Category: Trusting God

My husband inherited this fabulous quilt from his grandmother. Some quilts have very intricate designs and some tell stories. But, most of them are works of art created for warmth from whatever scraps the seamstress had access to. Once upon a time, not so long ago, people didn’t throw things away when they got worn. They re-used them in a different way. Recycling was born.

From clothes with holes to flour sacks, if it was made of fabric, it was usable and it was used. Those tiny pieces of scraps created something beautiful and useful. People saw the possibility in what seemed to be trash.

God is a lot like that with our lives. We make huge mistakes and messes that stem from bad decisions and the Master Weaver takes our garbage and creates something beautiful and useful.

In my own life, I had a disastrous marriage in my early twenties that ended in a painful divorce. I remember being on my knees praying that God would forgive my mistakes and lead me back into His will for me. He did. I prayed more and listened more. I began to follow His lead, not mine and he sent me a fantastic Godly man to share my life with. Then, He blessed me with two great kids.

Next, He lead me to teach a Sunday school class which was kind of intimidating, because there was no curriculum and it was middle schoolers and I had toddlers. I reluctantly answered the call. I really had to start reading the Bible and I enjoyed the class and the kids and what I was learning.

We changed churches and my hubby and I got to participate in an adult class for the first time and we enjoyed it too. We learned a lot together. Then, there was a need for someone to teach the middle schoolers. This time, we both answered the call. We have learned so much about God and grace from the kids and from each other.

I would have never believed in my twenties that I could have been so fulfilled and useful in my forties, but God knew. Just as He knew with Ester, when she agreed to stand up for her people or Ruth, when she decided to follow her mother-in-law to a foreign country, even though her husband had died.

These women had some hardship to overcome and they had difficult decisions to make. But, God was able to take their scraps and weave a beautiful story that eventually produced a savior. Who would have known?

God is the greatest recycler of all time. Give Him your mess and watch what He can create. Just be prepared to be amazed! Feel free to share how God has used your mess to make something beautiful.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I just spent the day subbing in the media center at the local elementary school. You remember the place; it used to be called the library. I rarely visited the school library when I was growing up, unless I was working on some type of research paper or project.

Finding a book was rather cumbersome. You first had to navigate the card catalog and then there was the ever intimidating, Dewey Decimal System. Sometimes you had to look up articles on something called microfilm. It was cutting edge stuff. Not to mention, you had to be quiet, something I was never really good at.

Boy, how times have changed. The media center I spent the day in had five student computers, plus one for checking books out, one for checking books in and one connected to a Smartboard. The card catalog is long gone and with a computer, the search for a book is instantaneous. The kids can search by author or subject and it will even tell them exactly where to find it. Done. No fuss. No muss.

This is a much better way, right? But, then I start to wonder, while no one misses the card catalog, didn’t using it teach us patience and perseverance? As a society, I think we’ve become like that bratty little rich girl, Veruca,  from Willa Wonka. Her main line was, “I want it now!”

I often talk to the middle schoolers in our Sunday School Class about the vending machine attitude towards prayer. We want to say a prayer and have it answered now, thank-you very much. We want prayer to be like putting change into a vending machine and pushing the button, for instant results. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

The Bible gives us plenty examples of the fact that God’s timing is different than ours. Abraham was seventy-five years old when God promised him he would be the father to many. He was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. It took the Israelites forty years in the desert to make what should have been a fairly short trip to the Promised Land.

In the New Testament, Jesus tells his disciples that he must go up to heaven so that the Holy Spirit can arrive. They watch him ascend into heaven and walk back to town and lock themselves in a room, praying non-stop for seven days before the Holy Spirit comes roaring in with a big whoosh. Seven days may not sound like a long time, but have you ever prayed non-stop for seven days?

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that patience is a fruit of the Spirit. Waiting can not only be difficult, but excruciating at times, especially if we’re waiting on news from a loved one or for test results. But, waiting is a part of life and if we have faith, we can grow our patience and with faith and patience, the waiting isn’t nearly as hard. Patience is a lifelong quest for most of us, but the peace that comes from it is well worth it. How about you? How well do you wait? feel free to share.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I had one of those non-stop, hectic days, yesterday. I began the day with a to-do list that was way too long, before I even got started. I was setting myself up for frustration and failure to begin with and then of course, there was a problem with the cable that required a phone call. It was just one more thing on the list and I dreaded spending thirty minutes to an hour on the phone trying to troubleshoot the cable box, when I knew they would have to send someone out.

I was grumbling as I looked for the phone number and I grudgingly stayed on the phone with a computer voice for fifteen minutes or so before it realized I needed a real live person. When the person finally came on, I went through all of my information. He was very kind and when he re-set whatever he re-set, it disconnected me and I had to call again. Did I mention that we have our phone service with the cable company too?  The second representative was also very polite and apologetic, but I had to give all of the same detailed information one more time. She sent a special signal as well that also, you guessed it, disconnected me.

At this point, I began to see red. How could these people be so incompetent? I saw my day slipping away. Since I’m trying to be more intentional about letting others control my emotions, I had to put the phone down, take a deep breath and say a prayer. “Dear God, please help me to remember that in the big picture, this tiny sliver of time won’t matter. Please help me try to remember that no one is intentionally trying to ruin my mood or my day. Please help me to remember that these people are people just like me who are trying to do their jobs. They didn’t try to fail on purpose. Most of all, Father, please help me to remember that I have a choice here. Amen.”

I calmly picked up the phone and dialed a third time. The fellow on the other line was delightful. After listening to my story and trying a couple of things, he sent a repairman that afternoon. We ended up with a new box with a clearer picture than ever and he did something to speed up the internet while he was here too.

I could have been angry or annoyed for the rest of the day over those forty-five minutes or so of frustration, but who would have won? There certainly is a time and place for righteous anger, when we have been seriously hurt or wronged, but this was not it. I’m working on trying to remember that emotions that are opposite of the fruits of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,” likely come from somewhere else.

I am happy to say that I won this particular battle and I know without a doubt that it was due to prayer. It really is a powerful weapon. How about you? How do you do with daily frustrations? Please feel free to comment.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Our heater just came on for the first time of the season. You know what that means, that disgusting, burning smell fills up the house. As I was driving my daughter to school today, they even had a radio call-in segment where everyone was complaining about that heater smell. Now, as much as we hate that smell, we sure do love the heat that comes with it. If you had to go without heat to get rid of the odor, wouldn’t you choose to keep the odor? The heat only has to run a couple of cycles and then the smell is forgotten until the following fall, but we enjoy the toasty heat all through the winter and into early spring.

There are a lot of life experiences like the first heat cycle of fall. At the very beginning, it may be misery, but if we keep going, it’s so much more comfortable and rewarding. Exercise is a perfect example of this. When you haven’t exercised in a while, you feel out of breath and out of shape. The next morning, everything aches and you wonder if it’s worth it. But, if you keep exercising, you begin to feel better and the soreness goes away. You feel stronger and you sleep better. You even look better and you are definitely healthier. But, you have to be willing to get past the beginning, uncomfortable phase.

Our faith walk can be uncomfortable in the beginning too. If you are searching for a new church home, walking into a new place full of people you don’t know may be intimidating. Walking into a Sunday school class where everyone is chatting like they have known each other forever can be uncomfortable. Attending a Bible study, when you have never read an entire chapter of the Bible much less a book, can be daunting. Learning to pray about everything can make us feel kind of foolish. We ask ourselves, “Does God really care about my little problems?” The answer is yes. He knows what you need before you know.

The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.” We know what thanksgiving means, but what exactly does supplication mean? The dictionary defines supplication as, to ask humbly. Uhoh, we’re not big on humility these days. Humility is defined as: the quality or state of thinking that you are not better than other people.

Okay, so we’re supposed to pray about everything, (especially the big stuff, but including the seemingly trivial stuff), and we are supposed to be thankful every time we pray, which is not always easy because sometimes we wait until we are in a bind or facing some kind of tragedy before we pray in the first place. It’s difficult at that point to be thankful. Finally, we are supposed to pray with humility, which means we accept we don’t deserve what we ask for, but we ask it anyway. That requires faith.

This prayer discipline, this attitude, takes lots of practice and can be uncomfortable at first because it’s contrary to our human nature, but if we are diligent, our entire lives can be transformed. As I sit here enjoying the toasty heat (with no burning smell), coming from my vent, I think this faith journey and prayer life is worth the work. What do you think?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I am a lifelong optimist. Some experts say nature causes optimism and some say nurture. I don’t know which is true; I just know I usually am able to see the good in most situations. That’s not to say that I don’t have my occasional down day. I think that because I usually am so optimistic, when I lose sight of the light, it’s a particularly dark time for me. When you are used to seeing the good in everything, seeing nothing, but the bad is very disheartening and even kind of frightening.

On those half-empty days, I really call on God for help. I try to think of all of the things I’m thankful for and I count the many blessings I have been given, (and I’ve been given a lot.) On this day, financial worries were closing in. It was the beginning of  a new school year and everyone seemed to have their hand out. There were regular expenses like new school supplies, new clothes, joining PTO and locker money, (Can you believe the kids have to pay for lockers?), agenda money; the list went on. Also, our car tag taxes were due. My hubby and I were trying valiantly not to use the credit card. We are a one income family, so when unexpected expenses pour in, that can be tricky. We thought we had it under control this year. I had a band function to attend that night where I was expected to pay $60.00 in band fees and $70.00 for a band uniform. To top it off, I was fighting a three-day headache. I ran into the pharmacy to pick a few things up and the pharmacist informed me that my husband’s auto-refill prescription was ready. When he rang me up, it came to a total of $74.00. I was crushed. $74.00 doesn’t sound like a lot, but when money is super tight, it’s a lot. That $70.00 was budgeted for a band uniform.

I went home and began praying about finances (again). Why wasn’t God listening to me? Why wasn’t he answering my prayers?  Weren’t we living the way we were called to? Weren’t we teaching our children to know and love him? Why was this so hard and would my head ever stop hurting? I was in tears as I checked my e-mail. I subscribe to a blog called http://www.incourage.me You’ll never guess what the topic was. “When your God-sized dream is to be a wife and mother.”

The hair literally stood up on the back of my neck. The entire post was about how being a wife and mother doesn’t pay very well and we won’t get famous doing it, but that God’s call is not to fame and fortune. As Christians, we are to seek the Kingdom of God first. Tears were streaming down my face as I was reminded once again by my heavenly father who never seems to run out of patience with me, that he was in fact listening and I was on the right path. Matthew 6:33 popped into my mind. “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

As I drove to the band meeting, I felt a renewed sense of peace. I wasn’t sure how we would cover the $70.00 uniform fee, but I knew God would provide. The band director greeted us at the door and when I asked him where we could purchase uniforms, he informed me that we were not purchasing uniforms that evening. The e-mail had specifically said that we would purchase uniforms. I could almost hear God in my ear whispering, “Why do you ever doubt me?” I got back into my car, overcome again by the love of God for me. As soon as I got home, I wrote it all down to remind myself that even when my glass looks half-empty, in reality my cup runneth over. God always provides.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Fall is a time of transition and transition can sometimes be messy. My driveway is covered in leaves and so is our yard and our trampoline. The dictionary defines transition as the process or period of changing  from one condition or state to another. During labor, the transition phase is the most intense, but so important to get to the next phase of actually getting a baby into the world.

We spend a large part of our lives in transition. We transition from middle school to high school, from high school to college and from college to a career. We transition from children to teenagers and this transition is so infamous, in recent years, it’s been given its own name, the tween years. Next, we transition from teens to adults, from single to married and sometimes back to single. We transition from full-time parents to empty nesters and from working daily to retirees. Sometimes transitions are smooth with little to no mess or worry and sometimes these periods can be incredibly painful. Sometimes we wonder if we will survive them.

In the Bible, almost the entire New Testament is dedicated to people in transition. The new church was growing and spreading, but there were all kinds of issues and disagreements like how much Jewish law did the new Gentile converts have to observe. There was a huge struggle over legalism versus grace. Happily, grace won. They argued over how to worship and about women’s roles in the church, about submitting to authority and who was actually in charge. The list is almost endless. Some churches like the ones in Corinth had all kinds of problems. The Thessalonians, on the other hand, seemed to have very little trouble getting along with one another and keeping the faith, although they were often persecuted. All of the early churches laid the groundwork for our faith today. Their early struggles and transitions were recorded and give us all faith, hope, and guidance.

The most important thing to remember about transition is that it’s temporary. It’s a process or period, not forever. The caterpillar has to transition to a butterfly. It doesn’t just wake up one day and fly, no, it has to create a cocoon a tight, restrictive place where it changes into something completely different, but beautiful. While we may feel like we are in the never-ending doldrums or a suffocating cocoon or we find ourselves wondering if life will ever slow down or be normal again, we need to have faith that God has something fabulous planned just up ahead if we persevere.

If you woke up this morning, God is still working with you and through you and while yesterday may look better than today, take heart at the words of Paul:  No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Jesus Christ is calling us up to heaven. Philippians 3:13-14 NLT

In other words, if we keep our eyes on the prize of Jesus and where we are going, where we are at this very moment doesn’t really matter. We just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other trusting in our loving father and knowing he has huge plans for us, plans better than anything we could imagine ourselves. Are you in some type of  transition today? Please feel free to comment.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

There’s a  lot of anger swirling around at the moment. Our government has shut down and we are about to hit the debt ceiling again. Real people are not getting paid and have either been furloughed or are working for free. The legislative branch and the executive branch of our government are acting like a bunch of kids in different gangs (picture Spanky and Alfalfa from Our Gang not the Hell’s Angels). Every time I turn on the news, or check Facebook or the internet the volume has been turned up. Americans are angry and we have a right to be.

Anger is a God-given emotion and there is nothing wrong with it in its place. There’s something called righteous anger and that’s the type of anger that we feel when we or someone we care about,  have been lied to or stolen from or mistreated. This is the anger that most of us are feeling right now and while it may be justified, we really need to be careful. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4:26-27, “And don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.”

Uhoh, that verse mentioned the devil. Modern Christians don’t like to talk about Satan much which is unfortunate because the silence has allowed him to run wild. When I Googled “Satan in the Bible,” 183 verses appeared. That’s an awful lot of writing in the scripture for us to ignore it. I think there may be a misconception about Satan among Christians. We are saved; we are believers; so Satan is no longer a threat to us. Therein lies the rub. I heard Joyce Meyer once say that Satan knows that he can’t win the Christian soul, so he doesn’t try for it. He wreaks havoc among Christians by distracting them from doing what they are called to do.

This really spoke to me. Satan has been called the great deceiver. Do you remember what he said to Eve in the garden? He asked Eve, “Did God really say…?” He made her question God’s command. He is referred to in the scripture  as a thief, a liar and the deceiver of the whole world. What does this have to do with anger? While there is nothing wrong with anger in itself; when we become consumed with it, it controls us. Once it controls us, it can lead to hate which is the opposite of the fruit of the spirit, love. When we allow ourselves to be controlled by anger, we open our hearts up to the darkness and deceit that come from our enemy. We begin to demonize the person or people that we are angry with and not the act. We can find ourselves on a slippery slope.

So what can we do? Are we not allowed to be angry with our leaders who we feel are not representing us properly? Of course we are allowed to be angry, but what do we do with it? First, we need to pray for our leaders on both sides. Pray that God will convict them to do the right thing. Pray that they will turn their hearts to God and do his will. Pray this prayer often, not just once. Then write a letter to your congressman or send an e-mail. Sign petitions if you feel lead to do so. But after we have prayed, after we have done what we can, we need to “let go and let God” and turn down the rhetoric and get back to doing the good work we have been called to do.

In other words, we need to put our eyes back on Christ and away from the evils of this world. “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” Romans 12:21. I realize that this is much easier said than done, but I really think we need to try because there’s no way anything good can come out of all of this anger and hate that is swirling around. Let’s remember that God is in control and that he has a plan. Let’s start praying about this. Will you join me?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I took a walk today and definitely felt the nip of fall in the air. I have already heard my daughter say “I can’t wait for fall.” Initially, I found myself agreeing with her. Then I started thinking about how we are always in a rush to get to the next season. You know what I’m talking about. When you are in middle school, you can’t wait to get to high school. When you are in high school, you can’t wait to get to college. When you are in college, you can’t wait to get out and get that first job. When we date, we can’t wait to get married; then we can’t wait to have a baby. The list is endless about how we like to rush life or try to speed up time.

Now there’s a difference between looking forward to the next season with optimism and missing out on the current one because we are obsessed with the next one. I have always struggled with this issue. I’m a planner and I love to plan all of my next steps. There’s a plaque I once saw that read, “We plan; God laughs.” I feel like whoever wrote it, had my name on it. I have learned that planning gives me a sense of control and therein lies the rub. I like to control my surroundings and my future.

God has a different plan. He says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 NIV  He says, ” For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV  Is he saying I need to stop worrying about what’s coming next and start enjoying the season I am in right now? Is he saying that he has his own plans for me? I believe that is exactly what he is saying. I think he’s saying, “I’ve got this. You just worry about doing what is in front of you today, in this season, in this moment.”

Well, that’s a load off, but focusing on today is easier said than done. So I am asking myself, what season am I in and I’m asking you, what season are you in? Is it one of growth? Is it one of rest? Maybe it’s a really tough season, a valley time. Maybe it’s an exciting time or a frightening time. Maybe it’s a bone crushing painful time. Whatever the season we are in, I think we should stop and take a deep breath, look around and recognize where we are. If it’s a happy season, give thanks for it; enjoy it. If it’s a painful or sad season, ask for continued strength and know that God is with you and no season lasts forever. If it’s a season of rest, savor it; because there may be mountains to climb up ahead.

Being still is difficult for me, but something I’m really working on. Living in the moment and appreciating this day without looking forward is also tough, but with God’s help, I’m learning. How are you doing with your current season? Think about it and then go enjoy the last blast of summer as fall edges in. It will be Christmas before you know it.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

It was foggy when I was driving my kids to school this morning. The sun was up and burning through it and it was quite beautiful. I live in a rural area, so there were pastures and ponds covered in it. I could make out shapes, but I couldn’t see clearly. I remember, when I was growing up that my mother always gave us a “fog warning” on days we were expecting fog. “We have to leave early this morning; it’s foggy out.” As a child, I never understood that. Why were we supposed to dislike fog?

As an adult, I get it. Mornings are always crazy and as a mother of two, I know that they will push the time to leave the house for school til the last second. It’s rush, rush, rush! We are in a hurry and the fog slows us down. We don’t like to slow down. We like to go, go, go! We like to know what lies ahead of us on the road. The fog obscures our view.

Sometimes, our lives get covered in fog. We are in a season where we just can’t see what is in front of us. We can’t see what lies around the next curve. It frightens and frustrates us and we don’t like it. I have come to understand, that there are times when God wants us to focus on Him, not on the road, but on Him. Sometimes, He has to slow us down to a crawl to get us to focus on what is important or to hear what He is trying to communicate to us. These are the times when I really have to take it one day at a time, which is very difficult for me because I like to plan everything months in advance. I also prefer megaphone moments, but God’s way is often a whisper. Sometimes the fog is a short season and sometimes it seems to linger for years. I think the key is to learn to embrace the fog.

The fog is God’s way of growing our faith. We don’t have to know what’s coming next because our Heavenly Father does. We don’t have to fear because He has our back. And when we get really brave, we give Jesus the wheel. That’s when we really have to fasten our seat belts  because wherever He takes us, it will be a wild ride, but one so worth taking. Have you had any fog in your life recently? Please feel free to share.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂