Month: September 2017

Hurricane Wisdom

Posted on by Wendy
There’s a peace that comes from knowing that God can calm the storms.

I received an anxious text yesterday from my daughter who is attending college in South Georgia. She said that Irma is heading straight for them.

While we are all still glued to the television and reeling from all of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, in Texas, a new hurricane has been busy forming and growing. Hurricane Irma is already stronger and bigger than Harvey was and is marching towards the United States.

I texted her back that she had plenty of time before Irma makes landfall and it may not even strike her area. She texted back that they were watching the path on television and that it was headed for the Georgia coast.

I pulled it up on my computer and looked at the models. The hurricane’s path depends largely on what’s going on with the jet stream when it collides with it. It could go into the Gulf of Mexico. It could hit South Florida. It could hit Savannah or the Carolinas. There’s no way to know at this point.

As I continued to read the article, there was an interview with a lifelong Florida resident. The wisdom of her words really struck me. She said that she doesn’t worry about these things too much. She said that she had water. She had her music and she prayed.

If any people in the entire US are hurricane veterans, it would be the Floridians. Their state has been slammed by hurricanes more than any other. They know what to do. They know when to evacuate. They know when to stand fast. They know how to rebuild. I suspect many know very well how to pray.

They have learned all of these skills from experience.

My own child was raised much closer to the North Georgia Mountains than the coast. Hurricanes are for the most part, a foreign concept. She doesn’t have the benefit of the experience of the woman who was interviewed from Florida.

I thought about that lady long after I read her quote. I thought about how our lives are often overrun with hurricane types of situations. Sometimes it’s just those outside bands of wind and rain. Sometimes it’s the flooding. Sometimes it’s the full force of the hurricane and sometimes, there’s another one that follows closely behind, like Irma.

But, when we live out our faith and keep our eyes focused on Jesus, we know we will survive. We can even get to the point where we can say that we don’t worry about it too much; we just pray. But, that kind of faith takes years of walking with Jesus and knowing that He will sustain us.

Deep, enduring faith takes time, but it’s worth it. The peace that comes from knowing that we worship the God who can calm any storm, is absolutely priceless.

A hurricane reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Keep Planting

Posted on by Wendy
Never stop planting. You never know when the seeds will sprout.

When I arrived at church on Sunday, one of our praise team leaders asked me if I would be willing to help him with something. This guy is amazingly talented. He said he wanted to get a bunch of people to help with the praise and worship song and he wondered if I knew it. It was called, “Uncloudy Day.”

Oh yeah, I knew it. In the years that I attended a small, country church that was at the end of a dirt road, we sang it often. I had many fond memories of the music at that church and I readily agreed.

Right after choir practice, our pastor’s wife asked if the choir would be willing to help her. A man that we had been praying for, is in a rehabilitation facility for a spinal injury. He’s a man of deep faith. He had a really tough night, the night before and asked if we would be willing to sing the hymn, “Victory in Jesus,” for him to be videoed and sent to raise his spirits. We all readily agreed.

Once again, my mind recalled that small childhood church, where we sang that hymn often.

I wonder if my mama could have possibly known that over thirty years later, because she took me to church, that I was able to participate in the singing of two different songs at a completely different church, in a completely different town than I grew up in. I wonder if she could have possibly conceived that her obedience to God in raising her children to know Him, would allow her child to one day join with others to sing songs of praise to lift up a struggling brother in Christ and help him with his struggle.

We sometimes forget that parenting is Kingdom Work. When we fight to get our kids to church and wonder if it’s worth it, when we fight for that family meal when we can say grace and eat together, when we see our adult children stray off the path that we have taught them and wonder where we went wrong, let me assure you, God is there.

Yes, it’s worth it. As parents, we are called to be obedient to God and teach our children about Jesus. We are simply seed planters and let’s face it, not all of them will sprout. But, the good news is, that over a lifetime, we have the opportunity to plant thousands and at some point, they will not only sprout, but grow deep roots, because we have a God who is in the growing business and His abilities are limitless.

Two old hymns reminded me that we should always keep planting. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Praying for Texas

Posted on by Wendy
This picture was too good not to share.

Last weekend, Hurricane Harvey, one of the most destructive hurricanes in American history, came ashore in Texas. The destruction has been devastating. It’s almost impossible to fathom what some of those Harvey victims have been through, yet the Texans’ response to the disaster may have the power to unite us all.

Texas is a notoriously red state and has always done things a little differently than the other forty-nine states, something most Texans are proud of. Houston, one of the hardest hit regions of the state, is a spot of blue, with a mayor who is a democrat.

In the political climate that we have been living in since the last election, one would expect that Texans would be at each other’s throats, blaming each other and the federal government for their woes. If you would have watched a newscast a week earlier, you might have thought that Texans would use this opportunity to show what racists they truly are.

The media would have us believe that we are so divided as a country that all the we care about these days is fighting with each other. We are divided on religion, politics and race. We are divided on whether old statues should stand or be torn down. The casual observer would think that there’s very little great about America anymore, that we care more about our personal opinions and feelings than anything else.

Yet, when an unimaginable disaster struck, the state of Texas became a shining light of hope for all Americans. No one has shown the slightest concern over skin color or political affiliation. What they have shown is an unending supply of compassion for each other. People have turned out in everything from fishing boats, to canoes, to kayaks and dune buggies. Their desire to help one another has been nothing short of amazing.

In Dallas, people waited in line over half an hour just to donate supplies to the victims, people they would never even meet.

The pictures being shared on social media make me both sad and proud. There’s even a “Pray for Texas” banner on Facebook. Turns out we can use social media for God’s purposes as well as destructive purposes.

And the Texans’ response to their disaster has inspired the rest of the country to act as well. My tiny little town in Georgia, is sending a truck load of supplies and most of the rest of the country is acting as well.

There’s an old song that goes, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” It seems to me that Hurricane Harvey has started a fire no one could have dreamed of, but I pray that it spreads. I pray it encourages all Americans to do the right thing and help one another, to stop spreading hate on social media and start spreading prayer.

Who knows? This country could have a great revival. Let’s all pray for Texas and watch what happens.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂