No Tricks, No Easy Ways

I was organizing the papers and books beside my bed. The tower of books is still dangerously high, threatening to topple when I add the seventh or eighth book to the top. There is still a little pile of notes on bits of paper. I still have work to do. One small scrap caught my eye. The very words I wanted to inspire me in the midst of this season of life. I carried it downstairs and left it lying around, first in the dining room then on the kitchen counter. I have been reading it once or twice a day, saying it aloud to the kids, saying it aloud to myself as I tackle the next little task. If the quote becomes my ethic, my habit, then success (as a wife, and a mama, and a homemaker, and a disciple, and a teacher, and a student ~ monetary success being far from my thoughts here) may follow, though the paper was long since crumpled and thrown in the trash can.

Success travels in the company of very hard work.

There is no trick, no easy way.

John Wooden

The Soul of the Diligent

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,

But the soul of the diligent is made fat.

Proverbs 13:4

Huh...a fat soul. The idea of a fat soul sets me pondering. I came across it once before this week. In Proverbs 11:25 God tells us the generous man will prosper. There it is, a note in little tiny type, "prosper" means a fat soul. Then again in Proverbs 28:25 the one who trusts in the Lord will have a fat soul. What would it be to have a fat soul?

At church on Sunday mornings, I stand far away from the doughnut table. I forgo the vanilla sugar in my coffee. I count the miles I walk by two's. I am exercising a great deal of discipline in the hopes of losing five, or even, one pound. Then exploding into this January of discipline is the word diligence. Only this is a diligence required to get fat. A roly-poly soul? Apply diligence. And generosity. And trust.

I looked up the word in the back of my Strong's Concordance. Guess what it means? Fat. This is hardly surprising. It's only used 11 times in the Bible, here are three. Once it appears in Deuteronomy when God says His people will eat, and become satisfied and then prosperous (in the NASB). That "prosperous" is the word fat; it comes after they are fully satisfied. Then, God says, they will forget Me.

Isaiah, who spoke beautiful words of Christ, also laid out a lot of ugliness, the just punishment for a fat people who had forgotten God. Isaiah used the word twice. Once to say the sword of the Lord would be "sated with fat." Once to say that after all the slaughter, the dust would become "greasy with fat." (Isaiah 34:6-7) Don't be fooled by the English. The word translated "fat" here is another word. The fat of a fat soul, is translated "sated" and "greasy." A sword, and the dust, fat with the fat of animals. A fat soul isn't just a little plump, it's more like saying it is obese. Completely, fully, totally, embarrassingly over-fed.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You have anointed my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

Psalm 23:5

Oh, to be a Hebrew scholar! The word for "fat" is in this verse. Can you guess where? Anointed. God has set a table for us. He has laid a feast. He asks us to come; come and eat. This is not subsistence fare. Mathew Henry calls it "enough for ornament and delight." Psalm 133 tells of oil poured out on the head, dripping down the beard, coming down onto the robes of the High Priest, Aaron. Pour out the oil until it drips to the ground. Fill the cup until it is overflowing. Make my soul fat. This is my prayer to God.

Sailing By Ash Breeze

Nathaniel Bowditch was 12 the year of 1785 when he was apprenticed to Hodges and Ropes, owners of a ship's chandler shop. He had already been forced to leave school two years before, to work with his father as a cooper. Now, at 12, the latent genius gave up all hopes of studying for Harvard and looked forward to nine years of bookkeeping. The crush of poverty stole his dreams and seemed to consign Nathaniel to a life of the ordinary.

We are reading Carry on Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham, an almost-historical novel. On Nathaniel's first day at the chandlery the voice of the mocker tells Nathaniel he is becalmed, a life full of promise now like a ship at sea without wind for the sails. Then the voice of the wise reminds Nathaniel that when a strong man is becalmed he "sails by ash breeze." A strong man pulls the oars, made of ash, and begins to row. Mr. Bowditch sailed by the ash breeze, after a full day of work, by candlelight, teaching himself algebra, calculus, Latin and French. By the end of his life he had made significant contributions to science and the study of navigation and was offered Chairs at the colleges he had never been able to attend. Carry on Mr. Bowditch is one of my favorite children's chapter books and sailing by ash breeze is the reason for that love.

Here I am, waiting. Waiting for the perfect house, or the perfect garden dirt. Waiting for my children to grow. Waiting for my husband to give me time to pursue my goals. Waiting; becalmed. When becalmed a strong woman sails by ash breeze. I am pulling the oars, setting small goals for myself that rely on no eventualities, only on getting up and rowing. I am focusing this January on being a better wife, a better mom, a better homemaker, a better seeker of God, all around better. I am focusing on self-discipline, nothing new, only improved. Sailing by ash breeze seems a perfect motto.

The mocker tells Nathaniel Bowditch, "nine years is a long time. You'll get mighty tired of sailing by ash breeze." I've been here before: trying to retrain myself, focusing on what's good and right. A lifetime is a long time to be a better person. The question isn't whether I can keep it up through January. The question is, can I learn to make these choices habits? Can I row until God sends the breezes to fill the sails? This morning, laying under the covers, I was "mighty tired," ready for a holiday, after three weeks.

Today was the perfect day to read of sailing by ash breeze.

Thoughts on Discipline

I thought about discipline as I was scrubbing the toilet. One task I never choose for enjoyment, though I always appreciate the end product, it is an act of will to begin wiping the dirty sides. Once a week isn't often enough; in a house with children, a clean toilet requires consistency. Discipline.

But the discipline learned by cleaning the toilet has other uses as well. Bent over the toilet I thought about the military. They know a thing or two about discipline. Picture starched underwear. I don't think anyone, at heart, believes there is innate value to a pair of starched undies. Still they ask, how can a man who can't even fold his underwear expect to lead others? It seems a valid question.

This disciplined faithfulness bears fruit in any area requiring discipline. For the New Year I opted (as usual) against resolutions. I thought of goals and came up with a list of new endeavors. Then I stopped myself. What I need isn't an ever expanding to-do list. I need the self-discipline to do well all the things already asked of me. If I can't even keep a clean toilet I don't need to look for anything else to do, I need the foundational lesson. Discipline.

Lest I make the mistake of assuming this discipline applies only to cleaning toilets, or losing weight, or waking up in the morning, God brought this quote to my attention:

"It has been well said that the future is with the disciplined, and that quality has been placed first...for without it the other gifts, however great, will never realize their maximum potential. Only the disciplined person will rise to his highest powers. He is able to lead because he has conquered himself."  - J. Oswald Sanders

I tell myself: no cheap grace that falls back on a claim of God doing it all. I must rejoice in a sovereign who promises "unblameable holiness" by His Spirit and requires my utmost. My utmost amounts to feeble efforts, and half completed promises. He requires discipline that, while utterly reliant on Him, tries again and again and again and again. And again. I wait for Him to move, and my will to fall into place.

"But I discipline my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified."                                I Corinthians 9:27

"...rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ." Colossians 2:5

"On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;"               I Timothy 4:7b

I'll be working on this until I have disciplined my body and made it my slave. That will be a very long time. So long, in fact, that I can't even type the words without a smile of irony on my face.