Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Jemima L. Yeggs, a.k.a. Stinker.  Pink Lady Apple Yeggs, my landlady and my auntie, wants to read about how younger people, especially couples respond to what the Bible says.  And she wants to know how God is at work at Lily the Pink.

The Turtle team was back, but then we had a special crew going out.  Easy and I were together again in the front seat, once we get back from church.  The command section would be Dr. Ellie and B.B.  And then in the three back observation seats, it would be Joseph Jones, Arabella Dalton, and Michael Rowe Casey.  It was the beginning of Spring Break.  The middle school students would write reports and the rest of us would try to keep Dr. Ellie, a.k.a. Home Wrecker, from wrecking the Turtle.  If you noticed the makeup of the team was that everyone had their significant other, except her.  And Dr. Ellie is expecting her baby in a couple of months, but this trip is not intended to be a major storm event.  This will be her last chase for a while, but then Dr. Ben will be in the Turtle full time.

The two teenagers do not turn fourteen until July and August.  And if you didn’t know, Arabella’s birthday is in July and Michael’s is in August.

When my primping crew, both B.B. and Menzie, were finished, I braced for the Arabella excitement of a lifetime.  She got excited that she and Michael were taking sex education “together.”  Now they will be taking Spring Break “together.”

I watched her out of the corner of my eye.  It seemed she was saving up her emotional explosion for when we were all onboard the Turtle.  My stomach was turning already.

But instead of Arabella starting the conversation, a new couple in class introduced themselves.  Or more precisely, the guy introduced themselves.

“Hi, Aunt Jemima,” Elroy said, “Irusya and I are checking out your class.  I hear it’s for couples.  Irusya and I are a couple!”

“How nice,” I replied.  What I was thinking was that in that introduction, Elroy sounded a lot like Arabella, except he was a guy and a thirty-something.

Irusya leaned toward me and in a stage whisper said, “Elroy has not had much experience at being one half of couple.”

Missy said, “I’ve checked out both of them and they are cool.  Maybe Elroy Jetson over here is a little wound up, but they’re cool.”

Zuzka said, “I know Irusya long time.  She nice.  I happy for her.  Elroy cute.”

Irusya said, “Keep eyes to self, Zuzka.  You already have boy toy.”

Zuzka patted her baby bump.  “Maybe I have other boy toy on the way.”

During this conversation, Arabella scrunched her head between her shoulders and giggled.  Was she simply enjoying the conversation or was she storing up her “jokes” for when we climbed into the Turtle later today?

Joseph led us in prayer, including a blessing of the Storm Chasing expedition.  He also praised the Lord that Rev C.S.L., my Dad, and a couple of other pastors were going to work as fill-in counselors while he was gone from Lily the Pink.  Even the retired Rev. Oz Tozer was going to work there one day.  Mary Tozer would be there too to visit with GrandPa and Gwen, and she was going to spend most of that time with their four adopted children.

Emmett led us with Sometimes it Takes a Mountain.

Samuel said, “I apologize for missing last week.  I was running a low grade fever, and I did not want to spread any germs.  Aunt Jemima, what is the attribute of God that we are studying today?”

I smiled, “Our attribute of God is His wisdom.”

Arabella asked.  “What is going on!  We have Mr. Dictionary, but I think I know what wisdom means.”

Michael sighed, “And when you lack wisdom, you should keep your mouth shut.”

Arabella gave him a look that could kill.  “What do you mean by that remark, boyfriend?”

Michael groaned, “Nothing, Belle.  I just read something like that in Proverbs this morning.”

Dr. Ellie laughed, “Nice recovery, Michael.”

I suggested, “Let’s have the Turtle team read the Scriptures.”

Fireball (Proverbs 3:19): “By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place;”

Arabella said, “And that bit of wisdom said nothing about keeping our mouth shut!”

Michael groaned.  “I apologize, Belle.”

Dr. Ellie asked, “Who is the Boss in the Turtle, Belle?”

Arabella smiled, “You are.”

Dr. Ellie added, “And?”  Belle shrugged.  Dr. Ellie sighed, “It’s in her codename.”

Belle looked confused, “Bossy Boss? But she just takes the recordings and edits them afterwards.”

B.B. said, “This storm chase is going to be educational for videos targeting middle school students.  We can laugh and have fun, but at times, I will have to yell ‘Cut!’  That is my signal for everyone to be quiet.  We might need that to focus on safety, but we might have a teachable moment with what is going on with the weather.  We don’t want to miss those moments.”

And Dr. Ellie added, “And that brings up an important point, a third boss in the Turtle.”

Arabella asked, “Easy?”  Dr. Ellie shook her head.  “Pastor Joseph?”  Dr. Ellie shook her head.  “I’m stumped!”

I groaned, but Dr. Ellie asked, “Do you talk out of turn in class when the teacher is talking?”

Arabella shrugged, “I’m not perfect, but I usually quit talking and listen to her.”

Dr. Ellie said, “Well, Stinker did so well teaching Michael the radar screens and such, she is our teacher on the crew.  Sure, I am a professor, and B.B. is a graduate assistant who can teach, but Stinker has a way with younger kids.  So, she is a third boss.  And you mentioned Easy.  Easy rarely says anything, but when he does, even I listen.  He has his hands on the wheel, and if he says something, it might mean we are in danger and we might have to brace for something bad.  Even then, Easy is going to do something to try to get us out of that dangerous spot.  Okay?”

Arabella huffed, “Poor Pastor Joseph.  I have to listen to everyone except for him.”

I asked, “Can we move on?”

No Joe (Jeremiah 10:12): “But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.”

Joseph said, “Belle, I am going to be the counselor on this storm chase.  If you feel anxious or scared, you can come to me and say whatever is on your mind, just not in the middle of the chase when any of the core team members need us to be quiet.  But as for your verse and mine, God made the heavens and the earth.  That could simply mean his omnipotence, but there are so many factors that have been discovered through science about our universe that it points to God’s wisdom.  Earth is just the right size.  Earth is just the right distance from the sun.  The moon is just the right distance from earth.  Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are large planets that can pull asteroids and comets into them so that the earth is saved from one collision or another.  Where the earth is located is called the ‘goldilocks’ zone.  That took a lot of wisdom.”

Arabella said, “That was a nice explanation.  I might listen to you too.”

Joseph shrugged, “I’ll take that.  A maybe is better than I’ll get when I start preaching sermons.”

Dr. Ellie (Romans 16:27) “to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”

Dr. Ellie shrugged, “This is simply Paul stating that God is the only perfectly wise man out there.  Or am I reading it wrong?”

Arabella asked, “I was wondering why we aren’t talking about God’s omniwisdom?”

Easy sighed, “Because that is not a word.  God’s wisdom is kind of like what Dr. Ellie said.  Our wisdom, no matter how wise, is at a lower level than God’s perfect wisdom.  All our understanding of right and wrong comes from Him.  He knows the future.  He is sovereign, so He is in charge, even with us having free will.  So, thinking of ‘omni’ in this case simply takes our wisdom and stretches it out beyond our capability.  But God’s perfect wisdom is on a higher level.”

Arabella blinked a few times.  My dear husband had filled Arabella’s brain, so I better move on…

B.B. (Job 12:13) “’To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.”

B.B. turned to her husband, Joseph, and kissed him on the cheek.  “I think my verse just put you out of a job.”

Joseph said, “Sweetie, I use God’s Word whenever possible.  God is still the greatest counselor out there.”

Michael Rowe Casey (Ephesians 1:7-10) “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”

Michael took a dramatic breath.  “Wow!  I got the Blaise mouthful, but what does it mean?”

Blaise suggested, “I think it means that God’s whole plan of salvation comes from His wisdom.  That includes redemption through the shedding of blood, Christ’s blood on the cross, the forgiveness of sins, God’s grace since we are impure creatures who cannot cleanse ourselves, and He does all this through Jesus for His pleasure.”

I shrugged, “That was a good summary, Blaise.  Now you know why I turn to you for those big mouthfuls.”

Blaise, in a small sing-song voice, “Thank you, teacher.”

And since my husband, Easy, did some of the explaining earlier, I’ll take the last one. (Ephesians 3:10-11) “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I explained, “This says a lot of what the others say, but the prepositional phrase ‘in the heavenly realms’ is meaningful.  It seems that until this point when Christ died and rose again, the whole purpose of the redemption story was a mystery to the others in heaven, but now even Satan knows that his goose is cooked.  And we have it all laid out for us, if, as Jesus often said, if we have the ears to hear.”

Lauren came over from the play area and patted Menzie on the knee, “Mommie!  The buses!”

I smiled, “As we have been doing, let’s end with our benediction.  Everyone bow your heads in prayer.  ‘“‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.’”’” (Numbers 6:24-26)

Then Lauren asked me.  “Aunt Jah mine, what if you aren’t here next week?  Who teaches the class?”

I smiled, “It would usually be Joseph, but he will also be in the Turtle.  So, I asked your granddaddy, Angus.”

Lauren asked, “Will the class be in gah-lickie?”

Angus sighed, “That’s Gaelic, my little lassie.  We will have the class in English, but from what I hear, there is not much severe weather anticipated this week.  I am sure with the best driver in the business and calm weather, Aunt Jemima will be here next Sunday.  Rest assured; I will be prepared in either case.”

And after they left, Penny came by. She was smiling. “You know how we kept praying about it only takes one little swimmer? The stick this morning said that the one swimmer made it there this time. I don’t want to announce it to the class until after I see Dr. Mel.”

I congratulated her and gave her a big hug. One more member of the Mommie’s Club, but could I keep a secret? Yikes! That’s a big announcement. This was miracle territory.

Credits

I am using suggested Bible verses from The Attributes of God, A Journey into the Father’s Heart by A.W. Tozer, in two volumes. My two volumes have a Study Guide by David E. Fessenden, which is designed for each chapter of Tozer’s book. I may review those chapters to keep Stinker from straying too much, but the nature of her class is that the class tends to stray anyway. I am not using Rev. Tozer’s comments directly.

The comment about “omniwisdom” paraphrases what Rev. Tozer said about this non-word.

And if everyone shows up, they might have to move to the den, but then where will Lauren and Sammie play?

And here is Sometimes it Takes a Mountain sung by the Gaither Vocal Band: Adam Crabb, David Phelps, Wes Hampton, Todd Suttles, and Bill Gaither.  The song was written by Gloria Gaither and Mark Mathes.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.