My Time-Out in the Corner

I am a very impulsive person. Often I act before I think. And, many times I suffer the consequences of my actions in an unpleasant way. Today God gave me a “time-out” for my misbehavior. But, keep it in mind that our God is a good God, and is gracious in so many ways. For instance, my time-out is in a sunny corner of our ’gathering” room on the uppermost floor of the mission house. It has windows on three walls, which are all open to allow a nice breeze to flow through. No 20 degree weather here! I am surrounded with a view of blue sky, some puffy white clouds, mountains and an awesome volcano thrown in for good measure. Of course, I think God wants me to remember that I am on a time-out and shouldn’t be thoroughly enjoying this. Thus, the sounds of dogs barking relentlessly and the roar of busses passing below (not to mention the fumes), are a constant reminder that I am here to reflect on the actions that put me here.

Okay, I’m not going to bore you with all the details of what led up to my time-out in the corner today. I’ve been dealt a number of “opportunities” in the past month that started about the second week of December and led to the “opportunity” presented to me this week. In order to reflect on these happenings and to recognize the reason why, God put me in the corner for a time-out. In other words, everyone went out to do God’s work today, except me.

In the sermon last Sunday, the minister was speaking about a guy complaining about all his woes. I was fortunate to sit by Sarah (I only knocked over two chairs and stepped on one person’s toes to get there…. Just kidding). During the sermon, Sarah would translate the speaker’s words and I was writing them down as fast as I could. Unfortunately, I can’t write as fast as the Guatemalan’s speak… or Sarah translates. Consequently the sermon got narrowed down into seven sentences in my journal. I guess that would be called summarizing.

So, while I’m in my corner today, I am going to reflect on last Sunday’s sermon (and, believe me, it was much longer than Pastor’s sermons can get.)    Here are a couple of the sentences that were food for thought for me today. (Please excuse my grammar, these sentences were written in haste.)…



1. “The things in this world don’t matter.”

2. “Look at bad luck as opportunities from God.”


Ah yes, those around me the past several days have heard me grumble about the three falls I have taken the past month and a half that have caused me to be trussed up like a Victorian lady in a corset. Each of these falls have given me the opportunity to embrace the thought that things in this world really do not matter.
For one instance, each fall made me give up on some things I thought I absolutely had to do before going on this trip. Actually, I learned that the things I didn’t get done really didn’t have to be done before the trip (they can wait for me to get back, and my pets won’t love me any less), or were taken care of with the help of others when we got down here. I had a ball with several of the team members as we finished the “Jesus” puppet and props for our skit. That was an opportunity I would’ve missed out on if I hadn’t had the “bad luck“ of throwing my back out. Si?

Also, while letting go of the things that didn’t have to be done, I was given the opportunity to reflect on how “lucky” I really am. After my first fall, I spent considerable time flat on my back to let some inflamed disks heal. This truly was an opportunity to count my blessings, since it hurt to do much of anything else. For what it is worth, whenever you are hurting for any reason (physically, emotionally, spiritually ,or whatever), dwelling on your blessings from God is a good pain reliever.

One thought that was uppermost on my mind at that time was how I would be able to get up and walk again as long as I took care of myself and let those things go that didn’t matter. That fall was only a temporary setback for me, not like the multiple of things faced by so many others in our world. At the time my thoughts and prayers were especially with Jane Harris‘s mom. Now, on a global note, I have been given the opportunity to pray for the husband and father in a Guatemalan family; who has injured his back at work and will probably have to live with that pain until he dies. The chance for getting any significant relief for a back injury down here is minimal. We met him on Tuesday, at one of our home visits. 

Oh dear, I just looked at the clock. The team should be arriving home soon from their day’s work in the mission field. I guess I should tell you what put me in the corner today. It wasn’t my back… that was just my God-given opportunity to reflect on my blessings. I had to take time out today because I was having trouble breathing, and I can’t talk. It seems like my lungs and sinuses object to the air everyone breathes down here. Actually it is a reminder of how I’m blessed to live in Coopersville MI…. in spite of the landfill across the highway. As for losing my voice;for those who know me well, I can be quite a motor mouth. I believe it was God’s way of getting me to shut up and listen to Him speak for a while. (As the Guatemalans would say…. Ja ja ja ja ja ja ja ja ja.)



Over and out. I’m going to jump in the shower before the real workers get home.
Uh oh.  Too late.  They are coming in the door now.  I can't wait to hear about their day.  Maybe someone will share that with you later.