Asking is Easier!

“Dr. Waldron, there is something wrong with my son!”

The son in question was sixteen months old and playing on the floor, oblivious to the expressed maternal concern. I asked a series of questions to figure out what was going on, only to have all answered in the negative.

“He’s just so fussy.” His mother told me, anguish seeping from her words like water from a sponge.

I resorted to performing a physical examination of the child, not very impressive, but hopefully it would give me an idea of what was wrong. His ears were OK, throat looked fine, but when I looked in his nose, I discovered the source of his problem.

There was a little blue object looking at me from within Chad’s nasal cavity. Upon retrieval, I found two baby M & M’s.

Unfortunately, Chad was unable to talk – at least enough to tell me what his problem was. His mother didn’t know how to help him, because she didn’t know what was wrong.

This is one of the great things about being human. We can communicate. We can tell others stories about ourselves, we can explain who we are with words. More importantly, we can pray, opening our hearts to one who listens to all requests.

Too often, we act like 16-month-old Chad with M & M s in his nose. We act cranky and difficult to get along with and still do not make an attempt to communicate our needs to God.

Prayer is the question that holds within it all answers. As we open our souls to communicate to God, He hears and provides for us.

God knows our needs, but he wants us to ask. He wants us to tell Him what to make better, even if it is so simple as M & M’s in our nose.

A Great Work

One of the great things about having company is that Legos get picked up.

Our three older children were tasked with this mission and went (somewhat somberly) into the basement to do this thankless task.  Eventually, they reemerged with the news that the task was done.

Vince came up the stairs last of all.  "Dad," he told me.  "We are all done.  As we were picking up Legos, I thought of a verse that goes well with it."

"What verse is that, Vince?"  I asked him.

"'I am doing a great work,'" he told me.  "I won't tell you the rest of the verse because it doesn't go as well with it.  But it is about Nehemiah and how he was doing a great work and could not stop it, even though Tobiah (Nehemiah's enemy) wanted him to."

The verse is from the book of Nehemiah (6:3).  Nehemiah was doing the daunting task of rebuilding the city walls around Jerusalem and was opposed by various men who tried to distract him from the work.  His answer each time was that he was doing a great work and could not come down and leave the work.

I suppose it is easy to think of only "big things" as a great work.  Things like, say, building a wall around a capital city, climbing Mt. Everest, or competing in a hot dog eating contest.  But life is made up of a lot more small tasks that don't seem particularly great or important.

It is awfully easy in the midst of these not so great tasks to get side tracked by interesting, but relatively unimportant things.  Whether we are picking up Legos, building a wall around Jerusalem, or raising children, it is important to remember that the job is important and most be completed before the next one is begun.

Few things are as discouraging as having to pick up a room full of Legos, but there are plenty that take longer and more rewarding in the end.

Whatever task we are facing, we must not stop, for we are doing a great work.

Too Many Alligators

"Dad," Elliot asked from the back seat of our mini van.  "Are their poisonous frogs in other countries where there is war... like Asia?"

My five year old son has been fixated on frogs lately and some of the question he asks about them are pretty random.

"I guess so," I said.  Certainly there is some country that is dealing with war that also has at least one species of poisonous frog in it.  That certainly would be my guess for Jeopardy.

There was silence for a little while, as Elliot gathered his thoughts together.  Soon he began again. 

"I wish I could kill all of the alligators and crocodiles," he said forcefully.

"Why?"  My wife, Elaine, asked him.

"Because they eat frogs!"

"But if they didn't eat frogs, there would probably too many of them.  Anyway, there aren't any alligators in Indiana."

Elliot thought a bit more.  "Well, I wish I could invite all of the frogs to Indiana then and I would teach them about Jesus and how to stay away from alligators and crocodiles."

My son is young and can be forgiven if he doesn't understand that there is purpose for all of the things that God has created -- large and small, ferocious and timid, alike.  While it is tempting to believe that more frogs and fewer alligators could only be beneficial to everyone involved, odds are that it would upset a balance that currently exists.  Both are important.

This is the way in creation.  It is also the plan for our lives.  For, God gives us both frogs and alligators -- things that we want and circumstances that we don't -- in order that we can grow.  It is all to easy to rail against the things we don't like, desiring only that which we believe would make us happiest.

I cannot imagine a world with only frogs (even if my son can), for it would be a pretty dreary place.

Fortunately, I don't need to worry.  God has everything in hand and will continue to give me both frogs and alligators for the foreseeable future.

I am glad -- not because I enjoy the hard times, but because it tells me that God cares enough to give me what I need.  That is a blessing indeed.

A Puzzling Situation

The puzzle was amazing – it weighed over forty pounds and contained 18, 240 pieces. Very few would attempt to complete such a difficult puzzle, but that is exactly what Mr. Richard Gontarz did in 2005.

Day after day, Mr. Gontarz labored over it. Day after day, he neglected family and friends trying or order this chaos. Finally, after ten months of effort – over one thousand hours of work, the puzzle was completed – nearly.

For, Mr. Gontarz discovered on completion of the puzzle that one piece was missing. His house was searched from top to bottom without results and it became apparent that Buddy, the family beagle had eaten it.

Many people speak of life as though it was a puzzle. They see confusion and chaos in the daily decision they face. They work so hard and still face uncertainty that everything will come together.

They struggle for goals that always seem just out of reach. Then, at the end of life, they look back to the realization that there is something missing – that something was always missing for them to experience completion.

Jesus is that missing piece. He is the part of the puzzle that must come first. When He is in a life, it ceases to be puzzling, but rather a daily revelation. There are still daily decisions and much hard work, but Christ’s presence brings order to the madness.

In the end, the life that is begun and maintained with Christ will come together in a picture. This puzzle, begun on faith, will end as a reflection of the One who began it – Jesus Christ.

A Few Cloves of Garlic

Last fall, around the middle of October, I performed an act of faith.  I took some garlic bulbs and carefully tilled some ground in my garden and then planted them in a (fairly straight) row.  Finally, I mulched them under a thick bed of straw.

All winter long, I did nothing to them.  I didn't water them.  I didn't weed them.  I didn't read these tiny bulbs stories, play the tuba for them or, do an interpretive dance for them.  I just left them alone, knowing that I had done what I could and that God would do the rest.

Now, this spring, there are nice green stalks poking above the ground to show where the garlic was planted last fall.  Now, I can't say that every clove came up, but enough has that it definitely was worth my while.

While I waited six or seven months for the results of my garlic planting, there are other things, like asparagus or fruit trees, where the results come years down the road.

There are many times that I do the same things in life.  As I speak to my patients, I am often trying to plant little seeds of encouragement to see them improve their health.  Often these seeds lie dormant for many moons, which is more than a little discouraging.  Every so often, someone chooses to act on my encouragement and that is enough reason to continue on.

Even more important are the seeds that I sow for Jesus.  For, He is the one who truly provides healing and makes a difference in hurting lives.  While it is an act of faith to share my experiences with others, once again, it is sowing a seed that may sprout in time.

I will keep sowing these seeds, for while everyone will not grow and bear fruit, even a few makes it worthwhile.  So much more so than planting a few cloves of garlic.

Baking a Few Loaves

A woman settles down in her little Jewish home to bake some bread. It’s not an easy task. She has no refrigerator, no modern appliances, she has only her hands and a little wood stove to bake with, yet somehow, as usual the bread turns out.

The next day, her young son grabs up a few small loaves as he runs out the door. She calls him back, telling him that bread is not enough to feed a growing boy: “Take these fish too.” She says. He does so and then runs off.

That evening her son returns home with a fantastic story. Her bread, just baked the day before, had been divided to feed 5000 people! They had all shared that and the fish – there was even some left over!

What did she think, this little Jewish mother? Did she wish for the loaves back again so she could have baked them better? Would she have used better ingredients if she had known Jesus would be eating them?

We of course, don’t know the answer to any of these questions. Yet, I am certain that this woman would have put extra effort into baking if she had known so many people would be eating the fruits of her labors.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. God wants to use the fruit of our labors too. Yet, so often we turn in suboptimal efforts that He is scarcely able to use.

God despises lukewarmness. Mediocrity is the antithesis of the Christian life – it is all or nothing. He wants our best, or nothing at all!

So, when you bake bread, or do any of the other “menial” chores that crowd our days, make special effort. You too may find out, like a Jewish mother so long ago, what the Master can do with a few loaves of bread.

Zika Virus

Zika Virus has not reached Indiana -- at least not in any significant numbers.  It is true, that there have been a few cases of people who have travelled elsewhere and brought it back to the state, but in general, it isn't here.  It won't likely come here in significant numbers either.  The mosquito which carries it, the Aedes Aegypti, apparently finds our winters a little too cold to want to live around here.

I suppose, I should back track, since not every one knows what Zika Virus is.  Zika Virus is (as its name implies) a virus.  It is carried by mosquitoes and generally causes a flu like illness, with fevers, body aches, tired feelings, and sometimes a rash.  Most people don't suffer serious complications from it and get over it in a few days, but unfortunately, when pregnant women get this, the virus causes significant problems for the baby, in particular causing poor brain development and microcephaly in many cases.

Zika Virus has been around since the 1950s in Asia, but in 2015, it came to Central and South America, where it has been wrecking havoc.  In fact, the country of El Salvador recommended that women in their country not get pregnant for the next two years while they try to figure things out.  Poor countries are trying to figure out what to do in this chaotic situation.

As of right now, there is no vaccine or cure for the disease.

It is, perhaps, easy for people living in Indiana to think to themselves:  "Well, that's their problem.  Hope they get figured out, but at least it isn't coming here," even as they cancel their trips to the Caribbean.  Our tendency as humans, is to care about things as they affect us as individuals, or people that we know.  The farther something is from our home and the places we go, the less we care about it and the less we are inclined to try to help.

Zika Virus will likely come to the southern United States and perhaps that alone makes it worthy of our interest, but I would hope that the fact that this disease affects humans would be enough to make us care. 

I hear politicians say that we are too poor to help others around the world and that it isn't in our interest to help them, anyway.  I would pray that we are never too poor to give to those in need.  For whether it is Zika Virus or, Ebola Virus, or some unknown disease next year, helping those who are suffering, regardless of our own self-interest, is the loving thing to do. 

That's plenty of reason, in my book, to care.

A Worm Named Sherry

The rain was pelting down outside and for some reason or other, my children, Anna and Elliot insisted on being out in it.  Anna has always loved the rain, but Elliot had another interest.

A door slammed shut and Elliot came sprinting in, holding something in his hand.  "Dad," he said.  "I've got a new friend!  Her name is Sherry."  He lifted his hand so I could see more clearly.  "She's a worm," he said proudly.

Which is worse, a boy name Sue, or a worm named Sherry?

"Elliot," I said.  "You should take Sherry back outside.  Mom really doesn't want earth worms in the house."

"But Dad," he said.  "We have a lot in common.  She likes dirt and I like dirt too.  And I don't like getting wet and she doesn't either.  I'm going to keep her inside until it stops raining."

With that, he ran off to introduce Sherry to his mother.

I am not sure what inspired Elliot to show kindness to a worm.  Certainly he thought that they had some sort of commonality that wasn't as obvious to me as it was to him, but at the same time, he struggles to show kindness to his older brother and sister.

Sometimes, I guess, it is easier to get along with a worm that you don't really know, than with folks that you know really well.  I suppose that is why John had to tell the early church:  "And this commandment we have from Him:  whoever loves God must also love his brother."  (I John 4:21).

Whether or not it is a struggle at times, we are called to love the people closest to us.  It certainly won't always be easy, but to love our brothers and sisters is a true demonstration of Christian love.

Much more so than showing love to a worm named Sherry.

Easter Thoughts

I looked at the CT Scan results with a sinking feeling.  There was a mass in the head of my patient's pancreas.  That was bad enough, but worse, it looked like some of the nearby lymph nodes were enlarged, as well.

The man whose CT Scan results I was looking at, Jim, was a sixty year old man who had come in to see me for vague abdominal pain and some weight loss.  He didn't really have time to slow down as he was caring for two special needs children.  You could see in his eyes how much he loved them and could feel in the air how much they needed him. 

I shook my head, afraid of what the future held for them all.

As I picked up the phone to call Jim, I asked myself how I was going to share his results with him and still give him hope -- without being dishonest.  Fortunately, I suppose, I don't know the future and it is easy to fall back on that uncertainty to give someone a little light in an otherwise dark diagnosis.

I suppose the thing that keeps me going in medicine is the fact that those sorts of phone calls are few and far between.  It isn't usually all that hard to bring hope into a situation.

There are people who believe that the Bible is a book full of good teachings.  They think that it contains philosophy that enhances a person's life.  They just can't seem to believe the miracles that line its pages.

If I am honest, the Bible is a book that passes a death sentence on every person.  It is full of verses like "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  In a sense, it is like a doctor who walks into each room to give a terminal illness as the diagnosis and then walks out, taking all hope with him. 

No treatment.

No cure.

That is all the Bible would say, except for one thing.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

For, one day, two thousand years ago, one man conquered sin and death.  There is an assurance that because His tomb is empty, Jesus has power over death and that His promises are certain.  There is forgiveness and pardon and hope for all.

Because He lives we can too.

There's a Pill for That

I looked across at the older gentleman sitting across from me.  "What?"  I said in a surprised voice.

"I'm not helping you, am I?"  He repeated.  "I mean, I'm taking the medicine you prescribe me, but look at me,"  he gestured with his hands.  "I'm a hundred pounds over weight and I'm not exercising.  I'm not doing the stuff I know I should do to get healthy.  And you're supposed to make me feel better with pills?"

I sat back a little.  Roy knew the right things to do, but his tone was already defeated before he had even started to try to do them.  "Roy,"  I told him.  "You don't need to lose a hundred pounds.  But you do need to start setting some goals."

"I would just like to see you take small steps to improve your diet and start exercising -- slowly at first and gradually building up from there.  You'll probably lose some weight, but more importantly, you will start to feel good again."

We continued our conversation, but I kept thinking about Roy's statement and his question.  Is there a pill that will take the place of healthy living, diet and exercise?

The answer is, unfortunately, "No."  There are diet pills, there are personal trainers and gym memberships, but in the end, it is up to each one of us whether we will do things we know to be healthy.

The problem is not usually education -- most of us know what we should do -- the issue is motivation.


Over and over again, I struggle with this in my own life -- not with lack of knowledge, but with lack of motivation.  How do I make myself want to do the things that I know I should do?

In the end, this motivation is the difference between living in victory or struggling with defeat and no one can take responsibility for it except for me.

Knowing My Pilot

I really don't like flying.

There is something about strapping yourself into a metal device that propels you up to bounce above the clouds that just seems unnatural.  If God had really intended for us to fly, you would think He'd have given us wings, not these spindly things we call arms and legs.

I think part of the issues is that I don't really know who's flying the plane.  To me, the pilot is just a disembodied voice saying things like "We're expecting some turbulence for the next forty-five minutes, so please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts."

If I knew the pilot and co-pilot, maybe I would trust them to take me from one end of my journey to the other -- regardless of the weather we might face in the middle.

Of course, I have no chance to get to know these fine folks, but when it comes to life, I have opportunity to get to know my Pilot -- if I choose to do so.

You see, Jesus is not my co-pilot, He is my Pilot.  I trust He will guide me as He wants, but there are plenty of times when Jesus takes my plane and steers it directly into a hurricane with gale force winds.  Only because I know Him can I believe that He knows what He is doing and will fly me out the other side.

I am afraid that many folks choose the middle of the storm to throw themselves on God's mercy.  Then, when the clouds finally clear, they forget about the importance of a pilot in their life.

I have found, that to have peace in the storm, I need to know my pilot before hand.  Only then can I have the confidence to know that He will carry me through -- whatever I am facing.

Learning Patience



 

It wasn't a particularly clear day as we boarded our flight headed from Baltimore to Louisville, Kentucky.  The clouds weren't particularly ominous, but neither was the sun visible.  However, we quickly rose above the clouds after take off and could see the sun beaming down on the tops of the puffy clouds.

It seemed like an amazingly short time that the captain came on the intercom to announce that we were going to be descending into Louisville and that the flight attendants would be confiscating our garbage and make us sit upright and put our tray tables away.  I glanced at my watch.  We were a half an hour ahead of time!

When we landed and docked at our gate, there was no cheering for the early arrival time.  Instead, every one got up and started pressing to get off of the plane.  Being early certainly didn't give any of the passengers patience.

Watching people drive gives another clue, for there are plenty of folks who would cut off their mother in traffic, if it meant that they would arrive at their exit one car length sooner.

Of course, there times when one has reason to be in a hurry -- a real emergency of one kind or another, but I am afraid in general, we just are in the habit of hurrying and can't be bothered to slow down.  So often, we rush like crazy only to run into a traffic jam or, some other block in our day that stops us in our tracks.

It may be human to hurry, but it brings peace to learn patience.  Just learning to calm my spirit a moment or two, to slow down a little and absorb the beauty around me, helps get me where God needs me to be.

For, in my experience, God isn't interested in getting me to hurry, but rather to slow down enough to pay attention to Him and to see the needs around me.  And if He has to put a traffic jam in my way to get me to slow down, He'll do exactly that.

The one thing I can guarantee is that you'll never learn patience in a hurry.

Seed Catalogs

Seed catalogs have started to come in the mail again.  I suppose that there are some folks out there that don't get any of these colorful reminders that spring is on its way, but I get plenty of them.

I suppose it is a little amusing that at the beginning of February, I can go outside to shovel my driveway and then come inside and flip through a catalog and decide what I will plant in the spring.

I always look through these catalogs and circle the seeds that I want.  I guess you could call it the contemplation stage, because once the seeds are ordered and begin to arrive, I have committed to a certain level of work.

None of the seeds I have ever purchase plant themselves or weed themselves (you would think here in the twenty first century we would be there, but not yet).  Somehow it takes a lot of effort to get seeds from being little tiny bits of potential to something that actually bears fruit.

I suppose that is why I like gardening so much.  What you get from your garden bears direct relationship to the effort that you put into it.

Perhaps it is easy to think that the rest of life is different.  Certainly some people inherit lots of money or seem to get promotions without really trying, but for the things that matter most -- relationships with friends, family, and God, there are no short cuts.  We get out exactly what we put in.