Category: Trusting God

Early last summer, we harvested a crop of white potatoes. It was my first time planting them, but Daddy grew up farming and he really wanted to plant some. We planted them a little late in the season, but we ended up with a lot more than I expected. Daddy rigged up a hanging basket under the house to store them. I suppose it’s like a modern day root cellar.

We ate them often and like everything that you grow for yourself, they were really good. As our other veggies matured and we worked on canning, we forgot about the potatoes. They were out of sight, so they were out of mind.

Then, last week, I read that it was time to plant potatoes. Remembering that we didn’t eat all of last year’s crop, I went to retrieve what had been left under the house and hoped we had enough sprouts to plant. Imagine my surprise when I discovered more sprouts than I could count and way more than we could possibly plant in our available space.

As Daddy and I stood together cutting the sprouts to get them ready to plant, I marveled at the growth that had happened in the dark.

When the garden is in its growing season, I inspect my plants daily. I water them. I add fertilizer. I look for pests and remove them as quickly as possible. I harvest and prune. I spend a lot of time thinking about everything I need to do to make it successful.

Yet, in that damp, dark space with no light and absolutely no help from me, an exponential amount of growth occurred, growth that would eventually lead to an entire new crop of potatoes.

I feel like life is sometimes that way. We try our hardest to make something thrive. We do everything in our power to nurture it and help it along and then we spend countless hours worrying about the growth, (or the lack of). Sometimes the best course of action when we have done all we can humanly do, is to pray about it and put it down; give it to God.

When we are brave enough to do that, our faith grows along with our patience and we are often amazed at what He can do without all of our micromanaging. Some sprouted potatoes reminded me that growth and success doesn’t always depend on me. I worship a God who loves me and is always working for my good. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

For the past three weekends in a row, the state of Georgia has been hit with either snow or ice paired with unusually frigid temperatures. We did have one day of beautiful snow that quickly melted, but basically, I have been stuck in the house for what feels like weeks on end. The month of January has felt endless and spring has felt light years away.

I was feeling bored and restless, so one day last week, I finally bundled up and got outside for a walk. I’m not sure why I am always amazed at how refreshing nature is for me. I often have my best prayer time when I’m walking alone in the woods. Even when the ground is wet and muddy, even when the trees are bare and all evidence of life and growth is nowhere to be found, Creation is always where I feel closest to God.

Creation always reminds me that even on the grayest days, God is at work. Even when we can’t see it or feel it, He is at work. Being out in nature reminds me that faith isn’t about what we see, but what we believe. If I went by sight, I would be filled with despair as I walked through the woods because the trees all appear to be dead, but of course they are not. They are simply dormant and resting, waiting for the spring when they will burst forth in bloom and new life.

There is life and work going on; it’s simply beneath the surface.

I felt much better as I looked around and I was reminded that our lives are filled with seasons too. Sometimes the winter seasons feel like they will never end. We can pray earnestly for deliverance or healing and yet, we are sometimes still met with gray and cold and our circumstances remain unchanged. We can find ourselves getting discouraged and begin to question if God is listening.

As someone who has recently spent a long time in a winter season, let me assure you, He is always listening. He is always working.

I was pondering that truth when two bright yellow dandelion blooms caught my eye, an example of new life springing forth. They stood out brightly in the dead grass. I smiled and said a prayer of thanks for the physical reminder that God is always near. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I was recently out for a walk when I felt the nudge to stop and take a seat at a bench next to our pond. I resisted and continued with my walk. I was trying to get in my steps for the day. It had rained for an entire week and when it finally stopped, I felt a deep need to move. When I came back by the bench, I felt the nudge again. This time I stopped. A light breeze swept gently across the water as I soaked in the stillness and caught my breath.

It wasn’t long before I saw a big fish breaking the surface on the other side of the pond. A few minutes later, I saw some minnows swimming near the edge. I  heard frogs croaking and then I saw a turtle poke its head head up out of the water.

As I sat there, it occurred to me that when I rushed by a few minutes earlier and resisted the nudge to stop, the pond looked completely still. It wasn’t until I took the time to be still and observe, that I saw just a few of the many types of life that it nurtures. I know there are different kinds of turtles and fish in the pond, but I don’t often see them.

In fact, most of the work of living that goes on beneath the surface, is never seen by human eyes, yet I never question its existence.

The lesson was not lost on me. There are times on our faith journey when we wonder where God is. Why is He not answering our prayers? Why is He allowing continued suffering? Is He even listening?

While we may not get the answers to all of our questions on this side of eternity. We can rest assured that He is always listening, always close and always working. If we need a reminder, we can follow the gentle nudge from the Spirit that encourages us to be still, pray, and read His Word. The Bible tells us repeatedly not to be afraid, to be at peace and to be still and know that God is in control.

If we know in our hearts that He is writing our story, then we have to know He is always working, even when we can’t see Him. A visit to a pond reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

It’s getting towards the end of the summer growing season in my garden. I missed some important opportunities to prune just about everything, and then we had five days of rain followed by cloudy skies. Between bugs and blight, my zinnias are looking rough. I’m still getting some blooms, but not nearly as many and most of them have black spots on them.

I was out in the garden, harvesting what I could and deadheading the blooms that were spent or just in bad shape, when a beautiful butterfly caught my eye. It was busy working on the center of a pitiful flower. At least half of its petals were gone and those it still had were tinged in brown. If I hadn’t seen the butterfly on it, I would have definitely cut it and thrown it over the fence.

I marveled at how hard at work the butterfly was on the seemingly spent flower and I couldn’t help but snap a photo, then left it alone to do its work. I circled around the bed and when I got back to it, a bee was busy working on it. Needless to say, I left the flower right where it stood. It clearly still had worth to nature, even if I couldn’t see it.

I thought about that half-eaten flower for the rest of the afternoon. I thought about how quickly we are to attach worth to the people and things around us and even to ourselves, based on what we see. The Bible tells us that God sees with different eyes than we do.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Friend, the truth is that if you woke up today, if you are reading these words, God is not done with you. You may feel like the half-eaten, tattered flower in my garden, but you are here and our God can still use you. Your unique journey matters, all bruises and scars included. Jesus understands. He too, has some scars.

A butterfly reminded me that we are never too far gone for God to use us. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I was recently going through one of those times where God felt far away. I think of them as wilderness moments. Now, I’ve been walking with Jesus long enough to know that faith is not based on feelings. He is always close and always at work even when I can’t see Him or feel Him. Interestingly enough, a friend of mine called to check in and eventually, we got around to how I was feeling.

She was quick to reassure me that God was definitely working behind the scenes. She encouraged me to keep reading the Bible, keep praying and to lean into Jesus and always to expect big things. These were of course, truths that I knew but, I was so grateful for her call and her encouragement.

I took a walk and said a prayer of thanks for our friendship and marveled at God’s timing. She and I text regularly, but she just happened to call me when I was in a wilderness moment and really needed to hear some words of truth and encouragement. As I was walking, I found some wild  muscadines along my path. I stopped and picked up a couple and popped them into my mouth.

They were wonderfully sweet and transported me immediately back to my childhood when my sister and I would shake a muscadine vine that climbed a tree in our yard and gather the sweet grapes that dropped seemingly from the sky. I immediately looked up and saw the vine that was very high in a tree above. I smiled and thanked God for the surprise treat on my walk and then a Bible verse popped into my head.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

It was the ultimate reminder that every blessing comes from God, the God who is always close, the God who cares about our everyday ups and downs, the God who nudged a friend to call me and remind me of His love and the God who sent me some fruit simply because He could. There are days that I need reminding. Perhaps you do too,

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

This year when I planted my vegetable garden, I planted lots of zinnia seeds. I planted a couple of beds with only zinnias and then I added them randomly to the rest of the beds. I planted them because they attract pollinators and maybe more importantly, because they bring me joy.

Most mornings, when I pick the garden, I pick the flowers first. The vegetables may feed my body, but the flowers feed my soul. Their colors are so vibrant. Some are big and some are small, but they all serve as stunning evidence of God’s work and creativity in His creation.

One day last week, as I was having my morning coffee, I was feeling stressed. I had so many balls in the air and my mind was on a seemingly endless hamster wheel running in circles surrounding things I had no control over and couldn’t possibly fix. As I began to feel a bit overwhelmed, I said a silent prayer for peace.

Almost immediately, I felt a gentle nudge to “arrange the flowers.” I looked over at the jar of flowers I had picked from the garden the day before. I hadn’t had the time to do anything with them, so they just remained in the jar that I had placed them in when I picked them.

“Seriously?” I thought.

I had so much to consider and solve, plus, I had to be somewhere that morning and I was supposed to arrange flowers?

Now, I have been walking with Jesus for too long, to ignore a nudge from the Holy Spirit, so as mundane and trivial as it seemed at the moment, I complied.

Not surprisingly, I felt a peace almost immediately, as I examined and trimmed the first perfectly amazing stem. A couple Bible verses popped into my head: ²⁷ “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ²⁸ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!” Luke 12:27-28

When I looked up the verses, in Luke 12, the entire passage is a reminder for us not to worry. Jesus uses the beauty of flowers as part of His illustration of God’s love for His creation and His people and He used the same illustration for me, standing in my kitchen that morning.

I would love to tell you that I never worried again, from that moment forward, but that wouldn’t be true. What I can say is that when I prayed for some peace in a current situation and got quiet and listened, Jesus found a way to use something special to me to remind me that I am loved and He will provide as He always has. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

My daughter recently had the day off of work and she wanted to take a quick trip to check out a nearby beach.  Since she knows how much I love the ocean, she asked me if I would be willing to go. Spoiler alert: she knew I would say yes. I was more than happy to be a part of her coastal whim. We happily got up at 6:00 AM and made the three hour drive.

We were blessed with gorgeous weather and we spent the entire day basking in the sun, walking on the beach and playing in the waves.

I have always considered the beach to be one of those thin places, where my heart and soul feel close to God. A peace settles over me as I watch the waves roll endlessly in and out. The tide comes and goes at its own pace. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in the news or down the street or in my personal life. The ocean pauses for no one.

It’s been a few years since I have swam in the ocean, but when we waded in together to waist deep water, it was like a balm for my weary soul. The waves would gently pull me out and then I would try to catch one just at the right time, to ride towards the shore. Sometimes, I would jump too soon and not get anywhere. Sometimes, I would wait too late and get a face full of salt water. But, sometimes I would move at the perfect time and ride the wave almost completely back to the beach.

I don’t know how long we laughed and played in the ocean; I just know I was pleasantly exhausted when we finally drug ourselves out. I was reminded of playing in the ocean with my parents when I was a child and then playing with my own children when they were little, but this time, I felt like God was holding me close and smiling as I delighted in the wonder that He made.

As I thought about it later, it was almost a physical reminder of my spiritual walk. The ocean would pull me gently out, like God pulls me close, but then it would push me back to the shore, back to where people are, inviting me to share the experience with others who might need to hear about it.

Sometimes the waves are calm and easy and we can just float. Sometimes they are big and scary and we have to swim really hard. We might even get pushed under and have to fight for air, but if we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will always make it to the shore. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂