Category: Watching for God

God is all around us. All we have to do is look for Him. If we seek Him, we will find Him at times in the most unlikely places.

The Blessings in the Struggles

Posted on by Wendy
No one wants to struggle, but it’s during the struggles that we see so many blessings.

Last Friday night, my daughter, who is a freshman in college, sent me a text. It was a forward of an email she had received from her college. It announced that she had made the Dean’s List for her first semester. I don’t know when I have been so proud her.

Both of my children have had the misfortune of being of school age during the time of constant standardized testing. A well meaning group of legislators in the Federal Government, sometime in the late 1990’s decided that the best way to see if schools and teachers were doing their jobs, was to regularly test the students and let’s face it, standardized tests are easy to grade and track.

Unfortunately, neither of my kids have the gift for taking those types of tests, so school was a constant stress and struggle.

But, they are hard workers and both have had some awesome teachers along the way, that totally saw their potential and their work ethic, along with the flaws in the system. These teachers encouraged them and cheered them on along the way. They believed in them.

I don’t know if my daughter ever really believed me when I reassured her regularly, that once she got to college, nobody cared about standardized tests, that it was really about being a good writer, a good communicator and a hard worker.

So, when she sent me the text that she made the Dean’s List, I couldn’t wait to post it to Facebook and when those teachers, including one who taught her to play guitar, who always cheered her on, were the first people to comment with even more encouragement, tears of gratitude streamed down my face.

Her first semester was very stressful and when some of the prayer warriors that I had asked to pray for her, commented their congratulations, I had to grab a tissue.

We always want what’s best for our kids and it’s never easy to see them struggle. We tend to pray for smooth paths for ourselves and for those we love. We often wonder why other people seem to have to have such an easy time with everything they do, from standardized tests, to health issues, to relationship issues, to financial issues.

Yet, when we struggle, we get to see all of the angels that God sends our way. We get to see Him working and intervening. And when we look back, we can see that He rained down blessings all along the way, even if we couldn’t see it at the time.

The struggles build our faith. The struggles build our children’s faith. The struggles allow others to bless us and in the end, we are so much stronger for it.

Some Facebook comments reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Lessons from an Owl Encounter

Posted on by Wendy
If I wasn’t paying close attention I may have missed the danger close by.

This week I’m looking after my parent’s dogs while they go on a cruise. Now, I never mind helping my parents out. Their little dogs are high maintenance, but sweet. However, being responsible for them for a week, makes me a nervous wreck because they are tiny and fragile.

My backyard is covered in giant hardwood trees. There are many squirrels and chipmunks that make their homes in and around those trees. Those of you who remember basic biology, will remember what a food chain is. Those little aforementioned rodents, are at the bottom.

There are much larger predators at the top, which puts those tiny little dogs in danger. Mama and Daddy adore those little dogs, so I take their safety very seriously and I have to be constantly at watch when I take them out to do their doggie business.

The very first afternoon I had them, I decided to run them out for their longest walk before the sun went down, thinking they would be safest at that time of day. We had just stepped off of the back deck area and onto the ground, when I spotted it.

A giant owl sat close by, watching us.

On the other side of the yard, sitting on a bird house, sat a very large owl. I froze. We stared at each other. I literally said to him, “You’re not supposed to be out this early.” I knew if he came for the little dogs, I would have very little chance of escape. A couple of minutes went by and he flew away with like a five foot wing span.

I breathed a sigh of relief as we finished our walk, but I constantly scanned the area, like I was some kind of soldier in a combat zone.

I thought about my owl encounter long after the little pups were safely back in the house.

As disheartening as it was to actually see him my very first day out with my little charges, it was a very effective reminder that I have to be vigilant while they are in my care. For them, danger lurks everywhere.

And as He often does, God used nature to speak to my heart as well. We have spiritual predators that are always lurking close by as well. There are things like anger, jealousy, resentment and ongoing pain that we carry around, that eat away at our souls. They leave gaping holes that allow bigger predators in that can really harm us.

As Christians, we are called not to walk in fear, but to be on guard. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

We are called to pray for strength, protection and wisdom. We are called not only to ask for forgiveness, but to give it to others as well. We are called to be vigilant with our souls.

An owl reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Inspirations from a Partial Thaw

Posted on by Wendy
We can choose to allow God to thaw and heal all of our hearts or only portions.

Our little town was blessed with two snow days last week. The first was exciting for most people. The snow came down throughout the early morning and when it stopped, it was play time. But, it wasn’t one of those stick around for days, snows for many of us.

In most spots, the sun melted the majority of it away by late afternoon. However, we are a rural town and we have lots of shady spots that are off of the beaten path. Those spots and roads, kept the snow wet and frozen and so when the temperatures dropped back into the low twenties, those spots froze solid making driving conditions very dangerous.

Those conditions bought us a second snow day even if there wasn’t much snow left.

Personally, I couldn’t have been happier about the extra day as I was buzzing around my house cleaning and straightening and doing little chores that I never seem to have the time to do these days, when the roof over the landing to my front door, caught my eye.

One side was completely melted, not a drop of snow or ice, remained, yet the other side was still mostly covered in snow. It was clear that the sun was shining directly on one side, but its warm, thawing rays were not reaching the other.

I had a hard time looking away because the two halves were so very different.

Now, over the past few years, God has taught me a lot from roofs, from helping to remove them and replace them on mission trips, to a tree falling on my roof in all the safest places during a hurricane, so I wanted to pay close attention to what He was trying to tell me.

The answer that kept coming was, that roof is like our hearts. We have different areas and parts of them. When we decide to surrender our hearts to Jesus, there’s always lots of heart work to do. Humans are flawed and broken and we inevitably hurt each other often, whether intentionally or not.

We sometimes carry those heart injuries long after they were incurred. We sometimes carry them for a lifetime. Most of us will allow healing for some of the injuries like the side of the roof where the sun was shining. But, often we will continue to cling to the deepest hurt, anger, shame or resentment, not allowing Jesus to shine His light on those parts. So, they stay frozen and prevent us from living, loving and trusting fully.

Yet, Jesus calls us to more. He calls us to trust Him, to hand over all of our hearts and let Him shine His light and love on all of the parts. He wants to heal us completely, so we can be totally free, not just mostly free.

A partially snow covered roof reminded me that when walking with Jesus, mostly is not enough. He wants to heal all of our hearts and for us to let go of the past so we can embrace the future with Him. Perhaps you needed reminding
too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Giving Thanks in All Circumstances

Posted on by Wendy
When we focus on God instead of our situation, His presence radiates like the sun.

Monday was a much awaited day off for me. Yes, we had just had a couple of weeks off for Christmas, but the College Football National Championship had been the week before and it had me and my family and for that matter, everyone I knew, up well past midnight, and the old gray mare, well…..

Anyway, I was super excited about the long weekend. I did have to do fasting blood work that morning, but I was okay with that. I could just sleep until it was time to go, piece of cake.

After that one little chore, I went home and grabbed a cup of coffee and some breakfast. I was reading my devotional and giving thanks when my teenage son came downstairs and collapsed in a chair. He said he didn’t feel well. I took one look at him and I knew it was the flu.

His high fever and a visit to the urgent care clinic confirmed my diagnosis. I had to go to two pharmacies to get the prescriptions filled. I also had to make a Publix run for extra juice, soup and crackers.

There was a time in my life where the entire ordeal would have really bummed me out. My carefree, no plans day was no longer mine.

But, I have come to a point in my life and in my faith, where I really try to give thanks for all that I do have when adversity crosses my path. It’s amazing when I give thanks, how the many blessings, once hidden in my subconscious, show themselves.

I was blessed to have the day off to take him to the doctor. We were blessed to have great medical care close by. We were blessed to have no wait time and a very kind doctor we had never met before. We were blessed to have transportation to get us there. We were blessed that the second pharmacy had what the first one did not. We were blessed with insurance to cover the medications. As I continued to give thanks, I remembered that my hubby had already taken two additional days off because he had maxed out his time. He would be home to care for our son. Since it was a holiday, my son would miss less school.

As I prayed, I was increasingly sure that none of this was a coincidence. God’s timing is always perfect.

Now, no one in their right mind considers the flu a blessing. Jesus never promised a trouble free existence on this side of eternity. We live in a broken world. Pain and sickness are sometimes going to be present in our lives here on planet earth.

Yet, when we walk in faith and open our eyes, we can always see God’s presence with us. He’s always close to His children, helping us along. When we focus on ourselves or our misfortune, we often miss it. When we focus on Him, it shines as brightly as the sun.

A sick child reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too!

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Ramsey Wisdom

Posted on by Wendy
Like Ramsey, we have all been strays at some point.

My neighbor, who I’ll call Jack, recently took in a stray cat. He’s a cute little orange and white cat. I had seen him hanging out around the cul-de-sac, but he was wild. He always ran away when I tried to approach him, but Jack has a way with strays and he took him in and got him shots. He named him Ramsey.

I marvel as I look out the window and watch that previously wild cat, follow Jack faithfully to the mailbox. How is it that he can build that kind of trust?

Well, Jack and his wife, went away for the holidays and they boarded Ramsey. When they returned, they found that he had become very sick. He had fluid in his lungs and he could barely breathe. They took him to the animal hospital at UGA and learned that he had a heart defect. They kept him for a while, but they treated him and told them to keep him indoors for a week.

While I was watching the Rose Bowl, I got a frantic call from Jack; Ramsey had slipped out while the trash was being taken out and he was missing. Now, Ramsey has been known to hang out in my garage and Jack was hoping I would check and see if he was there.

I rushed out the door. It was nineteen degrees that night, unseasonably cold for us. There was no way a sick cat could make it in that cold. I didn’t see him at first, but then I got down on my hands and knees and looked under my daughter’s car. There he was, hiding.

I still had Jack on the phone. I told him that I could see him. I didn’t dare approach him because he doesn’t trust me. Jack and his wife came over immediately. He crouched down and called Ramsey and he came out from under the car. Jack scooped him up, but he didn’t hold him for too long before Ramsey was squirming to get down. They apologized for the inconvenience and took him home.

I thought about Ramsey and Jack in the days to follow. His pursuit of Ramsey reminded me of how God pursues us. He finds us as wild strays and fixes our hearts. He seeks only to love us and we like Ramsey, often squirm to get away, back out into that dangerous world that to our minds, seems free and exciting.

Sometimes like Ramsey, we do get away and like Jack, God pursues us, even when it’s unbearably cold, even when the big game is on, He calls us. If we are smart, we answer and return to the safety of His arms, just like Ramsey returned to Jack’s.

An escaped cat on a cold night, reminded me of God’s love for us. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Power Outage Inspiration

Posted on by Wendy

http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/stranded-traveling-football-player-gets-help-from-total-strangers

Last Sunday, the Atlanta airport lost power for eleven hours. It happens to be the busiest airport in the world. You can imagine how crowded it was. You can also probably imagine thousands of angry and frustrated, stranded passengers. Keep it mind they couldn’t even buy so much as a bottle of water because all of the cash registers at the shops were down too.

This story reads like a recipe for disaster. I mean this is a apocalypse, movie type of scenario, but as I was reading about it, not one, but two stories jumped out at me that I just had to share.

The first one was that at about 10:00 pm, that evening, the mayor of Atlanta reached out to the management of Chic-Fil-A and asked for assistance. This company is well known for being closed on Sundays so that its employees can worship with their families. Their management is also known for being strong in their Christian faith and values.

I wonder why the mayor reached out to them.

They sprang into action asking employees who worked or lived near the airport to help. They ended up handing out over 5,000 sandwiches to hungry passengers. Corporate America rarely does much worth bragging about when it comes to helping others, but Chi-Fil-A continues to impress me because not only do they talk the talk; but they walk the walk.

My heart was already warmed as I read the next story. It had tears rolling down my cheeks.

There was a freshman football player, Luis Lebron, for Colorado State University, who was one of the stranded. After he waited for close to seven hours, he began walking, looking for a place to stay and something to eat. He had been to seven hotels that were completely booked. Does that remind you of any other people who were weary travelers and could find no room at the inn?

Luis just happened to come upon a live local newscast and he told his story. Within minutes, people began to show up to help him. He was offered food and a place to stay. He was so very thankful to the people of Atlanta. The newscaster said in all of his years doing the news, he had never seen anything like it.

As we journey through Advent, awaiting Christmas and what it means to us, may we seek out Immanuel, which literally means, “God with us;” and may we remember that He is always with us. May we be inspired to share the light when all seems dark.

A power outage inspired me. Perhaps you needed a little inspiration too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

Unexpected Gifts

Posted on by Wendy
The best gifts rarely come wrapped or from underneath a tree.

Last Sunday morning, when my hubby and I were running out the door to go to church, my car wouldn’t start. We assumed it was the battery and took his car instead. After church, he went and got a new battery. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the battery. It was the starter.

The minor, easy to fix car repair, had quickly turned into a tow truck call and a much pricier fix, right at Christmas time.

But, this Advent, I have been determined to see all of the many gifts that I so often miss. My sixteen-year-old son volunteered to drive me to work. My daughter, who is home from college for the Christmas break, volunteered to pick me up. Just like that; I had transportation.

I can’t really fully express how much I enjoyed being driven by my children. I’ve come to a point in my life where I realize that time and people are the most precious gifts we are given on this side of eternity. I enjoyed our conversations. I enjoyed their choices in music. I enjoyed seeing my children happily helping out in adult roles.

When I discovered that the starter was covered under a warranty, it also meant it took another day to get it repaired. I saw it is a gift all of the way around.

And when my daughter dropped me out at the mechanic’s to retrieve my car and I told her that I didn’t know what I would do without my kids chauffeuring me around, she said, “How many times did you chauffeur us around?” I immediately felt the sting of tears in my eyes.

I gave thanks on my drive home for my what initially seemed like misfortune. God, in His timing and wisdom, gave me not only the unexpected gift of extra time with my children, but also the gift of allowing them to serve me. Now, I’m not one who likes to be served. I like to be the one who does the serving.

But, when we allow others to serve us, we allow them to be a blessing. I wouldn’t trade the time with them for anything, but if I hadn’t been looking for it, I would have missed it.

I could have easily been angry, discouraged or frustrated about my car. I could have chosen to feel inconvenienced. Instead, I chose to look for the blessings in my situation. I was not dissappointed.

But, then again, when I’m truly seeking God in what I do, I never am. Car trouble reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Teen Widsom

Posted on by Wendy
“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'” 2 Corinthians 12:9a

This past Saturday, my son came home with a story he wanted to share. He had been out to dinner with some friends. It was dark and very cold and he noticed an elderly couple in the parking lot with car trouble. The hood was raised and their car wouldn’t start.

He said he didn’t know what he could do for them, but he felt compelled to help them.

He discovered right away that English was their second language and that they didn’t know that much about cars. They were also hesitant to talk to him. I suppose teenagers don’t have the best reputation these days. But, he was persistent. He fought his way through the language barrier and he found that they thought it was a dead battery.

He didn’t have jumper cables but, there was an AutoZone just up the hill. He offered to call and they agreed. The guy who answered the phone was very nice and they talked about the model of the car and the battery it would need. My son was planning to offer to drive them, when out of the blue, the car started.

He kept the AutoZone employee on the phone for a few minutes and gave them directions. They were extremely grateful and they got in their car and drove away.

I’m sharing this story not because I’m proud of my son, although I am, but because he felt compelled to help and he did. My son knows nothing about cars. He will proudly tell anyone who asks that he’s a band nerd and a computer geek. He loves technology and thrives in that world.

Yet, when he saw someone in need, even though they required a skill he didn’t have, he figured out a way to help anyway. He used his beloved iphone and called someone who could help and who happened to be very close by.

I don’t think I would have thought of that.

I think many times, our go to, is to walk away because we don’t know how to help. We want to help, but the situation can seem so dire, that we just do nothing. Our hearts are often in the right place, but when it comes to action, we miss the mark.

Yet, as Christians, we are called to be His hands and feet. We are called to the physical as well as the spiritual.
Perhaps, the next time our hearts are compelled to help, we should simply offer our help in whatever capacity we have. Perhaps we should stop worrying that we don’t have enough and trust in the One who does.

For He can take our tiny offering and feed the multitudes or even start a car. Our lack has never limited His abilities.

A teenager reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Finding Him in the Ordinary

Posted on by Wendy
His footprints are everywhere.

As I sat down to write today’s post, I had no idea what I would say. I always attempt to see God in my daily life and share it here in this space, in ways to hopefully, inspire others to do the same. The only problem is that I always require some downtime to sit and reflect and the past couple of days have given me very little downtime.

Monday, I had to run to a store right after work for a great deal on some Christmas shopping. I did get exactly what I was looking for, but the lines were long and it took a while.

When I got home, my son wanted some input on a fairly lengthy paper he had written for school. It went on way past dinner, and I had to help him with lots of grammar, but the story was fantastic and he ended it with a Bible verse from Proverbs. I was thoroughly surprised and impressed.

I was also too tired to write.

Yesterday, I spent my afternoon texting back and forth with my daughter in college, about an opinion piece she wrote for a class. She also wanted my input and when we found that our opinions differed a bit, we texted back and forth about that. It was an intelligent and respectful exchange and I was impressed by the adult that she has become.

Then, my son came home and told me about his day. Then there was dinner. Then I had choir practice for our Christmas Cantata which is this Sunday.

Once again, I had no down time, but even so, God was there whether I saw Him or not.

As I write about the past two busy, yet ordinary days, I can see the hand of God everywhere. He was there when my son asked for my assistance, respecting my opinion. He was certainly there when a Bible verse showed up unexpectedly in his paper.

He was there at the store when I found the very item I was looking for at less than half the original price.

He was there when my daughter and I effectively and peacefully communicated with each other over differing opinions.

He was there when I joined with others in choir practice, to lift my voice to praise His son.

So, today, I don’t have a special moment or one single instance that points to God to share. But, I do have the past couple of days where He was constantly at work in the background. I can see Him there when when I actively look. For me, that makes the ordinary extraordinary.

I’ll bet if you think about it, you can say the same about your seemingly mundane day.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Watching for Divine Intervention

Posted on by Wendy
God is always at work, whether we see Him or not.

I just finished doing a Bible study on the Book of Esther. It’s a short book packed with intrigue and action. It’s the kind of story Hollywood would love to tell. Although I never noticed it before, God is not mentioned in the entire story, yet Jewish historians made sure it made the Hebrew Bible.

Why would they do that?

There’s a lot of commentary on the reasons, but it seems to me that the truth is hard for any believer to miss.

The king at the time, got rid of his queen. He then, rounded up all of the young, unmarried local girls to find a replacement. Esther, a Jew, was one of the many, but the king just happened to choose her. Esther fasted several times throughout the book, something God often looked favorably upon. When the Haman was going to kill all of the Jews, Esther went before the king even though he didn’t call for her. This could have meant her death sentence, but he received her favorably. (Another coincidence?) He then offered her whatever she asked for.

Then, the king just happened to be unable to sleep one night and he just happened to ask for a book of history where he just happened to read and remember, that Esther’s uncle, a Jew, had saved his life.

Esther’s position in the palace, along with her humility towards God and the king, resulted in the deliverance of all of the Jews.

Hundreds of years later, did the Jews really need to have God mentioned to know that He provided that deliverance?

Perhaps we should ask ourselves the same questions today. What types of things have happened in the history of our own nation that could only have been Divine intervention?

What types of things have happened in our own personal history that could have only been attributed to God at work?

Things from that job offer, to spontaneous healing, to meeting our spouse, to that friend who knows us inside and out and loves us anyway, are those circumstances mere coincidences?

The believer knows that God is always at work whether humanity sees Him or not and certainly whether we acknowledge Him or not. The ancient Hebrews recognized that fact. Maybe we should be more watchful as well.

The Book of Esther reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂