Share Four Somethings: March 2021

Spring break was pretty low key for us this year. We made a quick weekend trip to see our college girl, and then mostly stayed around the house the rest of the time.

Molly was deep into a book series, but she took a break one day to make soft pretzels with me. I don’t know about you, but I love soft pretzels. Maybe even more than cilantro and avocados. (And that’s saying something.)

As much as I love them, I’ve never tried to make them myself. I see a recipe that says you have to dunk twisted-up dough in a pot of steaming water before putting it on a tray to bake, and I immediately turn the page.

Molly, however, is not afraid to try anything. She’s a problem-solver, and her computer science education has sharpened her natural tendency to try and try and try again, until she comes up with a solution that works.

She watches a video of Joanna Gaines making pretzels and is ready to go. Her example gives me confidence—not only to make things with her, but to try things on my own. (Keep reading for more on that.)

The pretzels turned out well and disappeared quickly. Then I blinked twice and it was time again to join up with Heather Gerwing in sharing something loved, something read, something treasured and something ahead.

• Something loved

I don’t know much about birds in general, but I do love cardinals. We have a few that frequent our backyard, and I love to listen to them talk to each other while I’m out in the garden.

Randy got me a cardinal feeder for our anniversary (see below for more on that). It’s a lovely decoration, but the mechanics of it also are pretty cool. It has a weight-activated perch, so when an animal heavier than a cardinal (like a squirrel, for example) hops aboard, the perch drops down and blocks the seeds. It’s a wonderful invention, if you ask me!

• Something Read

A few weeks ago, The Atlantic published an article by Tim Keller called “Growing My Faith in the Face of Death.” In it, the author and founding pastor of New York’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church wrote candidly about how he handled his doubts when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year.

Would the counsel he had spent a lifetime sharing with others provide solace for him during his own trek through the valley of the shadow, he wondered? He found that it did, but only after some significant soul-searching.

“When I got my cancer diagnosis, I had to look not only at my professed beliefs … but also at my actual understanding of God,” he writes. “Had I been slipping unconsciously into the supposition that God lived for me rather than I for him, that life should go well for me, that I knew better than God does how things should go? The answer was yes—to some degree. I found that to embrace God’s greatness, to say, ‘Thy will be done,’ was painful at first and then, perhaps counterintuitively, profoundly liberating. To assume that God is as small and finite as we are may feel freeing—but it offers no remedy for anger.”

And then there’s this profound statement:

“If there is a God great enough to merit your anger over the suffering you witness or endure, then there is a God great enough to have reasons for allowing it that you can’t detect,” Keller adds. “It is not logical to believe in an infinite God and still be convinced that you can tally the sums of good and evil as he does, or to grow angry that he doesn’t always see things your way.”

To read the rest of this powerful piece, click here.

• Something Treasured

Last Friday, Randy and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary.

I don’t write much about marriage in this space, but I scratched out some thoughts about it before our anniversary in 2015. At the time, we had no inkling of the life-altering events that were going to rumble through my family in the coming years. Even so, the analogy I shared—one that Randy came up with, by the way—still applies. Here’s a slightly updated version:

At this stage of our lives, marriage is like a three-legged race. When everything is in sync and working properly, it’s like a smoothly operating machine. But the rhythm that sometimes looks so effortless can get out of whack quickly, especially when there are significant differences in height and speed between the partners.

It’s easy to trip and fall, to get tangled up. It takes effort to get upright and find that perfect pace again. And as much as you’d like it to be, the effort isn’t always equal. Sometimes, one half struggles so much that the other has to hoist her up somehow and carry her for awhile.

So what does it take for a three-legged race (and marriage) partnership to work? I’ve narrowed it down to four common factors: 1. Connection material that is secure and stable. 2. A commitment to stick together, no matter what. 3. Always going in the same direction. 4. A sense of humor.

Randy is seven inches taller than me. Our personalities, though similar in some ways, are also quite opposite. We have different ways of processing, different ways of handling stress, different ways of getting things done.

And yet, after 27 years, we’re still connected. We still fit. We’re still in this together. Let the race continue.

• Something Ahead

My dad always told me that peonies were “heavy feeders,” but although I cherish the plants in my yard that originally came from his, I never really gave much thought to using fertilizer in my flower beds. It always seemed too messy and complicated—what if I used too much, or not enough, or the wrong kind?

My peonies didn’t do so well last year, though, and I also have several junipers that could use a boost. So this year, I’m going to give it a shot.

I did a little research, and then went to Home Depot for fertilizer while Molly and Randy were tearing up uneven floor tiles in the kitchen (I hate dust, so my trip served a dual purpose). Then last weekend, I began working my way around my flowerbeds with a measuring cup, starting with the evergreens.

I’m holding my expectations loosely here. I may notice nothing, or it might make a huge difference. Either way, I’m done with not doing things because I’ve never done them before. Or because there are too many steps, or I’m not sure how it will turn out.

Stay tuned …

• • •

That’s it for me; now it’s your turn. Do you have any fertilizer tips for me? Have you tried something new (and possibly hard or intimidating) lately? What are you loving, reading, treasuring or anticipating these days? Do tell all in the comments!

♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with Share Four Somethings, #tellhisstory, InstaEncouragements, Recharge Wednesday, Let’s Have Coffee, #HeartEncouragement and Grace & Truth.