Author: Wendy

As I was preparing to write today’s post, I was praying for guidance. My family has had a really rough week. Tornadoes tore across the Southeast last night and we are expecting a second wave tonight. To top it off, I woke up with one of those throbbing sinus headaches that refuses to let go, no matter how many cups of coffee combined with Advil and suphedrine you throw at it.

I’ll have to admit that I was feeling kind of low and uninspired. The skies were a dull gray and I was looking out the window and praying for some kind of inspiration for today’s post. I read a book last summer called, “Wonderstruck, by Margaret Feinberg.” It’s about asking God to show you the wonder in life. I highly recommend it. Our world is full of wonder and I found myself praying for some.

Almost immediately, a Cardinal plopped down on my deck. Those birds always make me smile because my hubby and I have a running  joke about them. His grandmother always told him that when you see a Cardinal walking on the ground that, “money is coming.” So whenever we see them, we joke about money being on the way. They truly are beautiful birds and they always brighten my day.

Right after the Cardinal landed, an Indigo Bunting landed on the other side of the deck. These birds are much rarer in my area. They are a gorgeous, deep blue. They are one of those birds that make you really appreciate God’s fabulous creativity.

 

I was already feeling better when a Scarlet Tanager also landed on the deck. These birds are not only rare here, but very difficult to spot. They are a favorite of bird watchers because of their vibrant red color and the black on their wings, but they usually stay hidden high in the canopy of trees. They are also migratory for my area, so he was likely just passing through. But, he just happened to pass through and land on my deck with two other beautiful birds while I was praying for wonder?

 

I don’t think so. The Bible says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7. I wasn’t praying for riches or a new car. I was praying that God would show me His presence on this dreary day. He did and now I’m sharing it with you.

Look for the wonder of God’s handiwork in the world around you. It might not be a burning bush, so look carefully and quietly. If you can’t find it, pray about it. He will deliver something memorable. Just give it a try. When has God provided you with wonder? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

We had a cold snap last week. It was rather late in the spring and there were quite a few things blooming that sustained some damage. There were a lot of people who had decided to go ahead and put out their summer plants like Impatiens. Some people had even planted summer veggies. After all, it had been in the eighties the week before. Surely, they reasoned, spring had at last, sprung.

My granddaddy always said it was safe to plant after Easter, but we should always be prepared for one last cold snap before Easter. I never understood how that could apply to Easter in March and Easter in April, but that’s what he always said. Like the good southern girl that I am, I always try to take the advice of folks with gray hair, so I had not planted anything yet.

These azaleas, however, were already in bloom. They had blossomed under the early hot weather and were truly beautiful. When a cold front that dropped into the thirties, came screaming through, the delicate blossoms didn’t make it. It’s an established plant with very strong roots, so it survived, but it lost its blooms.

I think our lives can be affected by cold snaps too. Sometimes, we are cruising along and the weather is gorgeous. There’s not a cloud in sight and the temperatures are balmy and perfect. Then an unexpected cold snap comes screaming through. We lose a job or get a serious diagnosis or file for divorce or lose someone we love. Life is full of cold snaps.

The damage we sustain depends largely on the roots of our faith. If our roots run deep enough, our blooms may suffer, but our hearts and souls remain intact. We know that the snap will pass and that God holds us in His hands and beautiful weather will eventually return.

Then there were these azaleas. These azaleas grow under some oak trees. The trees provided protection for them and their blooms were untouched by the cold. The Bible can offer us spiritual protection during life’s cold snaps and even our blooms can continue to shine in adversity.

When we are like Impatiens or newly planted vegetables, it’s much harder to survive the cold snaps. Those plants are tender and new and we have to rush around and cover them with something physical when the temperatures drop. It’s a lot of work to even keep them alive, much less get them to thrive. They don’t have the deep roots or cover.

I want to strive to be like the azaleas under the trees, growing deep roots of faith and using the truth of the Bible for cover. I wan to be prepared for life’s cold snaps. Care to join me? What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

While I was recently working in the yard, I came across this dead rose-bush. I was relatively certain it was dead at the end of last summer. We just got too much rain, but I had hoped that maybe, just maybe, it had some life in it. It didn’t. It had been a housewarming gift from a close friend some nine years ago and I hated to lose it, but I knew it needed to go. The time had come.

As I attempted to dig it up, it became clear very quickly, that although the roots were dead, the thorns were still quite dangerous. I had to go and get some gloves in order to proceed.

This rose-bush really made me think about things or situations in our everyday lives that we have closed the door on. When we have painful issues in our past and we just let them die instead of digging them and discarding them in the trash, they can have the potential to inflict pain on the present.

When we make the decision to walk with Jesus and we ask for forgiveness for past sins, they are forgiven. Jesus does his part. But, sometimes the most difficult step in the forgiveness process, is forgiving ourselves. It can be painful to revisit past hurts or guilt, so sometimes instead of doing the hard work of healing, we just kind of let those things scab over and die in place.

But, here’s the problem with that plan, sometimes those issues may have thorns that can continue to harm us. We can replay past mistakes and bad choices over and over. We become self-focused and we lose sight of the redemptive grace that covers all of our sins, not just the easy ones.

When we become self-focused, we can’t be God-focused. Who wins then?

Sometimes I think it’s important to do a little self-inventory, looking for hurts, guilt, anger or shame we may be carrying around deep in our souls. We may not have any and if so, that’s fantastic. March onward Christian soldier!

But, if we are holding on to some kind of thorny emotion from our past, then we should really devote some prayer time to letting it go. We need to be willing to put it at the foot of the cross and leave it there, going out joyfully into the world knowing that nothing is too hard for God and He wants us to be free from past sins to walk into a future full of Him.

That’s something I can really get behind. What do you think about thorns from the past? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂