A WOMAN'S VIEW ~ Lenore Buth

You Can Soar Above Your Challenges

When Nick Vujicic speaks--and he does, all over the world--people hang on every word. They can't quite believe that this man is saying what he's saying.

Certainly I found that to be true.

Some years ago my husband and I heard Nick speak and afterward joined the crowd around the stage. His smile lit up the room.

Since then I've seen him on television and just recently on YouTube.

Always, I marvel how every day he triumphs over challenges that would drive many of us to curl up in the corner and wail.  

And then there are his remarkable parents. Three sonograms gave them no warning their child would be born with problems.

Imagine their shock to find their newborn son possessed no arms and no legs, only a sort of a "foot flipper" at the bottom left of his torso.

What would you do?

No doubt many well-meaning people told Nick's parents that raising their severely handicapped child would be too much for them and they should turn him over to the professionals.

They paid no attention.

That plucky pair took their baby son home and somehow loved him into a remarkable wholeness of spirit. 

They did more than love him absolutely. They gave Nick a lifetime gift.

They instilled in him the sense that he was bigger than the obstacles he faced.

They assured their son he could trust God to make a way for him and use him. Somehow. Somewhere. Some way.   

Still, it was years before Nick believed it wholeheartedly for himself. 

The boy with the hard name and the weird body

Nick Vujicic (VOO-yee-cheech) was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1982. As you would guess, being taunted and bullied were everyday occurrences.

He says, "I often came home crying and told my parents, 'I hate school! The kids make fun of me!'

"My parents always said, 'Don't pay any attention. You're God's creation, fearfully and wonderfully made, and we love you. You just smile back and talk to them and play with them as much as you can.' After awhile things got better, but I often felt depressed.

"I accepted myself after I read about the blind man in John 9.  I read how Jesus said the blind man was born that way so that the works of God would be revealed through him. I said to God that if He had a plan for that man I certainly believed that He had one for me.

"That's when I totally surrendered the idea of ‘needing to know the plan’ and trusted in Him one day at a time." 

Would you describe Nick as "disabled?"

Most people would. Here's what he says about disability: "We all have brokenness. Mine just shows more than most people's.

"Fear is the biggest disability of all. Fear is simply False Evidence Appearing Real. Courage is doing what's in front of us, even when we're afraid."

Asked how he finds courage to keep going every day, Nick smiled. "I thank God for what I have instead of complaining about what I don't have.

Nick says, “If God can use a man without arms and legs to be His hands and feet, then certainly He will use any willing heart!”

God answers Nick's heartfelt prayers

For years Nick wondered whether any woman ever could or ever would love him. Then God answered his lifelong prayers for a godly wife and a family of his own. 

He and Kanae fell in love and then married on February 12, 2012.

And now they have four beautiful children. 

 

(To read more of his story, go to his website: www.lifewithoutlimbs.org or Google his name.) 

Nick Vujicic often quotes a favorite verse.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."                                   Jeremiah 29:11

Dear reader friends, that same promise applies to you and to me, every bit as much as it does to Nick. If we compare our problems to Nick's we may feel we have no right to complain, but we are human. Inevitably, we will have times when we feel broken and downhearted. Even then, in Jesus Christ our hope and our future is secure.

Let's resolve to live our lives, too, by the sure and certain promises we find in God's Word. 

Lenore

 

What would you still dream if you had the courage?

Sometimes we forget that everything starts with a dream, with envisioning something that's not yet reality.

Still, what sane person would stand before an enormous expanse of rough granite mountain and imagine he could hammer it, beat it or blast it into what we now know as Mount Rushmore?  

 

(To get some idea of the scale, take a look at those pine trees--they're not seedlings--at the bottom of the photo.)

That man was Gutzon Borglum and he began this project in 1927. People calling him a fool--and worse--didn't stop him. Neither did the howling winds, thunderstorms, rain, frigid temperatures or blizzards of South Dakota. 

Borglum simply refused to give up on his dream. His vision for that enormous expanse of granite became a burning passion that took over his life until he drew his last breath in 1941.

We visited Mount Rushmore National Park years ago when our girls were growing up

To us flat-landers from Illinois the eagles circling above us were a marvel on their own. We stood there transfixed.

Before us were these four faces, each one 60 ft. high. It seemed we could look into the eyes of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

What's more, it seemed their eyes followed us when we walked from one side to the other. We spent a lot of time there, poring over the information booklet and asking over and over, "How on earth did they do that?"

"They" wouldn't have done any of it without one man and his "crazy dream"

Gutzon Borglum and his determination made it happen. It's that simple. And he was 60 years old when he drilled the first holes it in 1927.  

For the next 14 years he and 400 other men blasted away and chipped away an more than 450,0000 tons of granite from the face of the mountain. One exhausting day followed another.

Yet they kept on. Finally, in October, 1941, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial was officially declared done.

Sad to say, Borglum died of an embolism six months before that. His son Lincoln Borglum headed the faithful group of other family members, craftsmen and laborers who brought the project to completion.

We have this national treasure, Mount Rushmore, because Gutzon Borglum refused to give up his "crazy dream". 

What's your dream?

Some of us have a tired old dream we've been chasing around for years. By now we've convinced ourselves our mountain is way too big. We have no chance.

Besides, it's too late.

Maybe we've said, "But that will take ___ years. If I start now, by the time I finish I'll be ___ years old."

Find your obvious answer in another question. "How old will I be in ___ years if I don't do it?"

Here's a promise of God that we can cherish at any age: 

   As your days, so shall your strength be.  --Deuteronomy 33:25b

Maybe it's not too late

Here are five people who got a late start. Why not you?

• Andrea Bocelli was told he was "too old" to sing at age 48, but he started singing anyway.
• Susan Boyle, an unknown woman from a very small town in Scotland, made it on "Britain's Got Talent" at age 48 and wowed everyone. You know the rest of her story.
• Julia Child didn't start cooking until age 40 and began her long-running PBS cooking show at age 51.
• Harlan Sanders had a couple of other careers before he founded Kentucky Fried Chicken at age 65.
• Grandma Moses never picked up a paintbrush until she was 75--and never took a lesson, yet she became famous.

How about you? If not now, when?

It doesn't matter whether your dream is as big as Mount Rushmore or as small as mastering the perfect batch of fudge. 

What matters is that you and I don't assume we're licked before we start, just because we didn't begin years ago. At any age and any stage of life, goals and dreams give us a reason to keep going.

As for strength to keep going, only one Source never gives out. Some of us know the truth of the words the Apostle Paul wrote because we have depended on this promise to get through a time we thought we had no strength left within us: 

 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.  --Philippians 4:13

Who knows what you and I may yet do or how we may bless the world?

As someone put it, "If you woke up this morning it's a sign God still has something for you to do on this earth."

That "something" might sound small, such as aiming to be one of those people who cheers everybody up by simply speaking about what's good and hopeful. But first one has to look for what's good ....

Any of us could do better at that if we simply stayed mindful and made a bit of effort.  

Just remember that it is God who guides and enables and gives strength for each day to all who trust him and ask in faith.

Now let's be ready to get outside our personal comfort zone--and let's get going!

Working on it, too,  

Lenore

Advice that Fits Every Situation: Keep Calm and Carry On

Maybe you've noticed this phrase here and there on gift shop plaques and posters and wondered where it came from.   

It traces back to a motivational poster printed by the Government of the United Kingdom in 1939 as Hitler's troops were rapidly advancing through Europe and it seemed inevitable that Great Britain would be invaded.

Some months later the Nazi Blitz actually began. A woman I knew was in her twenties at the time and worked in London office. She told of her experiences. "Night after night the Nazis rained bombs on London and other vital towns and seaports and mortars boomed. Every night we headed for the safest place to be, which was in a bomb shelter or in a subway (Tube) tunnel. Truth is, hardly anyone really slept.    

"Our lives settled into a dreary, endless routine. When mornings finally came we dragged ourselves up to the streets and picked our way through the rubble, determined to carry on with our work as best we could."  

Strangely, Hitler never invaded the British Isles. Even the keenest military experts never could explain why he didn't seize his advantage and put his troops on this island nation.

Brits who believed in God proclaimed with confidence, "It is purely by grace, God's grace." 

If we have eyes to see we'll know that explanation also fits our lives 

As we comb through our personal history we find times when things "worked out," although we couldn't explain how or why.

At some later point we may discern a sort of pattern we couldn't make sense of at the time. Perhaps we finally spot a connection in what had appeared to be haphazard occurrences. "Ah, coincidences," we say. 

My friend, with our loving God and his people there are no "coincidences."

Our bottom line is the same as Christians in all times have found to be true: It is by God's grace. Remember Romans 8:28?

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  

Did you catch that? ALL things 

The goods. The bads. The boring hours that tick by too slowly.

The growing and exciting times. The times we waited for a diagnosis and prayed for a miracle.  

The will-this-never-end periods. The how-did-it-all-go-by-so-fast years. 

ALL of it.

You and I never will understand everything that comes into our lives. We cannot because only Almighty God is all-knowing. Only He knows the end before the beginning.

As Christians we can be sure of this: Our gracious Lord loves us. HE will work all things together for our good. In His time. In His way.

This is true even if it seems that right now, nothing in our life makes sense.

All He asks of us is that we keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep trusting him and live our days in faith.

Handholds for our hearts

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.--John 14:1  (ESV)

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  --2 Corinthians 12:9a ESV

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.                              --Philippians 4:6-7  ESV

Whatever is going on in our lives, in every moment of every day we have all we need.

God still holds the world--and us--safe in the palm of His loving hand. This means you and I truly can Keep Calm and Carry On through whatever comes.

Living it out, too, 

Lenore

 

Did your parents tell you, "Life is hard"? Count yourself lucky!

Many experts think that phrase should be banished forever because how can a child or young person develop a positive self-image if they get fed discouragement?

This theory was not always considered mainstream. When I was growing up, for example, we youngsters understood the meaning of "Life is hard" because adults specialized in using it when we came with complaints. "You didn't get as big a cookie as he did?" or "So you didn't get the grade you thought you deserved?" Then came an answer with a refrain that seldom varied: "Too bad. Well, life is hard, get used to it."  

Don't get me wrong. Most adults I knew, like my parents, were kind and loving. Teachers might be strict, but we knew they cared about us. Grandparents, neighbors and every grownup I knew seemed to think it their duty to give us kids a needed realistic perspective on life. That's why we so often heard, "If you expect life to be easy, you're in for a big let-down." 

Both my husband and I were used to it. We knew our parents and all the rest spoke out of their experiences during hard times. But my groom and I were convinced our love would conquer all.

No wonder we just knew our life together would be pure joy. 

A few years later life handed us a huge object lesson 

By this time we had discovered that love did not rule out disappointments and setbacks. Then came one that hit with no warning.

Picture my husband and me in our old Midwestern farmhouse on that freezing cold night of New Year's Day. At almost bedtime 
our nearest neighbor called us. In a tense voice he said, "Look out your side window."

That's when we saw the flames blazing across the roof of our old red wooden barn, which painted the sky bright orange. My husband and I looked at each other, each with same thought: The cows! Can we get the cows out in time?

We grabbed coats and boots and skittered down the ice-coated drive area to the barn. Flames already were bursting through between the boards of the barn's side walls. The cows! Somehow we managed to push our terrified animals out the door in time and they slid and stumbled their way onto the concrete feeding floor alongside the barn. 

There, cows, young calves and awkward "teenage cows" huddled together in a sad clump, mooing and bawling in fear. 

Once they were safe my husband led me to a place out of the wind and we stood there, shaking with cold as we watched our picturesque old red barn burn. Five minutes later the engine of the volunteer Fire Department from the nearest town arrived. The firefighters kept watch until the fire burned itself out.  

Several times I had run to the house and checked on our sleeping little girls, thanking God that they slumbered through all the sirens and shouts.  

By 2 a.m. the crowd had gone home, taking with them their floodlights. Before long the cattle seemed to settle down, too. Quiet descended like a shroud. 

My husband and I staggered back to the house, numb with exhaustion and cold. We two sat at our kitchen table holding hands and trying not to give way to tears as we replayed the scary night just lived and prayed for guidance.  

We knew we wouldn't sleep. We also knew daylight would force us to take some kind of action.

What now?

First light revealed the pile of rubble where our barn used to be. Next to it stood our shivering herd of Holsteins--and it was milking time.

The thing about dairy cows is they can't be put off. They had to be milked twice a day. And what about feed? Both cows and calves needed to eat, but all the feed, hay and straw stored in that old barn--with its old, probably faulty wiring--was lost.

What were we to do?

Once again the phone rang and it was the same neighbor who alerted us to the fire. Now he kindly offered the use of an empty shed to shelter our cows from the weather and also would supply hay until we could locate a supply to purchase. Thank God!

After a hasty breakfast my husband and a helper herded the animals the almost one-quarter mile up the road to that farm. My husband, always good at improvising, figured out how to set up the milking equipment he rescued from fire. He and our neighbor agreed on the rent we would pay for as long as we needed his shed and also how to track the hay expense.

With that in place we knew we could make it. 

Finding blessing in the loss  

This may sound strange, but later we came to understand that we had a built-in advantage when tragedy struck. The fire didn't destroy us precisely because our parents harped on "Life is hard. Get used to it." 

That old-fashioned perspective enabled us--despite our fears and uncertainty-- to look at the fire as, "Well, that sort of thing happens in life." We prayed and held each other up and got through dark moments. Day by day we coped and it took everything we had in us at the time.

As we rebuilt over the months that followed we grew stronger, individually and as a couple. We saw clearly how God guided us and gave us strength, so our faith grew, too. 

Now we took a softer view of our parents, a.k.a., the "crepe-hangers." Before, we assumed they simply didn't understand that with a good attitude and overflowing love and by using our brains, we could fend off crises. After the fire we came to understand they spoke timeless truth.

All along they were trying to ensure we would not be crushed by life's ups and downs.

What do today's youngsters need to survive? 

Today we're all about "love," believing that's the way to infuse strength and self-confidence into children and teens. Many grow up hearing, "Look at you!" "You are amazing!" "You are so smart!" "You deserve to be happy!" Teens and young adults hear, "When you find your bliss, your work won't even feel like work," Etc.

Here's a shock: "Bliss" isn't always bliss-full. Finding the "right" work does not ensure you'll never have a frustration or disappointment. The best of times still come with down days sprinkled here and there. Even finding THE perfect love comes with adjustments like each one putting the other one first. (If you find that easy, three cheers for you!) 

Truth is, life is hard and nobody's life is trouble-free. The best job in the best place still frustrates once in awhile. People sometimes let us down because well, every human being is imperfect in one way or another.

All this convinces me it's not a bad thing for children and teens to understand that life comes with joy and pain. Best of all is when they also know deep-down the saving love of Jesus and that he will enable them to survive what comes. That gives them a solid base for building a life.  

Hard times and problems have been the making of many an individual. Those who hang in there grow--and their inner strength grows. The writer of the book of James knew all about that, writing in James 1:2-4.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers [and sisters,] whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.   NIV

Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes you way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.  NLT

Those verses pretty much say it all, don't they?

Here's to joy in the midst of whatever comes!

Lenore

Keep your balance in the storm of bad news

"I am up to here with warnings and arguments and scary stories on the news!" wails the young woman at the next table."

"Me, too," her friend answers. My kids keep pestering me with questions, but I have no answers.  How do I know if school actually will start this fall? Or if we'll have to wear masks again and all that routine? Or if it's safe to walk or ride a bike around our town, what with people--and kids--being shot at by some stranger driving down the street?  

"I just want to grab everybody I love and never let go. Maybe never leave home."

As the two young moms got ready to leave, I heard the younger one say, "Sometimes I think the only safe place is in a cave on some far away island!"  

Remarks like this swirl around all of us. People are frightened and uneasy, wondering what will happen next. And to whom.

It seems the torrent of troubles never lets up. 

Is there any good news to report?

Answer: Yes, but most of it goes unreported. Television reporters and newscasters and newspaper headlines almost always lead with crimes, tragedies and misdemeanors.

Trace it back to a standard slogan of the news business: "If it bleeds, it leads."

Statistics show that readership and TV viewership go up--way up--when they feature bad news and tales of people who assault or kill others. The more horrific the better. Then they get to add in speculations about motives and/or possible crimes.

They fill in the gaps with opinions on possible doom and destruction that may lurk just ahead.  

This allows us the "privilege" of consuming a steady diet of this kind of stuff during every waking moment.

Is it any wonder so many of us feel anxiety that won't quit? 

What if we made a better choice?  

Here's the sobering truth. Nobody forces us to feed on the news 24/7--or several times a day.

It's like an addiction. Maybe someone should start a BNAA: Bad News Addiction Anonymous.

This startup could borrow the "Serenity Prayer," used by Alcoholics Anonymous and other self-help organizations. Here's one common version:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and Wisdom to know the difference.

Repeat aloud (or silently) as often as needed.

You see, whatever our age, our finances or our life situation, we need something solid to hang onto. We can choose to focus on God's faithfulness.

That never changes. Never lets us down.

Because God never changes.

Remember, God brought us to this day 

My favorite grandmother, who died at age 101, never lost sight of that and considered every day a gift. The last time I saw her was two years before her death. 

Grandma's beautiful, wrinkled face glowed as she said, "You know, Lenore, God is SO good. He never left me alone for a minute."

Ah, yes, Grandma. He never leaves any of His children alone for a minute.

Anytime. Anywhere.

So let's fill our minds and hearts with Bible promises like these:

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.   Psalm 55:22

He (she) who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."   Psalm 91:1-2

(Jesus said) "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."   John 14:27

How about a new slogan for our life? "If it feeds, it leads."

We could call it the "Good Stuff Diet."

Even a snack-size serving, day after day, can drive out fear and plant His peace in its place. The peace that passes all human understanding, remember?  

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.   Philippians 4:6-7

Every day, no matter how dismal the news, we have a choice. Let's choose to see the joy in each day, because that's every bit as real as the bad news. We just have to look for it. 

Lord, give us eyes to see!

Lenore 

How shall we get through this? Speak hope

Is the steady drip, drip, drip of negative news getting to you?

If you're like me, you're nodding your head in agreement.   

TV newscasters constantly proclaim new reasons to panic--or at least be fearful. We "little people" struggle to distinguish between what's true and what's just another deceptive suggestion. 

Here's a tip to save your sanity. For decades the maxim in the news business has been:   

If it bleeds, it leads.

Obviously, politicians and wannabes live by this slogan, too. That's why so many of their speeches feature "If __, then __ ." 

Conjecture soon is reported as fact by everyone who stands in front of a TV camera and then repeated by every broadcaster.

Soon the rest of us are saying to each other, "Well, it must be true because that's what I hear on all the TV channels." 

Always, we get to choose. Will we panic or will we breathe deep and hang on tight to a realistic perspective? 

What if it's real? What if it's close to home?  

Certainly, this worldwide pandemic is real. No wonder we're nervous, maybe even running scared. Everything keeps changing, from one report to the next. All we can do is follow instructions and try to live healthy. 

That may not be the whole story. We may face a serious problem or a scary illness. Or perhaps someone we know and love is having a hard time. We don't know how to help. We can't go where they are and just hold them close. 

No matter what the situation, you and I still have the power to speak hope. To shine a ray of light into the life of a person who feels overwhelmed,  whether in our family, our church or our community.

How? By staying in touch. By sprinkling words of hope into our texts and conversations. As we tell others to look on the bright side, we'll be encouraging ourselves, too.  

This may not seem like much, but it can be huge

Our words matter. Think of tossing a stone into a pond and watching how the ripples spread.

Many great national leaders of the past understood that. 

Take President Franklin D. Roosevelt, for example, elected in 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression. Love him or hate him, it took courage for FDR to say in his inaugural speech:  

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

No doubt many thought he was mad. Yet his words lifted hearts all across the country and became FDR's most-remembered statement.

The effects of the Depression lingered for years. Then, nine years later, came Pearl Harbor and World War II.

The Brits were already at war and they needed hope, too

They got it from their prime minister, Winston Churchill. He regularly broadcast to his nation and his defiant words put iron in British spines.

Take his slogan, "KBO." That stood for, "Keep Buggerin' On." 

That's exactly what thousands of Londoners did during enemy nighttime bombing raids. I knew a couple of those Brits. For months on end they spent every night in the city's subway tunnels, trying to sleep--on benches, on the floor, on the platforms. Every morning they dragged themselves topside and looked around at new destruction and piles of rubble. Then they dug in and cleared away wreckage and buried the bodies of those who were killed. All this besides keeping at their work, doing whatever it took to keep the country going. 

In Brit-speak, they kept buggerin' on.

Another of Churchill's famous statements has hung above my desk for years:  "Never, never, never give up!"

Throughout WW II, FDR and Churchill both held out hope and it shone as brightly in the gloom as a miner's lamp in a coal mine. No wonder people clustered around radio sets and hung on their every word. 

Hope is as necessary for life as oxygen is for the lungs

Every day you and I broadcast to an audience--our loved ones or people around us--usually one person at a time. Do we more often speak words that lift that person's spirit? Or do we simply add to their load of discouragement?

Let's be prepared, ready with hopeful Bible verses that reassure. (If they speak to our hearts, chances are they will to another, as well.) Here are three for starters:

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. -Psalm 62:5

Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint.  -Psalm 40:31

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. -Romans 15:13 

The Bible is a treasure trove. Why not keep track of verses that speak to you so you can pass them on?

And no matter what comes, let's smile and "K.B.O."

Lenore