Category: Growing in Christ

Kathy Geary Anderson > Journal > Growing in Christ

Lessons from a Dog

Posted on by Kathy Geary Anderson

Many of my mornings this summer have started with what I like to call the Running of the Dogs. Believe me. Getting in front of these two when they run is every bit as risky as any of the streets of Pamplona during their annual festival.

Since we live on an acreage, neither of the dogs are on leashes. As long as they stay within the sound of my voice and come within eye sight every minute or two, they can follow all the rabbit trails their hearts desire.

This wasn’t always the case.

You see, one of the dogs–Avery–doesn’t live with us permanently. She’s my son’s dog, and up until this summer, she’d only been at our house for short-term visits. Now this dog is bred to run. With the DNA of greyhounds running through her, she can take down a coyote with a 50-yard head start on her. But early in the summer, she didn’t respond to our commands and was in very real danger any time she was off a leash. We live close to two very busy roads–one of them a four-lane highway. Running with no regard to boundaries was out of the question.

So when I would head out on my morning runs, only our dog Lexie was allowed to join the party. Avery stayed behind in her 12-foot square enclosure. These were not happy days for Avery.

Luckily, as the summer progressed, her willingness to obey increased. With the help of a training collar that emits a high-pitched beep when I press a button on its remote, she’s learned to come when I call and has earned the right to join the morning run.

So what does all this have to do with thriving?

We live in a culture that tells us things like boundaries and rules and authority are bad. That the only way to be truly free is to set our own rules, forge our own paths. But is it really? What if the opposite were true? What if the only way to experience our greatest freedom is to listen to our Master’s voice . . . to follow His paths?

I came across this verse the other day:

“I run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32

Do you see that? Freedom is found in obedience. When Jesus first called the fishermen (Peter and Andrew and James and John) to be his disciples, he challenged them to go deeper . . . to experience life like they’d never experienced it before. [Luke 5:1-11] But in order to do that, they had to obey. They had to choose to follow His lead.

Because Avery is willing to follow my commands, to stay within the boundaries of my path for her, she is free to be the dog she was created to be. She can run like the wind, follow all the smells, flush out quail, splash in the water . . . in short, she can THRIVE.

Psalm 32:8 tells us:

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life . . . ” [emphasis mine]

Isn’t that what we all want? The BEST life? A DEEPER life? So what’s keeping you from obeying your Master’s voice today? Follow His lead and THRIVE!

Fear of Flying

Posted on by Kathy Geary Anderson

I used to be a white-knuckle flyer. Today, after many years of flight experience, I’ve graduated to what I’d call a reluctant flyer. The fear is still there. I’ve just learned to cope. Recently, my husband and I were returning home on a flight that originated out of a very small airport. Seriously, y’all, when I say small, I mean the same two people who checked us in and took our luggage were the same two who collected our boarding passes at the gate. They were also the same ones (we noticed) who loaded our luggage on the plane and guided us out onto the runway. Yeah. Two-man operation small.

Needless to say, our plane was no 747. If you’ve flown much, you’ve probably been on one like it–two miniscule seats on one side, one on the other with an aisle so narrow it’s best navigated sideways. But as I mentioned before, I’ve learned to cope. After an intimate conversation with Jesus on take-off, I immersed myself in a book by one of my favorite authors.

All was good . . . until we hit turbulence.

Really, there’s nothing like a good bit of turbulence to bring you smack dab into your present circumstances. After one particularly violent dip that left my heart hovering somewhere near the ceiling of the plane, I looked up from my book and took stock of my surroundings. Panic squeezed the air from my lungs. I was in a stinkin’ aluminum can, bobbing around like a manic ping-pong ball, 30,000 feet in the air. What in the name of sanity had convinced me this was a good idea?

Thankfully before I decided to run screaming for an exit, the plane leveled out, and I was able to escape into my book again. Because deep-down inside, despite how I might have felt at that moment, I knew this truth. If I didn’t really believe the plane would get me to my destination, I would never have left the airport.

Isn’t that a lot like this faith-walk we’re on? I love this quote:

“Faith is when you act like God is telling you the truth.”

Faith is not static. It requires that we step out into seemingly impossible situations believing God is going to make good on His promises. Some days the path seems easy, but on others, when turbulence hits, suddenly this grand faith-adventure we’re on is not so grand anymore, and like Peter walking on the water, all we can focus on are the waves around us. Satan has us exactly where he wants us–paralyzed by fear.

If this is where you find yourself, consider this. If I had let my fear of flying keep me in the airport, think of all the adventures I would have missed, the wonderful places I’d never have experienced.

Ephesians 2:10 tells us:

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Are you allowing fear to keep you from what God has created you to do? Maybe it’s time to get out of the airport and onto that plane.

Living in Unity

Posted on by Kathy Geary Anderson

Last month, my husband and I took a quick trip to Florida, mostly to get away from our Nebraska winter for a few days. While we were there we spent a day at Epcot. If you’ve been to Epcot you know it was designed to look somewhat like a giant World’s Fair. Its purpose is to celebrate man’s achievement in technology and science and in international cultures.

But what I came away with after that day at the park was not so much a greater appreciation of man as it was a greater appreciation of our Creator God. We were there during the International Flower and Garden Festival so we saw exhibit after exhibit of all types of flora and fauna from around the world—flowers in all shapes and sizes and miniature Japanese trees that were 35 years “in training” and still only a foot tall.

In one building we stood in a giant two-story aquarium and marveled at the sheer variety of sea creatures on display. In another we sat through a multi-dimensional film celebrating the vast variety of creatures that inhabit our land masses. But honestly the arena that brought home God’s infinite creativity to me the most was simply watching all the people.

Epcot welcomes more than 10 million visitors every year, and though we went on an ordinary Monday in March, we still were among thousands of other visitors. And after about four hours of walking, we were very ready to just sit and watch them. Better than any aquarium, the constant flow of people walking by us as we sat on a bench in the French section enjoying our strawberry crepes and ice cream was incredible in its variety.

People of all shapes and sizes and colors and nationalities rambled by. And after a few minutes of simply watching, I began to notice something–here and there–people walking by sporting headgear that looked like this:

 

From then on, we started counting all the Mickey Mouse ears we saw. I don’t remember our final number, but what I do remember was the amazing variety. There were traditional ears, fancy ears, ears with bling and ears without, ears that matched and ears that stood out from all the others, pirate ears, princess ears, wizard ears, bride and groom ears and every other type of mouse ears you can imagine.  In fact, there were so many different options walking by us, I wasn’t a bit surprised to see racks and shelves full of them in just about every gift shop in the park.

Why in the world do we need so many different types of mouse ears? I’ll tell you why . . . because not only has God created mankind in infinite variety physically, he also created us with different personalities, tastes, backgrounds and opinions. Which is what makes this—this living in community together—so wonderful. It’s also what makes this so hard.

I think Christ must have known the difficulty that comes with community. After all, his closest friends included a zealot and a tax collector. That’s like putting a Democrat and a Republican on the same committee–there’s gonna be sparks, folks!  Maybe that’s why his last command to his disciples was to LOVE ONE ANOTHER. And maybe that’s why his final prayer was a plea to the Father for our unity.

We aren’t meant to walk through this Christian life alone. We need Christ and we need each other to be truly effective.

In Ephesians 4:16 Paul tells us why:

“He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

I love that analogy of the body. The heart is a vital organ to the body, but without the veins and arteries to connect it to the lungs and other parts of the body, it would be worthless. We need each member–we need each other–to accomplish all God has made us to do.

So how do we work together . . . live in unity . . .  when we are all so different? The key is Christ. He is the glue that holds it all together. He is the One who allows us each to use our own special gifts and talents—not so we can compare ourselves with each other, not to judge those who are different or tear each other down—but to help each other grow.

Maybe you look at the person next to you and say, I could never be like her, or you see someone serving in a particular way and think, I could never do what they do.

Maybe that’s the point.

God doesn’t want us all to look exactly alike. He didn’t create us all to serve in exactly the same ways. But he did create you to walk alongside others in community—to willingly sharing your own unique strengths and abilities for His ultimate glory.

In closing, I’d like to leave you with these final words from Ephesians 4, some good advice about what it looks like to live in unity:

“Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.  Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.”  Ephesians 4:2-6

It Matters Where You’re Planted

Posted on by Kathy Geary Anderson

We have several 3rd-generation willows growing on our property. By that I mean they grew from a branch that came from a tree in my father-in-law’s yard, which in turn grew from a branch that came from a tree in his father-in-law’s yard. Three generations of our family have enjoyed trees grown from one original seed.

In our quest to raise these 3rd-generation trees, we’ve learned a thing or two. For one, the health and beauty of the original tree in no way guarantees health and beauty in its descendants. Disease, deer, rabbits, grasshoppers . . .  the presence of any of these can determine whether a little branch ever makes it into a full grown tree. But more than anything else, it matters where we plant them.

My husband planted five or six of the trees around the edges of our five-acre pond. Here’s a picture of my favorite and probably the oldest of the trees which grows down by our dock. Whenever I see it, I’m reminded of the verse in Psalm 1:3 “ . . . like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither . . . .“  This tree had exactly the right environment in which to grow into a strong, mature willow.

But not all of our 3rd-generation trees are this lush and healthy. You see, my husband also wanted a few to grow in our front pasture. The soil in this area is mostly clay—hard to dig in—even harder to grow in. Below are pictures of two of our willows, each planted at the same time. The one on the right was planted in our front pasture and depends on only the intermittent Nebraska rain and snow for its moisture. The one on the left was planted beside the ever present water of our pond. 

 

See what I mean? It matters where they are planted.

When I look at these trees, I can’t help but relate them to my spiritual life. I’m more than a 3rd-generation Christian. My family tree on both sides, as far back as I can trace, is filled with fully-committed followers of Christ who served the Lord faithfully as missionaries, pastors, elders and Sunday school teachers. But their spiritual health and maturity in no way guarantees my own.  Just like the trees, it matters where I’m planted.

If I plant myself daily in God’s Word, drink deeply from His wisdom, listen and follow the voice of His Spirit, then yes, I too will grow strong and fruitful. However, if I plant myself in the value system of this world, listening only to its wisdom and logic, getting only an intermittent sprinkle from God’s Word through a sermon or song, then I might grow, but only slowly like the trees trying to grow in our thick Nebraska clay. I’ll be like the Jewish Christians in Hebrews 5 who Paul said should be ready for spiritual meat, but were still in need of milk, like infants.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be the type of Christian that makes a difference in God’s Kingdom—one that is strong and healthy and bearing much fruit. Would you pledge with me to drink daily from God’s Word? To listen for His voice in the midst of your busy daily schedule? To view the world through His eyes rather than through the self-centered lens of the world around us? As a start, take a few minutes today to read through what Jesus had to say about this very subject in Mark 4:1-20 and Luke 8:4-15. I think you’ll see what I mean—it matters where you are planted.