Author: Wendy

Scratches on the Wall

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Sandy's scratches in the paint.
Sandy’s scratches in the paint.

I have a dog that gets so excited to see me when I come home, that he stands by the door on his back legs and scratches the wall until I get through the door. While I have scolded him repeatedly, he won’t stop. He can’t seem to control his enthusiasm for me. So every couple of months, I sand the spot and re-paint. It doesn’t take long for him to scratch up the wall again, but truthfully, it doesn’t take that long for me to repaint the spot either.

Now, let me give you some background on this dog. He followed my kids home from the neighbor’s house one day. He was a stray, covered in fleas. He looked just like the dog from the movie Annie, so my daughter named him Sandy. Keep in mind, we weren’t looking for another dog. We already had two. When we took him to the vet, they found a chip in him. He had an owner and we had to leave him. My kids were crushed, but when we checked in with our vet the next day, we found out that his owners didn’t want him and we were free to take him home. Talk about jubilation, my kids were thrilled.He was even featured on my daughter’s birthday cake that year.

Isn't he precious?
Isn’t he precious?

Whenever I find myself getting aggravated by the hairballs or scratches on the door, I try to ask myself, “Will this issue matter twenty years from now?” The answer is usually, “no”. Life is messy. Pets are messy. Kids are messy. They leave toys all over the place or their school work or their art supplies. My son is like Pigpen from the Peanuts. Remember how he used to walk around in a cloud of dust? Matthew leaves something behind him in every room he walks into. While it may frustrate me from time to time, in the end does it really matter? In just a few short years he will be off to college and I can have my perfectly orderly house and sadly, Sandy won’t be here forever either. The heartbreaking truth about dogs is that they never live long enough.

But, that brings me to my next question. Do any of us ever live long enough? Wouldn’t just about everybody ask for more time with loved ones if they could get it. The Bible says, “Three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

I think these are very wise words. Paint chips and messy houses will certainly fade, but the love of family or of the family dog, well, that’s forever. So, I’ll sand and paint from time-to-time and treasure the moments with the people and pets I hold dear, remembering they truly are a gift. How about you? Are you treasuring the things that matter most?

You can hardly see the scratches!
You can hardly see the scratches!

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

What are Your Distractions?

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When I sit down at a computer, I can become easily distracted by the internet. I may go to look up one thing, but find myself looking into something else altogether. On my homepage, news stories scroll through and inevitably, there will be one that I just have to read, thirty minutes later, I still haven’t started what I intended to. While the internet can be a fabulous tool for research, it can also be a distraction.

I suppose all electronics have the capability of being a liability, in that they steer us off course. One of the major threats on our roadways these days are drivers who text while driving. Most of us thought that the talking part was bad, but texting creates a whole new level of distraction and the results are sometimes deadly.

My daughter is drawn to the television. When it is on, she wants to watch. It doesn’t really matter what the show is about. My son would be one with his iPod Touch if it were possible. If he picks it up before he gets dressed in the mornings, his time simply disappears and he has no idea where it went.

There’s a very popular book series out called Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief.  In it, three kids are in hot pursuit of Zeus’s lightning bolt. While they are on the run, they step into the Lotus Casino. It has every game and snack imaginable and they are free. They decide to rest a little while. Percy realizes something isn’t right and they decide to leave. The bellhop attempts to lure them back, but when they get outside, they realize they have lost five whole days and only have one left to their deadline.

I use this example because distractions can be dangerous to our spiritual health. If I pick up my Bible to read while the television is on, I get distracted. I can’t concentrate. I can read the same page a couple of times and still not get the meaning.  The same thing happens if I try to have a conversation with my hubby with the television on. I can’t hear what he says if I’m listening to the t.v. My conversation with him should always trump my entertainment, but does it?

What about prayer? I’m a big believer in regular prayer. I can pray in the car or in the shower. But if I’m in the car and the radio is on, am I giving God my full attention? How can I expect my prayers to be answered if I ask half-heartedly, not really paying attention?

I think we need to be ever-mindful of this world’s distractions. Competition for our attention is at an all-time high. From an endless array of electronics to pressures at work and home, we are distracted from intentional living. We sort of plow through everyday, distracted by the latest Candy Crush game and pay less and less attention to our human relationships as well as our God relationship. This, I believe is the work of the enemy. There is one who wants us to be distracted, tired and unfulfilled. He wants us to just live our lives not to truly experience all of the joy that comes from true communion with each other and with God.

The only way to stop him is to live intentionally and be mindful of our choices and our distractions. We need to turn off the radio, t.v., iPad, etc.. when a person is talking and definitely find some silence when we want to pray. This isn’t easy in the noisy world that we live in, but I believe it is worth it. What about you? Feel free to comment.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Happy All Saint’s Day

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Mission Nombre de DiosMission Nombre de Dios

Today is All Saint’s Day. I was raised Protestant and never gave All Saint’s Day a passing thought. I believed it was a Catholic holiday and I wasn’t Catholic, case closed. As I grew older, I began to think of All Saint’s Day as a day to be thankful for the saints who have passed through my life.

Dictionary.com defines a saint as a person of great holiness, virtue or benevolence. If I were to ask you what person or people in your life were most instrumental in pointing you to God, I’ll bet someone pops into your mind immediately. Many of us have been blessed with many saints along our way, those who always embodied the virtues of Jesus; you know those people who were always willing to share faith or show faith in their actions.

One of the saints in my life who I always say a special thanks for on All Saint’s Day, was my cousin Janice. She was more of a grandmother figure than cousin, and she was always at church. She and her husband Leonard, would come and pick up my sister and me for Sunday school every Sunday morning. My mother would meet us there for worship service. For some reason, Mom had a  difficult time getting two little girls who were fifteen months apart and herself, ready and dressed in time for Sunday school. That was also back in the days where you had to have a huge Sunday dinner on the table immediately following church. I’m sure she was exhausted.

Anyway, Janice was always happy to help. She also directed VBS every year. She would line us up outside of church and march us in singing, “Onward Christian Soldiers.” She was always involved in putting the yearly Christmas Pageant together as well. I accompanied her on more than one occasion where she brought dust rags and mop buckets to clean the church and even then, we weren’t allowed to run in the sanctuary. “It was God’s house,” she explained. We were supposed to respect it. There were many other church events at that tiny country church from Easter Egg hunts to cookouts and Janice was always there.

She was also the one in our super large family who organized baby showers and wedding showers and helped the bride get dressed on her special day. When my grandaddy died, she was the first one at our house. She always had a smile on her face and loved to laugh. She went home to be with God close to twenty years ago and I still think of her every time I begin organizing VBS each year. I think of her every time I contemplate putting together the next Christmas play and I think of her on All Saint’s Day.

Janice was one of the many saints in my life who left permanent footprints on my heart. Her faithful example of Christ helped to inspire me to try to do the same. So today, I will say a prayer of thanks for Janice and for all of the saints who have helped point the way to Jesus and I will pray that God will help me to be a saint in someone’s life. What about you? Who do you have to be thankful for on All Saint’s Day? Who has helped you on your faith walk? How are you helping others? Feel free to share.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Robertsons

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Robertson hay bail

As I was traveling down Milledge Avenue yesterday I was taken by surprise by eight hay bales decorated for Halloween. It’s part of the Cattleman Association’s Halloween Havoc contest. Various groups buy the bales and decorate them for a chance to win a prize. My family looks forward to seeing  them every year because they are so creative and usually hysterical. There was a Batman this year as well as a pig from Angry Birds. One year someone depicted the swine flu. There are always some expected ones and always at least one or two unexpected ones. This year Willie Robertson caught my eye.

The Robertsons are everywhere. When I’m working at the school, kids are wearing the shirts. When I go to Wal-Mart, the merchandise is all over the store. There are Halloween costumes of the bearded family. Last Friday night, my hubby and I were watching Last Man Standing, and there were Willie and Si on network television. Not only were they guest starring on the show, Willie was actually quoting scripture to one of the characters. Quite scandalous these days!

Personally, I’m not a fan of reality television, but my entire family loves Duck Dynasty. Why is it that we are so captivated by the Robertson family? Their season premier in August broke all cable records with 11.8 million viewers. Everyone has their own opinion about the reason for the show’s success and it has its critics as well, but I think the heart of the show is it’s about family and faith and it’s funny.

In the eighties, we had Cosby and Family Ties. My mom grew up with Leave it to Beaver. We also had shows like Happy Days and The Brady Bunch. These were all clean, family shows where we were able to laugh at the mundane. The children respected their parents. The dads weren’t depicted as idiots. People went to church. These shows were not life changing or provocative, but they were fun. They depicted family as a good, solid force.

I know times change and vampires and werewolves apparently draw ratings and that’s okay. But it seems to me, that television executives might want to take notice. A Gallup poll in 2012 found that 77% of Americans consider themselves Christian. An ABC poll found the number to be 83%. That’s  a lot of Americans. Maybe Duck Dynasty’s success is these Christians saying that we would like to see more family friendly programming. Maybe these Christians are saying that we are perfectly fine with family sitting around a table at dinner and saying a prayer of thanks. Maybe these Christians are thrilled with being depicted as smart, funny and well-educated.

I certainly can’t speak for everyone who watches the show, but I love that the Robertsons love each other and they love Jesus. They have strong faith and a strong family and they have fun. In the end, what else matters? What do you think?

Have an awesome day and Happy Halloween!

Wendy 🙂

 

Jesus Doesn’t Throw Any Back.

Posted on by Wendy
I always loved this sign.
I always loved this sign.

My parents used to take me and my brother and sister fishing every summer in Florida. They had a little place on the Suwannee  River and I learned to fish in the shallows of the Gulf of Mexico. Ocean fishing is always exciting because you really never know what you will catch. It may be a crab, or a small shark or a stingray or it may be the perfect speckled trout. My daddy was very particular about what we were allowed to keep. We had to throw back lady fish, cat-fish, gar fish and any trout that wasn’t the specified length. That was Florida law, not daddy’s, but I remember holding my breath and watching him measure each trout I caught, hoping it was a keeper. Daddy was a stickler for the rules.

It’s funny how fishing can run hand-in-hand with faith. It takes patience to sit for a long time on a dock or a bank and wait on a fish to bite. It takes faith to believe there really is something under that water you are fishing in. The best fishermen will insist on silence as they wait for a nibble. You have to know exactly what bait to use to get the kind of fish you are after. Great fishing requires skill.

We know that at least four of Jesus’ disciples were fisherman by trade. Two sets of brothers, Andrew and Peter and James and John were fishermen. Three of those four men were also part of the inner-circle, Jesus’ besties if you will. They were also the first called. I wonder why that was. We know Jesus had a good sense of humor. Fishermen are known for wild and fun stories. Fishermen by trade, are also tireless workers, staying out all night if needed to bring in the catch. Maybe Jesus was looking for men with that kind of strong work ethic and commitment. Fishermen, like farmers, also have to have a certain faith and belief in something larger than themselves to do what they do day-in and day-out because so much of their bounty is out of their control.

The scripture doesn’t tell us why Jesus picked fishermen. We can only guess. The amazing thing is he told them from the moment he met them, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1:17. He spoke to them in terminology they could understand and they dropped everything and went. They had no clue what evangelism meant. They hadn’t attended an accredited seminary, but these men would help to change the history of all humanity with the telling of their stories.

Over two thousand years later, I am so glad Jesus chose those fishermen, those Everyday Joes. I can relate to them. Of course he goes on to choose a tax collector and one of them was a political zealot. We don’t know the occupations of the rest, but all of them were fabulously ordinary and he didn’t throw any of them back, not even the one who would later betray him. Jesus doesn’t throw anyone back. For all of our faults and shortcomings, we are all keepers to him. No one is ever just short of being good enough. Grace guarantees our place at the table and that is something to be thankful for everyday.

So as I think of my charge to be a fisher of men, I have to ask myself, “What kind of bait am I using?” “Am I being patient enough?” “Am I being quiet enough and listening?” “Am I careful to remember that Jesus wants every single soul and that there are no throwbacks?” These are questions that I think are important to consider. Maybe I’ll grab a cane pole and ponder. What about you? How’s your fishing going?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Weddings and Marriage

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My family attended a wedding this past weekend. It was an outdoor wedding at a horse farm. The simplicity  was spectacular. There were mason jars with candles in them scattered along fences. There were lights strung up in the trees. There was a small cabin on the property that was built in 1804. The ceremony itself was conducted in front of an oak tree that was at least 100 years old. I truly felt like I was in God’s very own cathedral.

The bride and her father laughed and chatted as they walked down the aisle to bluegrass music. The bride and the groom wrote their own vows. The bride said in hers, that she remembered when she was a little girl, she asked her mom who her best friend was and her mom replied, “your dad.” She remembered being surprised that her mom could have a boy as her best friend. She said that as she stood there with her husband-to-be, that she understood what her mom had meant. Now at this point, there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd.

What is it about a wedding that moves us to tears? Is it the promise of something brand new and beautiful? Is it the leap of faith that a couple takes when they commit to love each other until their last breath? Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding in Cana. I think it’s relevant to note that it was a celebration. While life is full of troubles; it also has many events worth celebrating and a wedding is one of those events. Jesus loves to celebrate our victories with us as well as holding our hands in tragedy. While most of us wholeheartedly invite him into the tragic events of our lives; how do we do with inviting him into the good times in our lives?

We love to celebrate weddings. We buy new clothes. We purchase a gift for the happy couple. We arrive to the wedding early enough to get a good seat and we open our hearts to the message and the hope. How do we celebrate the actual marriage? When the guests are gone and married life begins, how do we celebrate? Well, some people like the bride’s parents, become best friends and grow in their faith and love for one another, so much so, that it’s imprinted upon their offspring. Others don’t do so well and fight often and insist on their own way. How do we achieve a beautiful, inspirational marriage instead of an unfulfilling, tumultuous one?

Let’s go back to the wedding at Cana for a minute. First of all, Jesus was invited. He couldn’t have performed the miracle if he hadn’t been invited. We often invite him to our weddings, but not into our marriages. How can he perform miracles if he’s not there? Secondly, when we do invite him, we have to do what he tells us to do. John 2:5 says, “But, his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” The servants did and the rest is beautiful, Biblical history.

So what can we learn from this? Good, strong marriages are a form of worship. They are a testimony to God. Christian marriages are a lifelong ministry between husband and wife first and then it spills on to children. They are to be nurtured and treasured and if we want them to be inspirational and beautiful, we have to not only invite Jesus; we have to obey him and that I think, is worth the lifelong pursuit. What do you think?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Getting Past the Tough Parts

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Climbing a mountain can be tough! But, the view is worth it.
Climbing a mountain can be tough! But, the view is worth it.

Our heater just came on for the first time of the season. You know what that means, that disgusting, burning smell fills up the house. As I was driving my daughter to school today, they even had a radio call-in segment where everyone was complaining about that heater smell. Now, as much as we hate that smell, we sure do love the heat that comes with it. If you had to go without heat to get rid of the odor, wouldn’t you choose to keep the odor? The heat only has to run a couple of cycles and then the smell is forgotten until the following fall, but we enjoy the toasty heat all through the winter and into early spring.

There are a lot of life experiences like the first heat cycle of fall. At the very beginning, it may be misery, but if we keep going, it’s so much more comfortable and rewarding. Exercise is a perfect example of this. When you haven’t exercised in a while, you feel out of breath and out of shape. The next morning, everything aches and you wonder if it’s worth it. But, if you keep exercising, you begin to feel better and the soreness goes away. You feel stronger and you sleep better. You even look better and you are definitely healthier. But, you have to be willing to get past the beginning, uncomfortable phase.

Our faith walk can be uncomfortable in the beginning too. If you are searching for a new church home, walking into a new place full of people you don’t know may be intimidating. Walking into a Sunday school class where everyone is chatting like they have known each other forever can be uncomfortable. Attending a Bible study, when you have never read an entire chapter of the Bible much less a book, can be daunting. Learning to pray about everything can make us feel kind of foolish. We ask ourselves, “Does God really care about my little problems?” The answer is yes. He knows what you need before you know.

The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.” We know what thanksgiving means, but what exactly does supplication mean? The dictionary defines supplication as, to ask humbly. Uhoh, we’re not big on humility these days. Humility is defined as: the quality or state of thinking that you are not better than other people.

Okay, so we’re supposed to pray about everything, (especially the big stuff, but including the seemingly trivial stuff), and we are supposed to be thankful every time we pray, which is not always easy because sometimes we wait until we are in a bind or facing some kind of tragedy before we pray in the first place. It’s difficult at that point to be thankful. Finally, we are supposed to pray with humility, which means we accept we don’t deserve what we ask for, but we ask it anyway. That requires faith.

This prayer discipline, this attitude, takes lots of practice and can be uncomfortable at first because it’s contrary to our human nature, but if we are diligent, our entire lives can be transformed. As I sit here enjoying the toasty heat (with no burning smell), coming from my vent, I think this faith journey and prayer life is worth the work. What do you think?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Who are Your cheerleaders?

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I was a cheerleader in high school. It wasn’t because that was what the popular kids did or anything as shallow as that. I was a cheerleader because it was what I was good at doing. I tried basketball and probably played a total of two minutes the entire season. I was terrible at it. I tried running track and pulled a hamstring like the second or third practice and was out for the season. I even attempted to play tennis, but my hand-eye coordination wasn’t very good. Turns out that I liked jumping up and down and cheering others on.

As much as we love to make fun of the cheerleader type, you know what I mean, the popular, snotty girls, when I look back over my life, I am really grateful for my cheerleaders. Think about the people who have always encouraged you to keep going or who believed in you or in an idea you had. Those are your cheerleaders. My mom has always been my loudest cheerleader. She has always been ready to cheer me on to victory whether it was for cheering tryouts in high school or deciding to go away to college. She has always read just about everything I have written and has always encouraged me to keep going.

That’s really what cheerleading is; it’s encouraging. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” I think we are supposed to encourage one another to help each other reach our full, God-given potential. I had a high school English teacher, Nancy Kennedy, who always encouraged me to write and I think of her every time I sit at a keyboard. I have had many encouragers along the way and I try to be an encourager myself.

I try to go out of my way to tell my kids that I am proud of them or the kids that I’m subbing for that their work looks good. Children will bloom right before your eyes with the right encouragement, but adults will too. I once interviewed this woman for an industrial type job and I asked her why she had never considered office work; she looked at me without hesitation and told me that she never thought she was “good enough” for office work. While I was stunned at her revelation, I told her  I disagreed with her. You wouldn’t believe how much taller she sat up in her chair. A little encouragement can go a long way.

I think Jesus, was the best example of encouragement that we will ever have. I love the story of him walking on water. Peter sees him and I picture him bouncing up and down in the boat like a child, “let me walk on water too!” Jesus tells him to come. Now you know Jesus knows, he’s going to get scared and sink, which of course he does, but he encourages him to come anyway; just like we encourage our own kids to ride their bikes without training wheels, even though we know they will likely fall. Why do we do that? We do it for the same reason Jesus did it; riding a bike takes practice, just like fearless faith takes practice. Even though Jesus knew Peter’s faith would fail him, he encouraged him to try, and then reached out for him and saved him as he started to sink. Jesus’ belief in Peter’s faith did pay off in the end.

Today, I am going to think of some of the people in my life who have offered me much-needed encouragement on my way, my journey cheerleaders of sorts. I’m going to say a special prayer of thanks for them and then I am going to try to thank at least a few of them with an e-mail or a call. Next, I’m going to find at least one person who I can cheer for today. What about you? Care to join me? Feel free to comment.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I Learned All I Need to Know About Faith at VBS

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Jesus Loves Me.

Worship takes many forms including singing and dancing.

There’s a time for everything; a time to listen, a time to share, a time to pray, a time to create, a time to snack, a time to sing and dance and a time for worship. 

Community is important.

Friendships are to be treasured.

God is creative and He made me to be creative too.

We are all beautiful and unique just like the tie dye shirts we make every year.

My art is beautiful.

My singing voice is beautiful to God.

Jesus died for my sins, but God brought him back to life and He always forgives me if I ask.

The Bible is God’s book and we are supposed to read it daily.

I can talk to God anytime I want to through prayer.

I should watch for God everywhere I go because He is everywhere.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

It All Came From a Tree.

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This is the tree that inspired me to create!
This is the tree that inspired me to create!

My brother-in-law died very suddenly last year. We got a call in the middle of the night from my nephew telling us he had a massive heart attack. We were stunned. It was the last thing we ever expected. Tim was larger than life and had survived so much trauma in his life. He seemed invincible to me.

My husband and I have not been involved in an adult Sunday school class in several years because we have been teaching a middle school class. This can sometimes leave us a little lonely for adult companionship at church. But, when we got to the funeral home and were looking at the flowers there was a tree sent from our Sunday school class. They had come together and not only sent something; it was a four-feet tall tree. I was so moved at the gesture. While we weren’t communing with them regularly, they still considered us family. The outpouring of cards and letters from church members of all ages, was unbelievably uplifting. There’s nothing more comforting in times of great pain than being a part of a loving community of believers. I still thank God for their support and I try to remember it when others experience the same kind of loss.

When we got ready to leave the funeral home, my sister-in-law insisted that we take the tree with us. There were so many plants and flowers; she said she had nowhere to put them all. So, we took the tree along with a few other plants. I moved the tree to several rooms to try to find the perfect spot for it and didn’t have much luck. It needed space and a lot of light. Then I found the perfect pot. After that, I actually rearranged an entire room so it could sit in front of the windows. Next, I decided the room needed to be painted the same shade as the pot, a kind of blue-green color. Then, I found myself a memo board where I put up pictures that truly inspire me like the Gulf of Mexico and the Mission Nombre de Dios in St. Augustine. There’s also a picture on it of a statue of Jesus with open arms. I didn’t know why I was putting all of these things together; I just felt inspired to do so. It was a kind of nesting.

On my desk underneath the memo board, there is a cross made from olive trees from Gethsemane in the Holy Land that my friend Anne brought me. On the desk, is my laptop where I conceived the idea of my blog. All of this creativity, all of the painting and reorganizing and putting pictures together that I have taken over many years, the notes that I take, the words that I write, all were triggered by a tree. A tree that was a heartfelt gift from those who cared about my family in our time of sorrow. Who would have thought that gift would have triggered so much?

We never know what a simple act of kindness can lead to, but lately I have become very diligent in extending kindness whenever or wherever I can, because even as I write this, I sit in awe if what it can lead to. The Bible tells us in Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone-especially to those in the family of faith.”  I am so thankful that the Discovery Sunday School Class sent that tree and the creativity that got switched on in me because of it. What can I do today to extend kindness to someone who needs it? What can you do? If we pray about it, I have no doubt, God will tell us.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂