Month: September 2016

Muffin Grace

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes God shows Himself in the ordinary.
Sometimes God shows Himself in the ordinary.

Yesterday morning, I had a really hard time getting out of bed. I just felt exhausted. I’m not sure why. I went to bed at a decent hour. I slept well. I had no physical complaints, but I was so very tired.

Our awesome nurse is back at work and I again, look forward to spending our morning quiet time together and starting our day with a quick prayer. Yesterday morning as we prayed together, I asked God for the same thing that I had asked for all morning. I asked that He let us be a light to others who desperately need it and to please let us see Him in those around us.

I am sometimes much more aware of my everyday dependence on grace than others. Yesterday, I was acutely aware that it was going to be a seriously long day if God didn’t intervene in some way.

Right after the bell rang, a little girl came into the office carrying a couple of bags. This wasn’t unusual. I work in the office of an elementary school. Kids are in and out of there all of the time.

But, yesterday morning, the little girl who came in the office, told me and my co-worker that her mom had sent us muffins to apologize. We were stunned.

The day before, there had been a mix up with the little girl’s transportation which happens fairly often at elementary schools. Notes don’t get delivered. Children don’t go where they are supposed to. That day, the parent had misunderstood the availability of an after school program. A simple phone call had straightened it out.

Parents are often upset about transportation snafus. Apologies are fairly rare.

Yesterday morning, this precious little girl came in, all smiles, with muffins and orange juice from her mom, to apologize to us for the mix up. We thanked her graciously and told her to thank her mom for the gifts and to assure her they were completely unnecessary.

When she left, my co-worker told me in the fourteen years she had been doing her job, she had never seen anything like it.

As I went to my desk, with my blueberry muffin and my bottle of orange juice, I thanked God for showing Himself, as He always does when I desperately and humbly seek Him and I realized that I would in fact, make it through the day after all.

The Bible tells us, “I love those who love me, and those who diligently seek me will find me.” Proverbs 8:17

I would like to challenge you and encourage you to do just that. You might just find yourself wonderfully surprised. It’s so important to remember to seek God in the ordinary.

A little girl and a blueberry muffin reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

River Rock Wisdom

Posted on by Wendy
Those beautifully smooth river rocks, took years to become that way.
Those beautifully smooth river rocks, took years to become that way.

On a recent hike in the mountains, my son discovered a pile of river rocks stacked up on a boulder. It was very unexpected, in the midst of all of the wilderness and nature at its best. But, there it was. Clearly, man and nature had intersected.

I love rocks. I love that they often tell a story with their layers. I love that some of them catch the light. I love that some of them have beautiful colors. They represent history for me. When I hold one, I am in awe of the hundreds of years that it took to form it.

I am particularly fond of river rocks. They tend to be perfectly round and smooth to the touch and I enjoy picking them up out of the water and holding them in my hand. They remind me of being in process.

River rocks are beautifully smooth because they have been shaped by water rushing over them for years and years. All of the sharp edges have been slowly worn away over time. What is eventually left behind is a perfectly formed, round rock.

River rocks remind me of our human struggle. Most of us have all types of sharp edges and when life gets hard and pours over us, we can stand tall and grow bitter. We can hold onto anger, pain and resentment and our edges can grow even sharper.

But, there is another way. We can bend. When life gets hard and it always does, when tragedy strikes, and it sometimes will, we can get on our knees and raise our hands to heaven. We can pray for peace. We can pray for strength. We can lean into Jesus and let amazing grace wash over us like a river washing over those rocks.

And as time goes by and our faith grows, we can lose those edges as we let go of all of those things we were never meant to carry in the first place. Our hearts can become smooth and beautiful like those river rocks. We can become a sight to behold and something that draws others to us, just like those stacked rocks my son found.

But, we have to remember that the process takes time. As long as we are on this side of heaven, we are in progress. We have a choice to make. We can allow life’s circumstances to make us sharp and hurtful to those around us or we can choose to allow God to use those to mold us into something different, something better, something unique and beautiful.

We always have a choice. Faith, is a choice.

Some river rocks reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Pencil Grace

Posted on by Wendy
The notes in pencil, make it easy to change the song the next time around.
The notes in pencil, make it easy to change the song the next time around.

One of the first things I was given when I joined the church choir, besides a choir book, was a pencil. I couldn’t imagine what in the world I would need with a pencil in the choir. We are singers, not writers

Turns out, we are note takers. Music is like a foreign language to those of us who don’t read it and I don’t. I have to write down things like who is singing a solo and when we are all supposed to come in. I even have to write in when to breathe.

Can you imagine not knowing when to breathe? But, in the world of choir, we can’t just breathe anytime we want to. We have to breathe before long notes. We can’t breathe in the middle of a word and perhaps most importantly, we have to breathe together.

Choir is definitely a team deal and working together is of the utmost importance.

But, as we are handed out different pieces to sing each week, I often find notes already written in the margins by someone who sang a particular piece before I did. Sometimes it reminds us to do the same thing as before, like to hold a note out for a certain amount of time. But, sometimes the margin note tells us to do something completely different and we have to erase it, because we aren’t doing it that way this time around.

And therein lies the beauty of the pencil. Pencil marks can be erased. I have never found anything written in a choir book in ink. It’s always in pencil. The pencils allow the song to be completely changed into something beautiful and unique every time it is sung.

Those choir books and their pencil marks got me to thinking about how often we make marks that we shouldn’t have made on all types of situations. We sometimes say things we shouldn’t have said. We sometimes do things we shouldn’t have done and we walk around feeling like there can’t possibly be forgiveness of our mistakes.

We feel like our marks are made in dark Sharpie markers or at the very least, in ink. Ink is permanent.

But, Jesus teaches us another way. Because we have Jesus, our sins, our mistakes, are written in pencil. His death and resurrection act as the perfect eraser and when we go to Him and confess our sins, we end up with perfectly white space to begin again.

Like those choir books, we are free to create a new and beautiful song in a way that is unique to each of us. Some erasable pencil marks reminded me that grace gives us the gift of beginning each day with a fresh start.

Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Calming of Creation

Posted on by Wendy
It's difficult not to feel the presence of God when observing a waterfall.
It’s difficult not to feel the power of God when observing a waterfall.

On Saturday morning, as I sipped my coffee on my porch, I basked in the cool morning air. I knew it was supposed to be in the 90’s again, but at that moment, it was pure bliss. An idea was forming in my head as my family all came and joined me. I wanted to go hiking.

My daughter had planted the seed earlier in the week, but I had kind of dismissed it.

Saturdays, these days, include laundry, cleaning house and grocery shopping. There’s not a lot of extra time. Besides, it was going to be hot on Saturday. Fall may have appeared on the calendar, but no one had informed nature. If I didn’t get my chores done on Saturday. When would I get them done?

But, as I sat there in the coolness, I felt the nudge to get out of the house. Our family loves hiking together. We enjoy Creation together. It brings us closer together and it brings us closer to God.

As I tossed out the idea, we got on our phones to find a place close by that we hadn’t been to before. We found one and threw on our clothes, took the top down on the Jeep and hit the road.

It was a gorgeous day and we played the radio and sang together. We drove a long time, and got lost, but the day was beautiful and no one seemed to mind. After several turn arounds, we finally arrived at the trail head.

The sun had been really hot out on the highway and I questioned myself a couple of times along the way, about the wisdom of hiking in the heat. But, the temperature was much cooler in the mountains and there was shade everywhere. As we passed by one friendly hiker after another, I was glad we had come.

It’s always interesting how differently people act when they are in nature. I don’t think we crossed paths with one person who didn’t smile and speak to us. It’s almost like people are more naturally relaxed when they are in the presence of the wonder of Creation.

Our trail was around five miles up and back and paralleled a noisy creek for almost the entire hike. We saw several nice waterfalls, but we got to hear the splashing water constantly. It was very soothing for some tired souls.

My hubby and daughter got ahead of my son and I, several times. He and I often hang back when we go exploring, and take pictures and try to soak up every single detail.

At around 5:00, we headed back to the car, starving, all regretting the decision to skip lunch because we had a late breakfast. We had the best meal ever at Zaxby’s along with great conversation.

Saturday’s hike reminded me that time with family is precious. It reminded me that whenever I get stressed and overwhelmed, getting outside, away from man-made distractions and into the Creation of God, is usually the best choice. It reminded me that most of the stuff on my to-do list can wait and that when I truly seek God in the midst of my daily chaos, He never disappoints.

Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Processing Change

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes even the best changes can be difficult.
Sometimes even the best changes can be difficult.

A couple of Sundays ago, I learned that the women in our church choir were going to sing, “I’ll Fly Away.” I was ecstatic. I have always loved that song. I sang it in church as a kid. But, as we began to sing, I learned that the sopranos were going to sing it completely differently than the version I know and love.

Unexpectedly, I felt my eyes fill with tears. I took a deep breath. What in the world was going on with me, that the changing of a church song would bring me to tears? What was the big deal?

But, age, and hopefully wisdom, has taught me that tears are an indicator that something deep within is bubbling, something I likely have not given attention to. I filed the knowledge away and finished the song.

But, I didn’t forget, nor did I try to. I knew that I needed to spend some quiet time in prayer to get my answers, so I found some time to do just that.

The quiet answer that came to me was simply one word, “change.” I really don’t do change very well and this season has been one of many changes for me, good changes for the most part, but changes, just the same. Instead of allowing myself to truly deal with saying goodbye to what was, I have just powered on full steam, to what is. The song was just one more change.

Dwelling on yesterday is a waste of time, right?

Maybe. But, when the chapter that you are closing was a long one and was filled with many wonderful memories, perhaps, actually closing it, takes some time and thought. Maybe, missing what was, doesn’t mean I’m not super excited, grateful, and happy about what is, as well.

Maybe, I need to make room in my heart for both and if I find some tears flowing along the way, that’s okay. As I’ve written here before, there’s great healing in tears.

After praying about it and thinking about it, I sang the new arrangement of that old favorite hymn again, the next week. It was then I learned that our choir director had arranged the piece herself. I’ll have to admit that I really found myself enjoying it and the joy I saw in her eyes when she saw us singing it, made the change well worth it.

An old favorite hymn sung in a new way, reminded me that although change is often hard, it can be beautiful too. Embracing the new doesn’t make the old any less special or relevant and missing the old doesn’t mean the new isn’t wonderful.

We have room in our hearts for both. Perhaps you needed reminding today too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Path to Character and Hope

Posted on by Wendy
Perhaps the path to character and hope is perseverance.
Perhaps the path to character and hope is perseverance.

Last Sunday, my pastor told the story of an elementary school project that he put off until the last minute. When he turned in a thrown together mess, the teacher simply shook her head and allowed him to re-do it over his Christmas break. At the time, he didn’t see that she was in any way “helping,” him.

He ended up writing a well thought out paper because he had to. He went on to say that God sometimes helps us by doing nothing.

I feel like that concept really makes us squirm these days. I work in an elementary school office where we see parents all day long bringing in lunch boxes that got left at home, and water bottles, and homework, and ice cream money.

We have become a society that really doesn’t believe in the idea of suffering the consequences. If our kids don’t study and fail a test, no worries, they can re-take it.

But, who can blame the kids? The adults are making the rules.

If we run up too much debt, we can file bankruptcy. The idea of the bail out has become part of who we are. Has that philosophy made us better off?

Is that how God’s Kingdom works? Is Christianity merely just about intentionally making one bad decision after another, knowing that grace will save us?

Yes, it’s true that we can always be forgiven if we honestly seek forgiveness and repent which means ceasing the sinful behavior to begin with.

But, on Sunday, my pastor threw out another idea. He said that faith is not just a feeling; faith is also thinking and doing and that when we dig ourselves into a deep hole where we have to make a move or find that the game is over, we really come to understand that “we can do everything through Christ who strengthens us.”

I think I remember reading that somewhere. Oh yeah, that’s Philippians 4:13.

Any good parent will tell you that sometimes the best thing you can do for your kids is let them figure it out on their own. Sometimes they need to fail. Sometimes they need to face the consequences of their actions. It’s hard and it’s not pretty, but it makes them stronger and builds their character.

Sometimes God does the same for us.

The Bible tells us that, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us….” Romans 5:3-5a

Look around. Couldn’t our world really use more character and hope?

God always hears our prayers and He always answers them though not always in the ways that we would like. But, do we always answer our own children’s requests in the ways that they would like? Does that mean we don’t love them?

Perhaps we can’t just regularly exclude God from our lives and then expect Him to help us every time we get in a bind. Perhaps, like a loving father, He stands back sometimes and let’s us learn that we do need Him on a daily basis, that His Word does matter, and when we willingly choose to wander, we can find ourselves in a mess of our own making.

There’s always forgiveness and redemption. Jesus ultimately provided that.

But, we are creatures of free will. We have choices. Obedience is one of them. We also have the gift of learning from our mistakes if we are willing to admit them. Even when we do find ourselves in a pit of some sort, that requires us to do our own climbing out, we are assured that, “we can do everything through Christ who strengthens us.”

A sermon reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Just Bring Yourself

Posted on by Wendy
Just bring yourself.
Just bring yourself.

My pastor’s wife, who is also a dear friend, invited my family over for Sunday dinner last week. When she texted me on Saturday to ask me if we were still coming, I told her yes and asked her what we could bring.

Her answer was, “just yourselves.”

I’ll have to admit, being a lifelong Southerner, that statement gave me some trouble. My mama raised me to never show up empty-handed. That’s just good manners. Would showing up with just ourselves be rude?

Later that afternoon, my hubby asked what we were supposed to bring to the Sunday dinner, when I told him, just ourselves, he was kind of surprised too.

I thought about just bringing ourselves for the rest of the afternoon and why it bothered me.

It’s kind of interesting what gets ingrained in us as children and what we carry into adulthood. At first glance, never showing up to eat at someone’s house empty-handed, is meant to be a sign of respect. But, upon closer inspection, don’t we also need to feel that we are contributing something? Is bringing something to someone else’s table about honoring our host or about honoring ourselves?

What about when we worship? When we go to church, do we feel like we have to bring something? Do we feel pressured to bring money? Do we feel like we have to bring a happy face? Do we feel like we have to volunteer for everything to get to heaven? Do we believe that only the people who have it all together are the ones who should even attend church?

Has our free enterprise society taught us that to get salvation we have to somehow work for it so we can earn it?

God’s Kingdom is different. Jesus very plainly told the folks around Him that He wasn’t there to call people who think they have it all together.

“When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor-sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Mark 2:17

Jesus calls us to the foot of the cross just as we are. The work of redemption has already been done. There’s truly nothing we can do to add to that. We are called to come empty-handed with open hearts.

Once we have accepted that truth, we are welcome and encouraged to bring our talents and our gifts. When we walk closely with Jesus, we find that we want to serve, and give, and share. But, we want to do those things because He did those things. We want to honor Him.

It’s not about us. It’s about Him. Sometimes we can get that mixed up.

A text message reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

A Different Kind of Peace

Posted on by Wendy
Jesus offers a different kind of peace.
Jesus offers a different kind of peace.

Every Sunday, a member of our congregation has a reading from the Bible. Sometimes it’s from the Old Testament and sometimes it’s from the New Testament.

Last week, it was from 1 Timothy. There was a newborn baby in attendance, just a couple of months old. He had been lying quietly in his carrier the entire service. He was quiet through the announcements. He was quiet through the singing. He was even quiet through the prayer.

But, when our reader began to read, right when she got to the part about “living peaceful and quiet lives,” that baby began to fuss. Our reader didn’t miss the irony either as she chuckled and continued to read, although at one point it became a bit of a competition on who could be the loudest.

His grandmother scooped him up and walked him out. She returned a short time later having soothed him in the way that only grandmothers know how.

He was quiet for the remainder of the service.

I thought about that sweet baby long after that service was over and I thought about peace and our concept of it.

So often we think of peace physically. We think of peace and quiet as in no screaming kids, or ringing phones, or even loud music. We think of it as the absence of noise or maybe that which annoys us.

We also think of peace as the absence of conflict and that is a rare state these days. We are normally involved in some type of conflict whether big or small. In the broken world that we live in, conflict between ourselves and others seems to be a given.

But, does living in regular conflict and in constant noise mean that peace is impossible?

As Christians, Jesus offers us a different kind of peace. Not surprisingly, it’s a spiritual concept rather than the physical. It’s so easy to forget in this physical life, that we are spiritual beings too, and the spiritual can feed the physical.

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

He also said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

In these times when worldly peace seems so far out of reach, Jesus reminds us that when we seek peace through Him, what is happening on a physical level doesn’t really matter that much. We are spiritual beings in physical bodies only traveling here, not staying here permanently.

But, while we are here, Jesus calls us to live with the peace of knowing that we are His and He has overcome all that is worldly, and in the end, because we are His, we will too.

A baby who was fussing in church, reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Following the Pilot Car

Posted on by Wendy
Jesus is the ultimate pilot car.
Jesus is the ultimate pilot car.

We have a ton of road construction going on in our little town at the moment. Most folks who live here are discovering all types of routes to avoid it at all costs. We despise road construction of all types, don’t we?

We will really enjoy traveling on the shiny new four lane roadway, but the process of getting there is slow and painful and we will avoid it if possible.

Road construction requires us to stop or at the very least, to slow down. We don’t like that. When we travel in our cars, we have specific places to go and a set time to get there and we do not like to be taken off track.

But, sometimes, there is no way around the construction. Sometimes we find ourselves stuck in it, at a complete stop. If we aren’t running late somewhere, we become annoyed. If we are late, we can become angry.

When the traffic starts moving again, we sometimes find ourselves behind a pilot car. The pilot car moves very slowly and will often have us driving down paths that we never would, if we were in control of the situation ourselves. We can easily find ourselves traveling on the wrong side of the road where we would meet oncoming traffic head on, if there were any.

But, there isn’t any.

The pilot car is in constant communication with other workers up ahead, who have closed off that lane keeping everyone involved, completely safe. Our only job as drivers, is to slow down and follow the pilot car.

When I think about it, life is always busy with some kind of construction. Whether it’s something major like graduating, getting married, having a baby, or changing jobs, or minor, like getting a new doctor or a new neighbor, life is always changing.

There is simply no way to avoid change here on planet earth no matter how desperately we may try.

What we need is a good pilot car. As Christians, we happen to have one in Jesus.

If we follow closely behind Him and not get impatient and try to pass Him, He will faithfully see us through all kinds of construction, big and small. Even when it gets scary and we seem to be headed in the wrong lane into oncoming traffic, if we trust, if we obey, we will come out safely on the other side.

Jesus, as it turns out, is the perfect pilot car. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you needed reminding today too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Backseat Freedom

Posted on by Wendy
Accepting that I am not in control, but trusting that God is, leads to peace and freedom.
Accepting that I am not in control, but trusting that God is, leads to peace and freedom.

I am currently in another season of teaching a teenager to drive. A couple of years back, I lived through a similar season with my daughter. This time, it’s with my son.

The sheer experience from the first time around has taught me that I will in fact, (most likely), survive this go round. But, this time is also different because the first time around, I was usually the only adult available for driving lessons. This time, my hubby is doing most of the teaching.

Most of the time, I find myself in the backseat, with my hubby doing the instructing. I often choose to check e-mail or Facebook, as we travel down the road, trusting that he has it all under control.

I can’t tell you how freeing that experience has been. I can choose not to worry about the path we are traveling, or the cars up ahead, or merging into traffic because I can choose to trust my son’s father.

On the other hand, I could choose to worry about what’s going on in the front seat. I could yell directions from the backseat. I could second guess every move being made by our fledgling driver and my hubby. I could argue. I could create all kind of unnecessary stress for myself.

Either way, trust comes down to choice.

Either way, I have very little control of what is taking place in the driver’s seat. The idea of me controlling the situation is an illusion at best.

This driving business got me to thinking about the similarities in my own life and my own journey.

While it’s true that I make decisions every single day regarding my life. In the end, there is so much more out of my control than there is in my control.

Things like my health, or all kinds of tragedies that could happen, or my children’s future, are for the most part, out of my control. What happens in American politics or world politics, also out of my control.

But, I worship the God who does control all of those things. The Bible says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

The Bible also tells us, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21

If I were to substitute “God’s plan,” for the word purpose, then I would see that God is working for the good of those of us who love Him and that in the end, God’s plan will prevail.

So, choosing to trust that, God has “this,” whatever “this” may be at the moment, is truly a no brainer. I am not in control, but God is and He loves me and He has a plan.

The same is true for you. Accepting that truth may be difficult, but it also leads to a deep sense of peace and freedom.

Riding in the backseat reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂