Neither Here Nor There

Anybody remember the Limbo? It was a dance-game we used to play at parties when I was a kid. Participants would bend over backwards so they could scoot under a horizontal stick held off the ground – all without touching the stick or falling on their backsides. (We played this after we tired of Twister and Spin the Bottle. Hey, it was the 60’s.)

Of course the word limbo has other implications. For one, some believe it’s where people go between death and the afterlife while God decides what to do with you for the rest of eternity. I don’t buy that theology but I have an idea what it’s like being in a place that’s neither here, nor there. Somewhere in between. Waiting. In limbo. And like the dance of the same name, I’m bending over backwards, suspended in space trying to stay under the stick before I fall on my behind. (And also like the game, the stick under which I must pass is getting lower and lower with the passage of time.)

In little over a month, Dennis will join the music faculty at Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, GA. We are really excited about this and know that it’s totally where God wants us to be. We will be moving (after 26 years in Nashville) there or near there sometime…soon…I guess. Before we can establish another residence there we have to sell our house here but we don’t know when that will happen. Real estate limbo.

Not only do we not know where or when we will leave, I have no idea what I will do when I get there. Lots of possibilities have crossed my mind. All good and wholesome pursuits, but which one will it be or will it be something totally different? Since I have been a writer for many years, I’m assuming I would continue that. I’ve considered teaching. I’ve applied for graduate school, but there’s no response and no sign that any of those things will be my next step. What do I do? How do I prepare for whatever my next chapter of life is if I don’t know what it is? It seems like God would want to be teaching me about my next adventure. Right?

Well, as usual I’m drawn back to the Bible for help. In every case those He chose to serve Him were called first and then equipped. He didn’t send Moses to elocution school before he was called to be God’s voice to the children of Israel. He didn’t train David in the ways of royalty before he was chosen as king. There are so many examples just like this it’s impossible to ignore the message here. Whom He calls He equips, not the other way around. On-the-job training is the Father’s mode of operation.

Recently we recalled a hymn lyric that we don’t sing anymore but it has such a new meaning to me these days. The chorus goes:

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?


Your heart does the Spirit control?


You can only be blest,


And have peace and sweet rest,


As you yield Him your body and soul.

So this must be my next move – put it all out there as a sacrifice knowing that God definitely has a better plan for me than I could have conjured up for myself. In fact, this passage from Ephesians 3:20-21 is my daily confirmation.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

In the dance/game Limbo the last one to go under the stick without touching it or the ground wins.

So far, I’m still in the game.