Category: Trusting God

Last weekend, I was up before my teens and having some much needed quiet time at the kitchen table, with a cup of coffee, my laptop and my Bible. Silence is a rare thing for me these days and I was basking in it.

Then, the dogs started barking. They ran to the window in the dining room and barked to the top of their lungs. I kept shushing them, but they kept barking. There was someone walking another dog in the cul-de-sac and they were upset and stressed and no amount of shushing them would make them stop.

Have I mentioned that they aren’t the most obedient dogs on the planet?

Exasperated, I finally pulled the curtains closed, so they couldn’t see out. It worked like a charm. Immediately, all barking ceased and my peace and quiet were restored.

It was really kind of amazing. Covering up what was agitating them, was all that it took.

I thought about the resulting peace from my action over the next few days. I couldn’t remove what was going on outside of my house, but I could limit their vision of it.

What other things would have the same results?

Well, for one thing, there’s social media. Depending on who you follow and the pages you like, your news feed may be full of inspirational quotes or it may be full of political rants. If social media stresses you out our makes you angry, or makes you feel badly about your imperfect life, stay off of it. Life will go on, and quite likely, more peacefully.

Then of course, there’s the news, this election cycle is a hot mess to say the least. There’s been nothing that’s ladylike or gentlemanly like about it. Sure, we need to stay informed, but reading through the headlines in the evening before bed will probably suffice. If we all refused to watch all of the mudslinging, it may even get better.

But, here’s the bottom line, we can’t change it at the moment. The election is not until November. Is watching the daily negativity helping us in any way? If it’s causing stress and anger, we can simply turn it off, pull the curtains, like I did with my dogs.

As I continued to think about it, there are many things in daily life we could choose to block out, things ranging from office gossip to squabbles among friends.

In each situation, we could ask ourselves if participating or watching can better ourselves in any way? Will it cause us stress? Will it draw us closer to God?

If the answer is no, then perhaps, we should pray about it because that always works. We can give it to God on a spiritual level, but physically, we can just close the curtains and block it out. We can’t always change what’s going on, but we can change how we view it.

We might find ourselves living with a little more peace.

My barking dogs reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

My pastor told a story on Sunday about preaching at a revival in Maryland, many years ago. He said that during his visit, he took a walk with the pastor of the church he was visiting, to the Battlefield of Antietam. That spot marks the single bloodiest day battle in American history. There 22,717 men killed, wounded, or missing when the battle was done.

As they walked around the area, the other pastor pointed to the houses that had been built around the area. Almost every single house had members in it with cancer.

As it turns out, the tens of thousands of bullets that were shot during that battle, settled into the ground, and scientists believe, into the ground water. The bullets were made of lead.

Over two hundred fifty years later, the bullets shot so long ago, are still killing and wounding people.

I suppose that’s not too surprising, because our hearts work the same way.

We can carry around hate and hurt for generations allowing it too, to slowly kill us if we aren’t careful. We can pass down anger and distrust that stem from situations so far back we don’t even remember. Things like, someone refusing to go to church because of some hurt from the distant past, can keep the next generation out of church too. Racism can get passed down from generation to generation.  Distrust of authority, because it was abused at some point, can get passed down to future generations and hatred of police officers is born.

Sometimes those festering bullets can be a little more recent. Sometimes something was done or said to us personally, as children, and we are still allowing ourselves to be poisoned from them, carrying around pain and anger, refusing to let it go and let it heal.

But, walking around hurting, hating, distrusting, and angry ,is not God’s plan for His children. Jesus offers us another way.

He is willing and able to heal anything that we bring to Him, no matter how old or new those bullets may be.

Jesus said: “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 12:28-30

We know that carrying around unresolved anger and pain causes all types of stress and even physical sickness. Those people who lived in Antietam probably didn’t know the physical danger they were in. They probably didn’t have a choice until it was too late.

We do. The question for us, is are we willing to be healed? Are we willing to remove all of the bullets? Jesus always gives us a choice.

A Civil War battle reminded me. Perhaps you need reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

In my new job, in an elementary school office, my desk sits in front of the nurse’s clinic. Now, in a kindergarten through fifth grade school, I’m sure you can imagine that we have a steady stream of visitors. The little guys have all kinds of boo boos. That doesn’t even account for the upset stomachs resulting from nerves that naturally accompany a new school year.

We are blessed with one of the sweetest nurses on the planet. She is soft-spoken, calming and kind-hearted. I mean she’s one of those people where kindness actually radiates from her. The kids feel calmer just being in her presence. I feel calmer being in her presence.

One day this week, we had a kindergartner come in who wasn’t feeling well. It’s been a long time since I’ve been around little guys like that and they are adorable. This little fellow was running a fever and our nurse called his mama to come and get him.

While she was on the way, another student came in and the little guy had to come out of the clinic and wait in the office for her. He sat on the floor for about two minutes before he just went ahead and lay down. He pulled his jacket over him. When my coworker asked him if he was cold, he said he was, so she put her sweater over him.

He put two little fingers in his mouth and went right to sleep. His mama arrived very shortly and took him home.

I thought about that little guy all day the next day and what I could learn from him. I thought about how Jesus said we should have the faith of a child.

When that kindergartner felt bad, he sought help from the nurse and then he just lay down and waited for his mama to come and help him feel better. He didn’t worry or fret. He rested, knowing that help and comfort were on the way. He wasn’t embarrassed about feeling bad. He didn’t try to soldier on, plastering a smile on his face and powering through it. He readily admitted that he couldn’t keep going at the moment.

Have you ever been there? I know I have.

How many times have we been so overwhelmed by what life has thrown at us, yet we plaster a smile on and keep on going. We have been programmed not to show weakness. How often do we end up with stomach-aches of our own, or headaches, or sleepless nights? Stress can manifest itself in a hundred ways that can harm us.

What would our lives look like, if we modeled that kindergartner, and we sought help from God when life gets chaotic and out of control? What if we went to Jesus in heartfelt prayer about what is troubling us and then rested at His feet, trusting that help and healing is coming?

What if we always remembered that God is in control and that it’s okay to rest, and to heal, and to admit that our lives are messy sometimes? What if we remembered that what God thinks is the only thing that really matters, so what others think doesn’t?

I was reminded of some beautiful truths from a kindergartner. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I was recently driving down the road when I got behind a big box truck. I really dislike driving behind them because I can’t see what’s up ahead. Sure enough, we came to an intersection with a stop light. He blasted through it, but I couldn’t see the light. It was obviously green for him, but was it still green for me?

I couldn’t see it. If it was yellow for him, then it might have switched to red for me. Someone barreling through in the other direction, could have gotten a brand new green light and t-boned me at full force.

What was I to do? Should I hit the gas and pray for the best?

Ummm, no, what I needed to do and I did, was to slow down, which turned out to be a good thing because the light had turned red. Hitting the gas instead of the breaks, would have been a dangerous decision.

But, hitting the gas is our nature, isn’t it? We don’t like to wait. We don’t like to go slowly and we definitely don’t like not knowing what lies up ahead. That’s why we don’t like box trucks.

That box truck stayed on my mind in the days to follow. Walking with Jesus is often like traveling behind a box truck. If we are in a hurry and insist on our own way, we will often find ourselves frustrated.

Faith teaches us to take one step at a time, one day at a time, and to trust that God has a plan. Faith teaches us that His plan is better than ours and that He will provide for us in His way and in His time.

In a world that asks us what our ten-year plan is and seeks to have us plan every minute of every day until we retire, that path often doesn’t sit too well. But, His path is not and has never been a worldly path. The journey with Christ is a daily walk where we sometimes walk the same road for years and then sometimes we take a new turn everyday.

We don’t have to know the way or even see the road ahead. We only have to know and trust the One who does and it can be excruciatingly difficult at times. Yet, that’s what we are called to do.

When we willingly follow Him, we will always arrive at the destination He intended for us and it will always be much more than we could have imagined.

The question for us is really a matter of trust, faith and obedience. I sometimes struggle with those, but thankfully, we have grace and redemption on a daily basis and the Holy Spirit to light our way. When we get off track, Jesus always reaches out for us to pull us back, closely to his side.

A box truck reminded me. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

My sister and her family brought their dog, Scout, along on their visit south this summer. She’s actually still a puppy, a very big puppy. She’s some kind of lab mix with lots of energy. My sister did some obedience training with her and she learned to use the command, “Leave it,” when Scout is exhibiting undesirable behavior.

It was really kind of fascinating to watch. When Scout would bark when she wasn’t supposed to, my sister would use the command and she would stop and lie down and relax. When she was chewing on something she wasn’t supposed to, the command would make her stop. When she was doing just about anything she wasn’t supposed to be doing, the command worked.

Sometimes, Scout was reluctant to obey and my sister would have to use a sterner tone, but eventually Scout would comply. Dogs, by their very nature, want to please their master.

We could learn a lot from Scout.

I thought about her interactions with my sister long after they headed back north. I thought about how we would all be better off if we were better at listening to the voice of our Master.

How often does His voice simply say, “Leave it?”

When we are anxious and afraid, “Leave it.”

When we are picking up or participating in something we have no business being a part of, “Leave it.”

When we really want to engage in unnecessary arguments or disagreements, “Leave it.”

When we want to hang on to pain and guilt from our past, “Leave it.”

Sometimes His voice is really quiet and sometimes it’s louder, if He really needs to get our attentions, but “Leave it,” seems to apply to most of the earthly situations in which we want to chase and often entangle ourselves.

Because of Jesus and His sacrifice for us, we are all invited to “Leave it,” at the foot of the cross. Whatever “it” is, is redeemable. God has an amazing way of turning ashes and despair into magnificence that we can hardly even recognize.

But, the key comes from obedience. He will not force His will on us. He doesn’t tell us to “Leave it.” He invites us to. When we willingly comply, the peace and rest and joy are beyond anything we can really imagine.

The choice is ours. Are we willing to “Leave it?”

A dog reminded me of the importance of obedience, trust and faith. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂