The Sacraments of Life (2)

 

Coffee Mugs (1)

One of my weighty decisions every morning is to choose a coffee mug to drink from. Over the years our collection of mugs grew, purchasing some and receiving others as gifts. Some mugs are Vickie’s, other mugs are mine. When we moved from Virginia to South Carolina we downsized, and that included our mug collection. It was not as painful as downsizing books, but I would have kept some more had we room. 

I still have a few penguin mugs. I have loved penguins since I was a child. When I was a boy the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. had a wonderful penguin exhibit which fascinated me during my family’s frequent visits. The zoo was about 30 minutes from our home and in those days was never crowded, and parking was not a problem. In elementary school one of my teachers read Mr. Popper’s Penguins to us; it captured my imagination. Alas, I was never able to find a penguin in the neighborhood to bring home for our bathtub. 

I purchased my last penguin mug around 1998 in Baltimore, MD when Vickie and I were in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on a trip from Boston. It was a work-related trip for Vickie and I was along for the ride. While the mention of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor brings up a host of memories from over the years, I’m going to pass on them and stay with the penguin mugs. 

I associate my penguin mugs with our first home in Chesterfield County, VA. While most of our coffee mugs were in a kitchen cupboard, my penguin mugs were hanging from a rack with pegs on a short wall between the kitchen and a hallway that led to the front foyer. 

Our move from Maryland to Virginia was a time of new beginnings, it was like Abram moving from Ur to Canaan (we didn’t have an intermediate stop in Haran as did Abram). When we decided to make the move, we didn’t have jobs and we didn’t know anyone in the area. Within a matter of days we had friends, we had jobs, we had a second dog, we had good neighbors, and we were on quite the adventure. It was a miracle, it was amazing, and when I see those mugs in the morning God’s grace of those early years floods my soul. 

We have friends today that have been with us since those early years in Chesterfield, and of course our friendships in life are our greatest treasures in Jesus. 

Our home was in an area that was, at the time, semi-rural. There was a country store about a quarter mile from our home, and we took our trash to a transfer station a few miles away. The house was on just a little over an acre, and when we moved in there were no gardens and, as I recall, only one tree in the front, a white birch. 

We were soon planting trees, creating an herb garden, an extensive border garden, a large vegetable garden, and hanging baskets of flowers from our front porch which ran along the full front of our home. It was a time of new beginnings, you might say it was our Second Genesis, a restored Creation after Noah’s flood. 

Every place we’ve lived we planted trees and shrubs and flowers, every time we’ve moved we’ve left beauty behind; sadly not everyone who has come after us has cared for that beauty, but we continue to plant, God continues to water, and hopefully others continue to enjoy. 

I think of the trees we’ve planted as representing friendships God has blessed us with, relationships that have endured. Yes, some relationships are like annual flowers, and they do have their place in life, we treasure them for seasons…some short, some long; we try to be good stewards of the relationships that our Father brings into our lives. 

We had so little when we moved to Chesterfield that I recall borrowing a wheelbarrow from a neighbor. I don’t know why, but I think of not having a wheelbarrow. 

I can’t begin to tell you how many people came into our home over our early years in Virginia, we had times we were filled to overflowing on Thanksgiving, during Christmas season, and at other times throughout the years. This has been true for every place we’ve lived, people come and they tend to stay. Even today, though we are now old and can’t entertain as we once did, we have chairs in our front yard. When we sit outside people come and sit and stay and talk, and we never know how God will direct the conversations. 

When I choose a penguin mug for coffee in the morning, I am sacramentally seeing the love and grace of Jesus during our early years in Virginia, I am giving thanks to my Father for His goodness to us over the years, I am thanking God for our enduring friendships, and I am marveling at His mercy and faithfulness. 

What do you see as you look back over your seasons of life? How do you see God working in your life? 

Who are you thankful for? What are you thankful for? 

How has your heavenly Father revealed Himself to you over the years?

How is He revealing Himself today?