Unsatisfied By Average

Page 21 of 32

It Seemed So Far Away…

June 8, 2011 / Seán / 12 Comments

Just a few days ago, it seemed so far away.

I know the smoke is making eyes water in Iowa, 1,000 miles away. And I know that the flames have left blackness half the size of the state of Rhode Island, (and counting fast) where last week were the most beautiful forests to be found a day’s drive in any direction.

It makes me sick.

But it still seemed far away.

Even two days ago as I stood in uniform with a stethoscope around my neck, eyes and throat burning in acrid smoke and blowing dust, watching 10 trucks and two dozen men battle 300 acres of flames while 4 other fires burned simultaneously in our district with less attention (from one brief dry thunder storm)– even then, I could look past the crest of Arizona’s third tallest mountain where the aspens put on their show right after the first frost, and see the smoke…

distant.

But distant is changing.

My lungs are on carbon overload.

Ash falls like snow from time to time.

All day we listen to the radio call signs of people we know by first name, in gear for the inevitable.

A fire that started 70 miles away is now barely 30.
And most of the time it is too horrendously windy to use the 20 helicopters and 8 slurry bombers at the disposal of the thousands of brave men trying to fight it.

The Nebbletts flew over the fire themselves tonight. (thanks, Google Earth) and then over to the place they call home, and then back again.

And then they fell serious.

And in a moment, it was as if everything around me came into focus.

–Like all at once I could see things I wasn’t able to, when the fire seemed far away…

Treasure. Simple. Things.

Treasure the frying pan you’ve scrubbed so many, many times. I looked at ours long and hard when I pulled it out of the suds this evening. There are plenty of people that left home this week wishing they had room in their car to take theirs as they fled.
Treasure the worn corners of the cozy rugs that testify of life lived in your house.

Treasure the dandelions that audaciously grow in the gravel of your driveway.

Dandelions are better than ashes.

Treasure the steaming bowl of soup.

Treasure the down in your pillow.

Treasure the eye’s twinkle.

Treasure the blue sky.

Treasure life.

Treasure life.

Tomorrow it might not be here.

Or at the very least, it might be very very different…

and if you think about it, please pray for rain…

Lean Harder

June 3, 2011 / Seán / 3 Comments

“Lean harder…”

The ground dropped away before them, a steep rocky slope covered by an unstable mat of pine needles.

“My footing will be better with both your weight and mine.”

I watched their feet; the two strong ones on the outside and the weaker in the midst.

Suddenly there was a solidity of step, as the weight on the shuffling feet was trusted to stronger ones downhill.

. . . . . .

Hours later I thought:

God is like that.

He needs all of my weight for optimum footing in my life.
I can insist on using my lame feet when the slope is particularly scary,

but I put myself at risk for a fall…

Jesus, help me remember.

Why God Gave You a Beating Heart…

May 23, 2011 / Seán / 3 Comments

If this does not quicken your pulse, I don’t know what will.

2,000 babies died in India while we slept last night.

3,000 more will die before the sun sets this evening.

Five thousand.

It will happen again tomorrow.

And 1,000 children who don’t qualify as babies will die with them.

On the streets.

From starvation.

Homelessness.

Exploitation.

Just in India.

Dying parched with thirst.

Not a thirst for contaminated water.

A thirst for love…

Love them.

Love them.

That’s why God gave you a beating heart.

This is not so much a plug for one vehicle, or one orphanage.

(Though this is one of my favorites.)

It’s a plea for life.

Do. Something.

Do something.

I got a chance to chat with Jim Rennie at ASI Atlantic the other day. (He’s the director of Asian Aid USA)
He said what they need most desperately is sponsors. People to love.
Because love does.

Word of the Day

May 22, 2011 / Seán / 6 Comments

I walked out of church with one line burning in my consciousness.
Of course there was a more elaborate contextual framework than I here have space to write. You just get it raw…

“The [early] church decided to compromise and accommodate.

The result was the dark ages.”

High price to pay.

“The stars do not change, Monsieur.”

May 21, 2011 / Seán / 6 Comments

My God is a constant.

Through an incessant flickering of transients too numerous to compute,
from people and places, to promises forgotten–

I see the Lord high and lifted up,
sitting on His throne.

He never changes.
Ever.

Comforting when that truth is driven home.

Almost overwhelming when it’s driven home by faithful, albeit frail human flesh.

This evening I rejoice in the mercy of just such faithfulness.

My sister’s head resting on my shoulder; from my mouth come words quoted from a cherished tale of Huguenot fidelity:

“‘The stars do not change, Monsieur…'”

and my little sister finishes:

“‘Nor do the angels in Paradise.”

National Geographic

Mother’s Day at the Park

May 10, 2011 / Seán / 2 Comments

Yesterday was a day of rejoicing…
For one, Joshua turned 22. (More on that in another post.)
For another, Mother’s day was twice the fun with Grandma in the mix this year.
For another, this weekend marked 12 years since God turned our little world upside-down and landed us on these 5 acres we call Sweetwater…
And then, just when we thought the day couldn’t hold another drop, we got into the car(s) and headed off to Pie Town for a special community Mother’s Day picnic our little church was putting on.

It’s going to take a while for the blogs to catch up.

I guess we’ll work backwards. 🙂 Here’s just a part of the picnic.

75+ friends and neighbors later… We love Catron County, and the people that call it home.

Mother’s Day at the Park from Sean Nebblett on Vimeo.

Behind the Scenes…

May 6, 2011 / Seán / 0 Comments

I promised weeks ago I’d post clips of our CD recording, because so many of you prayed…

Well, I just did.

Not here though.

Here.

Drop by and see us. 😉

Costly Connection

May 6, 2011 / Seán / 4 Comments

At first consideration, it might seem harmless, necessary…

Or even savvy.

But what if it makes you blind?

To walk with the world is to cease to recognize the prize of being His chosen.

And that alone is too high a price to pay.

I Have a Dream

May 5, 2011 / Seán / 4 Comments

“I have a dream.”

“I have a dream that one day–

Some day soon…

…there will be a thousand soldiers of the cross where there is now one.”

“That on every corner of the globe, a fire will overrun the land.

And that from whatever corner of the earth I am in, I will hear a rumble…”

“And I will say: ‘I recognize that sound’…

‘That’s my God.’

‘That’s my God!’”

That’s my dream.

And I’m watching it come true.

*from closing comments, Walla Walla Youth Weekend 2011

For the Sake of Just One

April 24, 2011 / Seán / 5 Comments

“And I, even I only, am left…”

I wonder if God has kept count of the number of times that has been said since a lonely prophet Elijah crawled to the mouth of his cave in answer to a Divine summons.

I hope not.

My own heart has mirrored that cry many times… Most recently, just a few weeks ago.

But this time it was different. I was moved by the pain of the prophet as usual, but then the grip lingered… Lingered long enough for me to find “Loneliness: part 2” in the book of Jeremiah.

“Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth: and I will pardon it.”

For the sake of just one…

One prayer

One just judgment

One seeker of truth…

God would move a city.

God would save a city.

God doesn’t need an army.

He just needs one lonely soul…

For one short moment in eternity.

That is why it is glory…

_________________

Oh, and Elijah–

Actually… You’re not alone. It just seems that way.

He still has 7,000.

*Figure this one out: this is what happens when the pianist gets tired in the midst of rehearsal…