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This afternoon I ran by Burger Queen to feed the children lunch. After ordering 5 burgers and 5 ice waters I then got the hit with a Slurpee attack and "had" to run by 7-11. I bought two. One was for 5 under the age of 8 to share. The other was for my 11 year old and I.
We have been working on sharing recently so I told the five sharing that if there was one word of discontent expressed about this passing of the priceless Slurpee there would not be another one all summer. Dessaly and I share quite well so we did not have the same challenge attached to our Slurpee.
They ate their burgers and the Slurpee traveled from mouth to mouth through the back of the van. Funny thing, their ice water was ignored.
When we got home I decided to double duty with the cups of ice water. I emptied them onto my hanging fuchsia plants. This took care of the contents of the cups AND one of the thirsty fuschias.
You see, a mother bird choose my eastern fuchsia this year. She decided this was the prime real estate for her home and she built a nice little nest there. We have enjoyed watching these go from eggs, to hairless open beaks that chirp, to little feathered creatures. Science supreme!
This afternoon I was a mother with a mission though and without thinking, I ice watered the flowers and the baby birds. Whoosh! Those babies took off like rockets and shot out of their nest as if they had been rudely awakened with a dash of ice water. Imagine that!
All of a sudden they found out they did know how to fly!
After I assured my three distressed daughters - the two little boys thought the rocket birds were cool - that the little birds would be okay (as if I knew this to be true without any doubt), they got on their swim suits. As I sat watching them splatter, swim, and splash in the lake I had time to go over the ice water and little birds.
I realized that this is how some of us are. We are able to do something yet because it is new uncharted territory we are uneasy and unwilling to make the break. We like to stay in our secure and familiar little nest. Our reluctance to move out sometimes calls for ice water.
Let's use the example of one of our sons. This son does not like anything new. He prefers things to stay the way they are since any new situation is uncomfortable for him. Yet, once the "new" wears off - sometimes in the span of minutes - he is off and running.
Many times in his life Randy and I have had to be his ice water. We have had to insist he participate in something that at first is uncomfortable. Just like Randy and I have had to encourage our son to step out into new situations, God sometimes has to douse us, His children, with ice water to get us to move out of Egypt.
The funny thing is that once the ice water is dumped on us and the shock of the freezing wet has caused us to move, the frigid cold water quickly warms, the ice melts, and soon we are dry and warm again. When we look back we see that God had a plan for us in the ice water. He was using it for our good to move us from the desert to dessert.
In Deuteronomy 1:19, God says to His ancient people, "We set out from Horeb (that's Mt. Sinai) ... through all that vast ... desert." When we are in the desert we cant see to the other side but listen to where God says the desert trip will lead. In Deuteronomy 1:21 it says,
"See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
When we are uncomfortable we just want it to end and we focus on ourselves, our discomfort. If you're not careful, you will turn around and leave the safe path through the desert God has put you on - the path that ultimately leads to the Promised Land that He wants to give you.
So don't doubt in the darkness of the desert what God has told you in the light. There is no Promised Land without a wilderness. We might not like a shower of ice water but sometimes that is what God uses to get us moving. Its cold for a moment, but in hindsight, it worked! | 
Nov. 8, 2006 - Flying...