Author: Wendy

Trust the Potter

Posted on by Wendy
The newest version of the all important scientific calculator.
The newest version of the all important scientific calculator.

My high school freshman came home after her first day of Algebra 1, (Although it’s no longer called that; it’s now called Coordinate Algebra. Doesn’t that sound more rigorous?), and announced that she needed a scientific calculator. Her teacher told her that it was a good investment because they would use it all through high school.

I smiled as I remembered back to math during my high school days. My math teacher had said the same thing, and she was right. I did use it all four years of high school. Being a journalism major, I never used it again, thank goodness! And I can’t tell you for the life of me, what good tangent and cotangent are, but I digress.

Her calculator is a lot snazzier than the TI35, I had, but it serves the same function. The calculator got me to thinking about the things that we require for certain periods in our lives that are totally necessary at the time, but we will never use again afterwards. The first things I thought of were baby things, like cribs, high chairs and car seats. When your child is ten, you can’t get rid of that stuff fast enough, but when they are infants, they are a must have.

There are school supplies like crayons and glue sticks that elementary school kids need, but high schoolers have no use for crayons. Our lives are always changing. Nothing ever stays the same. We are in constant motion like the earth we live on. Our needs change as we change.From babies to seniors, we change and grow.

God is often depicted in the Bible as a potter. “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are the work of your hand.” Isaiah 64:8

I like the idea of Him molding and making me, but I have come to look at myself as more of a Play- Doh consistency than true clay and I think that’s a good thing. When a potter makes a cup or a bowl, he puts it in a kiln and bakes it into a hard, permanent shape. It will forever be a cup or a bowl.

However, I think that God calls most of us to do different things during our lifetimes. There are those of course, that know early on that they were called to do one thing and they do it well for a lifetime. But, many of us are called to do many different things during the many different seasons of our lives. Those tasks may not always look the same as we don’t look the same.

As we grow and mature and change, what we are called to do often changes too. We may go from being a saucer to a pitcher. I think the key is to stay flexible. Listen for His voice and remember that whether Play- Doh or clay, only the potter decides the final shape, not the medium being shaped. So, we should let go of our desire to control and see what He come up with. We are likely to be amazed. What do you think? Feel free to share.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Recognizing Evil

Posted on by Wendy
Our windows were iced over this morning.
Our windows were iced over this morning.

The good people of Georgia woke up to an icy, cold morning today. The temperature was a balmy nine degrees. Southereners simply aren’t prepared for this kind of cold. Many of our homes have heat pumps. Heat pumps don’t do well in frigid temps. There are probably many kids who don’t own big, winter coats, not because their parents can’t afford them, but because they are too “cool” to wear them and rarely need them.

Due to many factors, local schools were cancelled today along with schools in several surrounding counties. The weather was too dangerous to contend with. As I was going about my business, the ice on this window, really caught my eye. It was beautiful and kind of fairy-tale looking with the barren trees in the background. You wouldn’t know, peering through it from the comfort of my home, how cold and dangerous it was on the other side.

My family and I were recently watching “Return of the Jedi,” and we were discussing how evil the emperor looked towards the end. He didn’t look that way in the original movie, but he became hideous, obviously evil. So, I posed the question, “Wouldn’t it be nice if everything that was evil was hideous, so we would know it was evil?”

We love to think of the enemy as a horned devil carrying a pitchfork, but evil rarely shows its true face in the beginning. Like the emperor in the first movie, it starts off looking rather benign. Billy Graham once said, “All sin is fun, for a time.”

When evil presents itself to us, it’s often in a pretty frosty package like that window. It can seem harmless, but what waits for us on the other side can be dangerous. In the first “Star Wars,” Darth Vader was scary. The emperor was just a little man. In the “Return of the Jedi,” Vader was a slave to that little man.

So, how do we know if something is evil in nature? We just had this discussion in our middle school Sunday school class. We have to ask ourselves if it lines up with scripture. We know from Proverbs 3:5, that, “We are to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and lean not on our own understanding.”  That means what we as humans, “think” or “feel” is right, may not be.

Isaiah 55:8-9, tells us that, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” That means God knows better than we do, just like parents know better than their children do. He is all-knowing and we are not.

Finally, Ephesians 6:11, tells us “To put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Part of that armor is the gospel of peace.

We have to read the Bible if we want to know God’s thoughts, God’s plan and God’s will. It’s really the only way we can know the truth. Now is as good a time as any. It’s a new year. Let’s get started. Feel free to share.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

One Size Fits All

Posted on by Wendy
Jesus will meet you wherever you are.
Jesus will meet you wherever you are.

My teenage daughter has a very dear friend named April. When they first became friends in the fourth grade, she was very disturbed when she told me that April didn’t believe in God. I told her she should invite April to Vacation Bible School. She did and not only did April attend VBS , she began attending church with us and went through confirmation in the sixth grade. She was then baptized and joined our church. Never underestimate the power of a little children’s program called Vacation Bible School.

The girls are both in high school now and continue to be good friends. April is a very dedicated soccer player and plays year round. Last Fall, she was playing in a tournament and was badly injured. She was kicked so hard that she broke both bones in her lower leg. She was far from home and in excruciating pain. Her parents rushed her to the nearest hospital.

Her mother told me that she was sitting in the emergency room in a wheelchair crying hysterically. She was in so much pain and was very frightened. Out of nowhere, a woman who spoke Spanish, put her hands on April’s shoulders and prayed over her. April was instantly calmed. Her mom told me that an amazing sense of peace overtook her.

Here’s the thing, April doesn’t speak a word of Spanish and no one knew who the woman was. She wasn’t a nurse or employed by the hospital.

I have thought of this story often since I first heard it and I have wondered who she was. Of course, her identity doesn’t really matter. She was clearly sent from God. At that moment in time, she was given the ability to comfort a child with the presence of Jesus. Her actual words didn’t even matter. The heart knows prayer when it hears it and April’s heart was comforted.

If a fifty-year-old man was sitting there, God may have sent someone else. The awesome thing about Jesus is he is one size fits all. Wherever you are in life, he will meet you there, right where you are, with his arms outstretched. There is no path or place out of his reach. There is no waiting room or sickness or pain that will scare him away.

He is fearless and he wants you and me. I don’t know about you, but I find that to be very comforting. And as I seek comfort from him, I pray that he will use me to comfort too, just like the woman in the emergency room.

What do you think? Feel free to share.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

What Do You Seek?

Posted on by Wendy
This chest could contain anything...
This chest could contain anything…

Today is Epiphany. It’s the day when the church officially recognizes the visit of the Three Wise Men or the Magi. Have you ever wondered just who these guys were and why they brought gold, frankincense and myrrh?

The Magi were from somewhere in the far east like Persia or Arabia, no one knows for sure, but they traveled a long way to worship Baby Jesus. The scripture doesn’t say how many there were, but the assumption has been that there were three because they brought three gifts.

They would have been very well-educated and had obviously read Old Testament prophecy, possibly written by Daniel. They would have likely been born into being Magi and would have counseled kings on what they knew of the stars. They were very well-respected by all people, including kings, for the special knowledge and wisdom they possessed.

The gifts they brought were very expensive and traditional for kings. The deeper spiritual meaning is that gold represented his kingship and divinity. The pagans often used gold to make idols. By presenting Jesus with gold, they were acknowledging that he was from God. Frankincense was used was often used in worship and with burnt offerings. It would have been symbolic of Jesus having a priestly role. Myrrh was used for embalming and the myrrh foreshadowed Jesus’ death.

Jesus was probably not a baby when they arrived. The scripture says he was a child. Theologians guess he was between one and two years old. When King Herod learned they were in his country, he requested a meeting with them. They told him they had come looking for the King of the Jews in order to worship him. Herod told them to come back to him when they found the child, so he could worship him too.

They continued to follow the star until it stopped over the place where the child was. (By the way, no one can explain the star. It was a supernatural gift from God.) “When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother Mary, and bowed down and worshipped him.” Matthew 2:10-11.

When it was time for them to go, they went home another way, because God warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. Ever notice how God has his hands all over the place, when you really look? These guys were the first on record to worship Jesus. They were the first to acknowledge his divinity and kingship and God protected them by telling them to go home another way. They were the first to seek and were rewarded with God’s protection.

Like the Magi, when we seek Jesus, we will always find him. The question then becomes: What do we seek from him? Do we seek forgiveness, healing, guidance, peace? Do we seek to worship?

I’m asking myself this Epiphany what it is I’m hoping to find on this quest for more Jesus. Maybe you would like to join me? Feel free to share.

Have an Awesome Day!

Wendy 🙂

What Inspires You?

Posted on by Wendy
I like to surround myself with things that inspire me.
I like to surround myself with things that inspire me.

Do you remember when we used to take pictures that involved something called film? Do you remember when you returned from a wonderful vacation and you couldn’t wait to “get the pictures back” from the lab? We used to make albums with all of our photographs and they were a way to document our family history.

They told the story of births and birthdays, and weddings, and of holidays and family trips. They were special. Film was expensive, so photographs were for special occasions. Now, thanks to our smart phones and digital cameras, we take pictures constantly. Someone always has a camera out and photos are sent instantly via Instagram and Facebook.

While it’s really neat technology that we can share our moments with so many people so quickly, how often do we actually print those fabulous pictures? Do any of them ever make it into albums or frames. I love to frame pictures of happy times or of beautiful scenery that I have been blessed to see and display them in my home for me and my family to remember and enjoy.

I mean, it’s fantastic that a hundred Facebook friends can look at them for ten seconds, but who do I really take pictures for? I take them for me. Sometimes, life can get tough. Times can appear bleak. There’s nothing like looking around my house at pictures of better times, that bring back happy memories and make me smile. Sometimes I need to remember.

I made a board of pictures that inspire me and I hung it over the desk where I work. I think it’s easier to create when you are surrounded by quotes and photos that inspire you.

So, here’s my question of the day for you: What inspires you? It’s a brand new year. We have lots of work to do.  We have the opportunity to make a difference.The best way to get it done is to choose to serve in ways that inspire you. I challenge you to take sometime today or this weekend and think about what really inspires you. Try to get some pictures and actually print them. Put them where you can see them and then get going.

2014 will be fabulous. I can feel it! I’d love to hear about what inspires you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Making the Best of the Time We Have

Posted on by Wendy
Caves can be dark places.
Caves can be dark places.

Yesterday was New Year’s Day and it proved to be quite a lazy day for my family. We were up really late celebrating and we were running on half-charged batteries. We all napped at some point, including the dogs. The TNT Network was running the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy back-to-back. Now, if you ever have the desire to veg in front of the television for a day, there’s your perfect excuse.

Those movies have always captivated my attention along with a million others. Evil forces try to take over the world and a very unlikely underdog, a Hobbit, sets out to save it along with nine others to help him, but in the end, his best friend is the one who stays by his side to complete the quest. It’s a beautiful story of friendship. Good wins over evil and the scenery is stunning. It makes me want to visit New Zealand even though it’s like a twenty hour flight.

One of my favorite scenes of all time occurs in the first movie. They are in a cave and are being pursued by evil forces. The little Hobbit, Frodo, says: “I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.” Gandalf, the wizard, replies,” So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it and that is an encouraging thought.”

Those are timeless words which hold timeless truth. We often wish we weren’t living during these times, during a recession, during terrorist plots, during wars… But, that is not for us to decide. We must decide what to do with the time we are given. We can decide to trust that God put us here in this moment at this time for a reason and like Frodo, do our very best to see good win.

The writer of the trilogy was a man named J.R.R. Tolkein. He was born in 1892 and was a devout Christian. He was also a professor at Oxford in England with another man named C.S. Lewis. Lewis was an atheist when they met, but in time, Tolkein’s faith rubbed off on Lewis and he became a Christian. He went on to write, “The Chronicles of Narnia,” another wildly popular, Christian based, good always wins in the end, book.

You never know what may happen when you share your faith. Sometimes, it may be nothing. Sometimes, you may get to witness a small change in someone. Sometimes, incredible things can happen and the world is changed forever. Like Frodo, the choice of what to do with our time is ours to make. What will we do? Feel free to comment.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Resolutions

Posted on by Wendy
Happy 2014!
Happy 2014!

Well, the New Year is officially here. Aren’t you glad we mostly use debit cards now instead of checks, so you don’t have to remember to write 2014 instead of 2013? If you are anything like me, you may be a little tired today. I rarely stay up til midnight anymore. I have come to really appreciate the quiet of mornings and if you sleep til 10:00, you missed it.

So, if you are having a lazy day watching football games, enjoy yourself. We are beginning a brand new year and it’s full of promise and possibility. How can you make changes in 2014 to make yourself happier? Is there a dream you would like to explore? Is there a relationship you would like to mend? Could your marriage be stronger? Maybe you would like to draw a little closer to God.

Last year I made the resolution to be more intentional in all aspects of my life. By being intentional, I had to think about making time to exercise. I had to think about choosing an apple over a cookie. I had to think about how to carve out daily time to read the Bible.

I had to think about opportunities placed in front of me and only say “yes” to those things that I felt called to do. This meant learning to say “no” to some things, which has always been a struggle for me. I had to be more intentional about my prayer life and instead of chattering on endlessly to God, I learned how to be still and quiet and listen for the answers I sought.

I became more intentional about the books I read. I read some really inspiring books last year. I became more intentional about the sites I visited on the internet. There are some really inspirational blogs out there.

I am happy to report that being more intentional has become a way of life for me, (unlike many resolutions in the past). I highly recommend it as a resolution.

This year I’m hoping to really pursue the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Of course, the only way to have these is to continue to read the Bible and to pursue God and walk with Jesus.

I think the pursuit will be worth it. What about you? What are your resolutions this year? I’d love to hear them. Happy New Year.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

New Year’s Eve Should Always be a Celebration.

Posted on by Wendy
Make a little noise on New Year's Eve.
Make a little noise on New Year’s Eve!

I can’t believe it’s New Year’s Eve again. It seems like just yesterday that I was ringing in 2013 and now it’s almost over. Another year has passed. Where does the time go?

New Year’s Eve tends to be one of those competition celebrations. There’s so much pressure to do something fun and exciting. It’s always surrounded with a lot of hype that the event itself rarely measures up to. Then we have social media.

Everyone will take to Facebook with their awesome pictures of them having a great time and we sometimes feel that everyone’s life is more glamorous than our own. Is everyone on the planet having a fantastic New Year’s celebration? I doubt it.

I have come to see New Year’s Eve as the perfect opportunity to reflect on the year behind me. Was it an overall good year or an overall bad year? What did I get accomplished that I had hoped to? What didn’t I get done? Did I get any closer to being the wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter or person that I want to be? How did I do with relationships? Did I start any new ones? Did I strengthen current ones? Did I renew old ones? Did I end any?

My point is that New Year’s Eve is always worth celebrating. If it’s been a great year, we should thank God for it and celebrate its bounty. We should give thanks for all that we accomplished. I truly believe He celebrates with us and we honor Him when we recognize blessings.

If it’s been one of those tough years, we can celebrate its passing and be thankful that we had the strength to make it through as we pray for better days next year. God hears our prayers and all true hope comes from Him. Remember that hope is not like a wish; it’s active and expectant. Hope believes in results. “Be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord.” Psalm 31:24

So, whether you are attending a large party or celebrating at home as you watch the ball drop at midnight, I pray that you are filled with hope for the coming year. I pray that Jesus will wrap you in his arms as you bid 2013 goodbye and welcome in 2014. I pray that you are touched by grace and that your 2014 will be fabulous.

Happy New Year.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Now What?

Posted on by Wendy
Even though Christmas day has passed, Jesus' story continues.
Even though Christmas Day has passed, Jesus’ story continues.

I spent a good chunk of yesterday taking down my Christmas decorations. I find that most people fit into two camps with Christmas decorations. There are those who can’t wait to get them taken down and get their houses back in order and there are those who like to leave them up as long as possible in order to squeeze every drop out of the holiday season.

Personally, I have to take mine down by New Year’s because my daddy drummed it into my head while I was growing up that they had to be down by New Year’s Eve or it was bad luck. I have no idea where that superstition came from, but my tree is down. I’m sure my daddy is proud.

While putting up decorations is always fun and exciting and finding extra help from children or teens who live in your house is always easy. Finding help taking them down can be like living in a ghost town. It’s a chore; not a fun event. We plan the big meal and plan for family and we plan for the perfect gifts for our loved ones to go under our trees. We go to church and sing Christmas carols and then it’s done. Now what do we do?

Not one radio station is playing Christmas music today. It can be a little bit depressing. But, I remind myself that a lot goes into planning for any new birth. We attend birthing classes. We read parenting books. We have baby showers. We prepare a room.

Ask any mama; no matter how difficult the birth of a child was; the birthing is easy compared to raising a child. But, the rewards and blessings are greater too. After all of the preparation, we eventually bring the baby home.

So, instead of being sad about Christmas being over, I think it’s important to remember that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth. It’s a beginning, not an isolated event. The baby that we have spent so much time and preparation for has an awesome story.

If you are feeling a little wistful about the passing of Christmas, pick up a Bible and check out one of the Gospels. The tiny babe from the manger walks on water, heals many, casts out demons, raises people from the dead and eventually dies for us all, so that we may live eternally.

The Christmas story is just beginning, even though the decorations have been put away and we are invited to come along and see what unfolds. If you take the journey with the Baby Jesus who becomes the man; you will be forever changed and that is the true miracle of Christmas. What do you think? Feel free to share.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Gift of Family

Posted on by Wendy

My sister and her husband are visiting with their three children. They are ages one, three and five. My sister is a busy woman. My kids are older now at twelve and fourteen, so when my sister visits, it’s a bit of a shock to the system. But, it’s a good shock.

I always see God in the faces of children. They always do and say things that make me chuckle if not laugh out loud. I always learn something from them. My three-year-old nephew, called me last week to tell me he wanted to play with my Buzz Lightyear rocket as soon as he arrives from New Jersey.

He also called my mother to tell her that he wanted to play with her pool rockets (which are really water torpedos), but he requested that she bring those up to Aunt Wendy’s house. Since they are pool toys, I have no earthly idea what he will do with them, but Mom complied.

My other nephew, the five-year-old, told me in July that he wanted a Lego toy for Christmas. He told me to write it down so I wouldn’t forget it. From the mouths of babes!

Three young children can be quite disruptive, but they can also be a wonderful blessing. They will move all kinds of knickknacks that I have sitting around and I will find them placed safely somewhere unexpected weeks after they are gone. I will find tiny super heroes under my couch in January and sometimes into February.

I always smile when that happens. They come in like little Tasmanian Devils and they leave their mark on my heart. I am thrilled that I get to spend Christmas with these little ones. I am thrilled that my children and I get to be part of their Christmas memories.

I hope that they will tell fun-filled stories of being at my house for Christmas to their kids someday. They are blessed to have both of my parents here to spend Christmas with and we are all blessed to be together for one more year.

My brother joins us with his dog and there’s always a picture of the entire crew, which of course, takes like fifty takes. It’s colorful chaos for a while, but it’s good chaos.

Sometimes chaos makes the best memories and when everything  gets really loud or too out of hand, I say a little prayer to remind myself that family is a special gift, a true blessing.

In my quest to appreciate the journey, I’m trying to remember that occasional chaos is good for the soul and a perfectly orderly house is for magazines. Maybe you agree? Feel free to share.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂