Month: August 2025

Every Part and Piece

Early last spring we bought a play set to put together for our grandchildren.  One of the first and most important steps was to carefully divide all the many pieces of wood into groups based on their stamped labels.  Then we separated all the hundreds of screws and nuts and bolts and hooks.  

Gary and two young men we know then began to assemble the play set.  They carefully followed the printed instructions page by page.  My job was to lay out all the screws and other hardware as well as the boards to be used in each step. 

 

As we worked together, we quickly learned that only the particular pieces listed in the instruction manual would work for each step of the building process.  No substitutions would fit.  

The finished product was a beautiful play set that our grandson has greatly enjoyed.  But it’s beautiful only because every part and piece was placed exactly where it belonged.

There were times as we were building that we questioned the placement of a section, but we had to trust the instructions and keep on going.

Isn’t this just like our life sometimes?  Even as we follow Christ, we wonder at the way He leads.  We question what He has allowed in our lives.  

But we also have an instruction manual to follow.  God told us clearly in His Word a very important truth.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God…” (Romans 8:28)

We don’t need to understand all that is happening to us.  The placement of the parts and pieces of our trials are usually impossible to understand. 

Our responsibility is to love and follow our Savior, trusting that He is putting every part and piece of our lives into an order that will produce a beautiful work…one that will make us more like Him and bring Him glory as we trust His building process.

I love the verses of this very old hymn.  I pray it means a lot to each of you as well.

            If thou but trust in God to guide thee,

            And hope in Him through all thy ways,

            He’ll give thee strength, 

            Whate’er betide thee,

            To bear thee through the evil days;

            Who trusts in God’s unchanging love

            Builds on the rock that naught can move.

            Only be still, and wait His leisure

            In cheerful hope, with heart content

            To take whate’er thy Father’s pleasure

            And all discerning love hath sent;

            Nor doubt our inmost wants are known

            To Him Who chose us for His own.

            Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving;

            So do thine own part faithfully;

            And trust His Word, though underserving,

            Thou yet shalt find it true for thee;

            God never yet forsook at need,

            The soul that trusted Him indeed.

                        (If Thou But Trust in God to Guide Thee, Georg Neumark, 1641)

Be A Shecaniah

I’m sure that all of you reading this know who Shecaniah is…or was, I should say.  Right? 

If you don’t know him, it’s because he is what Dale Davis in his book on Ezra calls a “minor character.”  

Ezra and the people of Israel had been allowed to return to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.  They were rebuilding the temple and the city’s walls.  But as usual, God’s people chose to sin by intermarrying with the heathen nations around them.  

Ezra was distraught as he confessed the nation’s sins to God.  A large assembly of people had gathered when out of the crowd, Shecaniah stepped forward to encourage Ezra in the actions that needed to take place.  He said there was hope for Israel despite their sin.

“Arise!” Shecaniah said to Ezra. “For this matter is your responsibility, but we will be with you.  Be courageous and act.”

Ezra arose and acted, surely energized by Shecaniah’s timely shared wisdom.

All through scripture and history, God has used those “minor characters” to lift His discouraged servants and to accomplish His great plans.  

I remember my grandma.  She lived with us for 14 years.  How often I would walk by her bedroom and see her sitting in front of her open Bible.  Her head, covered in beautiful white hair, was bowed as she prayed for every single member of her large family.   

She was what some would call a “minor character.”  But her impact in our lives for Christ is major, I am sure.

Do you wonder what purpose you can serve for Christ? 

It doesn’t matter who or where you are.  We are never sidelined in our ability to pray, to send a card, to speak encouraging words to those around us who are struggling, to make a meal…

The possibilities are endless for us “minor characters.”

Let’s be minor characters making major differences in ways that matter most to God…not to be seen, but to be used by God for eternity.

Uncie Aaron…His Buddy and His Burden

Time waits on no man, Chaucer said.  Time waits on no child, either.  We see this clearly as we watch Ryker growing.  Pictures from a few months ago compared to now show his physical growth.  New words and speaking in sentences show his intellectual growth.  

It brings joy mixed with a dose of sadness as all parents and grandparents know very well.

Ryker and Aaron’s relationship is also growing with time.  We have seen great strides on Aaron’s part in his friendship with his little nephew.  

Sometimes Aaron sees Ryker as his buddy.

Aaron still loves giving Ryker snacks.

Screenshot

He didn’t even mind Ryker taking his favorite chair one day.

They play funny make-believe games.

Wear goofy hats of Aaron’s.

Watch cars zoom down the track.

Do chalk drawings.

Laugh at silly cartoons.

Thoroughly enjoy water balloons.

Blow dandelions.

Play music.

Occasionally share the playset.

Fly a plane.

And one of the best is when they watched our fireworks on the Fourth.

It’s just the cutest thing to see Aaron look at Ryker and say, “Ryker!  Come on!”  Then to see Ryker bolt as fast as he can on his little legs to run with Aaron up the stairs to Aaron’s room where all sorts of fun and unique gadgets await his exploration.  

And snacks that are new to Ryker!  Dots!  Red Hots!  Pistachios! 

And gum!  

So, you can see that we must monitor things closely, sometimes much to Aaron and Ryker’s frustration.

But for all the positive steps forward, Aaron still carries the burden of his autistic way of processing his world and how others impact it.

Aaron sends mixed signals to Ryker.  One minute he might be happily allowing Ryker to play with one of his cool toys and the next he might yell no to Ryker for touching another treasured item.  

Aaron can be hurtful with his words during those times, and inappropriate.  

Therefore, we must also monitor those moments as we try to foresee certain triggers that might upset Aaron.  We’re just never totally in the clear and probably never will be.

Yet, again, the progress Aaron has made truly gives us much for which to thank the Lord.  

The challenges cause us to seek God’s patience and wisdom as well.

Speaking of prayer, this has been one of the sweetest and funniest areas of Uncie Aaron and Ryker’s relationship.  

Aaron has never forgotten a silly prayer that he heard in an old Don Knott’s movie when he was a child.  He sometimes yells it out when we get ready to ask the blessing before eating.

“Rub-a-dub-dub!!  Thanks for the grub!!” 

No amount of correction on our part has kept Aaron from blurting that out sometimes.  So, you guessed it.  One day as we all sat at the table and joined hands, Aaron gleefully yelled, “Rub-a-dub-dub!”

And Ryker, without missing a beat, chirped “Rub-a-dub-dub!!”

Let’s close our eyes to pray now…and let the adults grin real big!

Every night as part of Aaron’s bedtime routine, we join hands and pray.  Ryker has joined us before.  One night I asked Ryker if he wanted to pray with us, so he scurried up on the bed, took our hands, and immediately launched into his own prayer.  We didn’t understand much of what he said, but it was precious in God’s eyes, I know, and certainly in ours.  

Andrea shared with us Ryker’s prayer one night at their house.  I had come over to help with the baby.  Laying in his bed before he went to sleep, Ryker prayed:

“Dear Jesus, dank you Gramoo.  Dank you Uncie Aaron.  Dank you donuts.”

Out of the mouths of babes.

Dear Jesus, dank you Uncie Aaron.  Even in the frustrations…the continual training that sometimes never seems to take hold…the corrections…the monitoring…

May we see the joy he also brings…the laughter…the delight at the simplest things that we often overlook.

And the huge progress he’s made in his role as Uncie Aaron.

Let’s not forget donuts!

Rub-a-dub-dub!!