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.

Hummingbird Wisdom

Posted on by Wendy
Some hummingbirds reminded me to always lean into God, especially when the storms come.

Last week in Georgia, in preparation for Hurricane Irma, we were told to secure all of our deck furniture, lawn furniture, outdoor potted plants and anything else that might become a projectile in the raging wind.

We did as we were told well in advance. We even moved our chiminea, which I thought was way too heavy to be an issue, but better safe than sorry.

However, when it came to my hummingbird feeders, I decided to wait until the last minute. I sought advice from my mama who was further south. She and my daddy have like twenty hummingbirds or more every year. She told me she had taken theirs down for the storm.

I kept watching mine and planned on taking them down midday when it was supposed to get bad. I didn’t want them to become missiles. But, we have around ten or twelve this time of year and they are in a feeding frenzy. They have to double their weight in preparation for their flight to Mexico or South America, depending on the bird.

As the hours passed, the number dwindled to four, but still I was hesitant to remove their source of food. What if the ones that remained were behind because they were very young or very elderly? I kept watch and as the wind whipped the trees, the feeders didn’t move much.

I kept telling myself as soon as they stopped coming, I would run out to the deck and remove them.

The storm came and went and the birds never stopped feeding, so I never removed the feeders. By the next day, they were all back. They were all in a frenzy again, dive bombing one another and fussing at each other.

In the days that followed, when people were without power, and trees and limbs were down in our area, I couldn’t stop thinking about those four birds. The wind was whipping. The rain was pouring, but those birds relentlessly continued to feed.

Where were the other ones? Did they just take cover somewhere?

I am reminded of times in our own lives when the storms come and life gets bad. Those are often the times that we become so overwhelmed that we stop our spiritual practices. We stop going to church. We stop meaningful prayer time. We stop reading our Bible. We attempt to take shelter from everything including the One source that can feed us and sustain us.

Four little hummingbirds in a storm reminded me to be vigilant and to always lean into God, especially when the storms come. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Fallen Poplar Tree Reflections

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes blessings show up in the most unexpected circumstances.

Last weekend as the state of Florida geared up for Hurricane Irma, those of us in Georgia did the same. We were told to secure all of our deck furniture and anything else that might not be able to withstand the hurricane force winds that we might be getting. We were expecting the winds and rain on Monday.

On Saturday, my hubby and I attended a prayer service at our church specifically focusing on the hurricane. As people of God, we believe that the Creator of the wind and the rain also has the power to contain it.

When we returned home, we battened down the hatches and waited. It was amazing how beautiful the weather was on that Saturday before the storm. It was difficult to believe that calamity was heading our way. But, isn’t that always the case with life? Aren’t we usually happily sailing along blissfully unaware, when disaster strikes?

When Monday arrived and the forcasted weather with it, we kept watch. We lost power, cable and internet around 4:00. The giant oak trees in my backyard swayed with the wind gusts and I prayed that they would stand. My family and I made the best of our situation and played cards and board games.

At around 6:00, when we were eating sandwiches for dinner, we heard a crash. A neighbor’s poplar tree had fallen on the corner of our house, pulling all of our power, cable and phone lines from the house, onto the ground.

When the storm passed, we were amazed. Not one oak tree fell. We didn’t even have huge branches down. Those trees would have done some major destruction and possibly even caused injury, but they held.

While we braced for days without power because we had lines on the ground, our power was restored within 24 hours. On the following Friday, the cable guy came and looked at the damage and told us they couldn’t touch their lines until the power company got theirs off of the ground.

Saturday morning, we had cable and internet restored.

As I write this, all of the lines are on the ground, yet we have power, cable and internet. While I know there’s an explanation, I also know that God had His hand in it.

The tree has been removed and the insurance company has been contacted.

Honestly, I don’t know when I have felt so blessed. The tree stayed on the house for a week and every time I saw it, I was reminded of how bad it could have been. I was reminded of the people who lost their homes and people who lost their lives and I was prompted to offer prayers for them.

That fallen poplar tree made me more thankful than I have been in a long time. It’s falling, reminded me of the power of prayer and the power of God. It reminded me of what’s important and what’s not. It reminded me of the beauty of the generosity of neighbors. It reminded me to be at peace because God is in control.

Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Faith Family Reflections

Posted on by Wendy
Christian community helps us shine our light brighter.

Last October Hurricane Matthew hit the United States. South Carolina incurred a lot of damage. I remember being incredibly worried about my friends there, or as they say, friends who have become family.

My daughter attended a Salkehatchie mission trip in South Carolina four years ago. The following year, she wasn’t going to attend. There were some financial considerations. We had changed churches and she kept trying to back out, but God clearly wanted her there. Forces beyond her kept pulling and not only did she attend, I went too.

It was life changing for me and the next two years, our entire family of four went. The people there have become part of our faith family and they are very dear to us. So when Hurricane Matthew came through, I reached out to them and told them they were in our prayers.

I diligently prayed for them as well as for the people who’s homes we had worked on together. I even got a special, specific prayer request from one of them and I prayed without ceasing. They all ended up being okay. No one was hurt and they didn’t even have much property damage. I celebrated their blessings with them.

This year, as Hurricane Irma headed towards Georgia, I got a text from one of them offering us a place to stay if we needed to evacuate. She said her home was open to us. The next day, I got a Facebook message from someone else telling me he was thinking about my family and praying for us. I fought tears as I shared it with my family. That night, someone else put out a prayer request on the group Facebook page asking for prayers for their Georgia Family. We truly felt covered in prayer as yet another person offered us a place to stay if we needed it and told me to bring my parents too.

I can never express how strongly I believe in the power and importance of prayer. I can also never truly show my gratitude for the faith family that God has blessed me with or to that faith family for prayer when I desperately need it.

Christ-centered friendships are different. They are special and they are blessed. We need Christian community. It makes us stronger people. It makes us better people. It makes our light shine brighter. It makes us more effective Kingdom Builders.

Isn’t that something we all should want?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

One Nation Under God

Posted on by Wendy
May we never forget who really protects us.

Today is the 16th anniversary of 911, or as we now call it Patriot’s Day. It’s almost impossible to believe that it’s been sixteen years since that horrific day. I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I got the news.

I’ll bet you do too.

I remember rocking my three-month-old baby to sleep that night with tears sliding down my face and wondering what this world had come to. I remember wondering how it was possible for, that degree of hate to exist in so many people.

I remember praying, a lot.

I remember picking up my Bible and actively getting more involved in my church.

That single event in American history brought many Americans back to God. People who hadn’t been to church in years, returned. People who had never been to church decided to actively seek God.

A divided country came together. No one saw political parties. No one saw color. We were simply all Americans, and for the majority of us, one nation under God. It became very PC to fly our flag again.

It’s amazing what can happen in sixteen years. We can become complacent. We can become divided. We can even convince ourselves that we are completely self-sufficient and don’t need God. We would be wrong.

As I write this, Hurricane Irma is ravaging the state of Florida. The entire state of Georgia has been placed under a state of emergency. Our area schools are cancelled in preparation for the very heavy rains and winds that are expected. South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama are also in the path in one way or another.

The folks in Texas are still reeling from Hurricane Harvey.

I don’t know whether it’s a total coincidence that all of this is happening on 911 or not. As a woman of faith, I’ve come to learn that there are rarely coincidences.

Sixteen years ago, as a nation, we mourned the horrific loss of thousands of innocent lives and we turned our focus back to God. As we remember those people today and contemplate the natural disasters whirling around us, may we once again be convicted to do the same. May we become a nation of the prayer warriors that we are called to be.

May we once again proudly be, One Nation Under God.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Keep Planting

Posted on by Wendy
Never stop planting. You never know when the seeds will sprout.

When I arrived at church on Sunday, one of our praise team leaders asked me if I would be willing to help him with something. This guy is amazingly talented. He said he wanted to get a bunch of people to help with the praise and worship song and he wondered if I knew it. It was called, “Uncloudy Day.”

Oh yeah, I knew it. In the years that I attended a small, country church that was at the end of a dirt road, we sang it often. I had many fond memories of the music at that church and I readily agreed.

Right after choir practice, our pastor’s wife asked if the choir would be willing to help her. A man that we had been praying for, is in a rehabilitation facility for a spinal injury. He’s a man of deep faith. He had a really tough night, the night before and asked if we would be willing to sing the hymn, “Victory in Jesus,” for him to be videoed and sent to raise his spirits. We all readily agreed.

Once again, my mind recalled that small childhood church, where we sang that hymn often.

I wonder if my mama could have possibly known that over thirty years later, because she took me to church, that I was able to participate in the singing of two different songs at a completely different church, in a completely different town than I grew up in. I wonder if she could have possibly conceived that her obedience to God in raising her children to know Him, would allow her child to one day join with others to sing songs of praise to lift up a struggling brother in Christ and help him with his struggle.

We sometimes forget that parenting is Kingdom Work. When we fight to get our kids to church and wonder if it’s worth it, when we fight for that family meal when we can say grace and eat together, when we see our adult children stray off the path that we have taught them and wonder where we went wrong, let me assure you, God is there.

Yes, it’s worth it. As parents, we are called to be obedient to God and teach our children about Jesus. We are simply seed planters and let’s face it, not all of them will sprout. But, the good news is, that over a lifetime, we have the opportunity to plant thousands and at some point, they will not only sprout, but grow deep roots, because we have a God who is in the growing business and His abilities are limitless.

Two old hymns reminded me that we should always keep planting. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Praying for Texas

Posted on by Wendy
This picture was too good not to share.

Last weekend, Hurricane Harvey, one of the most destructive hurricanes in American history, came ashore in Texas. The destruction has been devastating. It’s almost impossible to fathom what some of those Harvey victims have been through, yet the Texans’ response to the disaster may have the power to unite us all.

Texas is a notoriously red state and has always done things a little differently than the other forty-nine states, something most Texans are proud of. Houston, one of the hardest hit regions of the state, is a spot of blue, with a mayor who is a democrat.

In the political climate that we have been living in since the last election, one would expect that Texans would be at each other’s throats, blaming each other and the federal government for their woes. If you would have watched a newscast a week earlier, you might have thought that Texans would use this opportunity to show what racists they truly are.

The media would have us believe that we are so divided as a country that all the we care about these days is fighting with each other. We are divided on religion, politics and race. We are divided on whether old statues should stand or be torn down. The casual observer would think that there’s very little great about America anymore, that we care more about our personal opinions and feelings than anything else.

Yet, when an unimaginable disaster struck, the state of Texas became a shining light of hope for all Americans. No one has shown the slightest concern over skin color or political affiliation. What they have shown is an unending supply of compassion for each other. People have turned out in everything from fishing boats, to canoes, to kayaks and dune buggies. Their desire to help one another has been nothing short of amazing.

In Dallas, people waited in line over half an hour just to donate supplies to the victims, people they would never even meet.

The pictures being shared on social media make me both sad and proud. There’s even a “Pray for Texas” banner on Facebook. Turns out we can use social media for God’s purposes as well as destructive purposes.

And the Texans’ response to their disaster has inspired the rest of the country to act as well. My tiny little town in Georgia, is sending a truck load of supplies and most of the rest of the country is acting as well.

There’s an old song that goes, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” It seems to me that Hurricane Harvey has started a fire no one could have dreamed of, but I pray that it spreads. I pray it encourages all Americans to do the right thing and help one another, to stop spreading hate on social media and start spreading prayer.

Who knows? This country could have a great revival. Let’s all pray for Texas and watch what happens.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Blessed Relationships

Posted on by Wendy
Relationships built on Christ will always find a way to bless us.

I have a dear friend, Bill, who always says that relationships that are built in Christ are different from any other relationships. He says that they tend to grow stronger over time and can weather distance and separation simply because they are blessed by God.

Last Sunday morning, I was saying a prayer for my daughter. She’s away at school and this mama was missing her terribly. I prayed that God would bless her and her roommates and that she would have a productive and happy day.

Right before my church service started, I received a text that she and her roommates were attending a church service. I can’t say how happy that made me. I knew that they are all a little homesick at this point and there are few ways to find peace better than worshiping God.

I said a prayer of thanks.

When I was leaving church, a friend of mine who was also my daughter’s Sunday school teacher at one point, asked me for her address. She wanted to send her a treat to school. My heart was once again, filled with gratitude.

When I returned home and sat down at my computer, I had received a message on Facebook, from a sweet lady who we used to attend church with. She and her hubby had retired and moved away. My kids always loved seeing them at church each week. We were sad to see them go. She just wanted me to know that they had relocated to the same town where my daughter is attending college. She wanted to me to give her, her cell phone number in case she ever needs anything.

I read the message with tears in my eyes.

I had been feeling low. I decided to pray about it. Not only did God respond, He did so in a way that used people He had planted in our lives all along our faith journey.

He did so in a way that I couldn’t possibly miss. He reminded me that He’s always there, no matter how far away He may seem. He reminded me that He’s always in control. He reminded me that my friend Bill is right.

The relationships that God plants, will always find a way to bless us.

Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Eclipse Musings

Posted on by Wendy
God is light.

Working at a local elementary school, I have been completely covered with eclipse mania. We are dismissing our students thirty minutes late today so they can view the entire eclipse with their classes, wearing safety glasses purchased from NASA.

Our phones have steadily rung with eclipse questions from parents. Many children are staying home for the day and many others are checking out early.

One report said millions of people are traveling by the thousands to get a better view of the eclipse. Blairsville, Georgia, a mountain town with total population of 23,000 is expecting anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 visitors.

The event has been dubbed the Great American Eclipse and these people are being called Eclipse Chasers.

Personally, I really can’t understand the hype. Several prominent preachers have come out and said that the eclipse is not a good sign for the United States. They believe it’s a warning from God. Some say it’s a sign of end times drawing close.

When I looked in the Bible, I couldn’t find a single instance of God blotting out the sun, being interpreted as a good thing. The Bible says that He is light. “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5

Where does that leave Christians? How do we interpret this eclipse? Should we even try?

As I pondered the significance of it, the answer I kept coming up with was prayer. We can certainly pray for wisdom regarding the entire ordeal. We can pray for the safety of the throngs of people who are determined to travel to see it. We can pray for the safety of the millions of people who have decided to look directly at the sun without the correct protective equipment.

But, perhaps most importantly, we can pray that God uses this enormous celestial event to turn our hearts and minds back to Him. Think of the impact that could be made if every one of those Eclipse Chasers were to pray collectively for peace in our nation. Think of the impact on the entire world if everyone prayed for revival.

Only time will tell what this day means, if anything significant at all. But, prayer is a weapon that we are always equipped with, no matter the circumstances. I plan on using it a lot today. Perhaps you’d like to join me.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy

Seeking the Easter Eggs

Posted on by Wendy
We can be just as delighted about finding life’s Easter eggs today, as we were when we looked for them as kids.

My son is always talking about finding, Easter eggs, in his favorite movies and video games. When he first began talking to me about them, I had no idea what he was talking about. Then he explained.

Easter eggs are intentional inside jokes or inside messages hidden within a game or movie. For example, Pixar likes to place a Pizza Planet truck in almost every one of their movies. The casual observer would miss it. But, those watchers who know to look for it, can almost always spot it.

I am told that the Easter eggs, appear in tons of movies, but most of the time, the audience doesn’t even know it. We don’t see them because we don’t look.

As I was scrolling through the pictures on my phone the other day, I came across a hydrangea. On the day that I took it, I had make like fifty trips to a dumpster, throwing in old shingles, rotten wood and anything else that needed to be trashed. I was hot. There were lots of bugs swarming around and fire ant beds to dodge.

But every time I walked past that hydrangea, it made me smile. It was almost like a little breath of fresh air. At some point, I stopped and snapped a picture of it, simply because I enjoyed seeing it so much that day.

It was grace and beauty in the midst of ugliness.

As I saw the picture again, I smiled and thought of my son’s quest to find Easter eggs. God had sent me an Easter egg, a hidden message that He was there. He placed it there for me to find and appreciate, if I was willing to look.

When I think about it, He places them in my path all of the time and I probably miss them more often than not. But, I’m determined to become a better seeker.

I want to learn to truly appreciate the unexpected beauty of a sunrise on the way to work, and the little brightly colored yellow weed that pops up on my walking path, and the mama who drops off cookies at the office just because. More importantly, I want to acknowledge and give thanks to the One who sent them.

It think when we truly seek Jesus, we find Him everywhere. A hydrangea reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

Finding Peace Where We Are

Posted on by Wendy
We are called to walk with Jesus, not to run ahead.

This past summer, my family attended a mission trip. We helped to repair houses for some people who desperately needed help. We spent an entire week with other Christians.

We ate every meal with other Christians and publicly prayed before we ate. We openly talked about Jesus throughout all of our days. We wore crosses around our necks. We visited different churches for our meals and those people shared Christ with us.

We sang about Jesus each night and talked about seeing Him during the day. It was definitely a mountaintop week.

Then, we returned home. My hubby and I returned to work. Our lives got back to normal. Don’t get me wrong; our normal is perfectly fine, but when you spend a week doing God’s work alongside God’s people, normal just seems, I don’t know, kind of pointless. Shouldn’t I be doing more?

I was walking and praying about my frustration when I heard a hawk calling out. He was very close, but I couldn’t see him. I had been running and walking at a very fast pace as I looked for him. I slowed down and I heard him again. This time he was behind me.

When I turned around and slowly walked past a place I had already been, there he sat in a tree at my eye level. I stopped and He just sat there looking at me as if he had waited for me to find him. We stared at each other for a few minutes before he finally flew away.

I marveled at my encounter as I walked, not ran, home, and a thought formed deep inside my heart.

God has put me in this place at this moment for a specific reason. I don’t have to know or understand the what or the why of it. If I live my days focused on Jesus, nothing I do is pointless. When I try to run ahead, I miss seeing Him, just like I missed that hawk. But, when I slow down and seek Him, I mean really seek Him, He will always show Himself and let me know where I need to be.

I might feel like I’m more productive on the mountain top than I am simply walking along the beaten path, but if I trust Him and obey His call, I realize that in the end, that’s not for me to determine. That realization brings me great peace.

Perhaps you needed some peace today too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂