Month: September 2018

A Call to Share the Light

Posted on by Wendy
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5

On Monday, I wrote a post, called “The Rear View Mirror Illusion,” about struggling with thoughts about my best years being behind me instead of in front of me. I wrote about how we can get pulled into looking into the rear view mirror and long for those days gone by, because time has a way of whitewashing the past.

I had that post on my mind for two full days before I actually typed it out. I usually keep a notebook close by to jot down ideas that may present themselves at any given moment.

I feel like God reveals Himself to me all of the time and more often than not, I probably miss it and so I try to keep a look out and take notes.

But, that morning, that prayer, that sunrise, and that rainbow, just wouldn’t leave me alone. God often speaks to me in a whisper, but I felt like that day, He was using a megaphone and the need to write it down and share it, just wouldn’t go away.

So, Sunday morning, even though I was out of town, even though I was working on something else, even though I was visiting with my Mama, I powered up my laptop and told my story.

I don’t know why I was surprised that I got more likes, comments and shares on that post than I’ve had in a long time. It was something a lot of people clearly needed to read. It resonated with them. It offered some encouragement to some struggling hearts and reminded them that God is still listening, still working, and still in control.

The response to the post, reminds me of how important it is to share with others, both our trials and triumphs on this faith journey.

It’s so easy to just plaster on a smile and say that everything is fine, but this side of Eternity, will always be littered with obstacles and pitfalls. There are valley moments along with the mountaintop moments. It takes both to grow our faith.

And there are times when we will feel a quiet, insistent, nudge to reach out to someone with encouragement. Sometimes we have no idea why. Sometimes we are busy doing something else. That post reminded me to make the call; send the text; extend the invitation, because God is still in the business of using His people to share His light with a world that at times, can be very dark.

And don’t we want to be a part of that?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Rear View Mirror Illusion

Posted on by Wendy
Someone else took the time to snap a photo of that beautiful rainbow.

One day last week, I was driving to work, deep down into my bones, weary. It had been a long stressful week both at work and at home and I was running late. While none of these issues were serious in the big picture, I’ll have to admit that I sometimes live in the moment.

I allow my daily annoyances and stresses to completely cloud my vision and the big picture gets lost. My current situation takes over my thoughts and I can find myself feeling like I’m drowning.

This day was one of those days.

I usually find the remedy to these counterproductive thoughts in prayer. I was certainly praying that morning. I glanced in my rear-view mirror and saw the most gorgeous pink clouds behind me. When I looked ahead, the sky in front of me was gray. The sun hadn’t touched it yet.

I sighed as I asked God why sometimes life looks like all of the best times are behind us.

If we are honest, I think we all probably do that from time-to-time. Don’t we? We look at where we are and we look at where we’ve been and we remember the good old days and we wish we could go back. We wonder if we will ever be that happy again.

We forget that time has a way of filtering the bad stuff out of our memories and we remember the good. Why else would anyone with a toddler ever want a second child? Those stresses are so real and hard at the time, the tantrums and defiance, the potty training, but the joy we get from that toddler crowds out the stress and we eventually forget.

I prayed for peace, strength and reassurance, during the rest of my short drive.

When I turned onto the road where I work, the sky was beautiful and bright. It was full of pink clouds and when I pulled into my parking lot, my soul felt lighter. I thanked God for the sign. I took a deep breath as I went racing toward the door, when a voice behind me called out. She wanted to chat and I was late and a little annoyed at the interference.

I politely slowed down and chatted with her. Then she stopped and pointed out the rainbow over the building. It was so faint; you could hardly see it, but it was there and I was amazed as I fought tears.

No, the best days were not behind me and yes, God was there and still listening, still present and still very involved and yes, He was still in the business of answering the prayers of His children who cry out to Him.

I really needed reminding that day. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂