In Need of Some Polishing and Writing Assignment #34 Trials

The date is fast approaching where I will mark 45 years since I happily and willfully committed to sharing my life with Dale. A life that would be, as he always said, to stand beside him, not below him and not above him but at his side as his equal and yet under his arm for protection and near his heart for love. I liked that.

One of the sparkling moments I remember about that wedding day is my dear sweet Grandfather at the wedding reception. He looked happy, no make that joyous, well even better, there was the glow of a perfectly contented man about him. I had asked him to make and serve the wedding cake that Grandma had become famous for over the years.  She died a year before and he took over the duty of making the cakes, actually even long before her death as she struggled and struggled with health issues.  I watched him (in the kitchen of the house he had built with his own hands) make a cake one day. I eagerly tried to acquire the secret recipe.  But alas, it was a handful of this and a handful of that.  And his hands were easily twice the size of mine. A sprinkle of this and a sprinkle of that.  No measuring cups or measuring spoons or recipes ever appeared and there were so many ingredients that I gave in with a smile and a request that he would make a cake for me on my wedding day. “That’s fine, just fine” he said as he always did with that twinkle in his eye. 

Four years later he was gone. Funny it seemed to me that this man would live forever.

I read his autobiography yesterday. I thought it had been lost but to my delight, my sister had it! I read of his trials and of his constant bravery in overcoming the most horrific challenges meeting them head on and he never once lost his faith or his love of life or love for his wife and children. Together he and Grandma faced loss of crops, two world wars, the depression of the 20’s the depression of the 30’s, his home being struck by lightning and burning to the ground and that was after his childhood with a broken home, and being a victim of an uncaring step-mother, having mumps, chicken pox, measles, smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever, nearly freezing to death in 50 degrees below zero weather and having his legs and arms turn black from frost bite until his brothers rolled him in the snow and slowly the color returned.  And this is to just name a few things!  The accidents, the burst appendix, the devastating tornadoes and the home engulfing flood etc. etc.

   

And yet…AND YET…he was one of the most spiritual, most happy, most peaceful and devoted men I have ever known. I used to love riding with him in the harvester where he would prop his Bible up against the steering wheel to read as he moved down row after row of golden wheat. He never stopped believing, he never stopped progressing, he never stopped…well he just never stopped!

A great man, a great leader and happy as a lark in the simple act of serving cake at my wedding reception.

We asked him once how he was able to overcome all of his trials and he just smiled and said oh it was just the Lord’s refining fire.

I came upon this writing during a google search one day and it has stuck with me ever since.  Sadly the author is unknown so I can’t give the credit which is so richly deserved:

THE SILVERSMITH

Some time ago, a few ladies met to study the scriptures. While reading the third chapter of Malachi, they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse:

    "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" (Malachi 3:3).

One lady decided to visit a silversmith, and report to the others on what he said about the subject.

She went accordingly, and without telling him the reason for her visit, begged the silversmith to tell her about the process of refining silver. After he had fully described it to her, she asked, "Sir, do you sit while the work of refining is going on?"

"Oh, yes ma'am," replied the silversmith; "I must sit and watch the furnace constantly, for, if the time necessary for refining is exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured."

The lady at once saw the beauty and comfort of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

God sees it necessary to put His children into the furnace; but His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for us. Our trials do not come at random, and He will not let us be tested beyond what we can endure.

Before she left, the lady asked one final question, "How do you know when the process is complete?"

"That's quite simple," replied the silversmith. "When I can see my own image in the silver, the refining process is finished."

And I think of Grandpa. And I think of my own trials and the challenges I face on a daily basis. Is this the Lord chipping away (like the song says) at what I don’t need, a change in the making to become closer and closer to who I’m meant to be? And my mind wanders back in time to the 9 year old “little girl me” playing in the vacant field next to our home. It was filled with dirt and rocks and I discovered quite by accident one day that once broken the ugly old rocks were beautiful inside!  I ran to the garage and opened Dad’s tool chest and carefully pulled out a hammer which I took to the field and put one egg sized rock upon a larger flat one and gave a quick smack with the hammer and voila! Beauty within. This became a fun hobby.

Perhaps these trials of mine that feel at times like a hammer’s blow are actually refining and revealing and readying me to be polished so that I can glow with the joy of contentment and of a life well lived like Grandpa did on that wedding day?

I don’t feel as if Grandpa is laughing at me for thinking my challenges are so great when his were so much more horrendous (he surely could) but I do feel of his love and concern. And I feel the strength of his support and just knowing he became who he was meant to be (because he never stopped or murmured or gave in) is what I needed to push through another day while the Lord is lovingly working on a better version of me and giving me the chance to move closer to His glory.

        "Change In The Making" by Addison Road (check it out on youtube!)

There's a better version of me
That I can't quite see
But things are gonna change
Right now I'm a total mess and
Right now I'm completely incomplete
But things are gonna change
'Cause you're not through with me yet

This is redemption's story
With every step that I'm taking
Every day, you're chipping away
What I don't need
This is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
And every day I'm closer to who I'm meant to be
I'm a change in the making

Wish I could live more patiently
Wish I would give a little more of me
Without stopping to think twice
Wish I had faith like a little child
Wish I could walk a single mile
Without tripping on my own feet
But you're not through with me yet

This is redemption's story
With every step that I'm taking
Every day, you're chipping away
What I don't need
This is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
And every day I'm closer to who I'm meant to be

From the dawn of history
You make new and you redeem
From a broken world to a broken heart
You finish what you start in everything

Like a river rolls into the sea
We're not who we're going to be
But things are going to change

I'm Livin' redemption's story
With every step that I'm taking
Every day, you're chipping away
What I don't need
This is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
And every day I'm closer to who I'm meant to be
I'm a change in the making
I'm not who I'm gonna be
Moving closer to your glory

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

WRITING ASSIGNMENT #34 - TRIALS

Take time to write about the trials and challenges you have had in your life and how you overcame them or fell prey to them!  Give advice to your posterity on how you handled them or should have handled them. Teach! Share your experiences with the wisdom that you have gained.  And if you are young and still going through life's challenges - write down your commitment to yourself  to stay strong and to not be consumed with the trials or experiences that come your way. Anytime you read something that gives you strength to persevere - keep a note of it in this chapter of your autobiography.