Fifteen folks with guns. Aimed not at each other, but at little orange discs made of clay.
For those of you unfamiliar with “trap shooting,” it’s like target practice and is designed to hone skills for later in the year when hunting ducks or geese. The little orange discs are launched skyward from a mechanical “thrower” and the participants take turns attempting to turn them into dust particles that fall back to earth. Some folks are “lights out” and really good! Others, like me, most often leave the little orange discs unscathed, later to be gathered and used again next time! We console ourselves with the idea that we’re “helping the cause” by reducing the number of boxes of clays we need to purchase for the next shoot :)
That’s “technically” what I saw on the five acres out back of our church building. But what I really saw - beyond the obvious - was the truth of God’s statement in Genesis 2:18: “It is not good for man (or woman) to be alone!” You see, this was our first trap-shoot outing of the spring. More importantly, it was the first time most of us were able to get together with anyone who doesn't live in the same house since the COVID-19 lockdowns began a couple months ago. What I saw went WAY beyond the normal fun of competition or of enjoying a perfect Minnesota spring evening. I saw the smiles and heard the laughter that comes from being together instead of being alone!
God created us to be in community, to be interdependent rather than independent. He designed us to need each other instead of needing just ourselves. As we’ve seen so vividly highlighted these past few months, it is not good for man or woman or teen or child to be alone. I thank God for that trap shooting evening and the blessed reminder of just how good it is to be together!
Every month at our church we have what we call a “Discipleship Verse.” It’s like a memory verse. We recite it three times in each worship service during that month to help commit that verse to memory. I was looking for a verse for the month of May that would speak to our current “Stay at Home” situation here in Minnesota. Proverbs 3:5-6 came to mind (maybe because it has always been one of my favorite verses). If you’re not familiar with it here’s what God tells us in it:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
And after I read that proverb I glanced down at the next one. (A proverb is a “short saying that expresses a practical truth.” i.e. “Wise words for life.”) Here’s what I saw:
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
THIS WILL BRING HEALTH TO YOUR BODY
AND NOURISHMENT TO YOUR BONES.
I put those last two lines in all caps, because "healing" has been front and center in our prayers and on our minds since early March. And here’s a passage that not only tells us what to do that will bring us health, but the instruction comes from no less than God!!!
God has been called “The Great Physician - of both body and soul.” Here’s His prescription:
Don’t be arrogant or proud. Don’t pat your self on the back for being so smart. Instead, be humble and have a healthy respect for the Lord and His power. Then stay far, far away from anything that’s contrary to what God wants (“evil”).
Or maybe put even simpler: “Remember that you aren’t god, but that I Am!”
What I saw - actually, Violet saw them first - were the daffodils in the picture below. Violet had planted them last year and forgotten about them. This year they popped up as a beautiful surprise!
In addition to being a cheery sign that spring is here, daffodils also have a special place in our marriage.
Way back when we were first married, I was a penny-pincher. (Ok, might as well come clean: I was a certified, card-carrying “Cheapskate!” There, I said it!) I wouldn’t buy flowers if my life depended on it. I might - might - buy a plant, because I could convince myself that a plant had a chance to be a “gift that keeps on giving.” Flowers? They’ll be dead in three days. Made no sense to me to spend money on something that I knew was only going to last three days. (Don’t ask me how many boxes of Little Debbie Snack Cakes I’d buy every week - snack cakes that had little chance of lasting even 5 minutes after I’d get them home!)
Anyway, we lived in The Cities, when we were first married, and there was a grocery chain there at the time named Rainbow Foods. Rainbow’s weekly ad always featured some item they would give away for free. Well, one week the freebie was daffodils. Free is a very good price for flowers, so I stopped on my way home and picked up a bunch of FREE daffodils and proudly presented them to my bride. Violet was thrilled ... until she saw the Rainbow Foods ad in the paper! It’s a testament to Violet’s character that she didn’t pack her bags and walk out on me that very minute.
Those daffodils that popped up in our garden last week reminded me of a lot more than “Spring is here!” They are a bright and sunny reminder of my beautiful wife and just how forgiving she is! Thank God for Violet, daffodils, and the ability to look back and laugh at things that weren’t terribly funny at the time!
