Month: March 2015

Knowing When to Yield

Posted on by Wendy
Making the decision to yield can lead to physical and spiritual peace.
Making the decision to yield can lead to physical and spiritual peace.

I was driving along the other day when I came to some railroad tracks with a yield sign. I chuckled to myself as I thought about the sign. Do drivers really need a yield sign in front of railroad tracks to remind them to yield to an oncoming train? Surely, that kind of thing is common sense. Right?

However, as I thought about it, I was reminded of the uncertainty that a yield sign causes my fifteen-year-old. I’ve been teaching her how to drive for around nine months now. Red lights and green lights are no problems. Stop signs are no problem. But, when we get a yellow light or a yield sign, she always asks what she should do.

“Can I go or should I stop?” she often asks at a yield sign. My answer is always the same, “Is anyone coming?” In other words, “Is the road clear for you to proceed?”

Failure to yield in a car can have disastrous consequences, so figuring it out is of utmost importance. But, as I thought about it a little longer, it occurred to me that yielding is really against human nature.

One of the definitions for yield is to give up or surrender. Surrender is also listed as a synonym.We don’t like the word surrender and we certainly don’t like to give up. We are taught those are bad things. Never give up! Never surrender! Aren’t those mantras to live by?

Maybe. But, sometimes if we refuse to yield, we could get run down by a train.

While not yielding physically can have immediate consequences that are tangible, failure to yield spiritually can be just as dangerous. Perhaps one of the most difficult concepts that many Christians wrestle with is obedience. The Bible tells us under no uncertain terms that we are to yield to God’s will. That’s obedience.

It gives us many examples of people who don’t yield, like Jonah and Saul and many who do like, Ruth, Elijah, and Joshua. The people who yielded to God’s will were always blessed in some amazing way.

This week is Holy Week and possibly the best time ever to ask ourselves what we need to yield to God. Do we need to surrender anger, or hurt, or finances, or doubt? Do we need to completely begin a new path altogether? Do we need to let go of some kind of guilt we have been carrying around? Do we need to simply pray about whatever is troubling us and say and mean, “Not my will but, yours be done”?

Some two thousand years ago this week, Jesus prayed those same words and his obedience to God’s will, saved us all.

If we are ready for more peace, joy and happiness, perhaps we need to seriously consider yielding to God’s will and His plan. It’s way better than one we could come up with anyway.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Hosanna!

Posted on by Wendy
As we journey towards Easter, let's take some time to remember the true cost of grace.
As we journey towards Easter, let’s take some time to remember the true cost of grace.

Yesterday, the Christian Church, (the church universal), celebrated or acknowledged, the Triumphal Entry, which was when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowd went wild and children cut palm branches and put them across his path. That’s where we get the term Palm Sunday.

It’s the official beginning of Holy Week. I picture a beautiful, sunny day. Jesus comes riding into town on a donkey. How he got he acquired the donkey is one of those, watching for God at work, hair standing up on the back of your neck stories. Three of the Gospels record the account.

Jesus sent two of his disciples to get him a donkey. He told them where it would be and what to say if anyone questioned them. I wonder if the two were nervous. I suppose they could have been accused of stealing. Was their faith strong enough at this point to simply obey without asking questions? They had seen demons cast out and miracles. Were they expecting something huge to happen?

We don’t get many details. They were asked what they were doing in two of the Gospel accounts. They gave the simple message Jesus told them to, “The Lord needs it.” They were allowed to go, with no further questions.

I wonder what our world would look like if we proceeded in life with that mantra. “The Lord needs it.” What if we used it with our money? What if we used it with our time and resources?

They delivered the donkey and Jesus rode in on it. The city was likely very busy. I don’t know whether Jesus just rode in on the donkey alone or if the disciples walked beside him. But, people began to notice and a few voices became many. They began shouting “Hosanna!” which translates to “save please.”

Of course, the crowd would get their wish, although not in the way they expected. They wanted to be saved by being delivered from Rome in a blaze of glory. This same crowd turned on Jesus just five days later and called for his death, a death that did ultimately save not only them, but all of humanity.

The Jews were thinking of the small picture with their desires when the orchestrated Jesus’ death. But, God had something much bigger in mind. He wasn’t interested in saving only Israel from Rome at that moment in time. No, He was interested in saving people from that moment to thousands of years later.

Only God could have known the events coming over the next week. Only God could have known that the real triumph was not to be found on that day, but on Easter morning, six days later, when death lost its power for good.

Let’s take some time this week to think about Jesus and his journey to Easter. Let’s remember his miraculous birth and maybe take some time to read about some of his awesome miracles. Let’s think about the Last Supper and its deeper meaning. Let’s think about his friends. Let’s think about Peter and Judas. Let’s think about his mother Mary.

Let’s think about the cross.

And on Easter morning, let’s really embrace love and grace and the freedom that comes with it.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Face of Jesus

Posted on by Wendy
Who knows how far a simple act of kindness will go?
Who knows how far a simple act of kindness will go?

I was subbing at a local elementary school yesterday in fifth grade. I was giving a math test. All of the kids were deep in concentration, when a little girl walked up to my desk. She said, “Can I ask you a weird question?”

I hesitantly answered, “yes.” You never know what you’re going to get with children; so there was absolutely no way of knowing what the question would be. I braced myself as she asked, “Will you braid my hair?”

A deep sigh of relief came from the substitute teacher; she went on to say that there had been something in her hair and when she tried to pull it out, it messed up her braid. Her hair was hanging in her face as she was trying to do her test and it was distracting her.

Truthfully, I was honored that she would even ask, delighted that she felt that comfortable. I sub because I enjoy the kids. It took all of two minutes to braid her hair and put her at ease again. I told her that her hair was beautiful just like she was and her smile bloomed like the spring time. I was instantly reminded of my prayer earlier that morning.

I always pray before I work in the school that God will allow me to see the face of Jesus in someone and that I will be the face of Jesus for someone. I knew instantly, that my prayer had been answered. That seemingly insignificant act of kindness produced a brilliant smile that made me know I was in the presence of God.

I can’t say that I was really surprised, because I often see Jesus in children. I have always told my own kids that children are Jesus’ favorite people, which always makes them smile and stand a little taller.

The math test will soon be forgotten, but I pray that the little girl will remember the substitute teacher who braided her hair and that maybe someday she will be able to feel like she saw the face of Jesus in me.

It’s impossible to know how far-reaching our little acts of kindness can be or if they even go anywhere. But, what if they do make a huge difference for just one person? As Christians, shouldn’t we try to be the hands and feet and face of Christ at every opportunity? What if God sent that child at that moment?

What if He sends someone across my path tomorrow? What if He sends someone across yours? Will I be watching and looking? Will you?

As we journey closer to Easter, perhaps we should make an effort to look for Jesus more intentionally. Perhaps we should be more intentional about representing him to the world around us. We don’t have to do anything huge, but simply reach out a helping hand when the opportunity presents itself. Who knows what kind of difference we can make?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Denial

Posted on by Wendy
When we think of Lent and Peter's denial, we are reminded of forgiveness.
When we think of Lent and Peter’s denial, we are reminded of forgiveness.

I recently read a post on the website #SheReadsTruth about Peter’s denial of Jesus when he was arrested. You can read the post here if you like. http://shereadstruth.com/2015/03/23/peter-denies-jesus/

I have never liked the account of Peter denying Jesus. It has always made me uncomfortable. I mean Jesus warned him ahead of time that he would deny him three times before the rooster crowed and Peter swore up and down that he would not, and of course, he did.

I always want to scream at Peter each time he denies Jesus, just like I used to scream at the “Friday the 13th,” movies back in high school. “Don’t go outside!” “Don’t split up!” “Don’t check out that noise!” But, they always did with disastrous consequences.

I desperately want Peter to remember that Jesus warned him. Did he forget already? It couldn’t have been more than a few hours. But, to be fair, Peter was likely scared out of his mind and confused and anxious. We never get that way; do we?

The post I read earlier brought a new thought to light, that I hadn’t considered before. She said that Jesus wanted Peter to realize that he had sinned so that he could be forgiven. Jesus pointed it out. I never thought about it that way. We can’t be forgiven of our sins if we don’t admit that we have sinned. We can’t be forgiven if we don’t repent.

That notion changed my view of this story, completely. Jesus forgave Peter after the resurrection. Peter repented. He wept bitterly when he realized Jesus had been right all along and he was wrong.

We are all sinners, but isn’t it a lot easier to see our neighbor’s sin than our own? We sometimes comfort ourselves by thinking, at least we’re not as bad as the other guy. While that may be true, that’s not really the point is it? We can only repent of our own sin, not anyone else’s, so isn’t our own sin the thing we should be most concerned with?

And if we are really truthful with ourselves, don’t we all deny Jesus in us everyday, when we do things like gossip, or say unkind things about someone, or look down on someone, or refuse to help others when we can? If we claim to be believers and followers of Jesus, aren’t we supposed to do the things he would do? When we don’t, aren’t we denying him in some way?

We are going to mess up regularly. We are likely going to get it wrong more often than right, but that’s okay. We have grace and that changes everything. We can be forgiven endlessly and the only catch is we have to ask and the slate is wiped clean.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Divine Juggler

Posted on by Wendy

 

That says it all!
That says it all!

My life has been pretty chaotic lately. I seem to have way too many balls in the air. Our van died, so we have been actively searching for a car. We have a program at church that I am a part of, that requires a bunch of writing as well as the cooperation of ten teenagers. Our wireless router is on its last leg and keeps knocking us offline. Needless to say I know less than nothing about wireless routers. We are looking at doing a mission trip and rounding up the aforementioned teenagers for a specific date is challenging to say the least.

Now all of those things are no big deal on their own. None of them qualify as even close to a tragedy. In fact, some of them are good things. The mission trip possibility came about when the foreman on my daughter’s project last year, reached out to her through text and asked her if she was coming back. He’s a Godly man and left a permanent imprint on her heart. She really wants to go. I’m thankful beyond words for adults like that in my children’s lives.

But, at the moment, I’m really struggling with the juggling. As I was talking to my hubby about it yesterday, we finally agreed that God’s hands were all in our current chaos and we need to just let it all go and stop worrying about how it all will come together.

I’ve no doubt whatsoever that it will come together, and at this point, I can’t wait to see how it all fits.

There’s a certain peace that comes from admitting that we are powerless over most of life’s circumstances and sometimes I feel like God allows things to pile up until we get to the point where we readily admit we can’t fix it all or handle it all alone.

But, He can. He’s the Divine Juggler and He can turn any situation no matter how chaotic, into good for His glory.

I was talking to a friend of mine recently whose daughter attended an AA meeting with a friend of hers in recovery. She told her mom it was the closest she had ever felt to God. I found that intriguing and looked up the Twelve Step Program.

It was pretty powerful stuff. The first one was admitting, “We were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable.” I don’t know about you, but I could replace alcohol with life’s struggles sometimes or even daily stress and it would be a true statement for me.

Next was, “We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” I could fill in God for power here and completely agree. Sanity and peace go hand-in-hand in my book.

The third one was about turning their will and life over to God. I won’t go through all of them, but it was a really good read. It’s no surprise to me that AA works and has been around for so long.

Members of AA seem to grasp the same thing that we all struggle with, and that is simply that we are not in control, but God is. When we really surrender to that notion, the peace that passes all understanding overflows from us. Now doesn’t that sound fantastic?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

A Grain of Sand

Posted on by Wendy
Remembering the power of our words can make all the difference in the people around us.
Remembering the power of our words can make all the difference for the people around us.

I jumped out of bed one morning last week and put on some sweatpants and tennis shoes. Mornings are always busy at my house. I had lunches to make as well as breakfasts and I had to coax a couple of teenagers out of bed. Right away, I felt something on the ball of my right foot, not painful, but annoying.

I didn’t really have time to be annoyed, so I just let it go. After I finally sat down to eat my breakfast, I could no longer stand it. I pulled off my shoe and my sock and lo and behold I found the culprit. It was a tiny pebble, not much larger than a grain of sand. I marveled at the fact that something so tiny and seemingly insignificant, could cause me so much discomfort.

I showed it to my son, who was unimpressed and went back to his game of Crossy Chicken. But, I thought about that tiny grain all day long and other things in life that seem insignificant that can cause frustration. Unfortunately, many such things came to mind.

Things like snapping at your spouse or kids first thing in the morning. Snippy, harsh words may seem like no big deal. But, those words first thing in the morning can ruin a perfectly good day. Who knows what great things could have been achieved that day if we hadn’t unleashed our frustrations on those around us? A tiny grain of sand can do damage.

What about offhand comments about a friend or neighbor that we really didn’t mean anything by? The intention may not have been bad on our own part, but it was perceived that way? A tiny grain of sand can do damage.

We have very little control of whether or not our words or actions will take root once they have been said or done. Sometimes they will fall on deaf ears and be completely forgotten. But, sometimes they grow. If they are good and positive words and deeds, then that’s a great thing. If they are negative words or deeds; they can fester.

What seems like a tiny grain of sand can produce some seriously hurt feelings or worse. That tiny pebble in my shoe really reminded me of the importance of the little things like praise or criticism and sometimes it’s in the very best interest of everyone involved when just keep our mouths shut. You know the old saying, “If you can’t say something nice…….”

Perhaps Lent is the perfect time to think about the seemingly tiny sand pebbles in our own lives. Maybe we can be much more careful about the words we say and also vigilant about how we take the words of others, remembering that others struggle with scattering their own grains just like we do.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Elusive State of Balance

Posted on by Wendy
For living things to grow and prosper, they need a good balance of sun and rain.
For living things to grow and prosper, they need a good balance of sun and rain.

My daughter had two tennis matches last Saturday. Since we had so many cancelled this season due to rain or ice, the only way to fit two in was to schedule them both on the same day. One was at 10:00 and one was at 11:00. It was a delightful day, not a cloud in the sky. The high was 72 degrees. It was not too hot and not too cold. The weather was perfect.

It was so comfortable outside that when my hubby and I ran home for lunch, I changed into shorts. We ended up being at the tennis courts until 3:00. It wasn’t until we got home that we realized that we had fried like bacon. We all were sunburned.

The perfect breeze and temperature had lulled us into believing that we didn’t need sunscreen. After all, it wasn’t hot and my family has been blessed with an olive skin tone. We rarely burn; but we are also meticulous about sunscreen when we are going to be outside for a while.

This particular spring season has had much more rain than sun and we were still sporting our winter white skin. We now have the sunburn to prove it. We had no business sitting out in the sun all day with no protection, but since we had longed for a warm sunny day for so long, we were complacent. Too much sun is dangerous.

But, isn’t that the case with just about everything in our lives? A little wine, a little cheesecake, an occasional Coke are all fine. The problem is that humanity very rarely gets the state of balance right.

We eat too much. We drink too much. We work too much. There are people who run too much and have to have joints replaced. Moderation seems to escape us much of the time.

Why is that, I wonder? Perhaps it’s because we have an inherent need for more. We want ten more minutes of sleep, or just another hour at the pool, or just one more bite. But, it’s never really enough. Balance can be really hard to attain.

We have family, friends, work, exercise, hobbies, and a long list of other things that we would like to fit into twenty-four hours in any given day. We also have to sleep sometime.

I think maybe this is where prayer comes in and a right relationship with God. When we look to the Trinity, we find perfect balance, so much so, that the founders of this country based our government on it. The Bible is full of stories of people who get their priorities out of whack and the disaster that inevitably follows. But, there are also stories of people who repent, turn back to God and get it right. There is plenty of instruction there, if we are willing to seek it.

Prayer can also keep us in balance. When we begin our day talking to God and listening for answers, then we are more likely stay on track the entire day. When we always keep our eyes on Him first, then we can keep the balance in our lives that He intended.

We can be at peace and not get sunburned. I think that is a plan worth pursuing. What do you think?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

In Relentless Pursuit

Posted on by Wendy
What would our lives look like if we relentlessly pursued God with no fear?
What would our lives look like if we relentlessly pursued God with no fear?

Yesterday, my daughter had a tennis match. It was away. I loathe away matches. First of all, I am prone to getting lost. Secondly, once I make it there, few other parents from our team usually go and I have no one to sit with or talk to.

Well, yesterday I was prepared. I printed directions before I left the house and I had a very good idea of where I was going. To make my chances even better of not getting lost, I decided to go to the high school and follow the bus. There were three buses there, loading up three different sports teams. I asked my daughter which bus was hers and she told me.

When her team bus pulled out, I was right behind it. “Ha!” I said to no one in particular, I would not get lost this time. We headed to the stop sign and I was all set to make a left turn because I had my directions printed out right beside me. The bus turned right.

Uh, oh! Had I followed the wrong bus? I was concerned for a few miles, but then a girl from my daughter’s team turned around and waved at me. I was following the right bus, but where was it going?

When it went 50 miles per hour in a 35 zone, I said a prayer and stayed close. When it got on the loop and continued to change lanes, I stayed close. I followed more closely than I normally follow cars, but traffic got thick and I couldn’t lose the bus. At this point, I had no idea how to get to the school.

Somewhere on that hour plus drive, it struck me how relentless I was being about pursuing that bus. My child was on board and I stayed close like my life depended on it. I simply was completely unwilling to get separated.

Then I began to think about what my life would look like if I pursued God in the same relentless manner. What if I refused to become separated from Him at all costs? What if I was willing to go in a direction that I felt was completely wrong or at odds with my own printed out map? What if I was willing to trust that He would get me to the right destination at the right time if I just had enough faith? What if I just obeyed and went wherever He called?

What if all Christians felt that way?

We did end up getting to the school safely. It wasn’t the route I would have taken, but it got us there. I didn’t get lost. I am reminded that our Christian walk can be very much like that seemingly convoluted trip.

God knows where He’s going. He knows where He wants us to go. The question for us is simply, “Are we willing to follow even when the path doesn’t seem to make sense?” Our faith journey hangs on our answer to that question; because sticking close to Him and willingly following, is the only way we can get to His destination for us and His destination is infinitely better than anything we could even dream of.

Perhaps we should take this season of Lent and consider relentlessly following God.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Controlling Your Smoke

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes our words are like smoke and they spread much further than we may think.
Sometimes our words are like smoke and they spread much further than we may think.

When spring finally shows up each year, I love to get out and walk. I am not a treadmill or gym girl. I like to be out in nature, taking in all of the glorious sights that nature has to offer this time of year and I am never disappointed. Unfortunately, the other thing I can usually depend on this time of year is my neighbors burning leaves.

My neighborhood is full of hardwood trees which create like a billion leaves. There is one particular set of homeowners along my walk who insist on burning their leaves and it seems like they burn them all of the time, which probably seems like no big deal, right?

But, when I am walking or running and breathing hard and the air is filled with smoke, so are my lungs. It gets difficult to breathe and my fabulous walk in the beautiful sunshine, gets tarnished. I sometimes shoot daggers at them with my eyes as I walk by, not that they notice, and I allow myself to get angry, which is normally the complete opposite effect of exercise for me.

But, as I was fuming about it the other day, it occurred to me that those people probably have no idea how uncomfortable their smoke from their leaves, makes people. They are just burning their leaves on their property, thinking about clearing out their yard.

I then began to think about things that we all do that inadvertently effect those around us. Things like constantly complaining about our spouses, or our kids, or our jobs, or our churches.

Words can be like smoke and have far-reaching consequences. When we are regularly venting to a friend, there may be others around us who hear us. Maybe they are having their own relationship struggles and negative words spill over on them. Maybe they are questioning their own faith and our griping about the people at our church just reinforces their idea that churches are just social clubs anyway, not true places of growth and worship.

The Bible tells us “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” Ephesians 4:29

Constant negative words also eventually effect our own thought processes. It becomes a vicious cycle. We speak negatively and then we think negatively and then most of our thoughts become negative. God has a different way for us, a different plan.

“And now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Philippians 4:8

Perhaps Lent is an ideal time to focus on all of the good things and then try to only speak good things, then maybe our “smoke” will be like a breath of fresh air in a world that desperately needs it.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Dark History

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes remembering the past is a way to honor those who lived it.
Sometimes remembering the past is a way to honor those who lived it.

My son is reading the book, “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” in his 8th grade language arts class. It’s an incredibly moving and sad story about two boys who are friends during the Holocaust. One was Jewish. One was not. They both end up dying in a Nazi concentration camp.

I don’t like to think about dark times in history or dark things for the most part. When a television commercial comes on about children starving or animals being abused, I change the channel. The images stay with me long after the commercials and they weigh heavily on my soul.

I suppose our society as a whole has become that way. We are big avoiders of what troubles us or makes us uncomfortable and the pharmaceutical companies are more than happy to help us stay numb.

But, perhaps there are some stories that we need to hear. Perhaps they should trouble our hearts and souls. If we don’t remember the Holocaust, then we forget to honor all of those lives that were lost and we forget about the atrocities that humanity is capable of. If we forget, then we will allow it to happen again.

My pastor recently said that there are Christian churches who are refusing to place crosses in their sanctuaries and they never preach about the crucifixion. They find that it’s kind of depressing and people don’t go to church to leave depressed. He also said that many churches had done away with Good Friday services because the attendance was so low. Easter services on the other hand, were bursting at the seams.

I was kind of stunned. There’s no way around the fact that the crucifixion of Christ is probably the darkest moment in all of human history. It’s ugly and brutal. The pain and suffering involved can almost be too much to consider, but as Christians, we have to consider it.

The entire life of Jesus pointed to that ugly and brutal cross and he willingly went there and died. Isn’t refusing to remember and reflect on that an insult to the Son of God who did it for each one of us? How can Easter and the resurrection mean nearly as much if we don’t take the journey to Calvary?

If we allow ourselves to gloss over that huge sacrifice, can we feel truly redeemed by it?

Don’t get me wrong, I am a look on the bright side kind of gal and I avoid sad movies and stories at all cost. But, there are some stories that must be told, even horribly dark ones. It seems to me that there could be only one force in the world that would want us to forget the crucifixion or the Holocaust, for that matter. That force would have to be God’s enemy as well as the enemy of His people.

During the season of Lent, perhaps we should take a good long look at the cross and all it symbolizes. It can be painful and uncomfortable, but it’s important and make no mistake, in the end God wins.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂