Roses and Rafting

Roses and rafting don’t exactly go together, eh?   No, I guess they don’t, but for us, this year, they most certainly do.   Let me tell you why.  

Just recently, the Lord gave me an analogy of us being on a raft, going on a journey, in very unfamiliar territory (the waves!) to an unknown destination with an unknown time frame.    Are you feeling comfortable with that?   No, we’re not either, but God has comforted us in it and made this temporary dwelling place and this journey reasonably comfortable, when we stop to appreciate it.  

So, a raft is a fairly temporary thing, right?   It’s not meant to be a permanent dwelling or a long-term place to be, nor a particularly stable way to get from here to there.   Rafts tend to be employed when there aren’t other, more conventional methods of transport.  A raft needs to stay fairly level to be able to keep moving, or your journey is going to go belly up.   And the steering isn’t always great on them, either.    I keep reminding myself, all of us really,  that the ark didn’t have a steering wheel either and I don’t think Noah had an end date or location or working plan B for his God-ordained adventure.   

So, here we are in a temporary dwelling, away from home for over 9 months now, so that Anna can recuperate from a life-threatening illness.     We don’t know how long we’ll be here or how this whole thing will play out, and no matter how much we press the Lord for definitive answers, He is only giving us enough information or direction to move towards healing, enough to make us come back for more. 

Why?   Partly because we simply can’t take in all the information we need in one hit.  Like a wave, it can be overwhelming to know everything at once and we can over-correct, which isn’t a great idea in a raft.   He also knows we will run ahead in our attempts to control the direction of the raft, and probably tip ourselves overboard in the process.   We’ve come close to that a few times.   So, our current journey is one of leaning in and listening, of tweaking, balancing and re-balancing, riding the sometimes tumultuous waves and then coming back to some kind of peace, and sometimes just plain old staying afloat in the doldrums, when nothing appears to be moving us forward.   

In the midst of trying to find out exactly what is wrong, physically, and why, and where to go from here, there are many other things God is interested in doing in all our lives.   While I can’t elaborate on all of that, can I just say that God isn’t wasting the exercise on any of us.   There is so much going on in the lives of everyone in our family, and God hasn’t wasted any of the difficulties we have faced and still do face, using them instead to refine us, to give us new perspective and new understanding on old problems and patterns, some of which we’ve seen, some we haven’t.    The problems are spiritual, emotional, relational, physical, genetic and just plain sin, all nicely mixed up together.   And because they’re all inter-connected, it’s a tough job to untangle the mess and put things right.    Us being human, we just can’t see all that’s not right, let alone put it right, so if we want it to be right, we have to leave it to the One who knows exactly what to do and when and how, which means being out of control.  

Much like being on a raft, really.  It means having to trust when we can’t see how it’s going to change.  It means putting one foot in front of the other when we’re exhausted and frustrated and scared.   Sometimes it simply means to stay on the darn raft and hang on and try to be nice to each other on the journey!! 

It means trusting that there is a destination, a good one, and that God knows that destination as well as He has known all our previous destinations and seasons and challenges.   It means trusting that what He’s doing now is leading us to that ‘promised land’, and preparing us for that, all the while allowing us to enjoy the current journey, as much as we are able and willing to do that.  

All of this leads me to wonder how much the pilgrims enjoyed their journey to the shores of America, with all its challenges, while grieving all they left behind, not knowing what, or who, lay before them or when.  

So, where do the roses fit into it?    They are a part of the beauty of this raft God has us on.   This house fits us well, though not perfect and ‘not a palace’, as the real estate agent so eloquently described it.   It’s in a quiet street in a quiet town, just up the road from the swimming pool, Kids’ Club, the library, a lovely little café and an IGA.   It’s only 15 minutes to extended family, medical appointments and larger shops and supplies.   There is a place for both cars to be sheltered from storms, of which there have been many lately.   It has two living rooms, so plenty of space for everyone.   The girls have room to move in their bedroom, room to play, and room for what they actually need, which has been enlightening for them.   The Lord provided us with a very reasonable, almost-new trampoline within minutes of us asking for it which has made the house so much quieter!  The girls have been able to do gymnastics since July and made some young friends.   We have a dishwasher (never thought I would be so thankful for that contraption!).    God has led us to so many ‘just right’ pieces of furniture and equipment that we need not just to survive, but to thrive, on our raft, our temporary dwelling.    The wood heater kept the house very warm in the winter which was an important part of Anna’s early recovery, with no extra heating necessary.   The bird life here is amazing and there is little trouble in the neighbourhood.  

And the roses?   The roses, during the winter, were a reminder of new life coming and reminded us how important pruning is.  And now, in the spring, they are in full bloom, and reminders of the beauty and growth God has planned for each of us, in due season.   Each rose bush has a different coloured bloom, but each one is amazing.   We don’t cut them and bring them inside because we’d all be sneezing, but we appreciate how much they beautify our little raft, our place to float and trust that God’s got this, now and for the rest of this journey with all its unknowns. 

So, if you’re in transition, or on a journey you didn’t choose, remember, He makes everything beautiful, right, and appropriate in its time.   

 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.   Ecclesiastes 3:11