Month: May 2022

Faith Like Grass

Posted on by Wendy
“The tiniest bit of faith can change everything.”

It was a dreary drive into work yesterday. The skies were gray and it was sprinkling rain. We have been having a dry spell and we really needed the rain so I tried to be thankful. But, as I hurried across the parking lot to my building, everything looked so gloomy that I was having a hard time staying positive.

About halfway across, my knee started aching and it caused me to look down and when I did, some green grass caught my eye. It was pushing up through the cracks in defiant contrast to the gloom. As I glanced around, there were more patches all over the lot. They made me smile.

I suspect that the people who are in charge of the maintenance of that lot, do not like that grass at all. They probably go to great lengths to get rid of it, yet against the odds, with sun and yes, enough rain, the grass finds a way to persevere.

That defiant grass stayed on my mind for the rest of the day. It reminded me of the faith that we so desperately need these days. Sometimes our circumstances seem so desperate that we believe our lives will never get better, but the tiniest bit of stubborn faith can make all the difference.

Jesus said, “You don’t have enough faith, I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there, and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” Matthew 17:20

In case you wondered, mustard seeds are tiny.

That parking lot grass reminded me that no matter how dark and gloomy our days may seem, a little faith can beat all of the odds. Sometimes I need reminding.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

The Call to Listen

Posted on by Wendy
What would happen if we chose to listen more than we talk?

As I take my daily lunch walk through the college campus where I work, I am always amazed at the amount of people walking around with earbuds. It’s as though even, a short amount of time not listening to what we actively choose to listen to, has become unacceptable.

It’s the same when I go to the grocery store. People are either listening to their chosen media or talking on the phone, even at the check-out.

It seems as a society, that we want to have constant control over our senses. We want to work at home and not be bothered with the aggravation of co-workers. We want to see only the opinions that agree with our own in the news and on social media and will quickly unfollow anyone who has a different point of view and often choose to insult them in the process.

As much as we all complained about the isolation created by Covid, we have in many ways, created our own isolation bubbles. When someone dares to try to circumvent the carefully built walls of our own opinions, people become defensive and sometimes irate.

In a recent daily devotion, I came upon these verses: “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” James 1:19-20  

They really hit home with me. Maybe all of the anger we see in the world around us is because we have intentionally stopped listening. We are really good at talking, but the listening part, not so much, so when we don’t feel like we are being heard, we just talk more and louder and that frustration feeds anger.

 What if we all were quick to listen and slow to speak? What would that look like? If we were listening more than talking, would we develop more empathy? Would we develop more patience? Would the rampant anger factor start to diminish? 

Maybe we would all learn a little something if we took out the earbuds and stopped scrolling and actually interacted and listened to the people who God has put in our paths. Maybe they are there for a reason. Maybe they have something to teach us. Maybe we have something to teach them.

If we don’t listen, we may never know. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy

Have a Great Weekend

Posted on by Wendy

It’s been a busy week for me. My son moved home from college for the summer and everyone at my job has been busy preparing for graduation. I’ve been covered up with all good stuff, but covered up just the same. I didn’t have any quiet time to write a post this week. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and are able to see glimpses of God in all you do. See you back here next week.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Having Enough Faith to Let Go

Posted on by Wendy
When we decide to let go and let God take the wheel, we better be prepared for excitement.

I am a planner by nature. I like to know what’s coming and have a bit of a handle on the future, but I suppose like everyone else, the last couple of years has changed that. Masks, lockdowns and constantly changing medical advice made me keenly aware that I could plan all that I wanted, but in the end, I had very little control over just about anything.

I spent my 50th birthday eating take-out with my family, but thankful that we were all well and together. It wasn’t what I would have planned, but one I will treasure all the same.

This past weekend, I celebrated my 52nd trip around the sun. My hubby and I decided to take a trip to Chattanooga and meet up with my daughter who recently moved to Nashville. To add to the fun, we decided to take our two dogs. We have never traveled with them before, but our daughter was really missing her dog.

I let her handle the details and at the last minute, our son was able to join us and what was originally a day trip with a hike, turned into an overnight trip with the two dogs and our two grown kids.

I didn’t plan the first detail; something pre-pandemic me would have never been okay with.

When the trail that we were going to hike was closed and we hadn’t had lunch yet, we ended up getting Chick-fil-A and eating it in the car and I couldn’t have been happier.

We took a family vote and ended up at Rock City, a touristy place with special family memories and we had a ball. It had been ten years since we visited. Our kids had been in elementary and middle school. We had just as much fun with grown up kids as we did back then and unbelievably, our completely unpredictable pups, behaved beautifully.

When we went to dinner at a place with a dog friendly deck, it wasn’t what I would have picked, but the food was delicious, and our pups behaved, although I felt like we had toddlers again.

When we returned to the car and tried to figure out where to go next, we saw the first round of fireworks explode into the air over the river. At first, we all grabbed our phones to try to find out what was going on, but I eventually rolled down my window and enjoyed a fabulous, 4th of July quality fireworks show.

As I later reflected on the many blessings of our trip, I was struck at how the best parts were completely unplanned. They were products of being open to something different that may have been better than what I could have possibly planned myself. It was a beautiful reminder of God’s plan for us. 

His plan is always infinitely better than we could ever plan for ourselves, even when it doesn’t seem that way. All I have to do is have some faith. Jesus said, the size of a mustard seed will do. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂