Category: Trusting God

Sometimes life seems upside-down. When we draw closer to God, we begin to learn and trust that He has a plan for us and we can let go of many of life’s anxieties knowing that He has our best interest at heart.

Seeking Relationship

Posted on by Wendy
A good prayer life has to be about more than an endless list of requests.

A few weeks ago, a little boy in first grade, came into our office to see the nurse. She was with another student, so I asked him to sit in the chair outside of the clinic and wait until she was available. When he was seated, I turned back around and went back to work on my computer. I had a ton of stuff to catch up on that day and I was busy.

But, a couple of minutes later, the little boy said, “Ma’am, excuse me, ma’am,” I stopped typing and turned around to see what he needed. He said, “Do you know why I missed Thursday and Friday last week?”

I, of course, had no idea, but figured this was about to get interesting, so I asked him why he had been absent?

He grinned and excitedly told me he had been on an airplane for the first time and he had gotten to meet the pilot and see the cockpit. I asked him where he flew and he told me it was a country that started with a C. I later learned that he had been in the air for two hours and I asked him if it was possible he visited a state instead of country.

At this point, my coworker got involved. We pulled up a map of the United States and called out all of the states beginning with the letter C. We were having a ball with this kiddo. When the nurse called him in, he was reluctant to go. I’m not sure why he came in to begin with, bu he was enjoying the attention and we were enjoying talking with him.

He went on back to class, but I wondered for days afterward, where he went and I thought about how he didn’t think twice about interrupting me to tell me about his adventure. The confidence of young children always inspires me.

They seem to naturally believe in their hearts, that their stories matter.

The Bible tells us, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Our stories matter to God, our adventures, our successes, our failures all matter. When we get it right it matters and when we get it wrong it matters too. That’s where grace comes in. But, we so often treat prayer as a laundry list of asking God for what we want.

What if we were more like that little boy, and just wanted to talk? What if we regularly shared our lives with the One who gave them to us to begin with? How much stronger would our faith lives be?

A little boy with an exciting tale reminded me that a good prayer life is about relationship, not about constant requests. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

Growing in Faith

Posted on by Wendy
Faith teaches us that we have nothing to fear.

Yesterday, a little girl came into the school clinic. Her mouth was bleeding and she was a little panicked. Our nurse had stepped out, so I did a little triage. I asked her if she had lost a tooth and she said no. I gave her a cup of water to rinse her mouth out, so I could get a clearer look.

She rinsed and I took a look. There was a baby tooth that was the source of the bleeding. I asked her if it was loose and she told me that it started bleeding when she bit into an apple. All of the pieces fell together and I assured her that all was well, that her tooth was bleeding because it would soon come out and that she didn’t need to worry.

She looked like she wasn’t sure she believed me, but she took a tissue with her and went back to lunch.

It wasn’t long before she came back in grinning, with a tiny tooth in her hand. This time the nurse was in the clinic, but she stopped by my desk to show me. We talked about the tooth fairy coming to visit. She got a bag from the nurse to keep it in and she was on her way, much happier than she had been when she came in the first time.

I thought about that little girl on my drive home. I thought about how she panicked when she saw blood and how she wasn’t so sure that I knew what I was talking about. How could something bad like blood in her mouth, mean something good was about to happen?

Sure, I knew what was coming, because I’m older and I’ve been there, but how often have I panicked myself, when something was different than I thought it should be?

Things that we consider bad, happen to us all of the time, the job we didn’t get, that we wanted so badly, the relationship that didn’t work, even thought we gave it all we had, that no, that we wanted so desperately to be a yes, can all seem devastating at the time.

Yet, the passage of time, coupled with age, allows us to look back and more often than not, see all those “bad,” things were actually good and led us to a better place, or a better situation, or even better people.

The longer we walk with God, the more we come to realize there’s always a plan and that He’s always in control. There’s a peace that comes from knowing and believing that since He’s got it, we simply don’t need to worry about what comes next.

We’re really no different than the little girl and her tooth. We don’t have to panic because something good is in the works. We call that faith.

Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Table and Chairs Lessons

Posted on by Wendy
If this was my first project, I might have given up.

This past summer, I refinished several pieces of furniture for my daughter’s college apartment. I found that I really like creating with my hands and that there’s something incredibly rewarding about bringing new life to something just sitting in storage and gathering dust.

One of my daughter’s roommates decided to move out and another girl is moving in, so they needed a table. Naturally, I knew right where one was. It was sitting in my parents’ barn just waiting for me to give it new life. I gleefully went with my hubby in the freezing cold to pick it up.

It’s interesting that this particular project happened to be last of the apartment projects. First of all, it was a table and six chairs. It took up a lot of space and a lot of time. Secondly, all of my other projects were done during the summer. There was lots of light and I could store everything in the garage.

This time, most of it had to be done in the house and I didn’t have much light to work with. I had to step over or around chairs for weeks. To top it off, most of it wasn’t solid; it was veneer which is particularly difficult to work with. The chairs and base took a primer coat and three coats of paint. The top had to be sanded carefully, yet repeatedly and took several coats of stain as well as polyurethane.

If this would have been my first project, I might have given up. I might not have even tried all of the other ones out of sheer frustration, but it wasn’t my first. I had created and seen too many before and afters and I was simply too stubborn to give up.

In the end, it turned out just fine. My daughter was happy and she and her roomies have a place to gather to eat, or talk, or work on projects that require them to spread out.

I don’t know what it is about a kitchen table that calls us to sit and stay a while. There are far more comfortable places to sit in most homes, yet time and time again, I have found myself sitting either at my own kitchen table with friends and family or at someone else’s.

What is it about a kitchen table that calls us to sit and stay a while?

My table adventure reminded me that everything we do in life, is preparing us for the next step, the next project, the next calling. It’s part of the Divine Design. God always has a plan and is always working even when we can’t see Him. Nothing is by chance and nothing is trivial. We don’t have to know how it will turn out because He does. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

First Grade Logic

Posted on by Wendy
How we view failure can determine our success.

One of my favorite first graders came into the office today. I turned around in my chair and he was standing there in front of the clinic. The nurse had stepped out for a minute and I asked him what he needed. He told me his clothes were soaking wet.

Now, I love to hear this kid tell a story, so I asked him what happened. I was not disappointed. He went into a long narrative about how he had been on the slide, not the little kids’ slide, but the one for the upper grades. Everything was really wet, so he was sliding very slowly, and when he reached the bottom, he tried to turn to the left really quickly, but he wasn’t fast enough and fell into a puddle.

There are some kids who would have come into the office crying about being all wet. There are some who would have been mad. But, this one just wanted to change into some dry clothes so he could get back to the business of playing, and as soon as his story was done, he wanted to move quickly.

I helped him find some pants and then the nurse returned and she helped him with a shirt. He was out of there in no time flat, headed back to the playground.

I thought about that first grader for the rest of the day and I smiled every time I thought of him. I thought about how he openly told me about his failed attempt on the slide. He wasn’t embarrassed. He wasn’t mad or sad. It was simply a miscalculation and I suspect he would try it again. I also thought about how playing was his intent and he wasn’t going to let anything get in his way.

We can learn a lot from first grade logic.

We all try things that we fail at. They can be anything from a class, or a new business, or baking, or even relationships. We sometimes fail miserably, but even when we get all wet and covered with mud, are we willing to dry off and try again or are we too embarrassed and just give up? Do we see failure as a simple miscalculation or do we see it as a commentary on our character? How often do we let pride get in the way of our success?

As people of faith, we can pray for guidance and if we get a green light, try again, always remembering nothing is impossible with God.

A first grader reminded me we should always keep trying, if it’s important. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

A Time for Everything

Posted on by Wendy
There’s a season for everything and they can all be beautiful.

Yesterday morning, my daily devotional was about the sunrise. It posed the question, that if you had spent your entire life in darkness and finally saw a sunrise, wouldn’t you believe it was a miracle? It went on to point out that, we experience brushes with the miraculous everyday, but we shrug them off because they have become everyday and mundane to us.

I was determined to take those words to heart as I headed off to work. Unfortunately, it was raining, but I kept my eyes peeled. The skies were gray for most of the day and at one point it was pouring, but in the afternoon, it began to clear and the sun came out.

When I walked out of work, it was a gorgeous warm afternoon. I knew I had to take a walk when I got home, even though my to-do list was a mile long.

When I got outside, my heart felt light for the first time in days and I marveled at the fall leaves. It seemed that they had turned colors overnight. How had I missed that little miracle?

As I continued to walk, I really took in all of the different colors and thought about how creative God is. Spring has always been my favorite season. I love to see life and beauty burst forth from what had previously been dormant. But, the leaves around me were just as stunning as the spring flowers are.

As I continued to walk and appreciate the miraculous, and give thanks for it, I felt a truth bubbling up in my heart.

Letting go can be beautiful. Just look at the leaves.

We tend to hold onto so many things we don’t need. My pastor recently said that Americans use two billion square feet for storage in forty thousand storage facilities and that doesn’t even count attics and basements. We used to have megabytes. Then there were gigabytes. Now we have terabytes.

We hold onto a lot of stuff both physically and virtually. We also tend to hold onto a lot of emotional baggage too. But, maybe we should all learn a lesson from the leaves and let some things go. We may find that something beautiful happens.

A seasonal miracle reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Prayers for Peace

Posted on by Wendy
When peace seems out of reach, prayer is the answer.

When this is published, it will be the day before election day. I am bone tired of hearing about it as I’m sure you probably are as well. Unfortunately, the Peach State, which happens to be where I’ve been a lifelong resident, has become the focus of the entire country.

Normally, no one cares about who our governor is, but not this year. This year millions and millions of dollars have been poured into our state to influence our election, by folks who don’t even live here. I wonder how many hungry kids could have been fed with that money, or how many veterans could have received much needed benefits, or how many struggling citizens could have received job training?

I can’t turn on the television, or the radio, or scroll through my Facebook page without someone giving their two cents worth about this election. At this point, is there seriously anyone who is on the fence about their vote, yet the barrage on weary Georgians continues.

My hubby and I were discussing it on the way to church and I told him if I could crawl into a cave somewhere and sleep for the next few days, I would. He agreed.

But, our pastor addressed the issue at church and she had a better solution. She acknowledged the negativity and the weariness and she reminded us that ultimately, whatever the outcome, God is in control and she recommended a prayer to deal with all of the negativity. Though it was familiar to me, I hadn’t prayed it in quite a while.

But, as we prayed is as a church, I felt some peace seeping into my weary soul. It’s the prayer of St. Francis:

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon, where there is doubt, faith, where there is despair, hope, where there is darkness, light, and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

As a people of God, this election is a huge opportunity to pray for our nation as well as our individual states. May we ask for God’s continued guidance and grace and that His will be done. The Bible tells us that He hears all of our prayers. Let’s choose to remember that.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

Laying the Burdens Down

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes the unnecessary burdens we carry around, can really pile up.

We have just finished a contest at work, where we count and record our daily steps. We are in teams of four and the winning team will be announced today. I can’t even begin to explain how grateful I am that it’s over. I was not pressured in any way, to participate, but for some reason, I joined a team at the last minute.

I don’t own a pedometer or one of those watches that track every move you make, so I downloaded an app on my phone to record my steps. Looks like there really is an app for everything.

I learned early on, that I wasn’t making nearly as many steps as many of the other people in the contest and worst of all, I usually had the lowest number on my team and so, I made sure, I carried my phone with me all of the time. If I got up to make a copy, I took the phone. If I delivered something to a classroom, I took the phone. If I went to the bathroom, I took the phone. When I got home in the afternoon and did laundry, I carried the phone up and down the stairs and I lamented if it needed to be charged, because I couldn’t count my steps.

I was completely aware that the contest was just for fun and my teammates never once, said anything about my few steps, but I put the pressure on myself.

When Monday morning arrived and I realized that I could put my phone on my desk for the day and leave it there, I felt a rush of sweet freedom. For the next couple of days, I truly felt like I had laid a burden down and while I chuckled at myself at the absurdity of my feelings of newfound freedom, it got me to thinking about what else I might need to lay down.

What other unnecessary burdens am I currently carrying that might be weighing down my soul? We can carry things like unresolved anger or pain, or guilt and shame over past mistakes, or the illusion that we can control the world around us. We can even carry things like constant, nagging worry over things we have no control over.

Like that pesky cell phone I couldn’t put down, we can carry those things every step of the way, everyday, in the morning, in the evening, at home, at work, never putting them down.

But, Jesus calls us to a different path. “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 11:28-30

Jesus calls us to lay down our baggage and trust Him. We don’t need it and we can truly be free once we do. A contest reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Defeating Darkness

Posted on by Wendy
The way to defeat darkness, is with light.

As I sit typing out this post, I find myself wanting to shut off all media. There was a horrible shooting at a Pittsburgh Synagogue over the weekend, that left eleven people dead. Killing people in their house of worship is almost unfathomable, except that it’s not. In Sutherland Springs, Texas, in 2017, twenty-six people were killed during a worship service. In 2015, nine were killed in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, during their worship service.

As I ponder these horrible events, it makes no difference to my heavy heart, that one assembly was Jewish; one was predominately white and one was predominately African American. These were all people who worship my Judeo-Christian God, Jehovah, Yahweh, El Shaddai I Am, Father, Abba. He has many names.

Not surprisingly, the politicians seemed to waste no time in spinning the most recent tragedy to their benefit.

There’s so much division in our country right now over politics. The television ads have gotten so bad, that I’m tempted to watch Nextflix until after the election. Quite frankly, I’m tired of hearing all of the negativity that the candidates are engaged in tearing each other down and the amount of money they are spending to do it, makes me sick to my stomach. Shame on all of them for the frivolous use of funds.

It seems to me, that the attack that we need to be most concerned about at the moment, is the one occurring to God’s people. It’s really not about blue or red. It’s about hate and both blue and red have plenty of that to sling around.

As much as I want to withdraw from it all, I believe as a child of God, that I am called to counter it. The only way to defeat darkness is with light and so I’m writing to remind my readers and myself, that there’s clearly a spiritual battle going one here that’s much deeper than anything we can humanly see or understand.

That’s the only way to explain the hate that seems to be spewing forth from every direction. Hate does not come from God. Darkness does not come from God. The Bible tells us that: “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5

The Bible reminds us that there have always been ongoing spiritual battles and we should put on the Armor of God to shield ourselves. Ephesians 6:10-18 It also assures us that in the end, no matter how lost everything seems, God wins.

There is no possibility of a loss, or even a tie, of this we can be absolutely certain.

Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too. Please join me in praying for the victims in Pittsburgh and for the future of our country.

Prayer is the most powerful and effective weapon we have.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

Blessed Reassurance

Posted on by Wendy
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

I had the day off on Monday and I was determined to get outside and go for a walk. My regular cardio routine has become irregular at best, due to some painting projects, an injured tendon and quite frankly, the oppressive heat that has refused to let up.

As I sat at my kitchen table drinking my coffee, (Who in their right mind would take a morning walk before coffee?), I noticed how dark it was outside. I knew I should go as early as possible, because of the heat, but I just didn’t want to go out under an overcast sky.

Something nudged me to wait.

When the sun finally peeked through the clouds, and I went to get my running shoes, it was 9:00. I strapped my cell phone that I’ve been lugging around to record every step I take, securely around my arm. I knew I had probably waited too late, but I was determined to go anyway.

I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped outside. It was cooler than it had been the past few days and there was a breeze. I was thankful I had waited for the light and I was reminded that it’s always going to be warmer when we seek to walk in the light.

As I walked along, I found myself praying for some wonder, for God to show His presence. The past week had been a long one filled with bad news, not for me personally, but for some friends and extended family. I felt like my prayers had become a long list of cries for intervention and comfort. My heart felt heavy.

But, as I walked and felt the cool breeze on my face, I felt thankful, thankful to be alive and to be outside and away from a desk and as I was giving thanks, a hawk flew across my path and landed on a tree branch right in front of me. I stopped and wondered if it would remain there while I took a picture. I doubted it.

I never exercise with a phone. I find them cumbersome, but I had mine because of the step counting, work contest. I carefully took it off my arm, expecting it to fly away any minute. It didn’t. I tried to zoom and then I moved closer and walked to the other side of the tree to get a better shot. The hawk never moved. He kept his eyes on me, but stayed put until I finished and walked away.

I marveled at God’s faithfulness and His timing. If I would have gone earlier, I would have missed the encounter. If I wasn’t counting my steps, not only would I not have been able to get a picture, but I wouldn’t have been been amazed at the hawk’s patience with my photo attempts.

My heart was much lighter as I continued to give thanks. My circumstances hadn’t changed, but I had been reassured of His presence, His timing, His plan and most importantly, His love.

Perhaps you needed some reassurance today too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Toddler Lessons

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes your path may only be clear to you. Not everyone will understand your calling.

One Sunday, a few months back, when the time came for the choir to go to the front of the church and sing, my friend Linda, had to leave her grandson Malachi, in the pew with his mama, so she could sing. As soon as she left his side, he began to wail loudly. It was of no concern to him where his grandmother was going. All he knew was that she was leaving him.

But, when the music began and she joined her voice with the rest of the choir in worship, he quieted down. When the song was over, she returned to his side.

I thought about that incident long after that Sunday. So often, when God calls us to do something, those around us might not understand. They might not have the vision that we do, that like a church choir, we are joining in with others to produce something beautiful for God, something much bigger than we are alone.

I also reflected upon the fact that Linda didn’t turn and go back. She kept walking to where she was called, knowing that she needed to go. She knew that not only was Malachi completely safe with his sweet mama, but that he was about to witness why she left him for those few minutes.

When we choose to walk with Jesus, we are sometimes called to make difficult decisions. We can find ourselves called to a different job, or a different vocation altogether, or a different city, or sometimes even a different church.

Sometimes the people around us will cheer us on. Sometimes they won’t. Change is often hard for everyone involved and some people are going to react like little Malachi did that morning. But, when we are deep in prayer over our dilemmas and opportunities and we know we are going where we are called to be, our friends and loved ones will eventually see what we knew all along: God always has a plan and He was always working in the situation even when He was unseen.

Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you did too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂