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.

In Relentless Pursuit

Posted on by Wendy
What would our lives look like if we relentlessly pursued God with no fear?
What would our lives look like if we relentlessly pursued God with no fear?

Yesterday, my daughter had a tennis match. It was away. I loathe away matches. First of all, I am prone to getting lost. Secondly, once I make it there, few other parents from our team usually go and I have no one to sit with or talk to.

Well, yesterday I was prepared. I printed directions before I left the house and I had a very good idea of where I was going. To make my chances even better of not getting lost, I decided to go to the high school and follow the bus. There were three buses there, loading up three different sports teams. I asked my daughter which bus was hers and she told me.

When her team bus pulled out, I was right behind it. “Ha!” I said to no one in particular, I would not get lost this time. We headed to the stop sign and I was all set to make a left turn because I had my directions printed out right beside me. The bus turned right.

Uh, oh! Had I followed the wrong bus? I was concerned for a few miles, but then a girl from my daughter’s team turned around and waved at me. I was following the right bus, but where was it going?

When it went 50 miles per hour in a 35 zone, I said a prayer and stayed close. When it got on the loop and continued to change lanes, I stayed close. I followed more closely than I normally follow cars, but traffic got thick and I couldn’t lose the bus. At this point, I had no idea how to get to the school.

Somewhere on that hour plus drive, it struck me how relentless I was being about pursuing that bus. My child was on board and I stayed close like my life depended on it. I simply was completely unwilling to get separated.

Then I began to think about what my life would look like if I pursued God in the same relentless manner. What if I refused to become separated from Him at all costs? What if I was willing to go in a direction that I felt was completely wrong or at odds with my own printed out map? What if I was willing to trust that He would get me to the right destination at the right time if I just had enough faith? What if I just obeyed and went wherever He called?

What if all Christians felt that way?

We did end up getting to the school safely. It wasn’t the route I would have taken, but it got us there. I didn’t get lost. I am reminded that our Christian walk can be very much like that seemingly convoluted trip.

God knows where He’s going. He knows where He wants us to go. The question for us is simply, “Are we willing to follow even when the path doesn’t seem to make sense?” Our faith journey hangs on our answer to that question; because sticking close to Him and willingly following, is the only way we can get to His destination for us and His destination is infinitely better than anything we could even dream of.

Perhaps we should take this season of Lent and consider relentlessly following God.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

What Faith Can Do

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes when we feel the most helpless, God shows up.
Sometimes when we feel the most helpless, God shows up.

My family suffered a tragedy last weekend. Our beloved minivan of fourteen years, died. It was just a car, but it was special. My children were still in car seats when we bought it. My son was only three months old. It was right after the 9/11 attacks and I remember proudly displaying a flag on the back window.

It was a mom mobile and I drove it happily. It seated seven and I regularly hauled that many kids in it. It’s been camping many times and on road trips and vacations. It carried my sister’s wedding dress to Florida along with my mom and dad and all of my mom’s stuff. We were super packed on that trip.

I remember when the kids were in preschool, they all fought to ride in it. It was the cool car. Most women my age, traded for something much hipper when their kids got older, but not me. I loved the minivan and always volunteered to drive whenever I was needed, which was often, from things like tennis matches to youth group trips, to my daughter’s first homecoming dance.

I knew it was getting old, and soon my oldest will be driving, but I wasn’t ready to downsize yet. Unfortunately, the decision was made for me.

I fought tears all weekend over the loss. Not only because we don’t really have the money to buy a new one, but because it symbolizes the end of an era. My kids are growing up and soon we won’t need the minivan, and I find that very bittersweet.

As always, God has His hands in all of this. There’s a man at church who I love to kid around with every Sunday. He is in management at a local car dealership and apparently has helped just about everyone in the congregation to find a car. When I spoke with him on Sunday and asked him for help and then told him that I really hated to ask for help, He simply said, “Why? That’s what I do.”

I was so humbled. This is community. When I shared with members of my Improv group that our van had died, a member of my small group immediately turned around and asked if we needed a car because his wife was out of town for the week. This is community.

When I confessed how silly I felt about being sentimental about the loss of the van, another member of my small group told me it wasn’t silly at all. This is community.

I was driving down the road after church, in my daughter’s car and I was scanning channels and praying for some peace. A song came on called, “What Faith Can Do,” by Kutless. I had never heard it, but it’s older. The words were, “Don’t you give up now. The sun will soon be shining. You gotta face the clouds to find the silver lining.” The words really struck me and soothed my soul.

As I slowed to stop at the red light, I could hardly believe the letters on the tag in front of me. “B LEVE” I whispered a prayer of thanks as tears ran down my cheeks. Not only had He provided me with a loving caring church community, He also let me know that He is always close and always listening. We just have to look.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

P.S. If you want to hear that song, I’ve attached a link.

Dormant not Dead

Posted on by Wendy
My neighborhood trees appear dead right now.
My neighborhood trees appear dead right now.

On a recent walk in my neighborhood, I noticed that all of the trees look dead. There are no leaves and nothing green on the vast majority of them. It’s still winter time and I know that they aren’t really dead; they are simply dormant during this season.

When conditions get right, with warmer days and more sun, they will burst into life. Those stark, lifeless looking trees got me to thinking about other things in life that we think are dead, but are really just dormant.

Sometimes we have relationships that we think are way past repair and are surely dead. We may have dreams that we thought died long ago. Sometimes our faith itself can feel lifeless and dead for any number of reasons ranging from our own apathy or neglect, to a huge tragedy of some sort.

But, when Jesus enters the picture, everything changes.

I am reminded of a story in the Gospel of Luke. In Chapter 8, a man approached Jesus to ask him to heal his sick daughter. Jesus got caught up in the crowd and was delayed. Someone sent word to the father that his daughter had died and told him, “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” Luke 8:49b

This had to have been devastating news. But, here’s the awesome part. “Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe and she will be healed.'” Luke 8:50

Think about it a minute. Jesus overheard this news. I picture him reaching towards this panicked father telling him not to be afraid and to believe. I picture him reaching for us in the same way when we desperately need redemption for something in our lives that we believe is dead.

When they arrived at the house and everyone was crying, Jesus told them that the child was not dead, only sleeping. Do you know how they reacted? They laughed at Jesus. He was undeterred. He took the girl’s mother and father and three of his disciples and went to her bed side. He reached for her hand and told her to get up and she did.

I’m not sure we do much better today than the crowd did. We are modern people of science, statistics, and numbers. We like facts and figures. We like sure things and we demand proof. We often leave little room for faith in our lives.

But, the truth is when Jesus says something is sleeping and not dead, then it can be redeemed. Our job is not to question how, but to believe, like that father did.

Lent is an ideal time to search our lives for relationships, dreams or anything that we may have thought was dead, but believe that Jesus may have a different plan. People may laugh at us. They laughed at Jesus too, but we can pray about those things and we may be pleasantly surprised.

It's possible that the things we thought were dead, were merely dormant.
It’s possible that the things we thought were dead, are merely dormant.

There may be some situations that are ready to burst to life when we introduce the Son.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

When the World is Foggy

Posted on by Wendy
When our world gets shrouded in fog, we don't have to fear. We can just slow down and trust.
When our world gets shrouded in fog, we don’t have to fear. We can just slow down and trust.

Yesterday morning, our area was under a fog warning. Every radio station was talking about it. The Weather Channel App, had a warning about it. My thirteen-year-old son finally asked, during our commute to school, “What’s the big deal about the fog?”

His artist mind thought it was cool to look at and I agreed with him. I explained to him that the problem with fog is that people don’t like to slow down. We don’t like to plan ahead and leave home early. We don’t like to be inconvenienced in any way. So, we leave for work at the same time and travel at the same speed, even though we can’t see clearly, and we crash.

That explanation seemed to satisfy him. When I returned home, I got my camera to try to capture some of the foggy images around me. They really were quite beautiful and the fog and its beauty as well as its inconveniences, continued to play out in my head.

Faith and fog seem to be close cousins to me. Both are a beautiful. Both require us to slow down and watch and sometimes wait. Both can cover all the imperfections in the world around us. Fog covers them physically while faith covers them spiritually. They both force us to keep moving ahead towards our destination slowly, even when we can barely see what lies ahead.

A few months ago, my hubby and I were having a really tough week. It was one thing after another. In desperation, I sent an e-mail to our pastor, asking him for prayer. I loved his response so much that I wrote it down.

“We can never travel though enemy darkness beyond the headlights shown by Christ. Deep breath of Holy Spirit. Next step. Just the next step. He is with you.” Dick Hoard

I immediately felt better. I think his message is perfect for foggy times too. There are simply times in our lives when we can’t see a thing. Our world is shrouded in fog. Whether we decide to let that fog be frightening like the fog used in a scary movie or more enchanting like fog used at a prom, is up to us.

We can slow down, breathe in the Holy Spirit and take one step at a time, staying within the headlights shown by Christ, resting in the knowledge that we are loved and there is a plan, or we can panic and hit the gas and take our chances.

Maybe Lent is an ideal time to think about the foggy areas of our lives. Where do we need to slow down and let Christ shine His light? I find that when we ask, He will show up and His light never dims.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Importance of Epiphany

Posted on by Wendy
Epiphany symbolizes the light for Christ for all people.
Epiphany symbolizes the light of Christ for all people.

Today is Epiphany. It’s a part of the Christmas story, but like Advent, many churches don’t celebrate it. It’s not mentioned in the Bible; it’s church doctrine that was adopted by Eastern Orthodox churches originally. Whether or not your church celebrates it or even mentions it, I believe the idea of Epiphany is definitely noteworthy.

When we celebrate the birth of Jesus in church, the major players are Mary and Joseph, Jesus, shepherds, angels and three wise men, magi, or kings. Every Nativity Set, you purchase will have those figures. Every child’s Christmas pageant you attend, will have those figures. We like to put them all together and tie them up neatly with a bow.

The story of the wise men comes from Matthew 2:1-12. Verse one tells us some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose and we have come to worship him.”

Notice that it doesn’t say three wise men; it just says some. Also notice it doesn’t say they were kings either. The scripture goes on to say that they brought three gifts to Jesus and so somewhere along the way, mankind decided that there must have been three wise men. We like for life to be neat like that; don’t we? Three wise men, three gifts, arriving on the scene at the stable right after the shepherds and then we are done. The Christmas story is told, the end.

But, as is the usual case with God, His timing is different from ours and the story hasn’t even nearly reached the end. The Holy Family had left the stable by the time they arrived. Verse 11 says, “they entered the house and worshiped him.”

The wise men were priests most likely from ancient Persia, which was modern-day Iraq. They weren’t Jewish. They didn’t believe in our God. They followed the stars, but they knew the birth of Jesus was significant, so much so that they traveled anywhere from 800-900 miles to pay homage to him with gifts and to worship him.

This was a big deal because this was part of God’s plan to include non-Jews in His plan for salvation. God even warned them in a dream to travel home on a different route than they came and not to return to Herod. The entire experience touched the men enough that they believed and did as God told them. I’ve often wondered what the rest of their story is. How did the encounter with the Baby Jesus change their lives? The Bible doesn’t tell us.

Epiphany celebrates the fact that we are all included. We are all invited to the table. That was a big departure from Old Testament law. I think it’s also a beautiful reminder to us not to try to put God in a box, like we do our Nativity Sets. He is way bigger and more powerful than we could ever imagine and, nothing is impossible for Him or with Him. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s cause to celebrate.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Being a Blessing Draws Blessings

Posted on by Wendy
Working with someone who tried to look at people the way God does, is truly a blessing.
Working with someone who tries to look at people the way God does, is truly a blessing.

I have this awesome part-time job at a dress shop downtown. I happened to walk in there at the end of the summer looking for a homecoming dress for my daughter and I instantly loved it. The owner, Frances, is what I would describe as bubbly times ten. She met us at the door and welcomed us. She then went on to say that the store had a platform of girls and self-esteem and they stood strong on anti-bullying. She also said that no one who walks through her doors is allowed to speak negatively about themselves and if she heard negative words, whoever said them would be placed in a time out until they could say three positive things about themselves.

I loved her instantly and I loved her boutique. She had formal wear of all kinds, homecoming, prom, ladies wear, bridal gowns and tuxedos. She had brand new items and consignment items as well as vintage dresses. It was such a fun and uplifting place, I hated to leave. My daughter found a dress. I friended Frances on Facebook.

I did a little sewing for her because that’s all I know how to do and then I started working in the store when she needed the help. Watching her work has been amazing. I think she truly sees women through the eyes of God. She can pick out something beautiful in every woman or girl who walks through the door and she points it out. Most ladies leave with a pep in their step and holding their head a little higher than when they arrived.

Frances is a strong Christian. I knew it when I met her, long before we discussed it. I could see Jesus in the way she treats people.  She seems to innately seek out the good in people and try to be a blessing to them. She in turn, gets blessed by them. It’s a beautiful cycle to watch.

Last week when I was in the store, a bride came in. She was discouraged. She was on a budget and had been unable to find anything. She was self-conscious about her weight. She wasn’t a size 6, but since the average size of an American woman is 14, she shouldn’t have been. Frances got to work and it wasn’t long until our bride was glowing. We all knew the moment that she put on the perfect gown. She was stunning.

Her gorgeous blue eyes danced with joy. She didn’t want to take it off. So we chatted a while and took some pictures with her in her dress as Frances picked out the perfect dress for her mama to wear. She shared with me some pictures of her wedding decorations. Then she floored me.

They are doing their wedding reception in a rustic barn. But, the ceremony is going to be in front of a simple wooden cross. I was so moved I got teary. I told her if she and her soon to be hubby will keep God in the center of their marriage, they will always be happy and their marriage will be blessed. Then she got teary as she told me she thought she would never get married because whenever she tried talking to someone she was dating about God, they weren’t interested and she wasn’t budging on her faith.

Then, God sent her this man. He loves God too. I was thrilled for this stranger who I felt had become my friend. When she and her mom left the shop, they  were two beautiful women with two beautiful dresses and I felt blessed beyond words. I think they did too.

Watching for God in the people and the world around me never fails to amaze me and bless me. Care to join me?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Being Thankful is a Form of Worship

Posted on by Wendy
This little creek is beautiful in the fall.
This little creek is beautiful in the fall.

I had a million things to do that day. I had toilets to scrub and floors to vacuum. Still, I could feel God beckoning me outdoors. There was a cold front moving in and the temperatures were expected to drop drastically over the following days.

I had been planning to take some fall leaf photos, but I had planned to take them over the weekend. However, I knew if it was really cold, I would not likely go outside. I’m a Southern girl to the bone and if it’s less than sixty degrees outside, it’s too cold. But, this day, it was still in the seventies outside.

I finally turned off the vacuum cleaner and pushed it to the side and grabbed my camera. I’ve really been working hard on listening to God’s call and obeying it. I’ll admit, when I get busy or focused on doing something, it gets harder to hear and even harder to obey. But, I did.

As usual, I was rewarded for any act of obedience. My neighborhood is breathtaking this time of year. As much as I love the spring, fall runs a close race in the beauty of God’s creativity. When I go out with a camera to specifically look for the beauty, I’m so amazed at what I see. I’m also kind of ashamed at what I miss and take for granted in my daily rush.

You just can't appreciate the color of a single leaf from a car.
You just can’t appreciate the color of a single leaf from inside a car.

The beauty of a single leaf just can’t be appreciated from inside a car. I don’t really appreciate it when I’m taking a brisk walk or running either. No, there’s something about taking a camera and looking for the beauty, seeking out the beauty in the world around us. I felt like I could feel God whispering into my heart, “look at my Creation and appreciate it.” And I did and I do, I just sometimes forget to slow down and look.

God could have made leaves just turn brown and die and fall off, but instead, fall provides us with such a beautiful array of color. I think appreciating that creativity is an act of worship. I think remembering to thank God for the beauty is an act of worship. I think slowing down is an act of worship.

This season of fall passes quickly. In another month, the leaves will all be gone. The branches will be bare. It will be cold and the days will be long and dark. It won’t be long until we are all shivering and anxiously awaiting spring.

But, for now, maybe we could take a moment and really drink in the beauty of fall, the beauty that God has created in our lives, in this season, at this very moment and give thanks. While we are giving thanks for the beauty in nature, maybe we could look around and give thanks for all of the beauty in our lives at this very moment. I think maybe, that’s worship in it’s purest form.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Comfort When We Hit Rock Bottom

Posted on by Wendy
When life is the darkest, God comforts us.
When life is the darkest, God comforts us.

2 Corinthians 1:4, has come across my path three times in the past week. I read it in two different blogs and then it showed up in my Facebook news feed. I knew God was trying to communicate something to me, but I wasn’t sure what, so I prayed and waited.

My hubby and I met our pastor for coffee and he was talking with us about all of the pain in the world around us and how very important he felt that prayer was in stemming the tide. He then shared with us that he was going to meet with a woman the next day who was going through a terrible divorce. She was very hurt and angry and he asked us to pray that God would give him the wisdom to say the right words to comfort her and that He would give her heart the ability to hear them.

I prayed for the meeting the next day and that verse kept popping into my mind. ” He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” 2 Corinthians 1:4

I found myself sending him an e-mail telling him that I too, had been divorced and although it had been close to twenty years ago, it was very definitely rock bottom for me. I told him it was a very dark and painful time and I sometimes wondered if I would survive it. But, even in all of that darkness, there was redemption and grace and forgiveness and hope.

In a moment of despair, in a terrible thunderstorm which seemed to mirror my own life at the time, I found my way back to God. Right after that storm, I wrote my first piece on encouragement. The encouragement had come from God and I had to put it on paper to share later. It would be many years before I was writing encouragement daily, but that little piece was a start that lead to other little pieces along the way. It was a beginning to a lifelong journey of watching for God in the world around me.

So, I found myself telling my pastor to please feel free to give this woman my phone number if he thought she might like to have coffee and talk. It wasn’t because I had any particular desire to share the mistakes of my past with a stranger, but it was because in my darkest moments, God comforted me and began something new in me. He can do the same for this woman and he can do the same for you.

It’s the paying it forward of spirituality. He comforts us so we can comfort others. He shows us forgiveness and grace and expects us to do the same. He offers hope. When times are the darkest, He holds us the closest and when we come out on the other side, a little stronger, and a little braver, He wants us to show others the same kind of love, His love.

Maybe we should keep our eyes open for opportunities to offer comfort to others who find themselves in situations that we have personally experienced. I think that would make God proud.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Team Jesus Needs You

Posted on by Wendy
Team Jesus needs you, unique and wonderful you.
Team Jesus needs you, unique and wonderful you.

My daughter’s high school football team has had a really good season. They have a new coach this year and there have been some fabulous results. After one of the games, my daughter commented that her friend told her that the kicker almost lost the game for the team. That statement really made me angry. I went on to explain that football is a team sport. If everyone on the team had played better, that kick wouldn’t have meant a win or a loss. They would have been comfortably ahead.

But, we love to be armchair quarterbacks. The blame game is a game that humanity loves to play. We like to win, period. It may be our favorite team we are cheering on, or it may be at the workplace or in our relationships. When we feel we are losing, it has to be somebody’s fault and we are quick to point out who that somebody is.

But, the winning at all cost attitude can cost us dearly in our relationships with each other and with God. When we focus on winning no matter what, our focus shifts to self. In relationships, people who are self-focused are very difficult to work with or play with, for that matter. In fact, self-focused people are difficult to live with.

God calls us to a different standard. On our faith walk, it’s not about winning or losing, it’s about keeping our eyes on Him and being obedient to His call. We are never supposed to compete with each other because we are all called to do something a little different from our neighbor. Everyone’s voice is unique because we are all unique.

Winning souls for Jesus takes teamwork. You may have taught a kid Sunday school until the day he graduated from high school, but it may not click until his twenties while he’s attending some sort of retreat. Even though you didn’t get to see the final results, you planted seeds. You participated in the Christianity co-op.

I believe in my deepest heart that we are called to be a part of community as Christians. We are called to work together to help point others to Jesus. We are not called to compete and we are not called to work alone. It’s easy to talk about the importance of community when we refuse to work with anyone or to get involved in our church.

And believe me, I get it. People in churches can act very unChristlike. They can hurt our feelings and disappoint us. That’s because people are broken. We live in a broken world. People tend to get self-focused if we aren’t very vigilant. Self-focused people can’t be God-focused. We can’t serve two masters. So, we get our feelings hurt and we refuse to participate further because someone let us down. We don’t want to be team players any longer. We will attend church and then hit the door when it’s over, problem solved.

I am unbelievably thankful that Jesus didn’t take that attitude. We would all be doomed to hell. We are called to love each other because he loved us first. We are called to community. Jesus traveled with a group. He was part of a community. After the Ascension, the Holy Spirit was the driving force behind the community of the Church. Check out the Book of Acts. Talk about teamwork! Those guys and gals were on fire.

Sometimes it’s good to stop and ask ourselves what part are we playing on Team Jesus. If we have been on the sidelines for a while, it may be time to suit up and get back in the game. The world needs you, unique and fabulous you. What are you waiting for?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

To All of the Prayer Warriors

Posted on by Wendy
Prayer works. Let's keep praying.
Prayer works. Let’s keep praying.

Last Tuesday, I wrote a post about prayer warriors and who qualifies as one, and the importance of them. I then asked my readers to please pray for a woman named Carolyn who had been called to go to Sierra Leone to help with education in the Ebola outbreak. You can read that post here, if you missed it. http://gracefulgaines.com/2014/10/14/calling-all-prayer-warriors/

I got such a huge response from that post and many shares on Facebook. Ya’ll are awesome!  She was scheduled to leave at the end of October. I have been praying for her safety and God’s protection over her family and her mission and I suspect you have too.

Today, I received an e-mail from her sister-in-law. Last week, a nurse who didn’t know she was infected with Ebola, flew from Dallas to Ohio to visit her mother and fiance.Can you guess where Carolyn and her hubby live?  If you guessed Ohio, you are correct. The government group that Carolyn works for, has decided due to her extensive training, that she needs to remain in Ohio and help educate the people there. They have postponed the trip to Africa.

Is the hair standing up on the back of your neck yet? This young woman was called to Sierra Leone to assist in the worst Ebola outbreak ever. She willingly agreed to go. She has received training and immunizations to prepare her for this trip that would take her to the other side of the world. She is a very strong Christian who has a heart for God and for service.

Many of us were in prayer for her. Then out of the blue, there is an Ebola scare in Ohio, right where she lives. She has the ability, training and willingness to offer assistance and just happens to live in Ohio.  There are fifty states here in the homeland. What are the chances? God is always at work. He has His hands in this situation. There are no coincidences where He is concerned.

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Do you see how that fits here? Truth can be amazing.

Another Bible passage that came across my desk this week was from Psalms and too good not to share. “If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone….The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.” Psalm 91:9-14

People will say the Bible is irrelevant.  I say that Ebola is definitely a plague.

Prayer works. Please keep praying for Carolyn and her safety. Pray that God will keep her under His protection. Pray that God will protect those exposed to this plague as well as all of the health care workers not only in this country, but all over the world as well, who are working to stop it. God is in control. Let’s all try to remember that as we put on our Armor of God and pray.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂