Why So Many Benches?

View from the bench (below)

    Life has been a blur of change and transition over the last year or more. And now that we have arrived on the other side of the pond, everything is exactly the same and yet completely different.

One of many places to rest from your journey

    Our family structure has transformed in ways that I would never have imagined two or three years ago. I no longer homeschool our girls. The five of them span all three schools here. (As a side note, I have a new found respect for all the parents that send their kids to school...it is much more work than homeschooling (at least for me), and not being in charge of what they are learning or the schedule at which they must attend, is challenging at best.)

  We are bombarded with newness: New language to learn, new rules to follow, new neighbors to meet, new students and staff to relate with, new road laws, new weather, new schooling.  It has had moments of being overwhelming. I think the low point came two weeks after our arrival. I had to shop school supplies for all five kids going to three different schools, and some of the required items were totally new to me...like "house shoes" for Caroline. (Yep, she had to have a special set of shoes that stay at the school that she switches into each day. It's brilliant really, when you think keeping the classroom clean, especially during the winter months.)  But even with that bump, I foolishly thought, "School supplies? No problem, this teacher and homeschooling mom knows school supplies." Then I walked into a couple of shops and what I saw looked more like art supplies than school supplies, and I began to get this knot in my chest and my brain stopped working.  We just had to leave the store and try again later. I was defeated by school supplies.  All that I thought I knew had crumbled beneath me, and I began to realize that in this new land everything would take longer and be harder to accomplish...for awhile.

 I needed to pause and take a deep breath, and breathe in the Truth that my Loving Father made me, redeemed me, and led our family to this place. And where He leads, He provides, and gives wisdom to those who ask it. The circumstances may have been too much for me, but they will never be too much for my Redeemer.

  Maybe that's why Germany has benches everywhere. Even in seemingly remote places on the sides of pastures and along hiking trails. Maybe here in Germany they understand that life is not lived in the packed schedules alone, but there must be margins of space in which to process it all. To sit and ponder the deeper truths, and the meaning of things beyond the surface circumstances.  I was so bewildered by these benches in the middle of nowhere.  But then I began to sit on them during my walks...they encourage you to pause, and rest. When I see them all over the tiny village we live in now, I remember the words of Father:

Psalm 46:10New King James Version (NKJV)

10 Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!

John 15:5-8 (NKJV)

    5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will[b] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

These water fountains are found in every town. Many are for the refreshment of hikers.

 















When you loose your directions, where do you go for your compass? The answer to this question reveals more about us than you may realize. For it is at these exasperating moments in life, that we reach out for what we truly believe. When life gets overwhelming, what is your usual response? Do you give yourself a pep talk and think positive thoughts? Do you make you life busier in hopes of distracting yourself from even getting to any depth of realization? Or do you stop and remember the Truths of God as He reveals them in His Word? Do you know Him and the rest He offers to those who truly seek Him?

Overlooking the little village of Vogelbach

 
Matthew 11:28-29  (NKJV)

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.





When we pause and train our minds to dwell on what is real and true, the circumstances fade, and we see the lasting structure of the things behind.

Then, when the spinning slows down, we can begin to enter into the place of worship that comes through thankfulness.

Sometimes you need to rest when you make it to your front door

 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

This lovely bench is the meeting place of many neighbors on a Friday evening. They share a beer and talk about the week.

As you journey, take time to pause.

So I am learning to rest in Him, to look to Him for direction and strength for the day. And when I see the benches I remember to "be still" and "abide" in His love and Grace.

If you don't, you might miss the view.