Author: Wendy

Dealing with Nuisance Birds

Posted on by Wendy
Focusing on what frustrates us, makes us miss out on a lot of beauty.
Focusing on what frustrates us, makes us miss out on a lot of beauty.

Yesterday, some movement in my garage, caught my eye. She was back. I guess it was a she. Every year around this time, I have an ongoing battle with a bird who insists on trying to build a nest in my garage. Surely after all of this time, it isn’t the same bird, but it’s the same struggle.

I will shoo her out and she comes back. She will get a pile of leaves and sticks going and I remove them. It’s not like my yard isn’t covered with trees where she could easily build a nest. Every year, I feel like she targets me, which of course, isn’t the case.

Well, yesterday as soon as I saw what she was up to, I closed the garage. My kitchen got awfully dark all of a sudden because it was a beautiful day and I had blocked the sunlight from coming in, but I was willing to make the sacrifice.

Some time went by and I decided to sweep out my garage. When I clicked to open the garage door, I was stunned by both the brilliant light that came pouring in and the symphony of birdsong. I mean, it was like a concert out there. I smiled at their songs as well at how beautiful and warm the light was.

The garage had been dark and chilly with the door closed. Sure, there was no nuisance bird, but I was missing out on a lot of the beauty that I so enjoy this time of year.

I thought about that light and music for the rest of the day. I thought about how we can allow anything that is a nuisance to us, deprive us of something special.

I thought about how especially true that is with churches. Anyone who has spent a lot of time in a church will tell you that churches are far from perfect. They are made up of people and people are broken. There will be conflict from time to time.

Christians have a common enemy who thrives on conflict.

And quite often, there will be that one person, who drives us insane, so much so, that we allow ourselves to become focused on the negatives of that person. We can allow that person to become our nuisance bird, so to speak, and avoid all situations where he or she is involved. We become willing to shut out any contact with that person.

In so doing, we miss out on so much of the community that is the heart of the church. We miss the aggravation, but we sacrifice the light and the music.

My little nuisance bird reminded me that I should spend some time in prayer about those who frustrate me and then give it to God. In the end, keeping the door closed, makes me give up too much and in a world that is often dark, I don’t want to miss a minute of the light or the music.

Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Working At It

Posted on by Wendy
Spiritual strength, like physical strength, requires work.
Spiritual strength, like physical strength, requires work.

Spring is here, or really close, and shorts weather will soon follow. I love doing yoga and Pilates, but I don’t like doing cardio and I really loathe working on my arms. But, as a gal in her mid-forties, if I don’t want those famed choir lady arms, or as my mama calls them, angel wings, I have to put in some time with weights. Sigh.

At this point in my life, if I want to be happy with how I look, I have to put in some time and effort. Oh, I wish it wasn’t so, and that I could still eat chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, and only sweat occasionally, but those days are gone.

As I have grown older and hopefully wiser, I have learned that most all of the things that matter to me in my life require my time and attention. My marriage requires my time and attention if I want it to remain strong and fulfilling. My relationship with my children requires my time and attention and sometimes loads of patience, if I have any hope of them becoming productive adults with strong character, who make me and their Daddy proud. Relationships require my time and effort.

What about my relationship with God? As a teen, I would have said that I believed Jesus was my savior and I prayed. I believed that was enough. I also believed that eating chocolate cookies for breakfast wouldn’t make me fat.

But, times and circumstances change. I have come to understand that if I want a true, close relationship with God, it requires effort on my part. I have to attend regular worship services because God requires true worship of Him and Him alone. I can’t really do that sitting at home on the couch or at the lake.

I have to spend daily quiet time in prayer. I can’t hear Him if I’m not quiet and still. When I hear people say that God doesn’t ever speak to them, I often wonder if they are ever quiet when they pray. When we don’t quiet our minds, we can’t hear. Self-talk is not the same as prayer.

Finally, I have to spend some daily time reading the Bible. It doesn’t require a lot of time. It can be a daily devotion or a follow along Bible study, but to be truly close with God and to be able to discern His will for my life and His voice over the voices of others, I have to know His story and His character. I can only truly find that in the Bible.

There are times when my day has been over scheduled and I’m almost too exhausted to breathe, that I wonder if I really have the time. Can’t I just skip a day? I can, but, like those choir lady arms that I don’t want, if I want to be as spiritually strong as possible, I just have to commit the time.

And you know what? The results, like peace, patience and joy, are always worth it.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Savoring the Moment

Posted on by Wendy
Don't forget to savor the ordinary. One day we will look back and find that it was extraordinary.
Don’t forget to savor the ordinary. One day we will look back and find that it was extraordinary.

When the weather gets warmer like it has over the past few days, I feel an incredibly strong pull to get outdoors. My family and I took a walk on Sunday. I had so many things to do at my house, but I’ve become wise enough to know that when my two teens are willing to take a hike with their parents, it truly is a gift from God, and not to be taken for granted.

I have horrible allergies this time of year and have to take an antihistamine and a decongestant, but I can’t seem to stop myself from spending as much time outside as possible. The headache is worth it. Spring is so fleeting that I always try to grab hold of it with both hands. It will be ninety degrees here in the Peach State in the blink of an eye. Spring is precious.

Yesterday, when my daughter got home from school, I was sitting on the porch with a cup of tea and she and I talked about her day. I had some laundry to attend to, but she wanted to talk, so I was happy to listen. My son came in with my hubby, a little while later and my son spent some time talking about his day.

It was getting later. I needed to start dinner, but there we sat, talking and listening to each other and soaking up every drop we could of the glorious day we had been given.

Dinner ended up being a little late. No one seemed to care. I had to take some ibuprofen after clearing the dishes because my head was aching some. I was late writing my post because I spent the extra time outdoors with my family and the towels are still in the dryer.

But, as I sit here typing, I couldn’t be more thankful. I truly believe when I get to the end of my life, that I will look back on time spent on the porch with my kids as precious and as fleeting as spring.

It’s the ordinary gifts like a spring day or the time spent with our family that we so often take for granted, but in the end, we usually find that the ordinary is actually the extraordinary. And if we are truly wise, we grab hold with both hands and savor every moment, thanking God for the everyday.

Because, time is the one thing that we can never get enough of and the laundry can always wait.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Yesterday,Today and Forever

Posted on by Wendy
We are saved by grace and grace alone.
We are saved by grace and grace alone.

I was subbing in a fifth grade class yesterday and I had a break because my students were at art. I took a deep breath because it had been a hectic day and I was basking in a little quiet time. It didn’t last long.

One of my favorite students who I had earlier that day, walked in with a smile on his face and said, “Hey Mrs. Gaines are you good at….?” The words froze in the air as I said a silent prayer pleading, “Please God, don’t let it be math.”

The words social studies, were the next words he spoke and I was flooded with relief. Snicker at me if you must; thinking that any simple-minded adult should be able to do fifth grade math, but you would be wrong. They have changed how math is done.

I have no idea who they are, but I’m here to tell you, a simple math problem which used to take all of four lines on a sheet of notebook paper, will now fill a page. I can get the right answer, but they aren’t looking for the right answer. They want to know how you got it and often times it involves drawing pictures. Can you imagine?

Now, social studies is history. History doesn’t change. I love history and I happily helped that young man with his social studies questions. Seems that the facts from the Great Depression are the same as they were when I was in school. Can I get an, “amen?”

The way school curriculum has changed drives me crazy, but as I was thinking about it, there are very few things in life that don’t change. Fashion and style change. Attitudes change. Laws change.

The church even changes. When I was a kid, we would have never worn pants to church. It was dresses and heels. But, now blue jeans are the norm. We wouldn’t have dreamed of eating or drinking in the sanctuary, but now people bring in giant tumblers of coffee.

People change sometimes for the better and sometimes for worse. But, God doesn’t change.

The Bible says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.” Hebrews 13:8-9

In an ever-changing world, Jesus stays the same. The Bible still stands. Man may try to rewrite it to suit ourselves or to better explain it, like common core math attempts to. We can make it needlessly difficult, if we so choose.

But, in the end, we are saved by grace and grace alone, because God loves us.

“I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death, nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

And that, will never change. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Welcoming the Prodigals

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Jesus calls us to welcome the prodigals with open arms.
Jesus calls us to welcome the prodigals with open arms.

Yesterday, our sermon was about the Prodigal Son found in Luke, Chapter 13. It’s a familiar story for most of us. I’ve heard many sermons on it. I’ve heard sermons focusing on the forgiving, loving father. I’ve heard sermons that focus on the righteous son, as well as sermons that focused on the wayward son.

I suppose the focus for the reader is most often, which of the characters he or she most closely relates to. But, yesterday, the pastor pointed out that many of us have had the opportunity to be all three of the characters, at some point in our lives. I know I have. I can relate to all three.

But, as I sat in church thinking about the father and his sons, I began to think of all of us who are regular church goers, those of us who strive to stay on the right path and stay close to the Father. How do we feel about those prodigals who come in after, as Jesus put it, “squandering their wealth on wild living?”

More importantly, how do we treat them when they come to church to worship or to seek?

How do we treat the pregnant teenager? We can say we don’t believe in abortion, but are we willing to help support the young mother and her baby? What about the prodigal who was raised in church, but chose to do drugs and is now fighting that addiction? What about the man that we know has been unfaithful to his wife and is now a single father? What about the kid who walks in off the street covered in piercings and tattoos?

What is our reaction to these people? While at this point in our lives, we may be the righteous son in the story, we are called to act like the Father, not like the son in the story.

We are called to be forgiving. We are called to celebrate every single soul who finds its way home, no matter how off the path we may feel they have been. We are called to act that way because Jesus says God acts that way.

Jesus felt so strongly about giving everyone the opportunity to be forgiven and go to Heaven, that He willingly died for every one of us, so that we could be redeemed, all of us, not just some of us.

I suppose Lent is the ideal time to ask ourselves how we feel about all of the prodigals out there who are searching for forgiveness and love. Jesus taught that we are to welcome them with open arms.

Sometimes we can forget, but Jesus is so good about gently reminding us. Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Never Stop Praying

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Never stop praying because God is always listening.
Never stop praying because God is always listening.

I love that Jesus was such a great storyteller and to me, a great storyteller is not someone who uses long eloquent words that have me running for a thesaurus. He had a simple message for simple people. Humanity has a way of making the even simplest things in life complicated, and we can do a fabulous job of complicating our faith too.

I’ve been thinking a lot about prayer lately and the power it gives those who choose to use it daily. It draws us closer to God and over time, turns us into serious warriors.

One of my favorite parables that Jesus told, is the one found in Luke 18: 1-8. A widow kept going to a judge in town to plea for justice. For a long time he refused, but then eventually, he decided to grant her request because she was going to wear him out.

Jesus wanted his disciples to never stop praying. He wants us to never stop praying.

It can be hard sometimes when we have prayed for something in particular, for what seems like forever. We sometimes can begin to wonder if God is even listening.

Luke 18:1 tells us that, “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never give up.”

There are so many important things that Christians should pray about, but we sometimes get frustrated because we feel like God isn’t listening. They can be things ranging from marital issues, to sickness, to financial issues, to problems with friends and family. They can also be global issues like terrorism, violence, and national elections.

Jesus reminds us in this parable that God does hear our prayers and persistent prayer pays off.

Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Paul is also reminding us that God is always listening, even when our circumstances seem dire.

There are many reasons to be unhappy about the twists and turns our lives take. There are many reasons to be fearful about the state of our world at the moment. But, if we remember that God is in control and to pray about everything that concerns us, we will be heard. We will be comforted. We will be answered.

The Bible tells us so.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

In Relentless Pursuit

Posted on by Wendy
What if the story of Jonah is a love story and not a cautionary tale?
What if the story of Jonah is a love story and not a cautionary tale?

I have been reading a Lenten Bible study on the website #shereadstruth. We are studying Jonah, which makes perfect sense for Lent. The entire account of the Book of Jonah revolves around repentance and turning back to God, both personally and as a nation.

I’m very familiar with Jonah. As a child, he regularly appeared on the black felt board with the whale that swallowed him. As an adult, my focus has become on the fact that when we run from God there are consequences. There is forgiveness, but there are also consequences.

Quite honestly, Jonah’s story makes me squirm a bit. The city of Nineveh, where he was called to preach, is modern-day Iraq. I certainly wouldn’t want to go there. Can we really blame him for being reluctant to obey?

But, one of the writers at #shereadstruth, the other day, threw an entirely different idea about Jonah out and I’ve been down that rabbit hole for days. She pointed out that God could have simply struck Jonah down on the spot for his disobedience, or He could have let the ship that he tried to escape on, sink, or He could have let Jonah drown in that angry sea.

But, He didn’t. God wasn’t interested in destroying Jonah for his disobedience. God wanted to use Jonah for a purpose that He alone had preordained him for, before he was even born. Our merciful God wanted to give the people of Nineveh an opportunity to choose salvation and He wanted Jonah to be the catalyst for it.

And so, instead of striking Jonah down, God pursued him relentlessly in ways that only God can do. He made it very clear that He would use all of Creation to get His message across. Think of the old Uncle Sam poster, that proclaimed “I Want you,” on steroids.

Why didn’t God just raise up another more agreeable prophet? Because, God wanted Jonah and He intended to have him.

That same God calls to us today. The Bible reminds us that we too, are created for a purpose, just like Jonah was.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he has planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10

My latest study of Jonah’s story has me thinking of it as more of a love story than a cautionary tale. It’s a story of a father who loves His children so very much that He will stop at nothing to have them, even sending them to the bottom of the ocean in the belly of a fish for a few days, but bringing them back safely, even enough to send His son to die to redeem them.

That’s a powerful love story. That’s a love worth pursuing.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Daffodil Reminders

Posted on by Wendy
Spring is coming whether we believe it or not.
Spring is coming whether we believe it or not.

We have had gorgeous weather here in Georgia over the past few days. Leap Day had the thermometer touching seventy degrees. I have never been a fan of cold weather and have been desperately searching for signs of spring even when they have been difficult to find.

The daffodils, which I consider the most optimistic of the earth’s flowers, began to spring up a few weeks ago in different places. The weather was still very dark and chilly; yet they rose anyway, promising that spring was on the way, even when I couldn’t feel it or see it any place else.

The daffodils are always a reminder of better days ahead. They remind me the weather will finally get warm again and that the barren earth is really not dead, but just sleeping. They remind me that it won’t be long before Creation in its entirety, will spring to life as if God painted each petal and leaf by hand.

They remind me that Easter is just a few weeks away and I suspect that Heaven rejoices on Easter in a display even more stunningly beautiful than those of us on earth could even begin to imagine. Yes, the citizens of Heaven and earth join together to celebrate Easter. What a glorious day.

But, sometimes I forget and I feel that I may be stuck in endless winter forever. Maybe, you too?

It’s supposed to rain tomorrow and get cold again. I won’t have the warmth or the sunshine to remind me of better days to come, yet I hold on to the promise that they are coming regardless of whether I believe it or not.

Isn’t that the definition of faith?

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

Thankfully, God blesses us along the way with little reminders of His promises like those perky yellow daffodils. I sometimes need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Lead Us Not into Temptation

Posted on by Wendy
The Holy Spirit can help us resist anything.
The Holy Spirit can help us resist anything.

Have you ever noticed that when you try to intentionally start doing the “right’ thing or living in a better way, that bad things sometimes begin to happen? Sometimes when we make the effort to draw closer to God, it seems that the world around us is against it.

Ever wondered why that would be?

As I read through chapter four in the Gospel of Luke the other day, it struck me that Satan didn’t even take notice of Jesus until He was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. Of course, before that, He was just a carpenter, doing carpentry. He hadn’t yet begun His mission that God had sent Him to do.

It occurred to me that this is also the case with us today. When we are living our lives and doing our thing, apart from God, Satan doesn’t have much of a desire to interfere. Even if we are Christians, but aren’t really making an effort to learn what we are called to do and then do it, we aren’t really a threat.

Sure, we are one less soul for him, but we aren’t really affecting the landscape of Heaven, if we are just attending church intermittently and doing little else.

No, it’s when we really start to draw closer to God and bring others along, that he takes interest in us. That’s where the temptations start, just anything to draw us away from our true purpose.

Often it’s things that are benign like skipping worship service to go to the lake or skipping Bible study because we are too tired. It can also take on the form of that one person who drives us so crazy, that we elect not to get involved with some sort of ministry that we know we are called to.

Satan is more than happy to help us come up with all types of excuses to keep us home, because if we aren’t worshiping God with other believers, we aren’t growing and learning. We aren’t becoming a part of a community to help each other stay accountable.

It’s really important for us to remember that we have an enemy. It’s the same enemy that Jesus had. Jesus resisted His wilderness temptation with the help of the Holy Spirit. Christians today have the same access to the Holy Spirit.

It’s kind of humbling and inspiring at the same time. We will be tempted, but we will have help if we ask. The Holy Spirit always knows exactly how to help.

The Bible says to, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

That’s strong protection, but should we really expect anything less? God looks after His own. It’s up to us to stay close to Him and He will provide.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

But, Then There’s Jesus

Posted on by Wendy
Seeing the world through the window of grace changes everything.
Seeing the world through the window of grace changes everything.

Last weekend, I popped into my daughter’s room and caught her sitting on her floor and looking out her window. She commented on how beautiful the sky was. I had to agree. The sky was a stunning color of blue that day. She also commented on how much she enjoys looking out her window and how there were spiders that had made disgusting webs that were obscuring her view.

She was right. There were some yucky spiders, and eggs, and her window was dirty. I went and fetched my hubby and explained her predicament. We have double windows that are very difficult to get to and clean, but we got the vacuum cleaner and he removed the spiders and cleaned her windows.

The difference was amazing. It was like her window was 3D, all of a sudden. All we did was remove the webs and clean them. Unfortunately for my sweet hubby, that made me want to clean our bedroom windows too. They actually had mold growing on them and at two floors up, were also very difficult to clean.

But, we cleaned them too and again, I was amazed at the difference, as the light came streaming through. How had I allowed them to get so dirty to start off with?

I thought a lot about those windows over these next couple of days. I thought about how the way we see the world around us can sometimes be covered by webs and a dirty haze of our life experiences.

If we have been hurt in relationships in the past, we may be tempted to avoid relationships, whatever kind they may be, because that lasting haze has made us see them all as harmful. If we have been hurt by a church in the past, we may write off all churches as judgemental, or hurtful.

We can sometimes allow different disappointments that may have happened to us over the years, to slowly build up and negatively affect how we see community in general, or maybe even how we see the world as a whole. We may not even be aware of it.

We get used to viewing the world through that dirty haze of pain, guilt, anger, and disillusionment.

But, then there’s Jesus. Those four words have the capability to wipe everything clean and make the world sparkle. Sometimes it’s all of a sudden, like our window cleaning last weekend. We reach for Jesus and the entire world appears to be in Technicolor.

Sometimes, it takes a little more time. Sometimes we need to spend some time, leaning into Him while truly learning to embrace forgiveness, peace and joy, while He strips off the haze and tears down the webs, a little bit at the time.

Either way, when we choose to walk closely with Jesus and to look at the world through the window of grace, the beauty is breathtaking. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂