Category: Building Christian Character

As Christians, people should be able to look at us and see Christ. People should be able to see who we serve in the way we act.

Spreading Kindness

Posted on by Wendy
“Let us not grow weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

A few days ago, an elderly lady came into the school office where I work. She wanted to purchase a couple of tickets for a charity dinner that our school is participating in. I got her a form and we discussed the time slot that would be ideal for her. She chose one and then changed her mind. Then, I explained to her how the dinner worked.

I had never seen this woman before and really had no idea how she even knew about the event, but when we finished with her paperwork, she handed me two bags of goodies from a local bakery. She said that she knew that the schools had, had a rough time over the past couple of weeks and she wanted to bring in a little treat for the teachers and staff at our school, as a pick me up.

I’ll have to admit that I was stunned. It had been a stressful couple of weeks, I’m sure for anyone working in a school or who has children in school. An act of terror in Florida, by a deranged teenager has put the entire country on edge and caused even more division among us.

Who would have even thought more division was possible?

Yet, I’ve always been amazed at how far a little kindness can go, especially the kindness extended by a complete stranger. The woman said goodbye and shuffled out the door, but her act of kindness remained all day and we offered every staff member who came through the office a taste of her treats as we shared her gift and her words.

Each person who came through was equally touched.

I thought about that woman long after I went home. I thought about how someone who was already coming in to contribute to a charity that feeds kids, also went our of her way to feed some adults who might be struggling a little too. Sure, we really enjoyed the treats she brought, but the thought behind them fed more than our tummies. It fed our souls.

The Bible tells us that kindness is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Maybe we should all be practicing a little bit more of it, especially when times are dark and maybe even go out of our way to extend kindness to strangers.

I can attest that her simple act meant a lot to me. She inspired me to want to be better and do the same. The Bible says: “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds;” Hebrews 10:24

That lady inspired me to do just that. Perhaps you needed some inspiration too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Spring Inspiration

Posted on by Wendy
Hold tightly to your faith. Spring is coming.

As my hubby and I were driving home from church on Sunday, I commented on how beautiful the blooming trees were. It was as if overnight, the sleeping earth sprang to life.

It’s the very last day of February as I write this and it’s been a long cold winter. I mean seriously cold. We’ve had temperatures in the teens and for Georgia, that’s cold.

Most of the trees still look like skeletons around here, still in their winter dormancy and completely bare. If you would have told me a couple of weeks ago, spring was about to appear, I would have argued with you. It’s been so cold and our little state groundhog, famous for his correct predictions, predicted another six weeks of winter.

Yet, the daffodils, yellow bells, tulip trees and Bradford Pear trees are telling a different story.

In some spots, you really have to look for the signs of life. A single small flower will pop up or just a few buds have appeared. In other spots, everything seems to be blooming and there’s no way to miss it. But, it all seemed to have happened almost overnight.

Of course that wasn’t the case. The earth has been at work all along. The soil, the rain, the sun and the plantings, have all been hard at work beneath the surface, doing things that we can’t see. Spring doesn’t actually come overnight.

This season is always such a beautiful reminder to me that God is always at work whether we can see Him or not. There are times when the season of winter in our lives, seems to be endless. We can wonder if there will ever be warmth and beauty again.

But, if we are patient, if we keep praying, if we hold onto faith, then sometimes out of the blue, we will see a bud. Sometimes it’s actually a single bloom and sometimes it’s as if a switch has flipped and everything around us seems to spring to life at the same time.

However it happens, we have to hold on to our faith in the process. God is always at work, though often unseen and when we prayerfully wait on Him, the results are phenomenal just like spring time.

Some late February blooms reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Walking in Peace

Posted on by Wendy
“I have told you these things, that in me you might have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heat! I have overcome the world” John 16:33

Back in my early twenties, I was on a flight home. There were three of us flying that evening and we were all split up. I was sitting next to a complete stranger. Those of you who have ever met me before, know that I rarely meet a stranger. It usually doesn’t take me long at all to make friends with new people.

On this particular night, my seatmate was an air traffic controller. I’ve always found that to be a fascinating if not stressful, job. I had dozens of questions for him and he politely answered them.

When I say that we ran into some turbulence later that evening, I am not kidding. It was like riding a roller coaster. The aircraft bumped and dropped repeatedly. The flight attendants strapped themselves in. One of them even threw up. It was that bad.

I’ve never really loved to fly. The loss of control has always unnerved me a little. But, that night, my new air traffic controller friend, talked to me the entire flight. We talked about how most crashes are survivable. We talked about finding the exits if we needed them. We talked about how most people ignore the safety video which has important information on how to get off of a disabled airplane.

He was perfectly calm, which led me to be as well.

When we finally landed and I secured some ginger ale for my own queasy tummy, I met up with my group. The first thing my friend asked me in an exasperated tone, was how was I so calm? He pointed out that all of the passengers on board were silence in white knuckled fear while me and my new friend never stopped talking, acting like it was no big deal.

I laughed. He didn’t know who I was sitting with. I told him that I was with a seasoned air traffic controller and he wasn’t worried, then why should I be? It really never occurred to me to be frightened.

I’ve thought of that night many times over the years and what it taught me.

Sitting next to the air traffic controller in the storm, reminds me of walking with Jesus in the storm. There are things that happen to us and situations that we find ourselves in, that can absolutely terrify us like the rest of the passengers on that airplane that night. We can surrender to the fear and stress and hang on tightly with white knuckles, or we can lean into Jesus and know that He’s got this, whatever it is and we need not fear.

God is never surprised and when we really wrap our brains around that notion, we can always walk in peace. Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Jonah Wisdom

Posted on by Wendy
When we’re afraid of what lies ahead, we can call out to God.

A few weeks ago, my pastor gave a sermon on Jonah. It’s a fascinating story for reasons much deeper than Jonah being swallowed up by a giant fish. It’s a super short book, only four chapters long, but full of lessons for those who want to seek them.

My pastor pointed out that when Jonah finally decide to obey God’s call, he basically walked, (or I kind of picture him stomping,) through the streets of Nineveh, saying you’re all going to die in forty days. It was by no means an eloquent sermon. Jonah didn’t want it to be. He was kind of hopeful that Nineveh would be destroyed.

But, God used it anyway. Isn’t it amazing how he can do that? When Jonah told the Ninevites, they were going to die and gave them a timeline, they changed their ways and turned to God.

Does this story in any way sound familiar to the modern reader? What happens when we receive a bad medical diagnosis, or when we lose our job, or when a marriage falls apart? What about when we have been attacked in some way?

Someone once said, “Their are no atheists in foxholes.” While I’ve never been in physical combat, I can attest that when life’s battles come at me, I find myself in prayer.

When we come face to face with the frailty of our human existence, we find ourselves turning to God.

Last week, after the school shooting in Florida, someone wrote in a bathroom at my son’s high school that they were going to blow up or shoot up the school. I don’t know what the exact words were and quite frankly, it doesn’t matter. I knew it was most likely a prank, but still, I prayed.

The thought of those parents mourning their lost children, filled my mind.

I contacted some of my strongest prayer warriors and asked them to pray for the safety of my son and his school and I felt some peace. When he walked through the door after school, I hugged him extra tightly, so very thankful for his safety and for the warriors who prayed on his behalf.

When faced with things like school violence, I have come to understand that the war is probably more spiritual than physical. Like those soldiers in foxholes, or even the Ninevites, we are terrified of what we see coming and we call out to God.

Maybe now more than ever, we should do just that. The king of Nineveh once said, “Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” Jonah 3:8-9

That’s exactly what God did. Nineveh was spared. Jonah’s story reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Life Changing Choices

Posted on by Wendy

Last Sunday, my daughter, sent me a text asking me to read her blog. It’s a requirement for her English class. A rather brilliant teacher, has required her students to spend an hour each week outdoors and then blog about it.

Last week’s prompt was a little different, “Share with your readers one of your favorite memories that took place outdoors in your life. It may be an everyday moment, or it might be one of the most transformational events in your life. Take us there and tap into our senses with vivid details. Additionally, I would like for you to make a connection between this memory and your current life/self.”

When I read it, I got goosebumps. I had just written on my own blog about the angels and prayer warriors God has put in her path and she felt lead to write about some of them herself.

God is always at work in our lives. Often, we can’t see it at all. But, when we do get to see it, it’s truly amazing. I’ve included a link to her blog. I hope you enjoy it.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂
You will need to copy and paste the link! Sorry!

https://carolinegainesnatureblog.wordpress.com/author/carolinegainesnatureblog/

The Blessings in the Struggles

Posted on by Wendy
No one wants to struggle, but it’s during the struggles that we see so many blessings.

Last Friday night, my daughter, who is a freshman in college, sent me a text. It was a forward of an email she had received from her college. It announced that she had made the Dean’s List for her first semester. I don’t know when I have been so proud her.

Both of my children have had the misfortune of being of school age during the time of constant standardized testing. A well meaning group of legislators in the Federal Government, sometime in the late 1990’s decided that the best way to see if schools and teachers were doing their jobs, was to regularly test the students and let’s face it, standardized tests are easy to grade and track.

Unfortunately, neither of my kids have the gift for taking those types of tests, so school was a constant stress and struggle.

But, they are hard workers and both have had some awesome teachers along the way, that totally saw their potential and their work ethic, along with the flaws in the system. These teachers encouraged them and cheered them on along the way. They believed in them.

I don’t know if my daughter ever really believed me when I reassured her regularly, that once she got to college, nobody cared about standardized tests, that it was really about being a good writer, a good communicator and a hard worker.

So, when she sent me the text that she made the Dean’s List, I couldn’t wait to post it to Facebook and when those teachers, including one who taught her to play guitar, who always cheered her on, were the first people to comment with even more encouragement, tears of gratitude streamed down my face.

Her first semester was very stressful and when some of the prayer warriors that I had asked to pray for her, commented their congratulations, I had to grab a tissue.

We always want what’s best for our kids and it’s never easy to see them struggle. We tend to pray for smooth paths for ourselves and for those we love. We often wonder why other people seem to have to have such an easy time with everything they do, from standardized tests, to health issues, to relationship issues, to financial issues.

Yet, when we struggle, we get to see all of the angels that God sends our way. We get to see Him working and intervening. And when we look back, we can see that He rained down blessings all along the way, even if we couldn’t see it at the time.

The struggles build our faith. The struggles build our children’s faith. The struggles allow others to bless us and in the end, we are so much stronger for it.

Some Facebook comments reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

But God

Posted on by Wendy
The minute the rain stopped, the birds began to sing. They were unconcerned about the forecast.

As I checked the weather forecast for the weekend, I let out a tired sigh. There was a hundred percent chance of rain both Saturday and Sunday. We have been in a little pattern lately and have had rain for the past two Sundays in a row. When I say rain, I mean all day rain that doesn’t let up, the kind of rain that Forrest Gump talked about, sideways rain, pouring rain; you get the picture.

So, when I saw the forecast for two full days of it, I’ll have to admit, I was discouraged. It was my last couple of days dog sitting for my parents, so that meant I would be out walking them in it.

When I woke up Saturday morning, the skies were gray as expected, I trudged downstairs to let the little fur babies out. But, to my surprise, it was not raining. It was gray, foggy and wet, but there was no rain.

It was a happy surprise and as I walked them through the wet leaves, I noticed all of the birds singing. There were squirrels running around too. The animals were out doing their thing. They apparently, hadn’t seen the weather report. The air felt clean from all of the rain and the temperature was much warmer than it has been.

In fact, my little walk with the pups, encouraged me to put on my tennis shoes and go for a cardio walk. I marveled that the birds of all shapes and sizes serenaded me the entire time. Not a drop of rain fell on me and I gave a prayer of thanks that I had the courage to venture out.

If I had believed the forecast I would have stayed indoors. If I would have gone by my experiences from the past two weekends before, I would have stayed indoors. The only reason I would have even dreamed of going out in the weather, was because I was forced to.

A little voice in my head reminded me that, that is often the case. We often miss out on all kinds of opportunities because of fear, because we believe others when they tell us we can’t, because we judge our future plans by our past, because we believe the rain will never stop or we sit indoors in fear, idly waiting for the perfect weather.

But, God… when God calls us to do something; our past or what others think or say is irrelevant. The weather is too. There’s nothing impossible for Him, nothing too hard, nothing too big or too small.

He doesn’t seek the perfect, only the willing. A walk on a cloudy, wet day reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Prayer Requires Talking and Listening

Posted on by Wendy
Do we pray for guidance or for affirmation?

In a recent sermon, our pastor made the comment, that often when we pray, we don’t really want God’s guidance or even for God to show us His will for us; he said what we really want is God’s affirmation. We want Him to bless what we are already doing.

That notion stuck with me for days.

It reminded me of true friendship. Our closest friends are never afraid to tell us the truth. If we are on the wrong path, they are not afraid to speak hard truth to us. They do it in a loving way, but they don’t blindly agree with us simply because they don’t want to make us angry or hurt our feelings.

They can do it because they love us and they want what’s best for us. Those friendships are precious and if we’re honest, we will admit that they are rare too.

It shouldn’t surprise me that our strongest human relationships would be a close image of what our relationship with God is supposed to be. After all, our loving one another was a call to us from Jesus, Himself.

But, that also got me to thinking about how we tend to pray. Do we approach God with wide open hearts, eager for Him to light the next step of His plan for our lives, and wide open ears for the whisper of His voice, or do we approach Him with a to-do list of all the things we think we need and all of the situations and circumstances we feel need changing?

Do we have a tendency to talk or to listen?

Do we ask Him to show us His will and patiently wait, or do we do what we want to do and ask Him to bless our plans?

Do we ultimately seek guidance or affirmation?

Those questions can be difficult to ask ourselves and maybe even more difficult to answer. Yet, if we truly believe that He loves us and wants our highest good, we have to be willing to ask Him to reveal His plans and let go of our own. We have to wait for direction before we take off down the road.

We also have to be open to the possibility that we might not be on the right road and need to choose another path. He will let us know where we need to be if we are quiet and still.

A sermon reminded me that, prayer involves both talking and listening. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Broken Umbrella Lessons

Posted on by Wendy
The wise person buys an umbrella before the rain begins.

Last Sunday, it was pouring down rain when it was time for church. At one point in my life, I had a stack of umbrellas. Somehow that stack has dwindled down to one and that one is broken. It no longer pops out when I push the button and one of the little metal pieces has come unattached from the material, so it doesn’t even completely cover me. I get wet even when I have it.

Now umbrellas cost less than ten dollars at Walmart, where I am unfortunately, shopping like once a week. Why, you may wonder, don’t I just pick one up when I’m there?

That’s a fair question. Here’s the answer: “I only think about needing an umbrella when it’s raining.”

It’s silly and short-sighted; I know. I mean seriously, It’s always going to rain at some point. Right? Why would I choose not to prepare?

My rainy Sunday got me to thinking about other areas in my life that might need umbrella attention. Sure, there are things like keeping around ibuprofen for unplanned aches and pains and as my family’s recent bout with flu taught me, cough medicine, throat lozenges, Kleenex and Clorox wipes. But, I was reminded of the spiritual realm too.

I’ve learned in my faith walk that in order to stay close to God, I have to read a little bit of His Word everyday and I have to take a little intentional prayer time. When I make those disciplines a priority, I’m covered when the spiritual storms come.

And make no mistake, they always come. There will always be times of sickness, hardship, discouragement and strife. This broken world is full of cliffs and valleys. For us to think they are never going to happen to us is incredibly foolish. Jesus even told us Himself we would have troubles on this side of eternity.

But, if we are prepared, if our faith is in tact and our foundation is strong, we can weather them without too much damage.

Jesus also said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

The trick is to be prepared before the storm. We can absolutely look for and find Jesus in the midst of it, but it’s so much easier when we were already close by His side. The peace that comes from already knowing Him is an amazing comfort in times of earthly trials.

A broken umbrella on a rainy day, reminded me to always be prepared both physically and spiritually for life’s storms. Perhaps you needed reminded too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Lessons from an Owl Encounter

Posted on by Wendy
If I wasn’t paying close attention I may have missed the danger close by.

This week I’m looking after my parent’s dogs while they go on a cruise. Now, I never mind helping my parents out. Their little dogs are high maintenance, but sweet. However, being responsible for them for a week, makes me a nervous wreck because they are tiny and fragile.

My backyard is covered in giant hardwood trees. There are many squirrels and chipmunks that make their homes in and around those trees. Those of you who remember basic biology, will remember what a food chain is. Those little aforementioned rodents, are at the bottom.

There are much larger predators at the top, which puts those tiny little dogs in danger. Mama and Daddy adore those little dogs, so I take their safety very seriously and I have to be constantly at watch when I take them out to do their doggie business.

The very first afternoon I had them, I decided to run them out for their longest walk before the sun went down, thinking they would be safest at that time of day. We had just stepped off of the back deck area and onto the ground, when I spotted it.

A giant owl sat close by, watching us.

On the other side of the yard, sitting on a bird house, sat a very large owl. I froze. We stared at each other. I literally said to him, “You’re not supposed to be out this early.” I knew if he came for the little dogs, I would have very little chance of escape. A couple of minutes went by and he flew away with like a five foot wing span.

I breathed a sigh of relief as we finished our walk, but I constantly scanned the area, like I was some kind of soldier in a combat zone.

I thought about my owl encounter long after the little pups were safely back in the house.

As disheartening as it was to actually see him my very first day out with my little charges, it was a very effective reminder that I have to be vigilant while they are in my care. For them, danger lurks everywhere.

And as He often does, God used nature to speak to my heart as well. We have spiritual predators that are always lurking close by as well. There are things like anger, jealousy, resentment and ongoing pain that we carry around, that eat away at our souls. They leave gaping holes that allow bigger predators in that can really harm us.

As Christians, we are called not to walk in fear, but to be on guard. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

We are called to pray for strength, protection and wisdom. We are called not only to ask for forgiveness, but to give it to others as well. We are called to be vigilant with our souls.

An owl reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂