Author: Wendy

The Scars are Part of the Beauty

Posted on by Wendy
At the time, I suspect someone was very unhappy with that spot. Now, it’s simply part of the table’s story.

Last weekend, I asked my hubby to drag our kitchen table out into the garage. It’s an old farmhouse table that was long overdue for some tlc. The table has a cool history. My hubby’s granddaddy built it for his growing family, back before my mother-in-law was even born.

That table has had countless meals served upon it and there’s no telling how many conversations. Over the years, there would have been discussions of the Great Depression by the folks sitting around it as well as talk of World War II and the Kennedy Assassination.

I’ve no doubt, that thousands of prayers have been lifted up in its presence.

My hubby and I have had that table for some 21 years now and our own family has added to its history, including the glitter that got in its cracks while my Mama was helping my children with some Christmas crafts.

Some years back, in an effort to preserve it, I put a coat of a water based sealer on it. Unfortunately, after years of wiping it down before and after dinner, the finish became sticky and napkins and any other type of paper would stick to it.

I tried a simple fix early last summer, of sanding it. It didn’t work, so I had to resort to more drastic measures. I had to actually strip it and sand it and then reseal it with an oil based product.

As I was working on the table over the weekend, I marveled at all of the nicks and scratches. There’s a dark black spot on it, that my hubby says was always there. I wouldn’t dream of trying to remove it. I’m not sure I could if I wanted to. For me, it along with all of the other scars, adds to the table’s story and beauty. It makes it unique.

But, I’ll bet my hubby’s grandmother was furious when it happened. I mean, it’s a huge black spot. She couldn’t have possibly known how long that table would be around or thought about the roll it would play in the lives of her great-grandchildren, who she would never even meet.

As I was coating the table with polyurethane, I thought about how we all have spots, and dings, and scars, like that table. They come from simply living.

Sometimes we try to deny them and hide them, and when we got them, we most likely could see no good coming from them. But those scars add to our beauty. They helped to shape who we are. They help us reach out to others along the way, who can benefit from our wisdom.

And who knows, some of those lessons learned, may actually filter down to our own great-grandchildren.

A beautiful old table reminded me to embrace who we are and where we’ve been, scars and all, and to remember that those scars and scratches come from living a long life. Not everyone gets that blessing. Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Respecting the Boundaries

Posted on by Wendy
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,”says the Lord.”And my ways are far beyond anything you can imagine.” Isaiah 8

I grew up in the country, ten miles out of town. We had a really long driveway, but about half-way to the end of it, there was a tree. When my sister and I rode our bicycles, which we often did, Mama told us not to go past that tree. She didn’t want us to get too close to the road.

She told us the road was dangerous. There were very few cars that traveled down it. I didn’t really see what the big deal was, but we complied. We probably pedaled a hundred miles during the summer time, up and down that driveway, but we didn’t venture much further than that boundary she had set.

We had a poodle when I was growing up and she had puppies. We were allowed to keep two of them. We loved those little yippee dogs. One morning, before school, one of them didn’t return from their morning bathroom break, when we called for them.

We lived on many acres and it would have been impossible to fence it all. We waited and waited, but Mama said we had to go to school.

When we reached the end of the driveway, the dog had been run over by a car. We were devastated.

It turned out that the road was in fact, a dangerous place. Mama knew things that our little minds couldn’t possibly comprehend. I had a brand new respect for the dangers of the road.

Fast forward some forty years. We are living in the information age. If we don’t know the answer to something, we just Google it. Brand new, infinite knowledge, is always at our fingertips.

It’s easy to start to think that we know everything.

It’s interesting that the one tree in the Garden of Eden that Satan tricked Adam and Even into eating from, was the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan wanted them to believe that they could know all that God knows and thus began the fall of man.

When we become Christians and walk with Jesus, we acknowledge that we don’t have all of the answers and we never will on this side of Eternity. How else do we wrap our limited minds around the concept of grace?

We begin to understand that we can’t know what God knows and that wisdom and knowledge are not the same thing.

There are boundaries set for God’s children, just like that tree in my driveway. We sometimes don’t understand them, just like I didn’t understand mine as a child, but God has His reasons, just like Mama had hers. He knows things that our little minds can’t possibly fathom.

Boundaries aren’t meant to hurt or restrict us. They are meant to keep us safe and true wisdom comes from understanding that.

An old tree in a driveway reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

A Call to Share the Light

Posted on by Wendy
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5

On Monday, I wrote a post, called “The Rear View Mirror Illusion,” about struggling with thoughts about my best years being behind me instead of in front of me. I wrote about how we can get pulled into looking into the rear view mirror and long for those days gone by, because time has a way of whitewashing the past.

I had that post on my mind for two full days before I actually typed it out. I usually keep a notebook close by to jot down ideas that may present themselves at any given moment.

I feel like God reveals Himself to me all of the time and more often than not, I probably miss it and so I try to keep a look out and take notes.

But, that morning, that prayer, that sunrise, and that rainbow, just wouldn’t leave me alone. God often speaks to me in a whisper, but I felt like that day, He was using a megaphone and the need to write it down and share it, just wouldn’t go away.

So, Sunday morning, even though I was out of town, even though I was working on something else, even though I was visiting with my Mama, I powered up my laptop and told my story.

I don’t know why I was surprised that I got more likes, comments and shares on that post than I’ve had in a long time. It was something a lot of people clearly needed to read. It resonated with them. It offered some encouragement to some struggling hearts and reminded them that God is still listening, still working, and still in control.

The response to the post, reminds me of how important it is to share with others, both our trials and triumphs on this faith journey.

It’s so easy to just plaster on a smile and say that everything is fine, but this side of Eternity, will always be littered with obstacles and pitfalls. There are valley moments along with the mountaintop moments. It takes both to grow our faith.

And there are times when we will feel a quiet, insistent, nudge to reach out to someone with encouragement. Sometimes we have no idea why. Sometimes we are busy doing something else. That post reminded me to make the call; send the text; extend the invitation, because God is still in the business of using His people to share His light with a world that at times, can be very dark.

And don’t we want to be a part of that?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Rear View Mirror Illusion

Posted on by Wendy
Someone else took the time to snap a photo of that beautiful rainbow.

One day last week, I was driving to work, deep down into my bones, weary. It had been a long stressful week both at work and at home and I was running late. While none of these issues were serious in the big picture, I’ll have to admit that I sometimes live in the moment.

I allow my daily annoyances and stresses to completely cloud my vision and the big picture gets lost. My current situation takes over my thoughts and I can find myself feeling like I’m drowning.

This day was one of those days.

I usually find the remedy to these counterproductive thoughts in prayer. I was certainly praying that morning. I glanced in my rear-view mirror and saw the most gorgeous pink clouds behind me. When I looked ahead, the sky in front of me was gray. The sun hadn’t touched it yet.

I sighed as I asked God why sometimes life looks like all of the best times are behind us.

If we are honest, I think we all probably do that from time-to-time. Don’t we? We look at where we are and we look at where we’ve been and we remember the good old days and we wish we could go back. We wonder if we will ever be that happy again.

We forget that time has a way of filtering the bad stuff out of our memories and we remember the good. Why else would anyone with a toddler ever want a second child? Those stresses are so real and hard at the time, the tantrums and defiance, the potty training, but the joy we get from that toddler crowds out the stress and we eventually forget.

I prayed for peace, strength and reassurance, during the rest of my short drive.

When I turned onto the road where I work, the sky was beautiful and bright. It was full of pink clouds and when I pulled into my parking lot, my soul felt lighter. I thanked God for the sign. I took a deep breath as I went racing toward the door, when a voice behind me called out. She wanted to chat and I was late and a little annoyed at the interference.

I politely slowed down and chatted with her. Then she stopped and pointed out the rainbow over the building. It was so faint; you could hardly see it, but it was there and I was amazed as I fought tears.

No, the best days were not behind me and yes, God was there and still listening, still present and still very involved and yes, He was still in the business of answering the prayers of His children who cry out to Him.

I really needed reminding that day. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Age Inspiration

Posted on by Wendy
Strong faith takes a lifetime to grow.

I recently asked a friend of mine how her dad was doing. He had just lost his wife a couple of months earlier. She had been sick for a while, but death is always hard.

She told me that he was doing well and that he told her he had started walking with some ladies in his church. He said he needed to get in good shape for when he was older. He’s 90.

She and I laughed and I marveled at his attitude. It’s so easy to find something to be down about. Just turn on the news. It’s also easy to grumble about getting older. Our bodies begin to change shape and ache. We don’t have the energy we used to. We can’t see or hear as well.

We could come up with a long list of why youth is better and spend a lot of time dreaming about the good old days.

But, with age, comes wisdom. We simply know and understand more than our younger counterparts do. In many ways, we become more fearless that we were when we were younger. We learn from living, that many of our fears and stresses were unfounded to begin with, but try explaining that to a teenager.

They can’t possibly understand and I don’t think they were meant to. They have to do their own living and make their own mistakes. Wisdom must be earned over time.

There was a man named Caleb, in the Bible, who was one of the spies to check out the Promised Land. He was 40 at the time. He and Joshua were the only two men who gave a good report and stood strong in their faith. The other ten spies panicked and persuaded the rest of Israel to do the same.

God rewarded Caleb and Joshua for their faith. They didn’t get out of the forty plus years of desert time, but they did see the Promised Land. When Joshua was dividing up areas for each tribe, Caleb, who was now 85, told Joshua to give him an area that had not yet been conquered, the fortified city with the Anakites. He said he was as strong as ever and with God at his side, they would take it.

Joshua agreed and Caleb and his clan prevailed. Caleb could have easily requested another area, something flat, by the water, that had no more fighting involved. Surely he’d earned it. Yet, he chose the more difficult route, because his faith told him he could.

My friend’s dad reminded me of Caleb, still strong, still fighting and still standing for God. He inspires me to do the same. Maybe you needed a little inspiration too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Choir Lessons

Posted on by Wendy
We should always be open to both sharing with others and receiving from others, the gift of wisdom that comes from living.

A few weeks ago, we were practicing a new choir song. I don’t read music. I sing what I hear, but I have learned which notes mean to go higher or lower, even if I don’t know exactly how much higher or lower. But, sometimes the music looks like complete chaos to me.

There will be three different rows of notes and different parts and then the sopranos will switch up with the altos or we will join in with the men, and I find myself completely lost. This was one of those times.

At some point, I leaned over to my choir buddy to my right and made some comment about being clueless. She’s been reading music her entire life. She gently reached over and took my song book out of my hands. She took my pencil and she made notes. She drew arrows and wrote in short directions. It only took her a couple of minutes.

She handed it back and asked me if that helped. It did and I was ever so grateful. She took a foreign language of sorts, and translated it into something I could understand.

I thought about the exchange long after practice was over. I thought about how at one time in my life, I would have never even asked for help. I probably would have just faked it somehow. If I’m honest, I probably would have been insulted that she took my book and actually wrote in it.

But, the older I get, the more humble I become. Pride is often not a useful emotion and rarely a productive one among God’s people. My friend heard me ask for help and she swiftly provided it. She has way more knowledge about music than I ever will. Why would I not be grateful for the lifeline?

She reminded me that we should all be reaching out to those around us who are struggling with something that we may have unique wisdom about. It could be how to survive a rough season with a difficult child, or a rough patch in a marriage, or a season of sickness, or financial issues. Sometimes our wisdom may involve matters of the Church or the Bible.

Every morning that we wake up, we should hear the little whisper that God is not done with us yet. We can begin each day with wide open eyes to not only reach out to others, but to be ready to receive as well.

A choir practice reminded me not to miss the many opportunities to share our wisdom with other people who are on this journey we call life. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Tree Lessons

Posted on by Wendy
Even thought the seasons change, our hope doesn’t have to.

My mama and daddy just went to the North Carolina mountains for a week, with some cousins. They had a ball and Mama sent me some pictures of their beautiful surroundings. I’ll have to admit, it was breathtaking. I love the beach and the mountains equally. I feel closest to God in those places.

When I surround myself in the sphere of His creation, I can’t help but to feel His presence and hear His voice.

As I was looking at some of the pictures, I thought about how they would be even more spectacular in a month or so, when the leaves start turning colors, with bright oranges, yellows, and reds.

Then, I began to think that the trees have no idea that something even more beautiful is coming. They are content with the green. Yet, in the dead of winter, when they are completely bare, that green looks like the prettiest color ever.

But, even when they are bare, the work of growing, still goes on beneath the surface. There’s even beauty in the bareness because the stars in the sky, become even brighter. They aren’t obscured by the leaves.

The pictures stayed on my mind all week as I felt a little nudge reminding me that our lives can be a lot like those trees.

When things are green and we are growing fast and everything is going right, we sometimes can’t imagine that God has something better for us. We get content. We settle. Sometimes we stop listening and get complacent.

The green season is probably where we spend most of our time.

Then, there are seasons when something wonderful happens, our lives are filled with brilliant colors and mountain top moments, like births, weddings, new houses or new jobs. While those may tend to be our favorite seasons, they typically don’t last for very long.

Then there’s the bare seasons, when our comfortable reality seems to drop and disappear. It may look like we have nothing left and hope can get lost. But, just like the trees, when they are bare, these are the times, when heaven shines the brightest. These are the seasons when we depend on God the most.

These can be the seasons that grow our faith the most, because when we cry out to God and seek Him, He will answer. He will restore our hope and hold our hand as we journey into a new season, one even more beautiful than we ever imagined.

My mama’s mountain pictures reminded me that on this side of Eternity, we all go through different seasons, easy ones, beautiful ones and hard ones and that none of them last forever. Whatever season you may find yourself in today, remember, as a child of God, you never walk alone. A new season is coming.

Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you needed reminding too. Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Following Heavenly Radar

Posted on by Wendy
I couldn’t have know an hour earlier, that the light would be perfect.

Last May, I made an appointment for my son to have his senior pictures taken at the end of July. I knew the summer would be busy, with his wisdom teeth surgery, vacation, family visiting, me working, his birthday, my Daddy’s birthday, my daughter’s birthday and band camp, not to mention, school starts back sooooo early.

I knew my window was small and I knew the photographer I wanted to use, so I contacted her and I booked a date early. The pictures were going to be outside, so I kept my eye on the weather. Picture day started out with rain and the skies were gray most of the day, but the radar kept assuring me that there would be no rain during our time slot.

A couple of hours beforehand, it was raining. I contacted the photographer. She was watching the radar too. We emailed back and forth about the possibility of cancelling. She was already booked for the rest of the week and was getting ready to leave the country for a couple of weeks.

I was really unsure about what to do.

The radar promised that it would clear. We adjusted the time a little and decided to give it a shot. It rained on us on the drive there. I wasn’t very hopeful.

But, when we arrived, the skies cleared, just as the radar indicated they would. The sun came out and the light was spectacular. It was cooler after the rain and we were so glad that we didn’t cancel. We walked around for a couple of hours and the pictures turned out beautifully. I couldn’t have asked for better.

I had come so close to cancelling because I was going by what I could see.

The entire experience made me think about how often we make mistakes and miss out on blessings because we walk by sight and not by faith. The Bible, along with our prayer life, gives us the perfect radar to make decisions not based on what we think or feel at a particular moment, but by discerning what His will is for us and what He says is true.

The Bible tell us that, “We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7

Sometimes, we feel called to do what seems like the impossible. Sometimes we are fearful of stepping out in faith, but if our heavenly radar has given us the go ahead, we can be sure the skies will in fact, clear and the blessings are coming.

A photo shoot reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy

Bird Like Faith

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes just a tiny bit of faith can have huge results.

Last spring, a little bird decided she wanted to build a nest in our garage. My hubby and I thought it was a bad idea, so we fought her. She would gather up some twigs and sticks and put them high on a shelf and one of us would take them down. The next day, they would be back.

We didn’t think it would be possible for her to raise her babies in our garage. The door stays closed most of the time. How would she feed them? There’s also a cat that prowls around our yard. He belongs to our neighbor, but he can always turn up at any time.

We couldn’t figure out how she was building so fast. We kept the door closed, but the twigs and straw kept growing. At some point, we gave up.

One day, when I was working on a project in the garage, with the door closed because of weather, that little bird came flying through a small hole at the bottom of the garage door. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t imagine her being able to get through it to begin with, much less carry her nest materials, but she did.

It was really kind of amazing. We left her alone. She laid her eggs. She hatched them and those baby birds would get silent any time they heard us in the garage. And then they were gone. I knew they had been there because of the mess they left. Birds tend to do that, but I think every one of them survived because I never saw any dead ones and our feline friend tends to leave trophies if he’s been hunting.

That little bird reminded me of the many things that can be accomplished, when we have faith. Her quest seemed impossible to me, but she never gave up, even when we kept destroying her hard work. Her instinct told her that was the best place for her nest, (even though we have a hundred trees in our backyard). She was right and was rewarded for her perseverance.

Jesus tells us, “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

There are times in our lives when we know that God wants us to do something. Sometimes it seems impossible, but we have to remember that all things are possible with God.

A little bird reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Spiritual Sea People

Posted on by Wendy
The skies got dark, but it never stormed.

On a family beach trip this summer, we were sitting out by the ocean and the skies got dark. The wind picked up. The people who were sitting around us, started packing up their things to go inside, it seemed like a storm was iminent.

But, my hubby and I, stayed put. When our kids inquired if we were going to go inside and beat the storm, we pointed out that there were parasailers in the air. There were also two snorkeling boats with snorkelers in the water. There was even a couple of boats with guys selling ice cream and peanuts, that were continuing to do business.

We were simply tourists. We knew what the signs of a storm were, but those people were sea people. They are on the ocean everyday, close to year round. Their livelihood comes from the ocean. They have sea wisdom that those of us who just pass through from time to time, can’t possibly have.

They never headed for shelter and neither did we. The wind whipped up. The skies looked threatening for a little while, but the storm went around us. We didn’t get a drop. It wasn’t very long before those folks who panicked and ran for cover, had to drag all of their beach stuff back out.

I thought about the missed storm, long after our beach trip. I thought about how the skies in our daily lives can get awfully dark sometimes. I thought about how easy it can be, to panic and run for the hills. Fear can be a powerful force that can invade our every thought, if we allow it to. Fear can steal our peace.

But, I also thought about the importance of surrounding ourselves with people who have been through storms before, and like those sea people at the beach, know when to take cover and know when to stand fast.

When I think about the people I know, there are some that just do life well. They have trials and troubles like everyone else, but they handle them in different ways. How do they do it?

They keep their eyes focused on heaven and they retain a peace that can only come from God. They know that the true battle is always spiritual and they spend a lot of time in prayer. The storms come and go, but they weather them in a way that is different than so many people do.

A missed summer storm reminded me to not only seek out spiritual sea people, but to seek to become one myself. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂