Due to my daughter’s weekend appendicitis, I don’t have a post for today. Her surgery went well and she is on the mend, but my entire family is exhausted. I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day and I will have a new post in the next couple of days. God had His hands all over the entire ordeal and I can’t wait to share it with you.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
My daughter and I have begun exercising together. We walk with a little running, several times a week. For years, I’ve tried to get her to exercise, just because it’s a great stress reliever, but she was never very interested. For whatever reason, this year, her senior year, she has decided to listen to her mama.
Maybe she’s getting wiser? (LOL)
We always begin our walks with a lot of talk, but as we work harder and breathe harder, we talk less. Yet, even though we don’t talk as much, we really enjoy walking together. It doesn’t take spoken words for each of us to know that we support each other.
A few days ago, we were walking and there was a nice breeze when we started. A little while into our walk, the breeze died and my daughter commented on how the heat was like walking into a wall, but as we walked a little further down the road, we hit some shade and when we hit the shade, we could run.
We never ran when the sun was beating down us. We walked during those segments.
Then there were the breezes that would encourage us to keep going. We reminded each other of the breezes we encountered on our mission trip last summer that allowed us to keep working in the all consuming heat.
I thought about that walk and our talk in the days that followed.
I thought about how those who we hold most dear don’t even have to share words with us to make us feel loved and encouraged. Just being near them is often enough.
I thought about life’s journey and how there are shady times when we can run and run, and we don’t even feel tired. But, there are also times when we can barely put one foot in front of the other, and we feel the sun ruthlessly beating down on us. If it weren’t for the breezes, we couldn’t keep going at all.
But, God is so faithful in sending those breezes in so many different forms. They can be a call from a friend, running into someone who can offer us guidance, prayers sent up on our behalf, being at the right place at the right time, discovering a brand new passion for something we enjoy, or reviving an old one, our church community, or a new job.
The breezes are anything and everything that God sends our way to lighten our load a little and give us hope. If we are vigilant, we can always find them and feel them, even when we feel we are in a desert kind of heat.
We need to remember that there are times on our journey to walk, and there are times to run. There are even times to rest, but most importantly, as children of God, we never walk alone.
A walk with my daughter reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
As I sit and write this post, I can hardly believe that it’s September already. The summer seemed to fly by at a faster than normal pace this year. I suppose the older I get, the faster it goes.
Those of us who live in the Deep South, know that summer and its heat are not nearly done with us yet. We will have many more hot days here before summer begrudgingly yields to fall.
Yet, all seasons, whether we love them or hate them do eventually end. Even though it’s still really hot during the day time here, this evening, I am able to sit on my porch with my laptop and actually enjoy God’s creation, without sweat running down my back.
When did that happen? The slight cooling of the evening air, seemed to happen overnight, even though I had desperately been hoping for it for weeks.
But, seasons are like that, aren’t they? Some seem to drag on forever and we wonder if they will ever end. We sometimes find ourselves praying through our own sweat and tears during hard seasons, wondering if the heat will ever break and then suddenly, we can feel some coolness, some refreshment, some hope.
Other seasons, like spring and fall, seem to speed by at some kind of turbo pace and we would give anything to slow the season down just a little, just so we would have more time to bask in the beauty and soak it all in.
The truth is, our lives are marked by all kinds of seasons, short and long, ugly and beautiful, chaotic and peaceful. The Bible tells us there is in fact, “a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
That same chapter also reminds us that, God has made everything beautiful its time.
Whatever season we find ourselves in, we never walk alone. Jesus holds our hands when we weep and He rejoices with us when we celebrate. He helps us up when we fall and always welcomes us back to the fold when we stray.
And even in the darkest, or rainiest, or hottest of seasons, there is always some beauty, some light, some hope because we have Jesus.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John 1:5
“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
Whether we are in a season of beauty or a season of downright ugly, we are loved and treasured. We are His and that never changes, no matter the season.
A little breeze reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
There’s a man who has been a leader on both of my Salkehatchie mission trips. He’s a retired navy fighter pilot. He’s completely white-headed and a force to be reckoned with. He’s tough as nails, just as you would hope one of our soldiers would be. He loves Jesus and he loves working with and sharing his faith with teenagers.
The kids have a deep respect for him as do I, even if they are a little intimidated by him at first.
On our last trip, we were finished up on our work site and we were headed out for milkshakes at a local restaurant called Rush’s. We were in three different vehicles. As we loaded up, he said, “I’ll see you at Rush’s or I’ll see you in Heaven.”
I kind of laughed and I must have had a puzzled look on my face, because he went on to explain that he always tells his wife that when he leaves home. He tells her he will see her when he returns or that he will see her in heaven.
I thought about that statement long after we finished our milkshakes. I thought about the faith behind the words. I thought about the dangerous job he had has a fighter pilot and then as a commercial airline pilot. Those are both jobs that I would think, would take great faith to engage in everyday.
But, I also thought about how we are never certain which day on earth will be our last. We could all go at any time. No one knows when tragedy will strike. But, my friend’s words are such a beautiful reminder that none of us are permanent residents here. We are all just travelers.
When he says confidently to his wife, when he leaves the house, that he will see her when he returns or he will see her in heaven, it serves as a daily reminder who he is, who he belongs to and where he is headed. It reminds him to make his days count, to make his actions count, to make his words count.
It reminds him to tell the ones he loves that he loves them.
The words are not morbid or pessimistic. They are a promise that when we belong to Jesus, something better awaits us. If we don’t make it back to our earthly home, today, or tomorrow, or next week, or next year, we are assured and our loved ones are assured, that we will see them again. We will one day be reunited.
They are words of hope that I feel blessed that he shared with me and I felt led to share here. See you next time or I’ll see you in heaven. I think those are words worth repeating.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
On Sunday, our sermon was about the pitfalls for people who seek status in the world. It came from Luke, Chapter 14, and centered around people trying to get a spot at the head table. It was a good sermon. But, as the pastor read the scripture, the very first verse stuck with me, so much so, that I jotted it down.
Jesus went to eat at the house of a prominent Pharisee, the religious people of the day. They would most likely translate in modern terms to people who are regular church goers, who thought they were in the know, righteous, and living a holy life.
The part that caught my attention was, “he was being carefully watched.” That’s in the second part of the very first verse.
We can find phrases like that throughout the Gospels. Jesus was always being “carefully or closely watched,” but not for reasons we might think.
Most of the religious people of the time were not seeking to learn from Him or to emulate Him; they were seeking to trap Him. They were hoping to catch Him breaking Jewish laws. They were seeking to disprove his goodness, His Godliness.
When I think about how the world looks at Christians today, don’t we find the same pattern?
The word Christian, from the Greek, means follower of Christ.
When the secular world looks at Christians, what does it see? What does it seek to see? What do we show it?
Jesus’ three year ministry, consisted of a lot of prayer, a lot of time in the synagogue, a lot of teaching, a lot of healing, a lot of compassion and a lot of community. He did seem to get frustrated from time to time when people refused to listen. He got downright angry when people were using His Father’s house to make money. He also exhibited lots of patience and forgiveness.
When we go through our daily lives and we claim to be Christians, what does the world see? How do we behave at work? How do we treat the cashiers we come into contact with? How do we act when we are driving down the road? How do we treat our family members? How do we treat our neighbors? How do we react to the homeless guy on the street?
The world carefully watched Jesus when He was on earth. The world carefully watches His followers today. Are we carefully watching Jesus? Are we seeking to emulate Him?
What is it that we are showing the secular world that would make the people in it, want to become one of us?
Jesus wants our hearts, not our lip service. Our faith is one of free will. What are we doing to share with this sometimes dark world, the beautiful light and love of Christ?
The answers of course are as individual as every person who reads this, but in the end, we are all called to do something, to be a walking, living, advertisement and invitation, to be a part of the Greatest Story ever told.
A Bible verse reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
On Sunday, after a church fellowship lunch, my family returned home. My hubby took our son out to practice his driving and I was running around doing some chores. I had a load of laundry to do. I had to make some more sugar water for our insatiable hummingbirds. I needed to iron.
My daughter was sitting on her bed playing on her phone. She’s been fighting some kind of allergy/cold deal for a couple of weeks. She hasn’t been sleeping well and she was exhausted. I told her she needed to take a nap.
She was kind of reluctant. I smiled to myself, thinking about how she didn’t want to nap as a three-year-old either. Mommy knew, however, that rested children are happier and much easier to get along with children than those who aren’t.
This mommy also knew that rested seventeen-year-olds are also much easier to get along with than those who don’t get enough sleep. Not to mention, they heal better too.
When she finally agreed to take a nap, I found myself tip-toeing around the house, struggling not to make any noise, a habit I picked up when she was still in the crib. She always had a difficult time falling asleep.
But, as I moved about my quiet house like a ninja, thinking about all of the things I needed to accomplish before Monday, I realized that I too, was completely exhausted. I had been cramming lots of to-do lists into my weekends and left very little down time for myself.
I had an internal debate. The house was quiet. I had some time to write without answering anyone’s questions or trying to block out the noise of the television. It was a very rare event these days. It was a gift. Right? Wasn’t it foolish not to take it?
But, I also felt another nudge, a stronger one, that reminded me that I too, needed rest to function well. I needed rest to communicate well. I also needed rest if I didn’t want to be a cranky member of my family. Didn’t they deserve the best of me?
Upon retrospect, it was so ironic that I could easily see how much my own child needed to rest, but I couldn’t see it in my own situation.
But, God knew. I pray daily that I can hear His voice and that He will guide my thoughts and steps and I know that the nudge for some rest came from Him.
I gave in and took a thirty minute nap. I woke refreshed and ready to write. I had a better attitude and the chores I needed to do, they got done anyway.
If I knew that my own child needed to rest, why wouldn’t my need to rest matter to my Heavenly Father? Am I not a child of His?
The answer is of course, yes. That’s the awesome God we worship.
He is with us in the everyday, in the seemingly mundane details in our lives. There are no cares or concerns of ours that are too big or too small for Him.
My tired seventeen-year-old reminded me. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you needed reminding too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
Last weekend, my hubby and I volunteered to chaperone at the Bandathon, which is a dance held every year for the members of the high school marching band. I’ll have to admit that I was not looking forward to it. It was on a Friday night and I was tired from a long week.
But, band dances are different from other school dances and I was in for a treat.
First of all, there’s always a theme at those dances. This year was simply music and anything that had to do with it.
There was a girl who simply showed up with musical notes on her shirt. John Lennon was represented. There were rappers present and so were the Village People. The children’s group, the Wiggles, was there. We saw a disco era John Travolta and the more recent group, One Direction. Weird Al was there too.
It was a never-ending parade of different genres and musical styles and that was before the first song was played.
The DJ played music almost exclusively requested by the teens. It certainly wasn’t what I expected to hear at a school dance in 2016. There were line dances like the Electric Slide and the Cha Cha Slide. There was disco music by the Bee Gees. There was a ton of 80’s music and some newer tunes as well.
As I looked out across the dance floor at the eclectic group of teens, I was amazed at how they all danced together in big groups to whatever music they heard. Nobody sat out and no one got left out. From time to time, the parents jumped in and danced too and what did the kids do? They just danced along side us.
I have thought about that dance all through the past week. I have thought about how those band kids weren’t afraid to use their creativity. In fact, they were encouraged to be creative and no one was afraid of feeling stupid. They laughed and clapped for each other as they entered the room.
They cheered each other on. When the DJ played a song from the children’s television show, the Wiggles, the group dressed as the Wiggles, danced together and the other kids danced with them and clapped.
Can you imagine the average teenager, being willing to express themselves like that?
High school can be a rough place and so often, fitting in, is every kid’s mantra. Grown up life can be very similar, can’t it? Things from saying the right thing, to wearing the right clothes, to having the right job, to living in the right neighborhood, to having the perfect kids, can wear us out emotionally, physically and spiritually.
We can get so focused on being just like everyone else that we forget that God made each of us wonderfully unique for a purpose, His purpose.
We weren’t meant to all look alike, or act alike, or think alike. We are different and different is good, because when people of all different ideas, colors, styles, shapes and sizes, come together to let our light shine and build the Kingdom of God, the world takes notice.
And this world is in desperate need of all of our individual gifts and graces. A high school band dance reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
There’s a window in the office I work in. It’s a rather large window. Until this week, it had a very large Japanese maple tree growing in front of it that almost completely covered it. I love Japanese maple trees. They are beautiful, ornamental trees. But, this particular one had grown so big that it totally blocked the window. We couldn’t see out.
Our principal put in a work order to have it trimmed. A few weeks passed and no one showed up.
Last Saturday, he brought his son and his own trimmers and trimmed the tree.
I can’t tell you the difference the trimming has made to those of us who work in the office and use the copier, which happens to be under the window, a hundred times a day. Every time we make a copy, we can now see the yellow cone flowers blooming beside the building and the gourds that are climbing the fence. We can see the sunshine and the clouds. We are now able to appreciate all of the landscape.
Almost everyone who has used that copier has commented on the view.
It’s amazing what a huge difference a couple of people could make when they rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
I have thought about that tree trimming all week. I have thought about how removing the overgrowth in our lives can have such a huge impact on the world we see around us. I have thought about how much beauty we miss by allowing our lives to become so overgrown.
I was reminded that overgrowth happens over time. I’m sure that tree took years to get that big. The problem with overgrowth in our own lives, is that it’s often so gradual that we don’t realize it.
When did we get too busy to have lunch with a friend? When did we get too busy to sit down to a family dinner? When did we get too busy to sit out on the porch or to take a walk? When did we get too busy to read a book? When did we get too busy to pray or read the Bible? When did the people in cyberspace become more important than the people who are standing in front of us?
The great thing about overgrowth, is it can be trimmed away and we can be left with a beautiful new view that we didn’t even know we had.
We can simply wait for something to happen to clear it, or we can pick up some trimmers and do it ourselves. Personally, I can’t imagine why we would want to wait.
My principal and his son, reminded me that clearing away the overgrowth and making changes, is a choice that can have beautiful results. Perhaps you needed reminding too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
Last weekend, I was up before my teens and having some much needed quiet time at the kitchen table, with a cup of coffee, my laptop and my Bible. Silence is a rare thing for me these days and I was basking in it.
Then, the dogs started barking. They ran to the window in the dining room and barked to the top of their lungs. I kept shushing them, but they kept barking. There was someone walking another dog in the cul-de-sac and they were upset and stressed and no amount of shushing them would make them stop.
Have I mentioned that they aren’t the most obedient dogs on the planet?
Exasperated, I finally pulled the curtains closed, so they couldn’t see out. It worked like a charm. Immediately, all barking ceased and my peace and quiet were restored.
It was really kind of amazing. Covering up what was agitating them, was all that it took.
I thought about the resulting peace from my action over the next few days. I couldn’t remove what was going on outside of my house, but I could limit their vision of it.
What other things would have the same results?
Well, for one thing, there’s social media. Depending on who you follow and the pages you like, your news feed may be full of inspirational quotes or it may be full of political rants. If social media stresses you out our makes you angry, or makes you feel badly about your imperfect life, stay off of it. Life will go on, and quite likely, more peacefully.
Then of course, there’s the news, this election cycle is a hot mess to say the least. There’s been nothing that’s ladylike or gentlemanly like about it. Sure, we need to stay informed, but reading through the headlines in the evening before bed will probably suffice. If we all refused to watch all of the mudslinging, it may even get better.
But, here’s the bottom line, we can’t change it at the moment. The election is not until November. Is watching the daily negativity helping us in any way? If it’s causing stress and anger, we can simply turn it off, pull the curtains, like I did with my dogs.
As I continued to think about it, there are many things in daily life we could choose to block out, things ranging from office gossip to squabbles among friends.
In each situation, we could ask ourselves if participating or watching can better ourselves in any way? Will it cause us stress? Will it draw us closer to God?
If the answer is no, then perhaps, we should pray about it because that always works. We can give it to God on a spiritual level, but physically, we can just close the curtains and block it out. We can’t always change what’s going on, but we can change how we view it.
We might find ourselves living with a little more peace.
My barking dogs reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
My pastor told a story on Sunday about preaching at a revival in Maryland, many years ago. He said that during his visit, he took a walk with the pastor of the church he was visiting, to the Battlefield of Antietam. That spot marks the single bloodiest day battle in American history. There 22,717 men killed, wounded, or missing when the battle was done.
As they walked around the area, the other pastor pointed to the houses that had been built around the area. Almost every single house had members in it with cancer.
As it turns out, the tens of thousands of bullets that were shot during that battle, settled into the ground, and scientists believe, into the ground water. The bullets were made of lead.
Over two hundred fifty years later, the bullets shot so long ago, are still killing and wounding people.
I suppose that’s not too surprising, because our hearts work the same way.
We can carry around hate and hurt for generations allowing it too, to slowly kill us if we aren’t careful. We can pass down anger and distrust that stem from situations so far back we don’t even remember. Things like, someone refusing to go to church because of some hurt from the distant past, can keep the next generation out of church too. Racism can get passed down from generation to generation. Distrust of authority, because it was abused at some point, can get passed down to future generations and hatred of police officers is born.
Sometimes those festering bullets can be a little more recent. Sometimes something was done or said to us personally, as children, and we are still allowing ourselves to be poisoned from them, carrying around pain and anger, refusing to let it go and let it heal.
But, walking around hurting, hating, distrusting, and angry ,is not God’s plan for His children. Jesus offers us another way.
He is willing and able to heal anything that we bring to Him, no matter how old or new those bullets may be.
Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 12:28-30
We know that carrying around unresolved anger and pain causes all types of stress and even physical sickness. Those people who lived in Antietam probably didn’t know the physical danger they were in. They probably didn’t have a choice until it was too late.
We do. The question for us, is are we willing to be healed? Are we willing to remove all of the bullets? Jesus always gives us a choice.
A Civil War battle reminded me. Perhaps you need reminding too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂