Branches and Trees

Musings on Marriage

Month: August 2021

The God Box

August 31, 2021 / / 4 Comments

Dear Daughters,

Did you know that on average you make 35,000 choices every day?  I had no idea, but that’s what the research says.  You can choose to get out of bed in the morning, choose to smile, choose to be kind to your husband and choose to say “thank you” to the people around you. 

You can also choose to worry – about what your friend thinks of you, worry about wearing the right clothes, about whether or not you will get Covid, about what your children are doing…  the possibilities are endless.

To worry or not to worry?  That is the question.

Our human default is worry. 

We are faced with two basic choices every day.  We have a choice to worry about how we’re going to figure out tomorrow

– or –

 we can choose to trust God and cast those worries on Jesus.

Craig Groeschel recently wrote a book Winning the War in Your Mind, teaching about those very things.  One specific example he gives is an incredibly easy and tangible way to be thinking about what you are thinking.  Craig suggests making a God Box.  It can be a shoebox, an Amazon box, or any other little box you may have lying around.  On the outside of the box write the word God.  Any time you have a runaway thought, a worry or a temptation, write it down on a piece of paper and throw it in the God Box.

You might write something like:

I’m afraid there won’t be enough money to cover the bills

I’m worried about my 17 year-old

What if our business fails?

I’m afraid of what may happen to my children when I am not around

I’m worried about my health, what if I never get better?

Will there be enough food for all?

Will my friend ever forgive me?

So, when you write each of these worries on a piece of paper and put it in the God Box, you could say:

God, I know you’re bigger than all these problems and I will trust you with them.  I can do nothing to fix anything, and so I give them all to you.  I don’t want to expend my mental real estate focusing on all these issues I cannot change, so I give them to you.

Once you pray and give it to God, go on with your life.

But… says Craig, if you decide you want to worry about something you’ve already put in the God box, open it up take out that slip of paper and say to God,

I don’t trust you any more with this item so I’m going to worry some more about it.

You may think that sounds like a rude thing to say to God, but in effect that’s what we’re saying when we fill our mind with worry.  The apostle Peter tells us to cast all your cares upon God for He cares for you.  Our thoughts seek to betray us, and doubts pop into our mind, but we have a choice whether we will worry about stuff, or live a life of trust and dependence on God. 

If you don’t have a box, use a bag and call it your God Bag.  Something, anything to remind you to quit worrying about things you can do nothing about. 

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we will receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16

Love, Mom

Nightbirde

August 12, 2021 / / 2 Comments

Dear Daughters,

Have you ever heard of a bird who sings in the dark?  I recently watched Jane Marczewski (known as Nightbirde) on AGT and was blown away by her authenticity and joy even as she suffers so much as a young 30-year-old.  Jane is an amazing singer and songwriter – which is not an unusual vocation – but it is her story that is so rare.  Nightbirde has suffered more in her three decades of life than most people suffer in 70 years. 

Having been through three cancer treatments during the past few years (spine, liver and lungs) she expresses with raw emotions the pain she still suffers.  Her husband of four years left her, so she deals with abandonment along with a body not functioning well.

Jane chose the stage name Nightbirde because one morning around 3 am she heard some birds in the tree outside her window singing as if the sun were arriving, quite unusual for birds.  She then thought, If birds can sing in the dark, so can I.

 Here’s a few of her words:

I am God’s downstairs neighbor, banging on the ceiling with a broomstick. I show up at His door every day.

Sometimes with songs, sometimes with curses.

Sometimes apologies, gifts, questions, demands.

Sometimes I use my key under the mat to let myself in. Other times, I sulk outside until He opens the door to me Himself. 

I have called Him a cheat and a liar, and I meant it.

I have told Him I wanted to die, and I meant it.

Tears have become the only prayer I know. Prayers roll over my nostrils and drip down my forearms. They fall to the ground as I reach for Him. These are the prayers I repeat night and day; sunrise, sunset.

Call me bitter if you want to—that’s fair.

Count me among the angry, the cynical, the offended, the hardened.

 But count me also among the friends of God.

It’s not the mercy that I asked for, but it is mercy nonetheless. And I learn a new prayer: thank you. It’s a prayer I don’t mean yet, but will repeat until I do.

For I have seen Him in rare form. I have felt His exhale, laid in His shadow,

squinted to read the message He wrote for me in the grout: “I’m sad too.” 

I have heard it said that some people can’t see God because they won’t look low enough, and it’s true. Look lower. God is on the bathroom floor.

Allison Potoka

Yes, God is on the bathroom floor.  He inhabits our groaning, our temper tantrums, our questions and our tears.  He is sad with us, yet has promised to never leave us, even when others have.  He can handle our bitterness and our cynical words, He simply wants us to talk to Him.  He is Immanuel, God with us.

Love, Mom

You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy.  – Nightbirde

Recent Comments

Stories and Songs

© 2024 Branches and Trees

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑