Category: Trusting God

I received an anxious text yesterday from my daughter who is attending college in South Georgia. She said that Irma is heading straight for them.

While we are all still glued to the television and reeling from all of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, in Texas, a new hurricane has been busy forming and growing. Hurricane Irma is already stronger and bigger than Harvey was and is marching towards the United States.

I texted her back that she had plenty of time before Irma makes landfall and it may not even strike her area. She texted back that they were watching the path on television and that it was headed for the Georgia coast.

I pulled it up on my computer and looked at the models. The hurricane’s path depends largely on what’s going on with the jet stream when it collides with it. It could go into the Gulf of Mexico. It could hit South Florida. It could hit Savannah or the Carolinas. There’s no way to know at this point.

As I continued to read the article, there was an interview with a lifelong Florida resident. The wisdom of her words really struck me. She said that she doesn’t worry about these things too much. She said that she had water. She had her music and she prayed.

If any people in the entire US are hurricane veterans, it would be the Floridians. Their state has been slammed by hurricanes more than any other. They know what to do. They know when to evacuate. They know when to stand fast. They know how to rebuild. I suspect many know very well how to pray.

They have learned all of these skills from experience.

My own child was raised much closer to the North Georgia Mountains than the coast. Hurricanes are for the most part, a foreign concept. She doesn’t have the benefit of the experience of the woman who was interviewed from Florida.

I thought about that lady long after I read her quote. I thought about how our lives are often overrun with hurricane types of situations. Sometimes it’s just those outside bands of wind and rain. Sometimes it’s the flooding. Sometimes it’s the full force of the hurricane and sometimes, there’s another one that follows closely behind, like Irma.

But, when we live out our faith and keep our eyes focused on Jesus, we know we will survive. We can even get to the point where we can say that we don’t worry about it too much; we just pray. But, that kind of faith takes years of walking with Jesus and knowing that He will sustain us.

Deep, enduring faith takes time, but it’s worth it. The peace that comes from knowing that we worship the God who can calm any storm, is absolutely priceless.

A hurricane reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Last weekend, my hubby and I drove our daughter to college. Just like the day she was born, it was exciting and painful. Just like the day she was born, a new chapter began as another one came to a close, and just like the day she was born, God was there.

It was a tough week leading up to it, bittersweet in so many ways. But, God has given me so much comfort in this journey. He led her to three roommates who are strong in their faith and He made a way for her to get to know them and become friends with them before they moved in.

And as an extra blessing to this mama, He allowed me to spend some time with their mamas, who happen to be very strong, Godly women. I’ve always believed that you can tell a lot about a girl from meeting her mama.

As moving day progressed, I received texts of prayers an encouragement from some of the people I work with. I’ve only been at my job for a little over a year, and two of the people who sent prayers have only been there a couple of months. Yes, God was there.

All day long, we received well wishes on Facebook. We even got some from our Salkehatchie mission family. But, on the way home, one of those women, who means the world to my daughter, messaged me privately to tell me that she was covering me in prayer too and reminded me that when you raise a child to love the Lord; you can’t ask for anything better, as you send her out on her own. Yes, God was there, just as He has always been, especially for loving mamas.

He was there when Moses’ mama placed her baby in a basket and into His hands. He was there when Hannah dedicated Samuel to Him to raise. He was there with Mary in a stable in Bethlehem and He was there again when she stood at the cross.

The entire experience has reminded me that there are seasons in our lives that are just plain hard, for whatever reason, but when we really look around us, those of us with faith, can see God everywhere. While He doesn’t remove the season, He sends us help and extra blessings in countless ways. I am reminded that I never walk alone and neither does my daughter. You never walk alone either.

Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

My family just took a tour of some of the places used in the filming of the television show, “The Walking Dead.” Personally, I’m not a fan of the show. In fact, I’ve never even seen an episode. My hubby swears that there are all kinds of deeper meaning in all that transpires. But, I can’t past the zombies and the gore.

However, my hubby and daughter just love it and the tour was a gift for my daughter’s birthday, so my son and I went along for the ride.

When we arrived in the darling little town of Senoia, which is the town of Woodbury on the show, the man who checked us in informed us that they had actually been filming in town for the past several nights before, and that if we walked to the edge of town, we could see the Walls of Alexandria.

My daughter lit up like a candle and we headed that way. When we got there she and my hubby were very impressed. There were tourists and tour groups everywhere taking pictures of the Walls of Alexandria.

I too, took pictures, but quite frankly, I didn’t get what all of the fuss was about. They were tall metal walls. There was nothing at all aesthetically appealing about them. What was the big deal?

My hubby explained later that those walls protected everyone within them. There was a self-sustaining city inside those walls and they also kept the zombies out.

The walls were a big deal to the people who followed the show.

As I was later looking through my pictures, I came across those walls. I thought about how there are times when we work very hard to create something that people on the outside just don’t get.

Maybe it’s creating a family life that brings us joy or carving out a time of quiet to talk to God. Maybe it’s a scheduled date night with our spouse or maybe it’s losing a little weight or eating a little better. Maybe it’s learning to trust that God has a plan for us. It could be just about anything.

To those on the outside, our hard work may not look like much. Like me with the Walls of Alexandria, they don’t know our story. But, we have a God who does. Jesus follows our story with all of our struggles and triumphs and He cheers for us when we make progress in our journey towards Him.

He always looks past the gore of the messes we make. He gets us and He loves us.

The Walls of Alexandria reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

My hubby and my daughter recently visited a local restaurant. We were thinking of having her birthday dinner celebration there. It looks so cool at night. It’s very tropical. There’s sand, palm trees and string lights. We thought it might be the ideal place for some fun birthday pictures.

But, when they visited the place in the daylight, it wasn’t nearly as glamorous. The boat fountain on the property was full of water and mosquitoes. It was hot and kind of shabby. The daylight completely changed their perception of the place.

The light changed everything.

As my hubby was relaying their experience to me, I was reminded of a time when I visited our local fair during the day time.

The fair used to come to town every fall. The air was crisp and there were lots of lights and music. It was always the highlight of the fall.

One year, a friend of mine and I, went on a Saturday afternoon. I had never been during the day. It wasn’t nearly as enticing or exciting. When we got on the haunted house ride, it was downright pitiful.

Under normal circumstances, at night, I would nervously get into one of those little cars and hear the scary music as the car would ride jerkily on the track. At each turn something would jump out. It would be something like a ghost or a skeleton, nothing seriously gory, but it would always startle me causing me to at least jump, if not to scream.

But, in the light of day, the sun shown through all of the cracks and lit up the entire inside of the ride. I could see all of the mechanical ghosts, well before my little car reached them. They weren’t the least bit scary.

The light changed everything.

I thought about our conversation in the following days. I thought about how the light of Christ can completely change our perception of the world around us.

I thought about how things that once appeared exciting and glamorous to us can become completely uninviting. I thought about how situations and places that once frightened us can lose all of their power to affect us in any significant way.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Light of the world. I have learned on my journey that the Light changes everything. Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

It’s been a very busy summer for me and my family. We have had lots of changes, all good, but changes just the same. One of them has been my son turning sixteen and getting his driver’s license.

Over the past year, we have probably had hundreds of conversations about driving and focusing on maintaining your lane. We have discussed not getting distracted by what’s going on around him. But, we have also discussed the importance of driving defensively.

As my hubby and I were driving to church on Sunday, we were talking about the importance of listening to God and doing what He calls us to do.

My son, and his driving lessons popped into my mind.

As Christians, we really don’t need to concern ourselves with what other people are doing. We aren’t called to drive all over the road or to jump into anyone else’s lane. We are called to be obedient to our specific calling. Sometimes, that’s an easy task.

Sometimes, we can cruise for miles with zero interference in light traffic. Sometimes, the weather is ideal and there are no hazards of any kind.

But, sometimes we encounter difficulties. We have to keep in mind that there are other drivers on the road and sometimes those drivers are aggressive or reckless. Sometimes there are wrecks. Sometimes it’s foggy or rainy. We have to remember to drive defensively.

Thankfully, we have a guidebook for that. God gives us His Word to teach us how to protect ourselves. He also gives us the direct 911 line of prayer, that always goes straight to Him. We are never on hold.

We can learn to anticipate those drivers who are going to try to cut us off and run us off the road that we have been called to. The longer and the closer we walk with Jesus, the better we get at avoiding them altogether.

We can also learn to slow down during bad weather. We don’t need to stop, although it can be tempting. Sometimes a slow crawl is fast enough.

Let’s face it. It’s easy to get distracted when there are so many people on the road. It’s also easy to just pull over and come to a complete stop when the weather is bad. However, we have to remember as long as we stay focused on Jesus, we will always get safely where we are going.

My teen driver reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂