Month: February 2022

Seeking Shalom

Posted on by Wendy
We don’t have to know what lies ahead, because God does.

Every year around New Year’s, I pray about a new word to focus on in the coming year. This year the words peace and prayer kept coming up again and again. I figured the Holy Spirit was trying to teach me something, so I went with it. I wrote them on post its on my desk and in my journal. As I spent more time thinking about peace, I began to feel drawn to the concept of shalom.

As I studied more about the concept, I was fascinated. Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace, but it means much more than the Western concept of the absence of war or to wish someone a good day. Shalom means complete peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, contentedness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility. Shalom is not partial. It’s not about circumstances. It’s about the whole.

As I began praying about moving towards shalom in my life, I was called to put into practical use.

In January, my Mama got sick and gave us quite a scare. In February, my annual bloodwork revealed some questionable results and I received a packet from the Department of Labor informing me that they were fighting an unemployment claim that I never filed. Yep, I had been a victim of some kind of identity theft.

I can’t say I was surprised. I’ve been on this faith journey long enough to know that if you pray for rain, you better get an umbrella. If you pray for extra peace in your life, especially complete peace, shalom, the peace that can only come from walking with Jesus, it would be foolish to expect smooth sailing. We can’t learn to swim if we don’t get wet.

There have been times in my life when the circumstances listed above, would have set me in a tailspin, but I found myself praying before panicking and meditating on shalom. I am happy to report that both mine and my Mama’s health are fine, so being emotionally distraught would have been for no reason. It would have been a complete waste of time, time that could have been better spent doing Kingdom Work.

Worrying wouldn’t have changed the outcome either way.

As I write this, my identity situation is not yet resolved, but I am reminded that Jesus warned us of troubles on this side of eternity. He said that we should be at peace anyway.

Having shalom is a daily intentional choice that begins with prayer and is strengthened with scripture. It’s a challenge, no doubt about it, but I think it’s a challenge worth pursuing. Perhaps you might like to try it too?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 😀

The Call to Seek Like Mary

Posted on by Wendy
When we truly seek Jesus, we will find Him.

I’ve been participating in an online Bible study. We have been reading one chapter a day in the Gospel of John. One day last week, we got to chapter twenty. That’s the chapter where Mary Magdalene, Peter and John go to the tomb and find it empty. This is a very familiar passage to most Christians, but this time when I read it, Mary’s experience really stuck with me.

She was the first one to the tomb, the first to realize He wasn’t there. When she saw He wasn’t there, the text says she ran to tell Peter and John. In response to her news, they ran to the tomb. The scriptures say both disciples went inside and saw His grave clothes and they believed and then went back to where they were staying.

The two disciple simply went back to where they were staying? They saw that Jesus was gone and went home? Didn’t they have questions? Were they in shock? Was His absence just too much for them to deal with in that moment?

But, Mary stayed. Overcome with grief, she didn’t run from it. She stayed right there, right where she thought Jesus should be and cried. I picture her sobbing at this point. I know I would be, but her open honest show of grief resulted in a direct response from heaven.

“She looked inside the tomb again and found two angles there, they asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” John 20:13

Then she turned and stood face-to-face with the Risen Jesus, but did not recognize Him.

“Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” John 20:15

I find this to be a bold statement for a grieving woman, alone at a tomb, but Mary was steadfast and fearless in her search for Jesus. She was willing to go get his body herself. Whatever it took, she would find Jesus.

And her stubborn faith was rewarded. When Jesus called her name, she knew it was Him and her mourning immediately became joy.

Mary’s story reminds me that we all will at some point, find ourselves grieving on this side of eternity and we have a choice how we will respond. We can deal with it by running from it, or pretending it doesn’t exist, or attempting to numb it by some chemical means, or we can seek Jesus and the peace that only He can give us.

When the world tells us that Jesus doesn’t care about us, if we remain stubborn and steadfast like Mary, He will show up and meet us right where we are, right in the middle of whatever we are dealing with and He will call our name.

Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

 

 

Lessons from a D

Posted on by Wendy
Lessons of mercy and grace can remain with us for an entire lifetime.

When I was in first grade, we began each day with a morning coloring assignment. It would be something like ducks and a pond. There were specific directions. We would have to color the baby ducks yellow, the mama duck white, the grass green and the pond blue. We were expected to follow them perfectly and to stay within the lines.

I was a rule follower and I usually did well on the morning assignments. I did struggle with staying within the lines, but that was mostly because I found coloring to be tedious and boring.

I always brought home good grades. I could tell it made my Mama happy and I did my best to do well.

One morning, the assignment was to color the dog brown. He was some type of terrier, sitting on his back two legs. He filled the entire page. The directions were to color him brown, which I did, easy peasy, but I decided the dog needed a collar. I had seen Lady & the Tramp. I knew what happened to dogs without collars.

My dogs at home had collars. This dog I was coloring wasn’t a stray; he was loved and so I colored him in a colorful collar.

I was shocked when the teacher returned it with a big, fat red D. She was unimpressed with my creativity. I hadn’t followed directions.

I was so ashamed and when I got into my Mama’s car with it at the end of the week; I shoved it under her seat, where it remained for a while. But, as mistakes that we hide from tend to do, it eventually came to light. My little sister discovered it and pulled it out and asked what it was in her loudest kindergarten voice.

I was caught. I knew Mama would be disappointed at my bad grade, but she said we would talk about it when we got home. It was a long ten mile ride.

When we got there, she looked closely at the picture and then she surprised me with a hug. First, she told me I shouldn’t ever hide anything from her, no matter how bad I thought it was and then she told me she really liked the picture and that the dog’s collar was beautiful. She appreciated my creativity and couldn’t believe that my teacher didn’t. Of course, I would give him a collar. Our dogs had collars.

I probably learned more that day from that D than every single paper I colored for the entire year.

I learned that while rules are important, legalism is bad. I learned to trust my creativity. I learned not to hide my mistakes from the people who love me and I got a beautiful picture of mercy and grace. Sometimes I need reminding that what I see as failure isn’t really failure at all. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂