The Return of Lawrence Little

The earth circles around the sun, and a homeless man reappears on the doorstep of Mother Goose.

So many of my most astute and loyal readers will remember my three-part series last year regarding Lawrence Little, a homeless man of God who came into my life and forever changed my view of homelessness in America. Go ahead and click here if you’d like to review that story…

Mother Goose has been referring to 2014 as The Year of Miracles, and I’ve been privately documenting miracles, “coincidences”, and random happenstance circumstances since Thanksgiving. Maybe THAT’s why Mother Goose hasn’t had time to write stories for my adoring public!

Anyway, I would certainly consider this “chance” meeting as one of my miracles…

Winter at our house…

The Land of Oak Park has received an enormous amount of snow this winter, and the polar vortex has moved into our village to stay. Often, I will finish my inside-the-house-chores in the evening and then don my warm jacket, boots, hats, scarves and gloves and mittens to go out to attend to the daily snowfall.

Last night was no different — I had just begun to sweep the soft fluffy flakes off of my porch when I heard a voice calling out, “Hello, ma’am!” Out of my peripheral goose eye, I noticed a bundled up man walking along the sidewalk. I greeted him with a “hello” but certainly did not want to engage in night-time conversation with a stranger so I didn’t look at him…

I continued with my frenzied sweeping of the downy flakes of snow as though it was the only thing that mattered.

And when I looked up from my focused and serious work, the man was walking towards me and my porch, and I looked full on into his face for the first time — in about a year.

“Ma’am, it’s me, Lawrence Little. Your grandfather’s name is Lawrence, I know it is. Ma’am, could I do your shoveling for you? I’ve been living on the streets and it’s been a horrible winter, and I could do this work for you…”

As he walked closer into the porchlight, I did indeed recognize him. We shook hands warmly and smiled at each other. Yes, indeed, it was my dear homeless friend, Lawrence.

Of course, Mother Goose can never say “no” to Lawrence, never could, never will. I handed him the snow shovel and went inside to ask Husband Goose for $20. “Lawrence Little is here,” I honked excitedly. “He’s going to shovel for us!”

Handing the cash to Lawrence, we began to catch up with our lives over the past year. He’s still living on the streets, sleeping on the “L” at night — the elevated train that transports commuters and travelers over 100 miles of track in, on, under and over the city of Chicago. It’s a dangerous place to sleep, especially if you are a kind-hearted, harmless, homeless, and rather short-statured man as Lawrence is.

I asked him about his church, Life of Liberty Worship Center. He said yes, he’s still going there now and then. He asked me if I had found a church home yet, and I gladly reported that we were attending a church that meets at the Lake Street Theatre in Oak Park.

“Oh FREE CHURCH!” Lawrence knew immediately who I was talking about. “I know the Pastor there. His name is Chuck, and his wife is very tall and beautiful.”

“Urshanna,” I helped him with our pastor’s wife’s lovely and unusual name.

“Yes, and I was walking past the laundromat, and the Lord told me to go inside, and they were wearing red T-shirts and she offered to pay for my laundry. I laughed and said ‘Well, I don’t have any laundry, only the clothes I’m wearing’ and they were very kind and she called her husband and he came to the laundromat and gave me money so I could stay in a hotel.”

He continued to tell me how he sometimes attends worship and though I’ve never seen him there, he knew all the details of our church service and the names of other brothers and sisters there.

What an amazing miracle!

Please stay tuned for my next story about Lawrence Little — we enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate together at the kitchen table. Yes indeed we did.

Mother Goose and Mitch — Part Two

Many aspects of Mitch McVicker’s life have changed over the years.

Though he used to tour with an ensemble of live human beings in the traveling van, these days he mostly does solo concerts. When my dear friend, Linda, and I first began to follow his music career and drive sometimes hundreds of miles to see him in concert (seriously!), he performed mostly with two young men named Cobra Joe Curet and Brad Layher. Both of these excellent musicians have moved on down the road and support their families with real jobs now, but I have to wonder whether they miss the days of traveling with Mitch.

Brad, Mitch and Cobra Joe. Photo courtesy of Suzan Mason, Keeper Extraordinaire of the Fan Club.

In fact, Mitch himself is now a husband and dad! He speaks fondly, wistfully and lovingly of his family and misses them very much when he’s touring.

Nowadays on stage, he miraculously creates his own backup percussion sounds and harmonies with a digital phrase-sampling/looping device. My technical singer/songwriter readers will most certainly be fully knowledgeable of this recording tool. It’s quite impressive to witness!

He bangs on things like a hubcap, a Lysol can, a Hershey’s syrup bottle, a plastic flamingo and also employs the sounds of various children’s toys, bells and whistles. It can be comical at times to watch him perform these acts of percussion, but the end result is joyful, pleasing and wonderful.

He also plays some really great guitars, a banjo, a ukelele, many harmonicas and even a kazoo.

Mitch McVicker at Elburn Hill Church, March 1st, 2013. Photo courtesy of Mark Cramer.

Mitch tours about nine months out of every year, criss-crossing the country several times and chasing horizons that would quickly dull the senses of Mother Goose. He can be found in churches, festivals, camps, school auditoriums, village halls, picnic grounds, college campuses and parks. The man is a modern day minstrel with scheduled stops in all fifty states, Europe and even Asia.

When he’s not wandering the highways and byways, he’s in the recording studio with friends and family.

To date, Mitch has recorded and released an incredible amount of Christian music — eight complete and beautifully original projects in fifteen years. His website is open and the CD’s are for sale anytime, day or night, for your shopping convenience. In fact, as soon as Mother Goose finishes this story, she’s going over there to replace the CD’s that have worn out over the years.

February 22, 2013 marked the latest release date for Mitch’s new project which he has titled Underneath. On the evening we spent with him in Elburn, he played many of the songs from that CD, and once again, Mother Goose was reminded of how far this gifted singer and songwriter has come in his career and his ministry.

In fact, when Mitch tells his stories between songs, we are inspired by the love of Jesus blooming in his heart. The kingdom of God might be invisible to the naked eye and hidden underneath all of the stuff in our lives, but the kingdom is more real than anything else, and the King is gloriously accessible to us.

Mother Goose has found over the years that Mitch always has time to visit with his fans and friends after a concert. He has listened patiently to so many of my stories and signed so many autographs and posed for so many photos. Did I mention that he’s also really really funny? 😀

Mitch McVicker lives out the true definition of love…patient and kind.

Mitch listens patiently to one of my long stories…

Mitch McVicker and Mother Goose — Part One

Well, surprise, surprise! Mother Goose had another grand adventure last night! We were blessed beyond measure in seeing Mitch McVicker in concert at the Elburn Hill Church way out there in Elburn, Illinois. A forty mile drive during Friday rush hour was a small price to pay for a musical evening with this dear old friend.

Not that my friend is old…

Mitch has been touring the country for close to twenty years — our friendship began about fifteen years ago when he was still recovering from injuries he suffered as a result of a tragic car accident which took the life of his friend, Rich Mullins. Rich flew away that night on a dark Illinois highway, but the Lord left Mitch here with us, though for the longest time, he couldn’t answer the question of “why?”

Why would God take a man who is on the top of his career, with songs and albums all over the Christian Top 40 charts, making millions of dollars from royalties and giving it all away to charitable causes and Native American children? It didn’t make sense to Mitch then just as it didn’t make sense to so many other people in September 1997 and since that time.

“But the faithfulness of Jesus persists.”

After nearly a year of physical therapy and hard work, Mitch recovered his voice, his vision, his mobility and his love of life. He rises each day full of hope and faith and love — he gladly shares his story of healing. And God gladly uses Mitch’s story to bring hope and healing to others.

Others includes Mother Goose.

It was the hot summer of 2002 and the place was Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It was Lifest, a family-friendly festival of Christian music and Mitch McVicker was on the agenda of performing artists. Of course, Mother Goose was in the audience with her family. Though she was always glad to see her friend up on the stage, on this day the tears rolled down her feathery cheeks.

She was feeling overwhelmed and confused — she had recently received the news that she would be having another baby. Baby number six at the age of forty-four.

In the heat and humidity of that outdoor concert, Mother Goose could only bow her head and pray that she and the baby would be healthy, that the family would be accepting of this new and exciting yet completely unexpected and soon-to-arrive gift from above. Mother Goose had feelings of inadequacy, feelings of loneliness, feelings of confusion, but mostly feelings of fear.

What if the baby wasn’t healthy? What if being in the “expectant way” triggered an MS flare up? What if her husband couldn’t provide for this growing family in an unstable economy? How could she manage all the needs of the older children and still meet the demands of a new baby? What in the world was God thinking?

I do not think that Mitch could see or read my face from up there on the stage, but he began to introduce a new song that he had just written. It was called “Don’t Let Your Heart Be Troubled”. He explained in his homey way how he doesn’t like to write songs from God’s perspective because he doesn’t feel qualified to put words in God’s mouth. And yet, here he was doing just that. The words he sang came straight from the Gospel of John, straight from the lips of Jesus. And they were headed straight for the heart of Mother Goose.

This is Jesus speaking:

Even in your roughest times you won’t be overcome.
So when that ache bites your heart feel my love.

If you are wondering if I’m around
I have never left your side.
You are never by yourself.
You are not alone tonight.

Chorus
So now don’t you let your heart be troubled.
The peace I bring to you is not of this world.
I set your mind at ease, I quiet down your soul.
I give you peace, don’t let your heart be troubled.

I can dry your tear filled eyes.

I can hear your heavy heart.
So don’t you be afraid tonight.
My light is shining through your dark.

If you’re wondering where I’m at now,
In your despair I’m gonna be your hope.
I am always there, you’re never ever by yourself.
You are not alone.

Chorus

I can still your swirling soul.
In your darkness my light grows.
Don’t let your heart be troubled,
I give you peace

Ten years later, here’s the “gift from above” with Mitch and yours truly, Mother Goose.

The faithfulness of Jesus persists…

The Christmas “WOW Factor”

Mother Goose has been “hunkering down” this past week — so very occupied with my Christmas preparations. I seem to cram all of Advent into the week before Christmas. In the past seven days, the goose family has been so busy it makes my feathery head just spin!

I have said “Wow!” over and over again.

Last Saturday, our family all attended the Elgin Symphonic Orchestra’s holiday extravaganza, “Let It Snow” followed by an 11:00 pm dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Campana.

Benny, Jessi and Eric at La Campana

The very next day we gathered to celebrate the birthday of Mother Goose which proved to be all about pie.

The wonders of pie…

There was holiday decorating.

There were nearly 10,000 cookies to bake, pack and ship to family around the globe. There were Christmas cards to sign and mail to friends near and far. Of course, there was shopping for the perfect gifties and wrapping of the perfect gifties.

Secret stash…

There were fun surprises lurking around many corners.

Mother Goose snuggling up with Santa Claus.

And it all comes down to the most major celebration of all on December 25th.

Mother Goose has tried to maintain a sense of order and peace and joy throughout these days of prep. I have believed in decorum. and I have believed Christmas music. Though personal conflict might come in many sizes and shapes, we try to keep our tidings glad and our days merry and bright.

Of course, we also remember the mundane tasks which must be accomplished (the laundry, the dishes, the bathroom cleaning chores), but the priority must be the remembrance of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

Yesterday, Mother Goose spent hours sequestered in her bedroom with only the company of wrapping paper, tape, scissors and shopping bags full of the spoils of several trips out into the mobs and gangs of shoppers. My youngest gosling spent the day coughing and sneezing on the couch with the Snuggie she received last Christmas Eve. She found solace on the Disney channel and with her friends on Nickelodeon.

Taking a break from her wrapping exertions, stiff and sore Mother Goose would occasionally check in on the sick girl’s health and fill her glass of ice water. AnnaRose was a good patient, and Mother Goose accomplished great and noble things for the good of Christmas Day…

Today, this youngest in the flock queried Mother Goose about those presents which had been the day-long obsession for her mother: “And why don’t you just bring them all down and put them under the Christmas tree?”

With tired, red-rimmed eyes, Mother Goose looked at her little girl and patiently replied, “We’re going for the WOW Factor, my dear daughter.”

And yes, indeed, it is always the WOW Factor, isn’t it, my dear readers? The children awake on Christmas morning and scamper to the tree. The piles of colorfully wrapped presents are here, there and everywhere around the tree. Skyscrapers of gifts stacked to the ceiling. What was a simple and empty beautiful space the night before has become a veritable and magical and majestical Mount Everest of joy and fun, dreams realized, and wishes come true.

Santa Claus has been here, and the dawning of this day is good as gold.

The happy laughter and shrieks of delight as the gifts are opened, the camera flashes, the silliness of the shredded wrapping paper all over the floor, WOW!

The endless plates of cookies and candies, WOW.

The tables laden with pies and centerpieces, the sumptuous Christmas dinner, the roast beast and the Yorkshire pudding, the fruit cakes, the flowing wine and eggnog, WOW.

Perhaps there will be fresh Christmas snow, WOW.

So much WOW everywhere you look.

But the biggest WOW of all is that God loves us so much that He sent His Son to earth as a baby boy who grew up to be a perfect man. He came to live among people, to heal us of our sins and sicknesses, to teach us about His Father and to make a way for us to live for eternity in heaven. From the cradle to the cross, Christmas is all about Jesus.

Jesus is The Christmas WOW Factor.

Merry Christmas with love from Mother Goose! WOW!

Mother Goose Prays

For the past twenty-five years, I’ve been Mother Goose to six beautiful children of my very own. Together, they constitute my largest reservoir of smiles. When I’m having a day that isn’t going according to my own personal expectations, I look at one or more of these young ones and suddenly nothing else matters except that I connect and love on my babies.

That’s when the smile of Mother Goose stretches wide and her eyes crinkle up with mirth. The first sign of my laugh lines began when my firstborn looked into my eyes — the laugh lines just get deeper everyday. Do you have laugh lines? Those curves in the skin of your face that miraculously connect the corners of your nose with the space on either side of your mouth? Do you hide them? Do you call them wrinkles? Mother Goose wears them as proudly as a medal of honor.

My puny words cannot express enough of my heartbreak for the moms and dads whose laugh lines are shadowed now by their tears and their sorrow and their loss.

My heart breaks these days as I consider what so many dear families are facing now after madmen stole away the lives of their babies. There is no evil as black as that which blasts away at innocent little children. There is no pain as deep as losing a child — nothing compares.

And the media will buzz for days about what should be done, and what can we do to prevent this from happening, and the politics of gun control will shout back and forth. And then life will get back to normal for most of us, and we’ll remember … but mostly we’ll just want to forget.

I beg you, do not forget. Use the tears, the pain, the grief, the images and the feelings of hopelessness and helplessness to motivate you. Each of us in our own way, in our own worlds, in our various circles can instigate change. Some of us in small ways, some of us in large ways — but all change is important and necessary to make this world a safer and better place for our children.

Mother Goose prays. Every morning before I turn on my typewriter, I spend time with the Lord. We go over the day a little bit, but mostly He listens to my concerns, my fears, my challenges, my complaints. Then He takes me by the hand, and we proceed to travel through the day together.

This morning I sent out an email to the mothers of children in my daughter’s fourth grade class — it was an invitation to come to the home of Mother Goose to pray on Monday morning. Being together, nothing fancy or formal — just praying for our precious ones and the families of the fallen across our country, but especially in Portland and Newtown.

In the world’s broad scope, maybe a few moms sitting around a table praying doesn’t sound like a solution to a horrible problem. Mother Goose believes that it’s the best thing to do right now. Wherever you are on Monday at 9:00 a.m., please feel free to join us. There is power in prayer.

There will be hero stories that come out of this tragedy, there will be stories of hope and stories of great love. Watch for them and cling to them. Love is the great conqueror. In this strange and scary story of life, Love wins.

An Object Lesson from a Goose

When Mother Goose returned the clueless fish to the fish tank, half of them were instantly killed by the toxic effects of chlorine in their water. “Chlorine shock” was the term used by my bloggish friend Debra at BreatheLighter. It was an accident, of course, but stuff happens in aquarium life. As soon as Mother Goose remembered and quickly added the water conditioner, the remaining fish were saved from an untimely demise.

We all realize that under the right circumstances, chlorine is our friend. It’s the chemical that blasts all of the germs out of our drinking water, and makes our swimming pools a safer place to play. Few chemicals are as efficient at disinfecting our lives as chlorine.

However, chlorine has also been used as a weapon of warfare. During WWI, Germany first used chlorine as a chemical weapon. Canisters of chlorine gas were simply opened on the battlefield and the gas was dispersed by wind currents into the camps of the allied forces.

Poison gas used as a weapon in WWI.

It was a hideous weapon, and even today we do not lack for hideous weapons.

But getting back to my fish story, the fish who were exposed to the chlorine in their home could do nothing to protect themselves. In fact, they didn’t even know what was happening to them. The effects of the chlorine in their water were swift and deadly. They could not possibly fight back. They had no resources of their own to fight against chlorine — there was no way on earth these fish could neutralize their own water and make it habitable and safe. Helpless. At the mercy of the poison. It was a foregone conclusion that they would die. Hopeless.

Only the rapid application of the water conditioner saved the remaining fish.

Let’s look for a little life application now, shall we? (Note: if you are at all squeamish about discussing topics of a spiritual nature, this might be a good time for you to go and check your email or your facebook updates…:-) )

In our lives, in our world, we must deal with toxicity at many levels. There are pollutants and irritants in the air we breathe. We are bombarded with harmful solar radiation everyday. Depending on where you live on this Earth, you may have to fix your tainted water before it is drinkable. The food we consume can be full of pesticides and herbicides — harmful if not toxic to our bodies, to be sure.

Besides the poisons in our natural environment, we also must deal with the toxic effects of the media in our lives. The bad news and bad vibes spewed forth day and night from news sources and broadcast entertainment works as nerve gas (chlorine) on our minds — telling us that we are meaningless individuals with no purpose other than to consume and be consumed. The messages we receive from the voices around us can leak into our very souls, rendering us hopeless and helpless and pretty darn depressed.

And then there are the negatives within us. The feelings of guilt and shame that eat away at the joy in our lives, the burdens we carry as a result of our own personal sins and the toxic talk we feed ourselves everyday.

Our own individual fish tanks, our worlds, are pretty much filled with different forms of chlorine, and often we don’t even know what is hitting us, but we feel like we are sinking deeper and deeper. Unable to help ourselves.

But we try, don’t we?

There’s the old “denial” treatment. Just pretend that nothing is wrong and it will all go away.

Or just cover it all up with whatever makes us numb and happy.

Or find a religion that works for us. Talk to the “universe” or make a vow to Buddha or work really hard in our lives to be better persons and rise to the next level of play — like a video game, beat the bad guys, the monsters and bosses and level up. But there’s no winning level, is there? Just more of the same…

Even Jewel asked “Who will save your soul?”

Even Paul asked, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

There’s only one person who loves you enough to save you and rescue you from sin and poison and death. Only one God who has the power and the love to accomplish what we could never do on our own. Talk to Jesus about this today. He’s the simple solution, the “water conditioner” who can neutralize the poison in your heart and your life.

Trust me — Mother Goose speaks from experience here. His love has saved me. He loves you too.

Great News!

Mother Goose is honking and happy to report that only TWO people have had problems recently! Can we just get a round of “Wow”. Out of all the thousands of potential problem-bearers, only two of my readers actually had a problem! I’m overwhelmed with joy and gladness that most people are problem-free. Keep up the good work, my dear friends.

However, if you do have a problem and were too shy to share it with Mother Goose, that’s OK — I am a sensitive goose, and I completely understand. Just remember, I’m here for you day or night.

I read something so interesting this morning in my “Jesus Calling” devotional book. Listen to this with an open heart, pretend this is Jesus talking to you…

“Make friends with the problems in your life…the best way to befriend your problems is to thank Me for them…you can even give persistent problems nicknames, helping you to approach them with familiarity rather than with dread.”

Now doesn’t that just give you a new way to deal with problems? I have to say, Mother Goose just about fell out of her chair when she read those words! It’s revolutionary to even consider this!

Let’s just pretend that you have a problem with your pet. Your pet continues to “mess” on the floor whenever you leave the house for work or school or to run an errand. You consistently return home to find the “mess” on the floor. This is a persistent problem! You’ve grown frustrated with the pet, and frustrated with the situation.

The pup is so embarrassed by this problem.

But now, you have a new approach…make the house training problem your friend! First of all, be thankful for your problem. “Thank you, Jesus, that my pet messes on the floor. I know that You can bring goodness out of this problem.” Now, if your are comfortable with your sincere thankfulness for your problem, go ahead and name your friend/problem. In this case, we’ll name the problem, “Stinky”. Now greet your new “friend” with a gracious comment such as, “Welcome to my home, Stinky. I hope that you’ll stay awhile so we can get to know one another better.” You’ll want to be very familiar with Stinky so that you have no dread when we go out or when you return home. You’ll want to be glad about Stinky.

Once you’ve thanked the Lord for your friend and named your friend, simply open your mind to the possibility of benefits flowing from this difficulty. Cleaning up Stinky will keep your pride in check. A humble heart is a happy heart! You will possibly discover new cleaning products and maybe even meet new friends with similar friend/problems. Perhaps you’ll be able to bless others with the humor and thankfulness of befriending your problems.

Without being too irreverent, Mother Goose would like to add that “next steps” are just as important as “first steps” when it comes to problems. Introduce your friend/problem to Jesus, enabling Him to embrace it in His loving Presence. I would imagine an introduction like this: “Jesus, I’d like you to meet my dear friend, Stinky. Stinky, Jesus is here to help us, and I think maybe you’d like to go with Him to the park. It’s a really nice day outside — take your time coming home. I’ll be here — don’t worry. If you’d like to go away for a few days with Jesus, that’s fine with me too. Bye now! Have a nice time! And thank you, Jesus.”

He may not necessarily remove all of your problems, dear and gentle reader, but it never hurts to ask. And remember that He’ll always be there with you in the midst of them. And that’s a blessing. And Great News!

Grace and Mercy

“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

These were Jesus’ words to the Pharisees and teachers of the law in ancient Israel. They had brought to Him a woman caught in the very act of adultery, indeed, a crime worthy of capital punishment at that time. Electrocution and lethal injection hadn’t caught on yet — they were gathering stones. Rocks. Boulders, if possible.

Rumor has it that they had set up the woman intentionally. It’s all ancient politics, of course, but they were actually trying to trap Jesus Himself into breaking one of their many laws by whichever answer He gave them regarding her execution. In an interesting side note, their law required the execution of both parties of the adultery, not just the woman….but oh well, they weren’t really interested in maintaining the purity of the law anyway….

So they asked Jesus, “Well, she’s broken the Law. We actually caught her in the act. Moses said that we should stone such women. Now what do you say?”

The Bible says that Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. I wonder what He was writing… maybe the names and sins of the men before Him… maybe all the laws that would have to be changed because of God’s love… maybe He was remembering and recording the day when each of these men would themselves pass away into eternity. We just don’t know what Jesus was writing, but His wisdom remains in His words to the accusers.

“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

One by one, the men walked away from the scene. The older ones left first. They wouldn’t get their blood satisfaction today. Finally only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there. He stood up from His writing and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

God’s mercy.

His mercy is shocking. It was scandalous two thousand years ago, and it is still scandalous today. He was such a controversial figure in His culture that the religious leaders of His time strangely found Him guilty of blasphemy and had Him executed just to get Him out of the way, to silence Him, to prevent Him from leading a revolution, an insurrection against the Roman government. The religious leaders had no idea that His Kingdom is not of this world, and that His followers would soon be spreading His good news all around the world. He was convicted in a mock trial and sentenced to death via torture on the Roman cross. Capital punishment for a sinless man. Sinless man. He never even had a sinful thought! The death penalty for the son of God who knew no sin EVER.

And yet, here’s what they didn’t have a clue about: He took our sins with Him to the cross. He was executed in our place. We deserved the death penalty for our sins against a holy God, but Love stepped in and saved us from that eternal horror.

God’s grace.

How do I feel about the death penalty? I hate it. It has no place in our country or in our world today.

But I’m eternally thankful for the cross.