Foundations

Marilyn Monroe once said, "To put it bluntly, I seem to have a whole superstructure with no foundation. But I'm working on the foundation."

As of late, I have been mourning the lack of that superstructure. I didn't go to college until well into my thirties. I didn't have a nest egg to speak of, and there's still that debt we're taking care of after years of living on one and a half salaries. There weren't a lot of friends with which to share my laughter or tears, but the ones I had were constant.

There were nights I felt like I was sleeping on the slab of that foundation, with no covering to speak of. I'm here to testify, that the foundation alone will sustain you and will not shake, even if the superstructure falls down around you. I have my parents to thank for that.

The superstructure, if the Lord has built it, is something that we can be thankful for. Psalm 127:1 says it like this. "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it."

From my earliest memories, my foundation was being laid with caring and diligent hands. I bemoaned the little country churches we went to at times when we were searching for that deep spiritual connection which is balanced with the word of God; out of the way places with only a few people who seemed devoid of any culture or sophistication. But I may have just misjudged all these years, because the word that was formed in me, the desire for the presence of God in my life and the ever present voice of God, even when I was running from them, were ALWAYS strong.

Proverbs 22:6 admonishes parents to "train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it."

Thank you to mom and dad from the bottom of my heart. My superstructure has been shaken a few times, torn down a few times too, and now it has been built and is going through some remodeling. God brings his spirit like that mighty rushing wind and cleans up every now and then. To be perfectly honest, I am in one of those stages now. But each time he moves, and no matter how he does it, there is growth and a knowledge of his working, which is the biggest comfort. More comfort than a nest egg. Better than a feast on the table. More satifsying than a girl's night out.

There is peace on this foundation. Wisdom on this foundation. Security on this foundation. Eternal acceptance on this foundation. I say to you, my dear parents, never despise the journeys you took us on. I instead thank you for them. There were journeys of faith and hardship, betrayal and brotherhood, famine and feasting, extreme joy and measured sorrow. In every one of them, I never heard you question the hand of the Lord.

Through all of them, my father still woke up before the sun and worshipped and prayed. Through all of them, my mother and father instructed me in the ways of the Lord and thanked him for the trials as well as the blessings. I watched them hug and pray for people that hurt them. I saw them give out of their need without expecting anything in return. I saw them be obedient to the leading of the Lord and live by example the way they expected me to be obedient to them.

I didn't realize it then to the extent that I do now, but they were building my foundation. It's not appreciated until its steadfastness has proven itself. This past year, I went through a period of scoffing at the things of God, because of hurts that had happened to me and my family at the hands of well meaning people, and some events that life just brought to our door. But even as persistant doubts of age old truths I knew were valid danced like sulphur sugarplums in my head, the foundation stayed strong.

Solomon talks about this stage in Ecclesiastes 1, and I'm going to paraphrase it here. "It's all useless. I gain nothing from all my hard work. Everything stays the same. Day in and day out, generation to generation, all is useless. Even creation testifies that life is useless. See how the river drains into the sea and the sea is never satisfied. Nothing here satisfies me. No one remembers the works of generations before me and no one will remember my generation or the work that I've done."

But that is only the truth as seen through eyes of discouragement and desolation. Isaiah proclaimes a different truth in chapter 58 verse 11.

"The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."

So, thank you for my foundation. Its full value I have never known until this moment. There is a welling in my spirit that words cannot express; a sense of well-being that doesn't often come to me and is a rare, but welcome visitor. May God richly bless the latter part of your days even better than the former for your obedience, faith and joy in His salvation.