washer.  That's what I accomplished yesterday.  So now, I have boxes of turpentine, gesso, tubes of oil paint, palattes, canvas boards, etc in big boxes on the floor in my living room.  The large white art cabinet has been dragged out of the alcove and sits blocking entry to the stairs.   Up against my dining room table (where I'm currently typing) is the drier.  The folding chairs are stacked in the kitchen.  All of this relocation of things just to get to the back of the washer!  But it was necessary.

I found that the washer belt was in fine shape.  That meant the washer had a bigger problem than I could fix.  I called a repairman.  He's coming later in the week.  In the meantime, with everything relocated, it looks like I'm in the process of moving.

All of this has made me realize how much I appreciate the ease of doing laundry when the washer is working.  And to realize that the problem is really big when dirty stuff can't be cleaned.

Waiting for the washer repairman to arrive has made me consider another Repairman. This other Repairman has set things right and keeps things set right in my squalid, polluted, and fouled life.  He is the One who has washed me and wants to keep my deeds clean in God's sight. His name is Jesus.

Jesus wants to be both the washer and the repairman for our lives.  He wants to cleanse us by His shed blood not just to sit around basking in our clean state (spun out and wet in the bottom of the washer), but in order that we can be useful according to God's intent (dried, smelling fresh and pure, and put to a proper and useful purpose).

I wonder, though, do we recognize when our lives are not what they should be?  Do  we let the Word of God and the Holy Spirit wash us thoroughly so we can be used with the intent God has for us.  Our days can be humming along smoothly, we're clicking off tasks in their cycles, and lots of events and people are pouring in and out of our lives.  But that does not mean all is well.  We could very well be out of order, and we need to let the Repairman come close to us to fix us.

Often times, when we are especially busy, we need to take note of how crowded the alcoves of our lives have become.  Are they packed with so much stuff (cabinets filled with supplies), traditions (folding chairs), and activity (whirling drier) so that the Repairman has no room to get to the real problem areas of our lives?  The question can be asked both of individuals and of churches.  What's filling up the alcove that is preventing the Repairman from coming close to us?  Whether we're willing to answer that question determines whether our lives, individually or corporately, results in soggy, urine soaked blankets or a fresh pure work of God. 

Now your sins have been washed away, and you have been set apart for God.  You have been made right with God because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.  1 Corinthians 6:11b

Waiting For The Book...

The e-mail from Trafford Publishing says that the first copy of my long anticipated book is on its way with FedEx and is expected to arrive at my house sometime this week. I know what the book looks like; the first picture up above shows the book's front cover.  The second picture shows part of the back cover.  In between the front and back cover are 440 pages of text and illustrations.  It has taken eight years to produce the book; I know the text of the book and all the illustrations intimately.   However, I'm sure the present sense of completion and accomplishment is not anywhere near the same that I will feel when I finally hold the published book in my hands. 

I knew I was to write this book and get it published; I had definite leading from God about that!   However, for the manner of distributing this book, that is, what comes next, I don't know yet. 

In the meantime, I'll share with you here what AFTER THE DEVASTATIONS- THE JOURNEY is about and how it came to be written. 

First of all, you can read what is written above on the back cover of the book.  That will give you a simplified idea of the book's story line.   And then, below, you can read two other summarys.  The first will be a short blurb that won't take long to read.    After that will be the actual preface of the book. 

SHORT BLURB- 

AFTER THE DEVASTATIONS- THE JOURNEY was written in the aftermath of 9/11 in response to the increasing threat of international terrorism.  It is a fictional account of how believers might live out their faith at a time when enemy occupation would keep Christians from gathering, owning a Bible, or speaking the name of Jesus.  This book can be read as an adventure story, as a coming-of-age book, as a mirror of the selfish motives that lie within each of us, or as an encouragement in times of suffering.  In addition, the exciting adventures of this book and the accompanying artwork are parables, in themselves, of distintictive doctrines of the Christian faith that set Christianity apart from other world religions.

PREFACE-

Like so many others on September 11, 2001, I watched the television in shock and disbelief as people jumped to their death from the inferno of the burning- and soon to collapse- Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.  That event by itself was overwhelmingly tragic and terrible, but more horror was on its way.  Another plane had been hijacked and was poised to attack the Pentagon.

I'll never forget where I was standing in my living room when the television image shifted from the Twin Towers in New York City to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.  I had to lean on the chair in front of me to steady myself as I saw smoke and flames rising from our nation's military command post.  As the wife of a career Army officer, I instantly recognized the significance of an enemy attack on the Pentagon.  It was far more frightening to me than the attack on the World Trade Center.  I knew something was taking place that meant our nation's very existence was at stake.

In those moments numerous questions raced through my mind.  What would be next after the attack on the Pentagon?  Was my country being overrun by an unknown enemy before my very eyes?  What would it be like to be a prisoner-of-war in my own country?  How could I function without the freedom of self- determination, speech, and religion?

For weeks after that dreadful day, I kept thinking about those questions even though, thankfully, no more awful attacks ocurred.

It was revealed that Muslim extremists were the cause of the atrocities of 9/11.  For that reason, as time passed, I reflected upon the belief differences between Christianity and Islam.  I knew that the claims that Jesus made about himself were unique.  His declarations separated Christianity from Islam and all other world religions.  Indeed, the Christian faith was vastly different from all other faith systems.  As a teacher and a student of the Bible, I wondered how I could define those differences if I was ever asked.

A few months later I was having lunch with a family member at the local pizzaeria.  As we talked about 9/11, the plot for AFTER THE DEVASTATIONS- THE JOURNEY took form in its entirety within moments in my mind.  I grabbed a napkin out of the dispenser on the table, borrowed a pen, and quickly wrote down the essense of the story.  The plot has remained essentially unchanged since then.  It has taken eight years to work out what was scribbled on a paper napkin in a minute or two that day.

Having never written a book before, I began to consider what was necessary for the task.  First of all, it was important to develop the personalities of the people who would act out the story; a novel is weak when its characters are not well defined.  Therefore, I purchased six small artist's  manikins and molded them with distinguishing faces, hairstyles, and body shapes.  After that, I designed and sewed clothing appropriate for each of them to wear.  In that way, I was able to see the people I was writing about, and later on I was able to pose the manikins as models for the accompanying artwork.

Visual illustrations are a profound teaching tool.  Because of that, I knew I could make the book more appealing and the Christian teaching easier to grasp if I included pictures.  Therefore, although I am not a professional artist, I decided to do a watercolor painting for each chapter of the book and for each teaching presented.  Later on, however, when I attended a writer's conference, I learned that book publishers would not accept a writer's artwork for publication.  Since my pictures had become an integral part of the story text, I realized I would have to self-publish the book if I ever wanted it published.  Unfortunately, for me to publish it in color would be cost prohibitive.  Therefore the illustrations in this book are in tones of gray.  I regret that, but it could not be helped.

Young people are our future; they need to be mentored by sacrificially caring adults.  Therefore, I wrote the old couple, Homer and Tillie, into that kind of nurturing role.  I know I am a dreamer, but I wish every young person had such a wonderful couple in their life to guide them.  The reading ability and interests of young people were kept in mind as I wrote this book.  However, there is much contained here for every age.

Family members and dear friends kindly posed for me as a photographic aid for the artwork.  Particularly precious to me are the poses of my father's hand (seen in the pages ahead as Homer's hand) and the poses of my mother's hand (seen in the pages ahead as Tillie's hand).  Living out their lives on the family farm, my father and mother modeled well what the Christian life should look like.  They passed away during the writing of this book; I will forever be grateful for their example and their influence upon me.

The six people I created to write about have become very dear to me, especially as I watched them grow in character and interact with one another.  As odd as it sounds, I have grown to love them.  At times during the writing of this book I was emotionally undone by what I had to write about them.  I was repeatedly reminded by others that these six people were not real, but only figments of my imagination.  However, as I wrote the story, these six people were indeed alive and real to me.  What they experienced, many of us have experienced in one way or another.  The task of writing has been hard- very hard- but in the end emotionally and spiritually satisfying for me.

This book can be read on several different levels.  It can be read these ways:

• 
  
  Simply a cliff-hanging adventure story.
• 
  
  A coming-of-age book that chronicles the maturing of young adults who embody idealism and dreams to change the future for the good.
• 
  
  A revelation and recognition of selfish motives that lie within each of us.
• 
  
  An introduction to learn about the person of Jesus, the claims he made about himself, and how following him reshapes people's lives.
• 
  
  An encouraging resource if, indeed, one day in the future our nation is destroyed through enemy occupation, economic ruin, and moral anarchy.
• 
  
  A book intended to strengthen the faith of Christians to endure now during difficult times, and if necessary, in the future when church gatherings may be outlawed and Bibles banned.

The title of this book applies to all of us.  AFTER THE DEVASTATIONS-THE JOURNEY.  Our lives are like that.  We all have periods of tribulation and discouragement to endure, but life goes on.  How we react to the difficulties in our life's journey makes us what we are.

It is my hope that this story about six people whom I have come to love will be a  pleasure for others to read.  Furthermore, it is my hope and prayer that many readers will consider the claims of Jesus and let him accompany them on their journey both now and throughout eternity.

Like I said earlier, I'm waiting to hold the published book in my hands for the first time later this week.  I was faithful to carry out the assignment given me by the Lord, I did what was asked of me, I followed the plan.  Whether others are touched by the results of my labor and whether others are blessed by the writing of this book, that is not in my hands, but in God's.  I can rest in this truth from His Word:  Many are the plans in the mind of a man (or woman), but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.  Proverbs 19:21  

Spider Web

The elaborate beauty of a spider web can be easily seen in the morning if dew drops are still clinging to the web and the sun's rays shine on it at just the right angle.  You can actually preserve such a spider's web; you simply spray the web with dark spray paint, and quickly, before the paint dries, bring a piece of white cardboard up against it.  The painted web will permanently stick to the cardboard.  This was a fun cub scout activity which I learned to do while I was a den leader in Virginia.  I have captured some remarkable examples of webs which my family still marvels over.

Spider webs can be admired with our eyes and minds for their intricate design.  However, can you imagine trusting a spider web to support you in time of trouble?  Or can you imagine weaving cloth from a spider web?  How absurd you say?  We can't imagine anyone doing such a thing!  However, the Bible speaks of people who do just that!

Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish.  His confidence is severed, and his trust is in a spider's web.  Job 13,14

They weave the spider's web...  Their webs will not serve as clothing; men will not cover themselves with what they make.   Isaiah 59:5,6

This last week I've read of people who have done just what these verses say.

The first example was a recently published book on the history and features of the earth published by the Smithsonian Institute.  Rather than giving any credit to God for creating the heavens and the earth, there were pages and pages of diagrams and outlandish theories of how the earth came to be.  Without acknowledging God, mankind must fabricate elaborate schemes (weave their own spider web) to explain the wonders and orderly design of God's creation.

The second example was a sample lecture that came in the mail as an unsolicited advertisement for The Great Courses (great courses taught by great professors priced at the special sale price of 70% off).  Out of curiousity I listened to the CD lecture on the biological origins of mankind's behavior.  The professor was teaching that how we behave, who we fall in love with, the intensity of our spiritual lives, the degree of our aggressive behavior, etc, is not our individual responsibility but is based on the brain's biology.  He lectured with the premise that our behavior is based on how the brain developed through evolution.  Left out of the lecture was the fact that God will one day evaluate us a free, moral agents responsible for the choices we've made in behavior and thought.  The Bible tells us that, at the time of judgment before God's throne, we must have chosen to be clothed in the standard of righteousness that has been offered to us by God, namely the offer of Jesus Christ.   It will do us no good to stand before a holy God dressed in the spider webs of biological excuses for our wrong behaviors.

The third example of people I've seen who have chosen to weave clothing of spider webs were individuals I saw in photos that accompanyed a news article I read last week.  There was a picture of three, proud avowed atheists grinning over the popularity of their recent media ventures.  What were they pleased about?  They had organized athiests to plaster a specific proclamation across the sides of city buses all over the world- 800 buses in England, alone.  The pictures of city buses were:  one bus by the Brandenburg gate in Germany, one in Barcelona, Spain, and one in Toronto, Canada.  What was the same proclamation, respectively, in German, Spanish, and English on these buses?   Simply this: THERE'S PROBABLY NO GOD.  NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE. 

This same group of atheists is now challenging teenagers to take the "blasphemy challenge" to publically renounce "any belief in the sky God of Christianity."  Psalm 2 tells how God reacts to these kind of people who want to dismantle the last remnants of Judeo-Christian faith remaining in our culture.  This is how God regards these people who spin deceptive webs to destroy faith in God:  ...The peoples plot in vain... against the LORD and against his anointed, saying, 'Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.' He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.  Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury... Psalm 2:1-4 

In nature, spider webs show evidence of God's wisdom in design and beauty.  On the other hand, trusting in the deception of man-made webs brings frightening consequences that last for eternity.  God will not be mocked.

In My Father's Shadow

Baby pictures!  The firstborn in a family always has far more pictures taken of him or her than the subsequent children... or so I thought. 

Secondly, I thought my parents didn't take many pictures of my brother and I as we were growing up.  To my recollection, it didn't seem important to my parents to take pictures of us.  The camera they had was old and unreliable, and I didn't think they took the trouble of trying to use it.  How wrong I was! 

On these cold days of winter, I have been reviewing and organizing the family archives ( old photos and letters).  I made a wonderful discovery in the process.  I found out that the two statements which I made above were just not true!  I discovered lots of pictures taken of myself (the second born) as well as my brother as we were growing up.

I found an old photo album- you know- the kind your grandmother had which had black pages between stiff covers held together with a string, the photos in it secured with corner tabs, and the labeling done in white ink.  I don't remember ever having seen this album before.  However, there it was, year after year, a picture of my brother on his birthday on April 3 with a cold, barren landscape behind him and then a picture of me taken on my birthday the next month in May with the evidence of trees budding out behind me.  And there below each photo was my mother's writing putting down the date.  My mother was meticulous her whole life when it came to labeling photos.  She kept a diary and must have referred to it to accurately date photos.  At any rate, there were the pictures of my brother and I carefully labeled.  Always the date.  Always our age.  The pictures were always taken on our respective birthdays, never taken a day early or a day late.

My mother documented the dates of the pictures, but it was obvious that it was my dad who took the photos.  Back before flash cameras, pictures were taken outdoors in the sunlight.  Frequently, as in the photo of me above on my 8th birthday, my dad's shadow could be seen.

Whereas some people grow up without having good fathers to nurture them, I am convinced I had the best father ever!  After seeing my dad's shadow so often in my birthday photos, I've been thinking about what it was like to grow up in his shadow. There were several 'bike' picutres in the photo album on my 8th birthday; apparently my dad was especially pleased with the new bike he had given me.  Our family didn't have much money, so that new bike was an extravagant example of my dad's provision for his litlle girl who was growing up before his eyes. 

In the shadow of my father!  What did my father provide for me over the years?  He gave me the freedom and safety to roam with delight over the farm fields, splashing through the creek bed and exploring the woods. He gave his time at the end of each exhausting day to read books to me, even way past the time I could read for myself.  He piled up mounds of sweet smelling hay on the barn floor for me to jump down into.  He gave me dairy cattle to train and the supporting opportunity to show them at the county and state fair.  He gave me chickens to tend so I could earn spending money.  He taught me how to use machinery and tools- things like an ax with which I chopped down trees, hammer and nails to build things, the use of  a wide brush to paint buildings, and the tractor to drive for doing field work.  He taught me the value of honest labor as I helped him in the summer to bring in the hay and cultivate the corn, and to fork over the beans plants to dry in the fall.  He moved and renovated an old shed to be my 'clubhouse', he bought me my own horse to ride, and he bought my brother and I a pool table and ping pong table in our teen years to enjoy with friends.  In college, he let me borrow the family car (our only car) for a week to drive east to hike the Appalachian trail with some friends.  My father gave me an example of how neighbors are to help one another, of always believing the best in another person, and of going to church regularly to sing God's praises with zest.

I had it very good as I grew up because I was abiding in the shadow of a father who loved me and provided for me. My father gave me an example of what God is like.  The way my dad lived his life helps me to understand the following truths from the Bible-

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say to the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'  Psalm 91:1 

Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give hims a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent"  If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will you Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!   Matthew 7:9-11

I have to admit that age is creeping up on me.  I can't run, and I don't chop down trees anymore.  I don't have the same sense of well being I used to have to be out on snowy roads in the winter or while driving at night.  I don't feel safe to wander fields and woodlands alone.  It's not that I'm in my second childhood and completely helpless yet.  However, as an older person, I know I am more vulnerable and I need to be in the shadow of someone who is stronger and wiser than me.  Who will that be?  Almighty God!  I need to keep abiding in the shadow of my Heavenly Father just as I was in the shadow of my father on my 8th birthday.  God has promised to give me good gifts, just like my dad did, if I ask God to be my provision and my protector.  Jesus promised me that.

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Once a week I grab up my guitar and head for the local nursing home to sing the old songs the folks love so well.  Songs like: Billy Boy, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, and She'll Be Coming Around The Mountain. 

 The folks like all the old familiar songs, but Let Me Call You Sweetheart is the song that brings the greatest response. A dreamy look comes over each person's face along with a big smile. The song seems to bring back to everyone the memory of a certain special someone from the past. Faces that are droopy and not responsive to much around them become lively, and eyes twinkle.  If you sit down with the nursing home folks, right then, and ask them "Tell me how you met your sweetheart", years fade away as people begin to tell of long ago when the felt their first bloom of love.   

It seems impossible to believe that the residents of a nursing home ever experienced intense passion, the same kind of intense, hormonal feelings which young people are dealing with in this day and age.  However, we know that the emotions of young men and young women were just as powerful in the past.  Watching the faces and listening to the old folks relating their stories of how they first fell in love proves that!  I recently came across the photo up above for the first time.  It's my mother-in-law and father-in-law in the early 1930's as they were dating. The look they are sharing and their nearness to one another speaks volumes.

Falling in love is a robust and profound mystery.  The Bible puts it this way:
There are three things which are too wonderful for me; yes, four which I do not understand:  The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid.  Proverbs 30:18,19

For this reason, I need to remember to pray for the young adults that I know- that they would be wise in who they date and that they would honor Jesus Christ with their bodies, to be chaste, until the day they wed.  I need to remember that when I pray for my young grandchildren, I should also pray for the nuturing and spiritual upbringing of their future spouses. 

Since every generation experiences afresh the strong emotions of romantic love, I would encourage any of you reading this blog to pray in a similiar manner for the young people you care about.  It may be now or very soon that the ones you know will be looking into someone's eyes and saying, "Let me call you sweetheart.  I'm in love with you!  Let me hear you whisper that you love me, too!"  We all remember what it was like.   As a result, you know why it's important to pray in this regard for the future of those you love.

Finding Significance

I've always been a paper pack rat.  I've kept newsclippings, wedding invitations, post cards, notes, teaching outlines, photos, journals, and other stuff that have been meaningful to me.  Throughout the years, I've been methodical about caring for these scraps of paper, my archives of past events.  I've punched holes into the side of each document that I've found worthy of keeping and entered them into a loose leaf notebook.  Dozens of these notebooks are upstairs in a closet.  In addition to my own memorabilia, I have possession of the old diaries of my mother-in-law and of my mother.  Over the years I have been tempted to discard these archives of the past, but I haven't.  More than once I've wondered about the purpose of keeping all of this.

It is said that when a person dies, especially an older person, an entire library of knowledge is gone.  And so it is!  But until that time, each of us carries a richness of life expeiences that make us who we are.  And those experiences are often what we share with other people in conversation or in other ways.  For myself, I find writing and artwork to be an outlet for reflecting upon the experiences and truths that God has blessed me with over a lifetime.

Lately, I've been going through my archives and jotting down notes to remind me of events and people from the past and then discarding the original documents.  My notes take up a lot less room than the documents.  There is significance in each document, a meaning to why I kept the scrap of paper.  For instance, in the above picture you can see a postcard of the girl scout camp where I was a counselor, my wedding invitation, a newspaper clipping of when I worked on the high school yearbook, an e-mail from my daughter-in-law as she awaited the birth of her first child, a picture of my husband receiving his warrant officer rank, and various other items.

All of us long to find meaning to our lives.  I think that is why I have kept my own personal archives.  As I am reviewing and consolidating my scraps of papers lately, I take note of the meaning of each item. At this time in my life, I find significance in how richly God has blessed me with people I have known and insight I have gleaned from the past.  I hope that these memories will be the means by which I can bless others in my attempts to write words of spiritual encouragement.

"Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.  Full of splendor and majesty is his work."  Psalm 111:1-3 

When I review the richness of my life, look at the marvels of nature, or read of Jesus Christ in the Bible, I cannot help but recognize God's work of splendor and majesty.  There is something to be said for pausing to study God's work in our lives (even in the hard times), His work in the natural world, and His redeeming work on behalf of mankind through Jesus.  It is in recognizing God's hand in everything that we find our life's greatest meaning and significance. 

       

Help To Let Go

I was thinking about all the changes that have occurred in my life over the last decade.  There have been a lot of "letting go" of people and possessions and places where I have fit in.  Most of the "letting go" has not been of my own choice, but have occured as a result of the death of loved ones or my need to down-size to a smaller house and yard because of aging.  My life circumstances had changed, and I had to adapt. 

One way that I choose to "let go" is pictured above.   Ten years ago, the family business had come to an end and it was my responsibility to dispose of everything.  One thing I had to do was figure out what to do with the sign that sat next to the busy highway advertizing our hobby shop.  The sign was composed of two 15 foot tall rockets which I had fabricated from old porch pillars, 4 X 4's, aluminum flashing and plywood, and had painted with our business name. It wasn't easy to know what to do with the rockets; they symbolized 20 years of my husband's Army career and 17 years of our family's life, business, and reputation in our small hometown.  At last, however, I chose to let the rockets go and I consigned them to a bonfire.

It is not easy to "let go"...  However, sometimes it's necessary.  At this time of the year when most of us reflect on the past year and think about the new year to come, we often formulate our plans to change- to live better lives.  Sometimes in the process of "letting go", we may be at a crossroads, and the choices we make of what we keep in our life, what we "let go" of, and what we add may influence our lives and the lives of our loved ones for years to come and into eternity.

It's good to seek God's counsel about how to make good choices for the future when we realize we need to "let go" of things from the past.  In the Bible, Peter gives us very sobering advice concerning this.  He tells us what kind of people we should be as we realize that God is soon coming to judge the world.  "What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the elements will melt as they burn!  But according to his (God's) promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."  2 Peter 3:11-13  

How are we to live in holiness and godliness as we wait for God to fulfil His promises to us?  The Bible tells us to "let go" of stuff that hinders our walk with Jesus and to draw closer to Him.  "But one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 3:13,14

I don't know about others, but I plan of using the next few days before the new year to ask God to show me if there are things that I need to be willing to "let go" of which are hindering the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Maybe there are others who are considering the same thing.  I'm sure it pleases our Lord when we ask for His help in "letting go".