Are You In the Middle?

I have always viewed the middle as a sort of safe spot. Sort of unequivocal, neither right nor left, even on the fence, all of which is not particularly admirable.

I am the older of two children so we didn’t have a middle child in our family. Judging by “Malcolm in the Middle” and sociological articles, being in the middle of a family’s birth order is not a particularly comfortable spot.

In this era we also see something called the “sandwich generation.” People from 40-60 years old are still raising children (or in some cases, grandchildren) while needing to be caretakers of aging parents with chronic illnesses, etc. Again, not a position one might choose.

Perhaps you find yourself embroiled in the middle of a situation whether relationally or geographically and you feel like these books, hemmed in by the bookends. 

Recently, I was able to attend a conference taught by Beth Moore,  Her Bible teaching is always so appropriate and applicable to our every-day lives and this conference was no exception. Everyone of us are in the”middle of” some sort of life circumstance—even if, at this point you are in the middle of a time of peace and serenity.

Here is just one New Testament reference she used describing how Jesus helped His disciples as they were in the middle of a hopeless situation. Mark 6:45-51 gives us a startling picture of Jesus walking on the waters of a stormy Sea of Galilee. His disciples were in the middle of this storm and He graciously calms the sea.

Take-away lesson: “’In the middle’ is the last place we expect a miracle and often where we get one.”

In John 19:6 we again see Jesus “in the middle"—this time, dying for us on a cross between two sinners, one rejecting Him, the other accepting His gift of salvation. It was no accident that God planted Jesus’ cross ‘in the middle” of dying sinners. Thinking about this is especially poignant as we near Easter.

But back to being in the middle…of something. Wherever we find ourselves, we need to remember He is only a “Help me, Jesus,” away. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus tells us, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” No more need to fear the pressure and stress of being “in the middle of….” Thank You, Lord.

Love Given, Love Received

Valentine’s Day. The day to indulge loved ones with cards adorned with hearts, boxes of chocolates, her favorite flowers, or (horror of horrors), buy a new iron or some else practical.

Whatever history I had read regarding this Day for Lovers, I'd forgotten, so I went to my favorite source for information, WikipediaJ I discovered that Valentine’s Day is not only celebrated in America, but pretty much all over the world, the exception being some Islamic countries who view the day as a Christian celebration and is therefore banned.

There were several men named Valentine who lived during early Christendom and as the unfortunate custom of myriad Christians in those early years, these Valentines died a martyrs’ death. The Roman Catholic Church has declared at least one of these courageous fellows a saint and whatever his story, or the several, meshed together, we get the picture of a courageous, loving, and compassionate man. (There’s not space in this post to even summarize all the interesting information surrounding the history of Valentine's Day.)

As I was reading about how the valentine greeting card business came about in America I remembered some old cards I’d found in my mother’s papers. One is a home-made valentine fashioned by my Aunt Dorothy, probably in the early 1930's as it appears to be the work of a 
young child.

Although the card pictured below now features bedraggled lace, it was once a beautiful gift my dad gave my mom in the early 1940’s Not sure of the giver of the other card but I’m surprised the colors are still so vibrant after nearly 80 years. 

I was sitting on the couch this weekend feeling sorry for myself because my valentine isn’t with me any more. Eventually, I said to myself, “Snap out of it. You have two wonderful sons, thanks to the valentine who is now gone. So I’m deeply grateful for my valentine whom I met 48 years ago.

And then not to be flippant, but I’m so very thankful for God’s Valentine to humankind—Jesus Christ. Thank You, Lord, for paying the price of our sins on that Roman cross. Your resurrection means we inherit heaven if we accept your gift of salvation—the greatest valentine of all!