RESTORE US AGAIN

Most of the memories from our 13 years at Keeler are good ones. I recall walking into Nate and Matt’s bedroom upstairs one day and finding Nate, four years old, sitting sideways in the open window. Very calmly, I firmly told him not to move, and then proceeded to take him down from his precarious position.

I remember birthday parties we had for the kids where all the relatives and friends came and spent several hours in honor of the birthday boy or girl. Once I got Baked Alaska all ready to put in the oven, only to find out the board it was on was too large to fit. The party was in full swing in the living room, while several guests took on the challenge, some holding the board, others trimming it down, Baked Alaska still in tact. I remember the twins singing themselves to sleep every night when they were only two, and Ginger and Matt standing in front of the house in their flower girl and ring bearer outfits.

One clear and vivid memory that I cherish are the evenings when we all sat in out tiny living room, making recordings of the kids singing and quoting Bible verses. When I listen to that tape now, I experience one of those inner and outer smiles. One of the sessions we still have was when Nate was 6ish and on the other tape, he must have been 8 or 9, because the twins did some singing and talking, too.

We had lots of good times through the years, but when I get a whiff of those early years, years not yet tainted with pain and struggle and hurt, it stirs up an intense desire to pray for their return. I know that it can never be like that again, but in reality, it can be better. Nothing else is as full of character and love as a heart that has been hurt and is now healed, or one that has gone astray and is now forgiven, or separated itself and has now returned. I truly believe that. Years and experience teach you that nothing is so sweet as a group of people with the pride knocked out of them and the pain soothed away.

One night, as I was reading in the Psalms, late, late at night, I ran across a verse that sprung forth in my heart as a cry to God: “Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” Family healing being one of my primary requests, I prayed this prayer fervently. In a while, as I continued my reading, I found the verse again, only this time, the Psalmist cries out to “O God Almighty.” I felt like he had “upped” his cry and my heart was right there with him. “O God Almighty,” I prayed, “restore us,” and a tiny recollection of the early years came into view. Truly, it was my heart’s cry…healing, friendship, care, forgiveness, overboard love!

You can only imagine my emotion when in the next chapter I read, “Restore us, O Lord God Almighty; make your face shine upon us that we may be saved.” The Psalmist’s progressive fervency was exactly mine. I knew in my heart that nothing anyone on this earth is able to do could accomplish such a thing. “Vain is the help of man.” 

The Psalmist went from “O God,” to “O God Almighty,” to “O Lord God Almighty!” Oh, how I want the Lord God Almighty to restore us! And oh, how I want His face to shine upon us! (See more on September 1)

August 2006