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My Life in Ink – JoAnne Hancock

My Life in Ink – JoAnne Hancock

Tag Archives: Comfort

Lessons Learned in the Sanibel Stoop

15 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by JoAnne Hancock in Ministry Musings

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Comfort, Easy Street, life storms, ocean, Sanibel Stoop, shells

When I was a kid we lived for a couple of years on the east coast.  And because my parents were both born and raised outside of Philadelphia, our family grew accustomed to the Jersey shore.  We enjoyed the board walk, salt water taffy, small amusement parks and birch beer; all compliments to salt water, sand and waves.  Outside of one trip to Florida, it’s what I knew of the ocean and what I knew, I also loved.

After I had been married for about ten years, my in-laws retired to Clearwater, FL.  For twenty years we made at least one trip south each year to visit them and I became acquainted with the whiter sand and calmer, warmer waters of the Gulf Coast.  Call me fickle but, I basically broke up with the Atlantic Ocean in favor of the Gulf Coast.

Before mom and dad Hancock retired they purchased a time share on Sanibel Island, FL which is where I find my blessed self this week.  This is where I learned about the “Sanibel Stoop.”  The Sanibel Stoop is so well known that photographers and artists have captured and framed it.
Sanibel StoopSanibel is an island off of the gulf coast that is situated in such a way that sea shells land on her shores by the millions.  Hunting for the perfect shell is sport here.  I can sit on the lanai and watch stooped people search for hours.  Or I can join them.  So I do.

True to the gulf coast, the waters of Sanibel are generally calm and rather clear.  However, for the last couple of days there have been storms brewing out in the gulf.  Those storms have picked up the winds and stirred up the sea creating rough surf and unusual waves.  All that does is interfere with the thrill of the hunt because it creates murky waters in which prized shells cannot be found.  Yes, there are lots of shells on the beach but those have been picked over by the shell hunting fanatics who are out there with lights attached to their foreheads before the break of dawn.  Not it.

So this morning when I left for my walk, I didn’t even grab a shell collecting bag.  I knew it was useless today just like it was yesterday.  Only today I headed west instead of east and as I rounded a corner thousands and thousands of shells were being washed up in the turn.  The angle must have been perfect for the depositing of shells.
shellsIt didn’t take long until I was frustrated with the rough surf and cloudy water.  Every time the tide would pull back and open a window, the sea would come crashing back over a prized shell siting.  I stood there like a child at recess playing tag with the sea.  And the sea was winning.

And then God showed up and invited me back into the classroom where we began to review the lessons from the last several years.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the last few years trying to get a clear picture of what is beneath the stirred up waters of life’s storms.  And every time it felt like I might have permission to see, another cloudy wave would hit.  And another.  And another. The window has, more often than not, felt painted shut.

And then it struck me that the piece of perfection I was looking for today was buried beneath the storm’s messy place and that without the storm, it would not ever be a piece of perfection.  The mess of the storm was perfecting the mess of my life.

It was then that I got to thinking about the fact that my life had always been relatively easy.  In fact, I expected easy almost as if God owed it to me simply because I claim His name.  Like He never approved anything difficult in my life because He loved me too much for that.  And I thought about Lauren Legge.  And I thought about Stephanie Hagar-Nicholson.  And I thought about my own brother.  All are proof that Jesus never promised Easy Street.
Easy StreetAnd then I saw it.  And I got my fingers around it.  The perfect conch shell.  The single shell that is the thrill of the hunt for me.  The shell that is my teacher today.
IMG_1839The shell, through which, Jesus said to me, “My purpose for you is that you make it safely home.  It will take storms and rough seas to get you there.  In fact, you can’t arrive without surviving them.  But I’ve created a safe place under the raging seas if you will meet me there.  From there, I’ll carry you in.”

I’m still in the sea.  I’m still being perfected.  Some days the waters are rougher than others.  I’m thankful for the days of calm.  I’m even becoming more thankful for the storms…sometimes…sort of.

Mostly?  I’m thankful for a God who meets me there.

One of the greatest evidences of God’s love to those that love Him is, to send them afflictions, with grace to bear them.  ~ John Wesley

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It’s Going to Be Okay

08 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by JoAnne Hancock in Ministry Musings

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

broken hearted, Christian struggles, Christians don't have problems, Comfort, He became flesh, It's going to be okay, Jesus wept, Losing a child, Sickness in the life of a Christian

About a month ago I sent the following sign to my friend whose husband is currently out of work for the second time.
It's going to be okay
I think I sent it because I’ve been there and it expressed the sentiment I so desperately wanted to be true when we were writing that chapter in our own lives.  If you’ve never been out of work, the chapter has the following subtitles:  How long?  What affect will this have on our family?  Will anyone else employ me?  What kind of loser am I and why did I never know I was a loser before now?  What about insurance?  How will we pay our bills?  What if the house doesn’t sell?  What if the house does sell?

And you keep repeating, “It’s going to be okay.”  Then you will yourself to believe it.  After all, it’s the Christian thing to do right?  It’s much like saying, “I’ve read the end of the book and WE WIN!”  And while I haven’t spent a whole lot of time reading the end of the book (mostly because it just confuses me so I’ve decided to just be ready) I do know it’s true.

But then there are the todays when I wrestle with the “It’s going to be okay” cheer-up philosophy.  Because some things in life just never feel like they will be okay.  And I wonder if we do ourselves and our friends a disservice when we, in essence, smack them on the back and tell them not to make us uncomfortable with their struggle or their sorrow…because, honestly, it’s just easier to be around people who laugh a lot and have the world by the tail.

And then you hear about the parent(s) who just lost their child.  When is it going to be okay for them?  You can talk out loud to your computer screen if you want to…when.is.it.going.to.be.okay?  I’ve seen it provide incredible avenues of ministry for those parents, but okay?  It’s never okay.

And you meet the child whose monster father kept coming into her bedroom at night.  Does “I’ve read the end of the book and we win!” fix that?…ever?

Enter the infertile woman who can’t bear to even show up at church on Mother’s Day for the passing out of the marigold and petunia seeds because every seed is a reminder of what never took root in her.

This year, in nine months’ time, I watched my brother-in-law and sister-in-law lose all four of their parents.  They really aren’t okay.

And the neighbor-become-friend whose 50+ parents were both killed when their plane crashed and burned.  Believers?  Absolutely!  Okay?  That would be a “no.”

Maybe your spouse destroyed your dreams of a happily-ever-after when news of their unfaithfulness rocked your world.

And the beat goes on…childhood cancer, brain cancer, ALS, children who walk away from faith, accidents with life altering injuries, friends who betray.

I’ve always struggled with the balance between “With Jesus I’m okay” and “I’m really not okay.”

Today that struggle took me straight to the story of Lazarus.  To make a long story short, Lazarus died.  Jesus friend Lazarus, the one He loved a lot.  Dead.  And when Jesus got to the hometown of Lazarus He found that Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, were not okay.

Martha got to Jesus first and He told her, “Your brother will rise again.”  Or, in today’s language, “It’s going to be okay.”   I wonder if He patted her on the back.  Then Mary found Him and the very exchange that we laughed about as kids is the one that speaks straight to me as an adult.

You remember, as kids, how it went.  “Memorize a scripture verse by next week.”  And who of us didn’t come back at least once with John 11:35?  JESUS WEPT.  Shortest verse in the Bible.  Least effort.  Finished that assignment in record time.
Jesus weptAn assignment that is maybe the best example of He became flesh and moved into the neighborhood. (John 1:14 MSG)  The neighborhood.  My house.  Your house.  Moved in.

Here is what grips me.  So often I have felt that if I’m not okay then I’m not a very trusting Christian.  I even think we tell each other that at times.  But here, right here in the book of John, Jesus weeps with Mary in her sorrow.  In essence he says to her, “It’s okay that you aren’t okay.  I’m here and it’s still okay that you aren’t okay.  And I’ll be not-okay with you.”

What I love about it most is that Jesus knew He was there to raise Lazarus from the dead, there to make things okay; yet He still took time to weep with Mary over the loss of her brother and His friend.  Her sorrow mattered that much to Him.

Another part of The Story reminds me that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”  (Hebrews 13:8)  Yesterday He wept with Mary in her pain and loss.

Today?  He weeps with you in your pain.  More than anyone, He knows how the story ends.  The ending is good.  Still, today, He weeps with you.

Be comforted my friend.  He weeps…with you.

the-lord-is-close-to-the-brokenhearted.jpgw620

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