Month: March 2017

Choices

Posted on by Wendy
What we focus on is a choice.

I am writing this at the end of a very long day, and for that matter, a very long week, and come to think of it, an incredibly long month. I am tired and I find myself wanting to climb into bed and just stay there for a day or two.

Have you ever found yourself in that place?

Of course, I’ve been here before. I think we all have at one time or another. But, these are the times when we have two choices. We can give in and give up or lean really hard into Jesus and the grace the He offers.

My pastor once said that, “People will say terrible things when they are in pain.” The words struck a nerve with me, so much so that I wrote them down.

I have found on my life journey that the world is full of people in all kinds of pain, whether physical or emotional, and I have found my pastor’s words to ring true. I find truth in them when talking to my teens about things people have said to them. I have found them to be true in my own life.

I have found that hurtful words spoken are very rarely even personally meant for the person who receives them. They are simply manifestations of some type of pain that the one who speaks them is bearing.

When I am rested, I remember. When I am focused on God and not my own need for control, I remember.

When I am weary, I sometimes forget. I also forget when I am focused on my own feelings.  That’s when I allow myself to get frustrated. That’s when I allow my feelings to get hurt. That’s when I forget that I truly have a choice.

I can choose to believe that I am where I am for a reason. I can choose to believe that God has a plan. I can choose to understand that people in pain have sharp edges and that hurtful words are not really about me.

I can also choose to believe that God is not in control and that I’m on my own. I can choose to strike back and lash out. I can choose anger and frustration over grace and understanding. There’s an enemy of my soul who would love for me to make those choices. Honestly, those choices sometimes feels like the right ones.

But, they are not. They never are.

Jesus calls us to something different, to a higher purpose. He calls us to love one another and to extend mercy and forgiveness because we have been given mercy and forgiveness.

When we stay focused on Him and remember that, our hearts stay whole and our souls stay well. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

PS My kids are on spring break next week, so I’m taking the week off to spend with them. I hope to see you back here in a week.

Opportunities and Choices

Posted on by Wendy
We can choose to either be defeated by hardship or to use it to glorify God.

I recently saw a television commercial for “Dancing With The Stars.” I don’t think I’ve ever watched the show, but Mr. T is a contestant this season, so after it finished, I Googled his performance. I’ve loved Mr. T since the eighties. He’s truly a gentle giant and a strong Christian, who has used his celebrity to promote good in the world.

He’s also a cancer survivor. I read an article in People Magazine, where he talked about his battle with cancer. He said, “What gave him hope was faith in God.”

He also talked about scripture. He said, “In the book of Job, he was challenged but he kept on believing in God. That’s  the message I try to tell other people. Just because you believe in God, serve God, feed the hungry, and clothe the naked…that doesn’t mean that bad things are not going to happen to you.”

I think that’s a powerful message that many of us don’t like to think about. Christianity doesn’t make us immune from pain and hardship. We don’t serve God to earn His favor. We serve God because we love God. We love God because He loved us first.

We live in a broken world where bad things are going to happen, but we are not permanent residents here. We are travelers. Like Mr. T, we all have the ability to use our stories, the good and bad chapters, to encourage others who might be going through the same struggles.

Mr. T is 64 years old and is no ballerina, but he’s doing the show in honor of children who are fighting cancer. If he wins, he has vowed to shave off his famous mohawk to show solidarity with them. So far, the public has supported him with their votes.

If a 64- year- old body builder who has never been a dancer, is willing in his words, “to try,” to win a dancing show against opponents half his age, in honor of children with cancer, what are some things we might be called to do to share God’s love with others?

Mr. T reminds me that we are never too tough or too old to share our faith. He reminds me that we all have a story to share and that we all have the opportunity and the choice of whether to let our hardships defeat us, or to allow them to glorify God.

May we all choose wisely.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Here’s a Mr. T dance in case you missed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW_HnCR1UpI

Learning to Be Still

Posted on by Wendy
Learning to be still is a powerful lesson.

My family and some of my kids’ friends, spent part of last weekend at my parents’ house. On Saturday afternoon, we did one of my very favorite activities. We sat on the porch, enjoyed the spring time weather and rocked. I flipped through magazines and had a cup of tea and chatted with my mama and my hubby. The kids played on the golf cart.

One of my daughter’s friends once asked her how long we usually stay when visit my parents. My daughter replied that sometimes a couple of weeks and one time, for a month. She was kind of surprised because she couldn’t imagine what there was to “do,” for all of that time, but therein lies the beauty of our time there.

We really don’t have to, “do,” anything. We love being there because we love each other. We love spending time there because we don’t have to prepare for work or school the next day. We don’t have to get dressed up. During the summer, we spend most of our time at the pool, so we don’t care about makeup or what we are wearing.

We often eat sandwiches on paper plates because we prefer to spend time with each other rather than in the kitchen slaving over the stove.

Our time spent with the grandparents has taught my children and their mama, that we don’t have to always, “do,” that it’s perfectly fine to just, “be.”

That’s a concept that’s often lost in our busy world. We are always on the move striving and working for more. Happiness is always just around the next bend or over the next hill.

We forget that God calls us to be still.

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

But, being still comes hard for us these days. We are over scheduled and overworked. We are exhausted and our kids are just as tired as we are, yet they sleep less, and go and strive more.

Perhaps, one of the greatest gifts we can give them and ourselves, is teaching them the peace that comes from sitting on a porch in a rocking chair with nothing to “do,” but enjoy the day and “be,” with the ones we love.

When we learn to be still, we can feel the God nudges that we often miss in our whirlwind of activity.

A Saturday afternoon spent on a porch reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

A Life Well Spent

Posted on by Wendy
It’s about the faith, love, and beauty you leave behind.

One evening after work this week, I took a drive to my hometown to pay my final respects to my beloved cousin, Joan. She had been ravaged with Alzheimer’s for the past few years, but my heart was filled with the many good times I was blessed enough to share with her and her family.

Her mother and my grandmother were each one of ten siblings and so I was gifted with many cousins and great aunts and uncles. As I walked into the funeral home with a heavy heart, I was greeted by many familiar faces that I haven’t seen in a decade or more.

There were lots of smiles and happy greetings and lots of stories of Joan. She was truly one of the kindest, gentlest people I have ever known. She was one of those people my mama would say, “would give you the shirt off of her back.”

As I thought about the family visitation the following day, I thought about the peace that I felt there. There was a true peace that I felt from her children as well as from the other, many family members who were there. When I think of that part of my family, it’s always closely tied with my faith. They were always church goers. Faith was just a part of their lives. When I spoke to my 90-year-old great aunt, I thought of the times I went to church with her.

When I spoke to one of Joan’s daughters, also a strong woman of faith, peace seemed to radiate from her. I was strongly reminded that death for Christians marks the final step for our earthly journey, but it’s the first step into Eternity, where we will never be sick or old, where we will always be filled with peace and joy and where we will walk with Jesus everyday.

Joan was also an artist and I have had one of her paintings above my fireplace for as long as I have had a fireplace. It’s colorful like she was and it always makes me smile. As I sit and gaze at it, I am reminded to spread as much faith, love, and beauty wherever I can, because in the end, that’s what we are remembered for.

We all have some type of gift to share with the world. Joan did a wonderful job of sharing hers. We are all called to do the same. A life well spent and a painting, reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

The Business of Restoration

Posted on by Wendy
We can all be in the business of restoration.

One day last weekend, my daughter was in a terrible mood. She didn’t even want to come out of her room. While I know that this is fairly normal behavior for teenage girls, it bothered me that she was so out of sorts. We talked for a little while and I shared with her some of my own concerns that had been weighing me down.

I reminded her that even though we were both kind of down-and-out, that we were supposed to be staining our table and chairs for our deck. She and her daddy had spent a lot of time and elbow grease, not to mention the bleach, to clean it a couple of weeks earlier. She had also accompanied us to Home Depot to choose the new color.

She kind of reluctantly agreed. The day was warm and beautiful. The birds were singing and we painted and talked. We both began to relax and we began to laugh a lot. She became her normal happy self and I too, felt some tension release.

When we ran out of stain, which was before we finished the project, we were both in different frames of mind as I knew we would be. I marveled at how well the formula always works.

There’s just something healing about creating beauty. There’s something freeing about giving something old, brand new life. There’s a satisfaction that comes from working with your hands that nothing can really compare to and there’s a certain type of peace that only comes from being out in the warm sun, surrounded by trees and singing birds.

I suppose we are wired that way. God created the sun, the birds, and the trees. Why would we not find it peaceful to bask in His creation since we too are His creation? Jesus is in the redemption business. Why would we not find great satisfaction in giving new life to things that seem dingy or even useless? Isn’t that what He does for us everyday?

The world teaches us to stay indoors glued to our electronics, with our doors locked. It teaches us to focus on ourselves. It teaches us to throw away anything or anyone that isn’t bright and shiny and brand new.

The Bible reminds us that we are in this world, but not of it. We are called to look for signs of life in everything and everyone around us and when we find it, to do our best to help them shine.

We too, are in the restoration business. A table and chairs reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Don’t Panic, Pray

Posted on by Wendy
God knows what we need.

Our sermon last Sunday, was from Exodus 17. It was about the Israelites traveling in the wilderness. The first verse says they traveled from place to place as the Lord commanded. At first glance, it looks like they were doing exactly what they should. They were following God’s lead.

Only one chapter earlier, God provided manna from heaven for them and after they complained, He provided quail as well. Just four chapters earlier, God parted the Red Sea for them and destroyed the Egyptian army that pursued them.

God had shown Himself in huge and miraculous ways. These people should have been people of great faith. But, by the second verse, it becomes clear that they were full of fear and doubt. Apparently, they could find no water where God had told them to pitch their tents and so they began to quarrel and turn on Moses.

Fear and desperation can change people. It can make them irrational. It can make them say horrible things. It can lead them to do horrible things. In this case, some were thinking of stoning Moses.

I’m always shocked at how quickly the Israelites lose faith. After all of the miraculous signs, did they really not believe that God could provide them with water?

But, then when I honestly look at my own life, I too, have found myself in wilderness type places where I felt that God has led me, but then wondered if He would provide. After all of the blessings, after the hundreds of times He has shown Himself to be faithful, I have found myself afraid.

Maybe you have too?

That’s when I start wondering if I heard Him right. Am I really where He wants me to be?

The Israelites even asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

While it’s easy to judge the Israelites for their incredibly short memories. Do we really do much better ourselves? As soon as we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, do we question God’s presence in our lives?

Our pastor pointed out that if God showed Himself to us every minute, that our faith would never grow. He said sometimes God steps back so that we can grow into something much stronger.

If you don’t believe that growth is difficult, ask any middle schooler.

But, even though the Israelites panicked, God provided. He created them. He knew that they needed water and He provided it for them even after their faith waivered.

And, He does the same for us. If we find ourselves in the wilderness with no water, we are called to pray, not panic. We are not alone and He will provide, just as He always has.

Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Posted on by Wendy
Patrick used familiar surroundings to share the Gospel.

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. I really like this holiday. There’s no pressure to buy anything. Everyone just wears green and celebrates our supposedly, Irish roots, while looking for leprechauns. But, St. Patrick’s Day has an interesting past which is actually God centered.

It’s all a little cloudy because it happened so long ago, somewhere between 400-600 A.D. Legend has it that Patrick was born to wealthy parents in England and was captured at some point in his mid teens by Irish raiders. He was taken to Ireland and sent off to be a slave tending sheep. (Isn’t it interesting that sheep were involved?)

He was very afraid and lonely and began praying all of the time. (Can you relate?)

After six years in captivity, God told him in a dream, it was time to go home and so he began walking. He walked nearly 200 miles before he was saved by friendly sailors. (Can you imagine walking 200 miles and not getting discouraged or giving up?)

While he was in Ireland, he learned their customs and language. It is said that some time after he returned home, an angel told him in a dream, to return to Ireland as a missionary and preach the Gospel to them. (I can’t imagine the wrestling that must have ensued.)

After studying for 15 years, Patrick obeyed God and returned to Ireland. The Irish were mostly pagan and Druid, but there were some Christians there. Since he knew their customs, he knew that the shamrock was a sacred plant to them. He used the three-leaf clover to explain the trinity to them.

He knew that they used fire to honor their gods so he used bonfires to celebrate Easter. He also used the sun which was a powerful Irish symbol, and superimposed it on the cross to create the Celtic cross.

Patrick would have never been able to communicate with the Irish in such an effective and powerful way if he hadn’t endured the six years in captivity there. (When times are the toughest, it’s hard to see God is building something amazing, but He often is.)

At the end of his life, Patrick had helped to start over 300 churches and baptized over 120,000 Irish people. He preached in Ireland for over forty years and died on March 17th.

He is credited with at least thirty-three miracles including many counts of healing as well as several resurrection stories. He is not credited for driving snakes out of Ireland. There never were any there, but he is credited in turning almost an entire nation to Christ.

Looks like he did actually drive a snake out.

Patrick’s story inspires me. Perhaps you needed some inspiration today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

 

 

 

A Reminder to be Vigilant

Posted on by Wendy
We are called to be vigilant while we work.

Last weekend, we were blessed with a beautiful, sunny day. My family spent the entire day in the yard working on various projects. One of mine was raking leaves and removing debris from under what used to be a deck. I wore hiking boots and work gloves and was ever mindful of where I put my hands.

Another project was relocating a fire pit. It consisted of many stacked rocks which had become covered with leaves. I kept a shovel close by just in case.

Anyone from the Deep South can tell you why I was being so careful. Anyone from my area of the world who has spent much time outdoors, can tell you what warmer temperatures bring out. Snakes. On my particular piece of earth, it’s copperheads.

Now copperheads aren’t like rattlesnakes. They don’t give you a courtesy warning alerting you that they are nearby, and they a perfectly colored to blend in with the leaves. Whether or not they are aggressive, if you accidentally pick one up or step on one, you will get bitten.

So, I was very vigilant. I dressed appropriately. I watched for snakes. I kept something I could use as a weapon close by at all times. I didn’t stop working  out of fear. I didn’t avoid my yard or creating what I wanted to create, I was simply prepared for trouble. I wasn’t overly anxious about it, but I was prepared.

As I went about my work, I was reminded how our spiritual lives are very much like my backyard and the tasks I was performing. All Christians have a common enemy who lurks in places, close by, but usually our of sight. Like the copperhead, He too, can sometimes blend seamlessly into our surroundings and attack without warning.

Yet, we are not called to fear him. We are not called to cower indoors afraid to do the kingdom work for which we have been designed. We are called to be vigilant. In Ephesians 6:10-17, the Bible reminds us that Christians are not fighting flesh-and-blood enemies. We are fighting enemies in the unseen world. It also reminds us that we can protect ourselves with the Armor of God.

We are told to protect ourselves with truth and the righteousness of God. We are told to use the gospel of peace and the shield of faith. We are told to use the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God and to pray and be watchful.

We have lives to live. We have work to do. We have a loving God who offers us protection. We need to be sure to take Him up on it.

A day of yard work reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Walking by Faith

Posted on by Wendy
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7

On Sunday morning, my hubby gently tapped me and informed me that we had missed springing forward for daylight savings time. We have never done that before, but interestingly enough, I wasn’t filled with the need to rush.

I had actually been dreaming about the song we were singing that morning in the choir. It was titled, “Walk by Faith,” and I could ‘t wait to sing it. We sing quite a few songs that really do nothing for revving up my soul, but Sunday’s did and I didn’t want to miss it.

On Sunday mornings, I give myself almost two hours to get ready. I like to sit down with a cup of coffee and breakfast and read a devotional. I like to play praise music as I get dressed. I like to take time to pray. I make it a point to try to prepare my heart for worship before I leave my house.

I learned this practice quite a few years back. I have often believed that for families of faith, Satan’s busiest time is Sunday mornings when we are trying to ready our families for church. When we are raising littles, Sunday mornings are often filled with rushing that ends up producing anxiety and frustration, which leads to raised voices and sometimes tears. The teen years can prove to be just as stressful. By the time we arrive at church we are so upset, we miss the entire message, the blessings, and the ability to bless others.

To combat the Sunday morning stress, I began getting up much earlier than I had to, so I could be open and ready for what God had to share.

So, as I awoke on Sunday, I was behind the proverbial eight ball. As I dashed for the shower, I couldn’t help but marvel that the song, “Walk by Faith,” kept running through my head. One of the lines in particular, was “we walk by faith and not by sight.”

I said a prayer. I acknowledged that the God who I worship, called the Universe into being. I acknowledged that the God I worship, fed five thousand people with a couple of fish and five loaves of bread. Surely, my God could get me to choir practice in a timely matter, while allowing me the peace to truly worship Him. I asked for His intervention.

My hubby had a cup of coffee waiting for me on the counter. I thanked God for that blessing as I calmly got ready. I ate a quick breakfast. I didn’t dawdle, but I didn’t rush either.

Practice is usually at 9:15, but that morning it had been pushed back to 9:00. After waking up an hour late, I walked into church right at 9:15 to find that they hadn’t even started. I wasn’t even late.

I had lived the anthem that morning. I had walked by faith and God delivered, but in the end, He always does.

Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you did too!

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Blooming Where We Are

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes we need to remember that our mission field is right where we are.

Yesterday, when I arrived home from work, I grabbed a chair and collapsed onto my deck. I sat in the warmth of the March sunshine, listened to the birds and tried to breathe deeply. It had been a long day and a long week and I still had another day to go.

Nothing bad had happened; in fact I had received some really good news earlier in the week. But, my job had been crazy busy, with a million interruptions and I was just bone tired.

I looked across the yard at my white irises blooming. They always make me smile. My hubby and I dug them up years ago, from an old home place on my parents property. I have no idea how old they are, at least sixty, but likely much older than that. We planted them at the base of one of our oak trees and they multiplied like crazy. We now have them at the base of two trees and several other places in the yard.

They didn’t ask to be moved from their home in Middle Georgia to their home in Northeast Georgia. Yet, they just seem to grow and prosper wherever we plant them.

Those white flowers made me think of a conversation I had earlier in the week with a coworker who reminded me that I have been put in my particular place, at this particular time, for a reason that had noting to do with my job description.

We forget sometimes that we can do kingdom work wherever we are planted. It doesn’t matter what the job description is on paper. We can be a construction worker, a waitress, or a CEO of a company. Our job titles make no difference to Jesus. The spiritual work we are called to do can shine through, wherever we are.

Our mission field is always the ground we are standing on, whether we asked to be there or not, whether it’s difficult or easy. Those irises reminded me to bloom and prosper wherever I am planted, knowing that at some point, I may be scooped up and planted somewhere else, but that I am not to worry about that. I am called to trust God’s plan.

I am called to bloom today in this spot, right where I am, and so are you. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂