Susan Cottrell's Blog, page 66

Leap of Faith

We long to take the risk out of life because it seems so much safer than riding through the unknown. But when we reduce risk, we reduce opportunity! God’s best for us is never inside our comfort zone.

My son and his beautiful bride will marry on Saturday. After a prolonged flurry of activity, the wedding day is here. And then, a marriage. Observing the preparations, I notice that regardless of how great you are together, marriage is always a leap of faith!

Rob and I were not much different from Chris and Arielle. Married in our twenties, we knew so little, yet we were so full of hope. We threw in our lots together in love and trust, and we brought children into the world!

We had no idea what life held for us — no idea where we’d be in five years, let alone twenty-five years. But we were ready to take it on side-by-side. We never expected to live in so many cities: NY, San Francisco, Columbus, College Station, Phoenix, and The Woodlands. I guess, like most young couples, we expected a fairly straight shot to happily ever after. Instead we went off-road with winding paths of career, new ministries, old ministries, trials, accomplishments, inflicting wounds, healing wounds, searing pain, and exquisite joy!

God reveals and deepens our relationship with Him as we go from event to event, “from faith to faith” [Romans 1:17]. Times that require faith create more faith! The longer we live, the more deeply we know Him, let alone knowing ourselves and each other.

Chris and Arielle will experience their own circuitous path, their own off-road adventure, their own faith to faith–so in twenty-five years, they will know their Savior in ways they couldn’t have known Him otherwise. That is the point of the journey. So I say to them, “Bon Voyage!”

Filed under: Abiding In Christ, Marriage

Attack!

Another Summer Olympics has come and gone, and I have wrung all the joy from watching women’s gymnastics! Those girls are imperturbable in this increasingly extreme sport, performing skills that look ridiculously impossible.

Consider the balance beam: the commentator says the gymnast’s boldness is the difference between winning and losing. The more she attacks each skill, the less likely she is to fall of the beam. As she throws tricks that honestly could leave her paralyzed if she missed them, she cannot hesitate. No second-guessing. No thinking! Just attack. Counter-intuitive, isn’t it? Honestly, we live the opposite. The more is at risk, the more we hesitate, we weigh our options. The higher the stakes, the more we pause to analyze.

What ridiculously impossible challenges would give way if we attacked our lives the way these gymnasts—or other Olympic athletes—attacked their sport? What if the harder it was, the more we took it on full-force? What if we truly believed that failure is not an option? Of course we need time to ruminate, time to let thoughts steep to bring out their full intensity. But when the time comes to act, we cannot hesitate or we stand to fall. Hard.

A whole new vista opens in front of me: newly expanded Parenting book, new marriage book, newly expanded marriage! Kids leaving home and getting married. Increased teaching and leading retreats. An exciting new chapter is just ahead–I’m ready to attack!

I’m reminded of  one of my favorite quotes to leave you with: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver

Filed under: Abiding In Christ

Unique Journey

My son Chris is getting married in a couple of weeks, our first. Whew — the pulse rate quickens! Have I told him enough how proud I am of him, how I love his beautiful bride? Have I told her enough how sweet they are together, that I’m thrilled she’ll be in the family? And how do I sufficiently warn them of the pitfalls? (I’m finishing a book on marriage—I have a lot to say!)

I received no advice when I married, but then, we were pretty much the only couple who’d ever been in love like this – ever. What could anyone have told us?

A road must be walked to be experienced. Like when Rob and I my first met at the London Book Fair: we had teatime at the concession stand and began to discover treasures we would love in each other for the rest of our lives. Or the birth of The Bunting (this same firstborn son who’s getting married): planned for home but ending in an emergency c-section. There was Rob, slipping me ice chips when the nurse was out of the room, and cheering with me to give birth before midnight so Chris would be born on 8-8-88! We made it with twenty minutes to spare. (Happy birthday, Chris.)

I cannot convey twenty-five years of experiences to these two I love so much. Raising five unique children into profoundly beautiful adults. Facing marriage roadblocks that nearly cost it all, but watching God renovate and restore. Transforming from unripe neophytes into seasoned adults. But then, those are our experiences, not theirs.

Nothing will prepare Chris and Arielle for what lies ahead. I guess they don’t need to be prepared; they need to know their Savior. They need to cling to Him with their whole being, and He will carry them through their own stories. In twenty-five years, they’ll watch their firstborn get married. Their pulse will quicken and they’ll say, “I wish we could tell them what we’ve learned!”

Filed under: Abiding In Christ, Marriage

Dried Bones

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Have you read the story about God bringing dry bones to life? Listen to this:

God grabbed me. God’s Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun…

God, the Master, told the dry bones, “Watch this: I’m bringing the breath of life to you and you’ll come to life. I’ll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You’ll come alive and you’ll realize that I am God!” …and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them. …The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army.

Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’

…I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am God. I’ve said it and I’ll do it.’” Ezekiel 37:1-14, The Message

What a sight that must have been! God brought dry bones to life, as only He could do. But this also gives a picture of God’s children whose hope is dead. As a people, they had no life and no chance of life—except through God!

I have been at the end of myself—have you? You feel afraid and even depressed, with no way out. But God Himself is the way out. He does not want my good ideas, or my effort, or my reasoning to get me out. He wants me. He wants me to rest in Him, to trust Him, to let Him carry me out so “you’ll realize I am God.” That’s a really good idea. No matter where I find myself, I’ll burrow more deeply into Him, and let Him be God.

Filed under: Abiding In Christ

Silver Anniversary

Rob and I married twenty-five years ago. Wow. That’s a long time no matter how you figure it. I think back on the kids we were those many moons ago, and I can’t believe how far we’ve come. We were wonderfully in love, giving, appreciative… immature, self-focused, lacking in wisdom. I mean, that’s how it is when you’re twenty-something! But how grateful I am that God does not leave us there. He has a path of growth for us even though we don’t know we need it and might not necessarily want it! But as I look at us this many years later, I love who we have become. I love the battle wounds, the hard times, not to mention the laugh lines.

I love you, my sweet. Happy 25th anniversary.

Susan & Rob 1987

Susan & Rob 1987

Filed under: Abiding In Christ, Marriage

Boast in the Lord

Amy Grant was seventeen the first time she was asked to play a concert, she tells in her book, Mosaic. “Up to this point, I had only sung for people I knew–family, friends, and schoolmates–and the idea that a total stranger would call and ask me to sing for a group of more strangers was mind-boggling.” She said the request was for three hundred dollars. Her mind raced, thinking of what she had saved, of how three hundred dollars would deplete her savings. She would love to go, but she couldn’t afford the money. Her friend, who was setting it up, laughed. No, they were not asking her to pay to sing — “by miracle of miracles,” she writes, they were going to pay her.

God had given Amy Grant an extraordinary gift with music — not just her people would pay her for those gifts.

I wonder at the many gifts God has given us. Amazing moments that bring us alive. Abilities to fix something or talk to someone — as many interpretations of gifts as there are gifts. I wonder at how much God is saying, “I invite you to use those gifts I’ve given you. Look to me, not to yourself — neither to your abilities to become prideful, nor to your inabilities to become faithless. Look to Me and I will accomplish amazing miracles through you. Just keep your eyes on Me.“

Mother Theresa traveled the world serving those in need. How did she, in her poverty, afford to fly around the world? She simply got on a plane without a ticket. The Lord had led her to do so, and no one dared throw her off. Her confidence was not about her but about Jesus leading her. It is not about our own abilities, nor about our inabilities, but about the miraculous working of Jesus in us. To know Him that well, that we understand the His working in and through us — this is freedom to live the way He designed us to live.

“…let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 9:24.

Filed under: Abiding In Christ