Month: February 2015

Seek and Show

Posted on by Wendy
Lent is the ideal time to remember to seek the Divine in the world around us as well as to represent it.
Lent is the ideal time to remember to seek the Divine in the world around us as well as to represent it.

Yesterday, I was talking with a friend of mine who happens to be a counselor, about my post that day. It was the one about talking to the lady in Wal-Mart. She made the comment that people are really lonely these days and need to connect more.

I told her that I connected with people fairly regularly when I go to Wal-Mart and I had actually written about it a few times. She told me that she thought a lot of “God stuff” went on there. Of course, being the curious individual that I am, I pressed her for more information.

She said she was in the produce section one day and was in a bit of a slump with her faith. She said a woman walked up to her and asked her if could she give her something. She replied, “yes.”

The woman handed her a New Testament. Is the hair standing up on the back of your neck?

The Gideons are men. She wasn’t with them. She wasn’t standing on the corner with a pile of Bibles to hand out. She sought out my friend. Why? Did the Holy Spirit nudge her?

It was just what was needed a that moment. Isn’t God amazing that way? The more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became. Maybe angels hang out Wal-Mart. The Bible tells us, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained strangers without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2

Where would Jesus hang out if he was walking around in 2015? He didn’t hang out with the rich people on his first trip here, or the most educated people, or the religious people. He didn’t spend a lot of time with people who we might consider the cream of the crop.

When I really think about it, Wal-Mart would be a very likely place to encounter the Son of God. There are all types of people there. There are lonely people there. There are struggling people there. There are angry people there. There are frustrated people there. There are old and young and lots of children there. There are several different languages spoken at my location. One can encounter John Q. Humanity there.

I’m not sure we would find Jesus at Sax. I guess my point is, I think that Jesus would most likely be where people need him the most. Wal-Mart seems as likely a place as any. I often see a great need there. I think Jesus often shows up in the mundane. Maybe angels do too.

Either way, Lent seems to be the ideal time to be more on the look out for the Divine among us as we do our best to represent it to the world around us. Wherever we go, we always have the opportunity to seek and show.

What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Finding God in the Everyday

Posted on by Wendy
When we honestly seek God, He turns up just about everywhere.
When we honestly seek God, He turns up just about everywhere.

I had to run into Wal-Mart yesterday. I was dreading it. I always dread going to Wal-Mart because there’s no parking, and the people aren’t usually very nice, and there are never enough checkout lines open. To add to it, we were expecting anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of snow which is a huge deal in Georgia. I braced myself for chaos.

When I pulled into the lot, the parking wasn’t too bad. The inside wasn’t too bad either. I was cheered. I was looking for a specific lotion for my son’s eczema flare-up and there was a well dressed, older lady in the same section. She tapped me on the shoulder and asked me what face lotion I used.

We had a short conversation about how she had just moved into assisted living and that she usually bought her skin products at department stores in the mall and she just had no idea what to buy. I showed her the product I use and she told me she needed one for morning and night. She was incredibly spry and I was quite surprised that she needed assisted living.

We chatted a few minutes about her grandchildren and then she thanked me and told me I had done my good deed for the day. I assured her that I was happy to help her and we said goodbye.

The encounter played in my mind throughout my day. It required very little of my time to talk with that sweet woman, but that small amount of time seemed to have made a big difference to her. It kind of bothers me that we have become so busy and self-consumed that stopping to talk to a fellow human being is considered a “good deed.”

I can think of many actions I consider worthy of the title, but polite conversation with strangers is not one of them. I have often thought that being distracted in general, is one of the biggest adversaries of our spiritual life. Running around from the time we wake up until the time we go to bed also leaves very little time for human relationships.

As Christians, we are called to love one another. How can we love others if we are too busy to make eye contact or to speak to each other? Talking to each other should be the norm, not the exception. I’m going to try really hard to remember that.

I really need to stop dreading going to Wal-Mart too. God has used my visits there on quite a few occasions when He wants to teach me something. But, then again, when you look for God, He’s everywhere, even at Wal-Mart.

Where will you find Him today?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Learning from the Wilderness

Posted on by Wendy
Maybe Lent is an ideal time to think of our own wilderness moments.
Maybe Lent is an ideal time to think of our own wilderness moments.

Right after Jesus’ baptism, the Bible tells us that God’s voice from Heaven said that Jesus was His son and He was pleased with him. That definitely seems like one of those mountain top moments to me. Jesus is following God’s will and God verbally recognizes him. It seems like peace and joy should commence, right?

The very next verse, has Jesus being lead by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness to be tempted. I’ve always wondered why. He was God’s son. Why the wilderness trial?

My pastor said on Sunday that it was because Jesus had been a carpenter up until this point. He couldn’t go from being a mere carpenter to the person God meant him to be. He required some training and testing from Satan. If he couldn’t pass the wilderness test, then how could he pass the ultimate test of willingly going to the cross?

This was a bit of a light bulb moment for me. We have all spent time in the wilderness and we have all been tested or tempted in some way, on our Christian walk.

When I got home, I looked up the account in Matthew, Chapter 4. Our pastor was preaching from Mark, but Matthew’s account has may more details. As a writer myself, I’m always very curious about the details.

Matthew’s version says that Satan tested Jesus three times and each time Jesus didn’t take the bait, unlike Adam and Eve, way back in Genesis, with their run in with the him. Jesus stood firm each time. When Satan quoted scripture and attempted to twist it to his liking, Jesus quoted right back to him the truth in scripture.

Notice, that Satan didn’t leave after the first, “no.” He kept at it, but Jesus didn’t waiver. I imagine Jesus feeling a little stronger and Satan a little weaker with each refusal to go along with his plans. He began on the sneaky side, but finally came out and said what he  really wanted, which is the same thing he wants from us. He wanted Jesus to worship him.

That’s when Jesus quoted the perfect scripture, “Jesus said to him, “Away from me Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'” Matthew 4:10.

What can we learn from Jesus’ experience in the wilderness that we can apply to our own lives when we experience wilderness moments?

First of all, God is always growing us. As long as we are on our journey, there is always room for growth. When we find ourselves in desolate places, it’s important to remember that God is with us. We are never alone. Jesus could have called out for help at any moment. He knew it. He didn’t, but he could have.

Secondly, knowing scripture really helps with our strength and resolve. We have an enemy who is very familiar with scripture. Shouldn’t we be too?

Lastly, Satan will always come after God’s people, but we have all the tools we need to resist. Best of all, we have the Holy Spirit. We too, have the ability to tell him to hit the road.

Because, the really awesome rest of the story that unfolded when Jesus told Satan to go, was he was first attended to by angels and then he began to preach.

His wilderness time lead to the greatest three years in human history.

What if God has great things planned for us following our own wilderness moments? It might be something to think about.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Thy Will Be Done

Posted on by Wendy
Mastering trust and obedience on our Christian walk can be incredibly freeing.
Mastering trust and obedience on our Christian walk can be incredibly freeing.

I was recently catching up with a friend of mine. She was talking about how her business wasn’t doing very well, but that almost everyone she knew in her line of work was struggling too. She acknowledged that she knew that God hears her prayers, but also that her bills were piling up.

But, then she said she wondered if God was preparing her to do something completely different than her current line of work.

I’ve thought about our conversation a lot over the past week. I’ve thought about prayers, both answered and unanswered. Of course, there are no truly unanswered prayers. Sometimes the answer is, “no.” We may not like that, but that’s still an answer.

I thought about how often we pray for very specific things. We pray for God to give us a raise for x amount of money, or to send us more clients, or to make our spouses want to spend more time with us, or to make our kids behave. There’s a limitless list of the ways that we attempt to control God’s answers to our prayers.

We feel like we know what we want and what’s best for us and therefore we ask for those things, like a to-do list.

But, what if we were to approach God in an entirely different way, with an entirely different heart. What if we were to pray instead of, “to please fix it and give me xyz”, we prayed something like, “I’m really struggling, please show me your plan for me and help me to trust. Help me to remember that, “Even the very hairs on my head are numbered.” Matthew 10:30 (my emphasis)

What if we were more willing to surrender our own preconceived notions and plans for our lives and yielded to God’s? I wonder if the pharmaceutical industry would take a hit.

There has been an ongoing struggle of our will verses God’s, since the very beginning. It showed itself in the garden and we have an enemy who loves to feed it.

Trust and obedience can be really hard to master. I think as Americans, we pride ourselves so much in our independence from government and from other world powers, that we sometimes forget that we truly are dependent on God.

And when we forget, we don’t pray; we don’t worship; we don’t yield. We do things our own way which usually ends up in some type of disaster.

Lent is an ideal time to take a good look at our prayer lives. Are we praying like Jesus taught us, “Thy will be done”? Maybe we should look a little harder at that phrase and see if our thoughts and ambitions are lining up with His.

Wouldn’t it be awesome to know when we go to bed each night, that we are covered no matter what, because we are chosen and loved and He has a plan, and all that is required is for us to keep our eyes on Him and place one foot in front of the other?

That sounds kind of freeing to me. What do you think?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Help With Cobwebs

Posted on by Wendy

Words to ponder during Lent.

We were having friends over for dinner on Saturday and I was cleaning house, not necessarily because we were entertaining, but because it had been a busy couple of weeks and the house was a bit of a mess. I started with the dining room because I knew we would spend a lot of time in there.

I removed the inevitable clutter that occurs when you have a room that doesn’t get used very much, but just happens to have a table. I vacuumed and mopped and dusted. I was feeling pretty good about how it looked. Then I turned on the overhead light.

To my complete dismay, there were thin little cobwebs all over the chandelier. Before I swept them away, I took note of the fact that I didn’t even know they were there until I turned the light on. But, once the light was on, they were very noticeable. What if I had waited until our guests arrived to turn on the light? I would have been terribly embarrassed.

While I finished cleaning, those tiny, seemingly invisible, cobwebs stayed on my mind. I found them in quite a few other rooms too. Each time, they were invisible until I turned on the light and looked up.

Lent is the time of year when we are called to repent and refocus our lives on God. The cobwebs reminded me that oftentimes, we feel like we are doing just fine spiritually. But, the Bible can give us little a check up on our own prognosis.

The Bible tells us to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

In other words, to know that we are spiritually on the right path, we have to spend regular time with God and read the Bible regularly too. How else will we know God’s ways? We can’t, because the Bible also tells us that, our thoughts and ways are not God’s thoughts and ways.

But, we can align our thoughts and ways with God’s with the help of the Holy Spirit, prayer and the Bible. When we earnestly seek to do that, we are filled with peace beyond comprehension.

The cobwebs in our lives are the little things that are seemingly insignificant, but keep us from shining our lights the best way we possibly can. Perhaps Lent is the perfect time to ask God to shine His light on our cobwebs, whatever that may be and to help us remove them for good.

Then when Easter comes and we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, we can also celebrate our newly cleaned and sparkling lights as well, as we join together with all Christians to spread the Good News.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

A Divine Band

Posted on by Wendy
The Body off Christ is like an orchestra; every person, like every instrument, matters.
The Body off Christ is like an orchestra; every person, like every instrument, matters.

My son participated in a band concert last night. I am always floored at how good a middle school band can be. I suppose it has to do with its director. All of those different instruments play just the right notes at just the right time and a beautiful melody is the result. Even when they add more members, with the right director, the music is still magnificent.

I have found this to be the case in the church choir as well. Sometimes there are very few of us, and we sound good. But then, we add two or three more and we sound great. Just like my son’s band, we have a fabulous director who knows exactly how to tell us when to sing and how loudly and which notes. It’s been an amazing phenomenon to experience.

Our church choir, like my son’s band, is always open for more willing participants.

It struck me last night, as I was watching the percussionists hustle around in the back playing all of the different instruments, and all of the woodwinds and brass play theirs, that while one more student might always be welcome and appreciated, when one is missing, it makes a difference. The same goes for the choir. Every voice matters and makes a difference.

The Body of Christ is the same scenario. There are many different parts with many different talents and gifts. Some are super visible like the preacher or the choir director. But, some people greet newcomers at the door or provide refreshments. There may be someone who is in charge of keeping coffee at the church or making sure there is toilet paper in the bathroom.

All of those jobs are equally important. Imagine for a moment, a church service without them.

Humanity loves to rank ourselves. We love to compare ourselves with other humans and jockey for better positions. But, God’s way is different. His way is to focus on Him and only on Him and then do whatever job He has given us with our unique talents and abilities we have been given.

When we commit to do that, we become part of a beautiful orchestra. When we refuse, we are missed. There are no small parts in God’s kingdom plan.

We can always add more because God is a phenomenal director and He knows exactly where to use us, but when we don’t show up or participate fully, we are missed terribly.

Lent is an ideal time to ask ourselves what part we have been playing in the Body of Christ. Are we doing our best? Are we participating fully with joy? How can we improve? How can we bring others in?

If the questions stump us, then some time in prayer will likely provide just the answers we need. We all have a part to play and a Divine Director who is patiently waiting.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

As Iron Sharpens Iron

Posted on by Wendy
Lent is an ideal time to seek out other Christians and work on growing together.
Lent is an ideal time to seek out other Christians and work on growing together.

A very dear friend of mine became a Christian about a year ago. I could write an entire post about how God worked behind the scenes to bring us together, especially for such a time as this. When we get together these days, our conversation always turns to Christianity. We talk about our walk, and about God, about Jesus, about the cross and about the Holy Spirit. We discuss the Bible and what different verses and passages may mean.

She wrestles with God a fair amount of time and I often find myself as a counselor of sorts in matters like His will, and His timing, and His plan. Recently, she told me she thought she was a bi-polar Christian, sometimes on fire with hope and light and at other times in the complete pit of despair.

I quipped right back that once again, she was not special in her trials that those particular issues were something that all Christians faced. She told me I was wrong. She said that she thought that most Christians simply wanted to be comfortable. They wanted to know that eternity was in the bank, so to speak, and then they simply wanted to dress nicely, and dress their families nicely and come to church on Sundays, maybe attend a Sunday school class and then go about their business for another week.

Her statement took my breath away. Was she right? Did the majority of church going Christians look at salvation as a 401K for heaven? I have pondered this concept for a week or so. I have to admit, there have been times in my own life where I would fit into that category. Maybe you can relate?

We live in a country where it’s easy to be comfortable. It’s easy to take the ability to worship freely for granted. It’s a simple matter to be lulled into complacency in our walk. But, perhaps Lent is an ideal time to wake up and get off the pew.

Just last week, 21 Christians were beheaded in Egypt because of their faith. There’s a terrorist group out there that has made its mission to kill all Christian believers they possibly can.

At the very least, I think all Christians should be praying for the safety of our brothers and sisters around the world, not because the same violence could occur on our own soil, but because those people all the way around the world, are God’s people. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ, whether or not we have ever met them. The blood of Jesus connects us all.

Please join me during Lent and pray for all Christians and their safety and deliverance. Let’s come together and create a prayer net for each other. Let’s also go to God in prayer and ask Him if we have become comfortable and how we can get off of the pews and get plugged in. And lastly, let’s remember that, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” Proverbs 27:17 NLT

Let’s seek out other Christians this Lenten season and work on growing together. There’s no telling what great things could happen.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

A More Intimate Relationship

Posted on by Wendy
Lent is the perfect time to work on a closer walk with Jesus.
Lent is the perfect time to work on a closer walk with Jesus.

Last Sunday was Transfiguration Sunday. That wasn’t a term I ever heard as a kid. I knew the story. It’s when Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a mountain top and He transformed into His divine form. His face and clothes became a dazzling white and Moses and Elijah, who had been dead for centuries, also appeared. A cloud appeared and they heard God’s voice. He said, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

Then it was done. Jesus transformed back into His human form. Elijah and Moses vanished. The voice of God was quiet. Peter, bless him, suggested they build shelters for the two prophets and Jesus and stay up there on that mountain forever.

Who could blame him? When we have mountain top moments, we want them to last forever. When we have breakthroughs in our Christian walk, we would often like to stay right there, on that retreat, or at that revival, or at that bedside where a miracle of some sort, occurred.

But, that’s not God’s plan for us. When we experience those intense moments, we are to learn from them and hold them close, but when a fire gets lit within us, we are supposed to spread it. That was Jesus’ Great Commission to all of His followers.

And let’s not miss what God said at this amazing mountain top moment. “Listen to him!”

Today is Ash Wednesday. It’s the first day of Lent. For the next 45 days, these three little words really should be our mantra. As Christians, we are supposed to take this time to not only repent of the things that pull us away from God, (which is why some people choose to give something up during this time like wine, coffee or chocolate); but can also take this time to contemplate activities that can draw us closer to God.

We could commit to reading the Bible daily, or reading one of the Gospels, or all of the Gospels. If we really want to listen to Jesus, the Gospels are a great place to start. We could serve at a soup kitchen or volunteer to serve in some way that we don’t normally serve. We could commit to 15 or more minutes of quiet prayer time, if we want to hear Jesus, we have to be quiet and still. We could write in a prayer journal daily for Lent. These are all activities that draw us closer to God.

While mountain top moments are incredible and often life changing, truthfully, I can’t think of anything more satisfying and comforting than a very intimate walk with Jesus. The peace and joy that come from it are impossible to beat.

I’m going to try to make this Lent about listening to what Jesus said and closely examining what He did, knowing that although it will take me to the darkness of the cross, it will also take me to the other side, to the glory of Easter. The best way for an intimate relationship, is to know Him well.

Lent seems like the perfect time to deepen our relationship with Christ. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you. What are your plans for Lent?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Lessons from Improv

Posted on by Wendy
They underlying mission of Improv is simply to teach the players to listen.
The underlying mission of Improv is simply to teach the players to listen.

Back in early January, my church started an Improv group. Our pastor has written plays and acted on the side, for the majority of his adult life. My hubby and I have found over our years of working with kids and teens, that their favorite part of any curriculum that we bought, or created ourselves, was skits. We found that even when Sunday school attendance was at record lows, the kids would all show up to be in a play.

So, after a couple of meetings with our pastor, the idea of a Sunday Night Improv Group was born. We invited teens and adults to participate, two groups who often don’t mix. On the very first meeting, the pastor explained that Improv is simply about really listening to what your partner is saying. It’s not about thinking about what you will say next, but really listening to them. Right away, I could see some value here.

He went on to say that comedy, good clean comedy, humor, and laughter are gifts from God. The first night was fun, but everyone was kind of nervous. It’s been really cool to see everyone start to loosen up, which is also interesting, because we have different participants each week. We have some regulars, but we also have new people.

The really amazing thing is to watch the teens easily interacting with adults and some of the adults are a good deal older. But, everyone laughs and everyone, even new people, at this point, seem to be perfectly comfortable. We clap for each other. We laugh at each other and ourselves. Through our laughter and silly games, we are learning to listen to voice inflection and tone. We are learning to use and watch for body language. We are learning to trust each other.

Laughter is such an important part of life and comedy truly is a gift. As I was watching the 40th Anniversary of Saturday Night Live on Sunday night, they showed a clip of the World Trade Center which immediately caught my eye. We were all too sad to laugh for a long time after 9/11. There was no SNL for a while. It seemed like our entire country would be glued to our television sets in tears, perpetually. I remember.

But, at some point, we were ready to laugh again. We were ready to begin the process of healing. They showed the clip of Rudy Juliani and the creator of SNL making an announcement that it was okay to be funny again. True to SNL style, the clip itself was funny.

Laughter truly is great medicine. It has the ability to heal us and it has the ability to bring us together. It really is a gift from God that I am seriously thankful for.

It’s exciting to watch our little group grow and eventually, our pastor has a play he wants us to do. It’s a serious play about our journey with God and the highs and lows that are part of it. But, for now, we are playing and laughing and enjoying being part of a faith community. What a huge bonus, that it happens to be so much fun.

It’s a great reminder that God is everywhere, even in the laughter, and I find that amazingly reassuring.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Removing the Word If

Posted on by Wendy
When we find ourselves short on faith, we can honestly ask God for help.
When we find ourselves short on faith, we can honestly ask God for help.

I was just reading a very interesting exchange between Jesus and a father in the Gospel of Mark, chapter four. Jesus had just come down from the mountain where the Transfiguration had occurred. He had taken three of His disciples with him on his journey and was rejoining the other nine when a man from the crowd called out for His help.

Apparently, the man’s son was possessed by a spirit that had taken away his speech and threw him to the ground making him foam at the mouth and gnash his teeth. The father was desperate for help for his child and had appealed to the nine disciples who were present for assistance, but they had been unable to help.

Jesus instructs the man to bring the boy to Him. When he does, the spirit immediately throws the child on the ground and causes him to convulse. Jesus asks the man how long the boy has been this way and the man says since childhood and the spirit sometimes throws him into a fire or water to try to kill him.

I can hear the desperation in his voice when he begs Jesus to help his child. “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Mark 9:22b

I picture Jesus very quietly and intently looking the man directly in the eyes and sternly giving His reply. “If you can? said Jesus. Everything is possible for him who believes.” Mark 9:23

But, this man was not giving up. He was in the presence of a power he had never known and he continued to plead for his child. “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:24

I can definitely identify with this poor man. He is desperate. He’s afraid. He wants to believe. He has some faith, but not complete faith. Don’t we all struggle with situations like that? We believe. We pray. We want to have complete faith that God will take care of it, but we continue to worry anyway. Giving it to God and not taking it back is a lifelong struggle for most Christians.

Do we go to God in prayer with complete confidence or do we take the unspoken word “if” with us? If is a big word when it comes to faith.

But, the scripture here seems to tell us that even when we falter, even when our faith waivers, He will help us anyway. He goes on to heal the boy despite the father’s incomplete faith.

I think the key when we are struggling with our faith is to admit it. The man told Jesus he believed, but asked Him to help with his unbelief. We have the same option today. Jesus doesn’t ask us to fake it. He asks for our open and pure hearts and our honesty. If we have needs, we are supposed to ask and if one of our needs is the lack of faith, we need to ask.

When we do, Jesus will help build or restore our faith. He will remove the “if” from the situation and then all things become possible. Doesn’t that sound fabulous?

What do you think about “ifs” and faith? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂