the original…
the find…in my dining room
It was the most fun thing when my sister texted and showed me the exact same baby high chair that she has in her dining room. It was at an estate sale just an hour-and-a-half from me. I texted the seller immediately and asked if it was still available and, if so, how much she needed for it. “Today, It’s 25 percent off, she said. It’s already day two of the sale. That makes it $52.50.”
“I’ll take it,” I texted. “PayPal or Venmo?…When is my deadline for pick-up?
“Saturday at 3 pm.” Her replies were quick.
I had a hundred things (not an exaggeration) that I needed to do last Saturday morning. I was coming down with something and I did not even feel well. Undeterred of course, I made that 3 pm deadline. By the time I got there to get it, she’d already had other offers. But mine was the first offer to include the immediate payment. The chair had a post-it note, right over the rabbit’s right ear that said “Colley”. I was bringing home the worn old wooden high chair that was exactly like my sister’s. It was exactly like the high chair in which I had eaten my Zwieback toast as an infant at my grandmother’s house!…And I was also bringing a wonderful old wooden ladder for my husband that was still in great shape (ladder and husband) and, because it was now day three, it was half-price–just twenty dollars!
Five little lessons from the chair:
- I wanted the same decal. The decal is the cheapest thing about the chair. But it’s the first thing people see and it IS what made me know I wanted the chair. That bunny was the same bunny. Sometimes, smaller things, about people, tell us that Christianity is the life we want. They represent what the person, really is. The way a person dresses modestly or shows random kindnesses, or applies principles of holiness in her speech can be the decal–the first-look-clincher that makes a person want the “high chair” that is Christianity.
- When we want to do something–when it is a priority–we can do it, whether or not it’s a convenient time for us to do it.
- Counting the cost is a real thing. I could have tried to wait for the half price day and see if I could snatch the chair for just $26.25. But, in my case, the chair would not have still been available. I know way too many people who thought they would make things right later in life. They were boldly risking eternity by waiting. They gambled and they lost. The chair would not have mattered, of course. But a heart that waits to obey, likely never will, even if given a hundred years on this earth.
- There is always room in your life for something that makes you remember security, good times and Zwieback toast. Nobody, but my sweet grandmother, ever even fed me Zwieback toast.
- There are unexpected blessings that come when you get the main thing. Glenn probably thought the ladder was the smartest purchase of the day (although he was quick, when he saw how much I wanted that chair, to say “You need to go and get that chair.”) If I could make people see the blessings that come all around the periphery of the decision to follow Christ, those people could not get to the “point of sale” fast enough.
…sitting at the estate sale…
Sometimes I think because it’s so easy to “like” something on facebook, we all start to think people are really interested in what we just spilled on the kitchen floor or that we’re having leftover kraut and wieners for supper or that our dog had to go to the vet. So let me preface this little post about berry-picking by acknowledging up front that I know you don’t really care that my blueberries are in and that Eliza Jane and I spent an hour last evening just before sundown with the firstfruits. It’s been really wet in our part of God’s world and Eliza was easily distracted by puddles and mushrooms. She also really wanted to pick the “rainbow ones”. 
They’re completely unripe and inedible, but “they are so ‘beautiful’ and I love them.”… and who’s to say that aesthetics to the eyes of a child are any less valuable than aesthetics to the tastebuds of an adult?
He was nine years old and we were sitting in McDonald’s in Jasper, Alabama. The kids were in the play place and I think I was reading the Bible, preparing for a lesson. Out of the blue, nine-year-old Caleb sauntered up to the table where I was sitting. Sweaty and red-faced from running and jumping, he asked this unforgettable question: “Mama, we have hundreds of books on our bookshelves at home. How do we really know this one is different? How do we know this one was written by God?”
His new book, Nail This Down, is the product of the original question and the years of study in knowing its answer. This is the book that, studied beside the Book of Books, can lead a skeptic from unbelief to faith in God, His Word, and His Son. It can show that the kingdom is identifiable in our world today and that anyone can be part of that church and headed to heaven with God. It’s challenging and assuring. I’m hoping to spend time in this book, in a way that I rarely can afford to do…because this book can give me needed assurance.
And so we are full circle. The little boy who asked me the question that day in McDonald’s, is answering some for me through this volume. He’s long since left our home (and I will add, seeing him in a McDonald’s today would be a rare event.) We met in Mississippi earlier this week and his own sweet eight-year-old said “Mammy, can you just come home with us?” And Ellis, who’s five, cried and cried when we parted ways. Parting ways is always the hardest part of any visit. But our God is coming full circle all the time, and I’m so thankful that He’s bringing us all home together, in a place where there will be no parting.
Today I’m going to attend the wedding celebration for Job Nicholas and Ashley Harrington. Job is number nine of the grandchildren of Lee and Johnnia Holder. Looking back through a few messages and photos this morning, I realize that his growing up was largely during the tougher years when his parents were helping to take care of aged parents on both sides of the family. Job’s parents were truly in the sandwich generation. As per the photo with Job and his mama, we tried to keep on playing, but we were pretty tired.
He watched lots of Bama games with Pie-Daddy and he was always one of the guys who could talk about football, in loud tones, with his grandfather. He was therapeutic for the patriarch we all were trying to keep up with. And he made our singing times better. What a great tenor!
And then came the next generation. Job quickly became Ezra’s favorite cousin. The reason was obvious. Job took time with Ezra. I’ll always be grateful for Job being willing to make large expenditures of time with Ezra at family gatherings. Ezra’s first question, whenever he learned about any family event was and is “Can I sit by Job?” Ezra is 11 now, and, like Job, he loves, to fish. I hope there’s some bass fishing in their future together.
I need this study. I say that each year. Perhaps I need the studies each year because there is, of necessity, an address of my own weaknesses in the work as it progresses. I just know that, when it is finished, it’s full of what I need, practically, to be better for Him. But the funny thing is, the Word of the Spirit is so powerful that it cannot convict me without also reaching others–even others whose needs may seem very different from mine.
