Wisdom Keeps Showing Up

If Woody Allen had it right when he said, “Showing up is eighty percent of life,” then Wyndham has lived a lot of life.

Showing up consistently is particularly important. Jesus showed up consistently. In fact, he promises to always be with those who follow him. (Matthew 28:20). The early disciples, day after day, went into the temple courts and house to house, teaching and proclaiming the good news of Jesus. (Acts 5:42) They showed up consistently, day after day.

It’s one thing to show up, but showing up consistently requires a lot of love, determination, and self-discipline. I could always count on Wyndham to “show up,” and this has made a great difference in his personal life, our marriage, our family, and our ministry.  He has lived and taught the importance of this quality with his oft-practiced and oft-used phrase—“set and kept times.”

It’s easy in today’s busy and distracted lifestyles to live life “flying by the seat of our pants,” rather than living intentionally. Set and kept times have been an important part of Wyndham’s life.

The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways. (Proverbs 14:8)

Most importantly, he set and kept times to walk and talk with God. These weren’t (aren’t) to fulfill a duty, but were (are) to fill his soul. He counted on those times, as did I. There is nothing more security-producing in my marriage than knowing my spouse is spending time with his God.

Thankfully and amazingly, God always shows up, and is always waiting on us to show up—eager to spend time with us.

Next, he set and kept times for the two of us. To pray together. To discuss how “we” were doing. To just enjoy togetherness. Since our ministry consisted of long days and nights, and we were always “on call,” we set aside Mondays to rest, to plan, to pray, and to enjoy nature. This wasn’t a nice idea. This was a necessity. It was carefully observed and very rarely changed. Set and kept.

He set times with each of the kids for heart to heart communication, spiritual conversations, memory making, and having fun. These were the most important “discipling” times. The kids could count on some kind of individual time with Dad each week. It wasn’t easy once their schedules grew when they hit their teens, but it was priority. Set and kept. Dinner times were set and kept. At times these had to be adjusted, but they could still be counted on.

Dear friends whom Wyndham mentored, as well as those with whom we shared “one another” times  (Romans 12:10; 15:7; 15:14) weren’t occasional happenings. These were needed and important times for each of us that were set in our schedules on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis—in order to better practice “one another” Christianity. Neither of us wondered if we would get together with a particular person or couple, because the times were guarded—set and kept.

As much as it depended on us, times were set and kept for hospitality. Wyndham set and kept Monday nights for dinner in our home in order to share our lives (and the gospel) with neighbors, friends, acquaintances, and those who had left the faith. This became our custom.

Set and kept times. These resulted in connection, security, friendship, growth, progress, vulnerability, and depth. The times certainly helped us, and prayerfully helped others as well. Because wisdom kept showing up we now continue to explore rare and beautiful treasures of deep spiritual friendships and relationships. These are there for anyone who builds their house with the wisdom of God.

By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. (Proverbs 24:4-5)