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.

Not A Fight Against Flesh and Blood

Posted on by Wendy
Never stop praying.
Never stop praying.

Last Friday, I shared a little bit of my friend Ivy’s story which included her ALS diagnosis. I shared that she is a woman of faith. I shared that she is a prayer partner of mine. I asked for prayers for her healing.

I felt led to share how the Holy Spirit showed up.

I normally average anywhere from 100 to 150 views each day on gracefulgaines. My top number last month was 332. I always pray that Jesus will meet me at my keyboard to try to share His grace and His presence in some tangible way which may encourage others to do the same.

After spending time in prayer with Ivy, who is loved by the many people who have known her over the years, last week, I felt a clear calling to ask for prayer for her healing here in this space.

As usual, when we earnestly seek God, we find Him.

As of this writing, and it changes every time I check, 2,087 people have read the post, “Fighting for Ivy.” That’s over two thousand prayer warriors lining up to do battle for her, to intervene for her, to ask for Divine intervention for her healing.

Not only that, there are people in nine other countries besides the United States who have seen the post too. It seems we have begun a worldwide prayer chain here.

Joyce Meyer once said, “If you do what you can do, God will do what you cannot.”

We forget that sometimes. Don’t we? It’s our human tendency to figure it out ourselves or to fix it ourselves. We often go to prayer as a last resort. We forget the power that Christians wield in prayer.

We also have a tendency to forget that we fight a spiritual war on a daily basis.

Paul tells all believers in Ephesians 6:10-18: …”For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” He then tells us to put on the full armor of God; one of the parts is the “shield of faith.”

Doesn’t our faith teach us the importance of prayer?

Paul ends in verse eighteen by writing, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”

Paul reminds us to be persistent in prayer. Ivy’s situation is a reminder not only of the power of prayer, but also our call to use it, not only when tragedy strikes, but persistently.

We have a lot of evil going on in our world right now. Are Christians praying like we should? Are we doing all that we can, spiritually?

Perhaps this is an Esther moment for all Christians. Perhaps now, on this day, at this time, we are called to pray and to pray persistently, for repentance for our country and for a return to God. He is still in control.

A prayer request for Ivy reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too. Keep praying for her and for each other.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Cradled in Prayer

Posted on by Wendy
A Sunday morning trip to the emergency room was an opportunity to Jesus at every turn.
A Sunday morning trip to the emergency room, was an opportunity to see Jesus at every turn.

On Sunday morning, my seventeen year old daughter, came downstairs saying she wasn’t feeling well. She said her stomach had been hurting all night. Her face was covered in sweat and then she dropped to her knees at the trash can.

My hubby immediately suspected appendicitis and said we needed to go to the emergency room. I wasn’t convinced. She was obviously sick, but there are a lot of stomach bugs going around. She said she was feeling much better, but he was insistent and having had a ruptured appendix many years before, I trusted his judgement.

We brushed our teeth and put on some clothes and headed to the emergency room. There are two hospitals in our area and both are good, but one is Catholic and very open about Jesus, so that was our choice. There’s something about a hospital that has a cross hanging in every room, that I find comforting. As my daughter would later say, “Jesus was in every room I went into.”

Indeed He was.

We were treated with great kindness from everyone who crossed our paths, from the registrar, to nurses, to our doctor, to our radiologist, to the nice lady who took out the trash, and every single kindness extended to us, went noticed by this mama.

When we got the appendicitis diagnosis and were told she would need surgery, I posted a picture on Facebook and asked for prayers. We had the first prayers sent up on our behalf within minutes. Within the hour, my phone had buzzed 25 times with people offering up prayers for my daughter and each one made me a little stronger.

Our pastor arrived and he talked with her and prayed over her and the minute he finished, the surgeon walked in.

In a day that could have been filled with fear and anxiety, I literally felt like we were being cradled in prayer. All day long, into the evening the prayer notifications continued. I heard from childhood friends, high school friends, family, my daughter’s former teachers, coworkers, my church family, our Salkehatchie family and other members of my faith family.

Each time, the message was something short and simple like, “prayers for her,” or “prayers going up.”

That’s all it took to bring peace to my soul.

For all of its negativity and for all of the political rants and ugliness that can plague it, Facebook became a holy place for me last weekend, a place where the light of Christ shone like a beacon. On reflection, I realize it can always be that way, if we choose to make it so.

The surgery went perfectly. Her appendix had not ruptured. The surgeon told us it took him like twenty minutes. We went home that night.

It’s been a few days and my daughter is on the mend. In the end, I had 90 comments and probably 85 specifically said they were praying for her.

I sincerely cannot remember a time when I have felt so blessed. When bad things happen, it’s so easy to ask where God is. I have often written that He’s always here, always with us, if we take the time to seek Him with open hearts.

Last Sunday, He was everywhere, in every face of our health care workers, on every crucifix, with every buzz of my phone. I have difficulty finding the words to express my gratitude to all of those prayer warriors who intervened for us. All I can say is my cup runneth over.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Giving Thanks for the Shade and the Breezes

Posted on by Wendy
Even during the hottest times, we can find shade and breezes.
Even during the hottest times, we can find shade and breezes.

My daughter and I have begun exercising together. We walk with a little running, several times a week. For years, I’ve tried to get her to exercise, just because it’s a great stress reliever, but she was never very interested. For whatever reason, this year, her senior year, she has decided to listen to her mama.

Maybe she’s getting wiser? (LOL)

We always begin our walks with a lot of talk, but as we work harder and breathe harder, we talk less. Yet, even though we don’t talk as much, we really enjoy walking together. It doesn’t take spoken words for each of us to know that we support each other.

A few days ago, we were walking and there was a nice breeze when we started. A little while into our walk, the breeze died and my daughter commented on how the heat was like walking into a wall, but as we walked a little further down the road, we hit some shade and when we hit the shade, we could run.

We never ran when the sun was beating down us. We walked during those segments.

Then there were the breezes that would encourage us to keep going. We reminded each other of the breezes we encountered on our mission trip last summer that allowed us to keep working in the all consuming heat.

I thought about that walk and our talk in the days that followed.

I thought about how those who we hold most dear don’t even have to share words with us to make us feel loved and encouraged. Just being near them is often enough.

I thought about life’s journey and how there are shady times when we can run and run, and we don’t even feel tired. But, there are also times when we can barely put one foot in front of the other, and we feel the sun ruthlessly beating down on us. If it weren’t for the breezes, we couldn’t keep going at all.

But, God is so faithful in sending those breezes in so many different forms. They can be a call from a friend, running into someone who can offer us guidance, prayers sent up on our behalf, being at the right place at the right time, discovering a brand new passion for something we enjoy, or reviving an old one, our church community, or a new job.

The breezes are anything and everything that God sends our way to lighten our load a little and give us hope. If we are vigilant, we can always find them and feel them, even when we feel we are in a desert kind of heat.

We need to remember that there are times on our journey to walk, and there are times to run. There are even times to rest, but most importantly, as children of God, we never walk alone.

A walk with my daughter reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Faith in the Messy

Posted on by Wendy
When we yield to God, it's amazing where He shows up.
When we yield to God, it’s amazing where He shows up.

I was driving down the road yesterday after dropping my son off at marching band practice. I was annoyed that the band director didn’t cancel it. I mean seriously, the skies were dark. The thunder was rumbling and the radar showed storms heading our way. But, no, practice was on. Sigh.

I was on the way to the pharmacy to pick up a couple of prescriptions, stuck in our ever worsening traffic situation in our little Mayberryesque town, wondering what I would write about for today’s post, when a rainbow caught my attention.

It was faint, but definitely there. All of a sudden, sitting through two cycles at the same stop light, wasn’t annoying. Being stopped, gave me the opportunity to snap a photo. I figured I could edit it when I got home.

Computers make it easy to crop out all the not so pretty stuff, we don’t like. With the help of the right software, we can make any picture look perfect.

I said a prayer of thanks on my ride home. I thanked God for showing Himself in the monotony of the traffic, in the tedious times like doing errands, and in the times when the skies look positively frightening.

I worked out in my mind how I would write encouraging words about how that rainbow reminded me God is always with us, in times that are mundane, and in times that are exciting, when skies are blue and life is grand, and when times are dark and scary.

And I planned to produce the perfect rainbow picture that I snapped while stuck in traffic. But, like they say, a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words.

When I reviewed the pictures, the yield sign caught my eye. The yield sign reminded me that the true path to the peace that passeth understanding is to yield our hearts to Jesus. I felt like that ugly, ordinary, yield sign, spoke God’s truth as much as the rainbow did.

And the power lines and the building, represented the busy life that most of us lead. It’s not always picture perfect. It’s sometimes messy and unattractive, yet through it all, just like the rainbow in the distance, God’s love for us still shines through.

If I would have cropped out the unappealing parts of the picture, I would have cut out an important part of the story and it’s probably a part someone needed to read.

Everyone’s life is a struggle sometimes despite what people would like for you to believe on social media. No one has the perfect family, or marriage, or job, or friends, or house. I know this because I know that perfection does not exist on this side of heaven.

The rainbow right there in the middle of the messy, reminded me that Jesus came to earth to become one of us and He walks with us through the good and the bad. His death and resurrection mean we will one day live in perfection, and that truth makes life beautiful no matter where we may find ourselves at any particular moment.

Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you did too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Seeing the Hand of God

Posted on by Wendy
After experiencing God's power in a huge way, we were rewarded with this sunset.
After experiencing God’s power in a huge way, we were rewarded with this sunset.

Today’s post picks up where yesterday’s left off. My family and I had just left Walmart and we were traveling home on Loop 10 at fifty-five or so, miles per hour. My hubby and I were discussing with our kids the ability, and the call, to extend kindness to others when we can, whoever that person may be, when our conversation was stopped in its tracks.

A car traveling in the opposite direction, ran off of the road, over-corrected and rolled in mid-air (a complete flip), and landed on its tires, facing the opposite way, in the median. The driver and her passenger in the backseat, were securely fastened in their seats. No one was ejected.

Since we were traveling in the opposite direction, and noted that drivers on the other side of the road were stopping, I called 911, with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.

There was no one traveling on her side of the roadway when she flew across. Mere, seconds later, several cars came flying by. If she would have made the same mistake seconds later, it may have resulted in serious injuries for her and her passenger, as well as several other drivers traveling on that roadway. It may have even cost them their lives.

That road is notoriously busy and the traffic moves rapidly. What if an eighteen-wheeler had been driving by? What if she had landed back in the road going the opposite direction; she would have had a head on collision. What if she would have ended up on our side? What if the car had landed on its roof; the occupants would have been crushed.

All of these scenarios raced through my mind as I drew the only conclusion that I could. My family and I had just witnessed the Hand of God at work.

There were a hundred reasons why those people should have been seriously injured, but they weren’t. There were many scenarios where other people should have been injured, but they weren’t.

I couldn’t stop thinking about it for the rest of the day. I am still in awe as I write about it.

My teen daughter often tells me that her friends struggle with their faith because the can’t “see” God. I am amazed that we had just left Walmart and were discussing with our kids, being the face of Jesus, to a world that desperately needs it, when God showed up and showed us His mighty hand.

He’s here with us everyday. We probably miss His handiwork more often than not, but sometimes He shows up in huge ways that are impossible to miss. And it’s in those moments that I am reminded that the God we worship, called the stars into being, and parted the Red Sea, and tumbled the Walls of Jericho with a horn blast, and helped a child slay a giant, when an army could not.

There is nothing that is impossible for Him or for those of us who put our faith in Him. Last weekend He sent me a mighty reminder. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Too Good Not to Share

Posted on by Wendy
It only takes a spark.
It only takes a spark.

My daily prayer is for God to show Himself to me in a way that I can share with others and hopefully, inspire them on their faith walk. One of my favorite Bible verses is: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

There are some days, however, when God is hard to see and hear and I sometimes find myself wondering if I will spend hours staring at a blinking cursor with nothing to write. Do you ever have days like that? Do you ever wonder if He’s really near or if He’s really listening?

But, God is always faithful to those who seek Him, even when we insist on doubting.

At the end of my day yesterday, when I was getting ready to go home, one of our teachers came in and was chatting with some of our office staff. They were talking about never knowing when they should help someone who claims to need help. There are so many people out there who are scammers.

Quite honestly, I was only half-way listening. I think this is a struggle that most people have, when to doubt and when to trust, but then the conversation grabbed my interest.

The teacher was giving an account of the story her priest had told the Sunday before.

He had been at a gas station when a woman approached him for money. Said she had a long drive and no gas. He said he was skeptical at first, but there was something desperate in the woman’s eyes that made him want to help her.

He looked at her car and it was full of children.

He told her he wouldn’t give her cash, but that he would pay to fill her car up. He went into the store to pay for her gas and since he was one of eleven children himself, he bought her a bunch of snacks for the road for her kids and two more gas cards.

He told the grateful woman that he wished he could do more, but that was all he had. (After all, priests don’t make much money.)

The woman went on her way and he went back to the rectory.

When he arrived, there was an envelope lying on his desk containing the exact amount of money that he had given the desperate woman, apparently donated by some new parishioner.

Do you have chills yet? Is your heart warmed?

I thought about that priest and the choice he made long after I left work.

I was reminded that God is always there for those who seek Him. The Holy Spirit guides us to give and share when we should. Perhaps we should spend less of our time worrying about being cheated and more of our time listening to the nudges of the Spirit.

That’s what that priest did and look at what his faithful obedience produced, a story that was just too good not to share. Hopefully, you will feel the same.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Walking in Faith

Posted on by Wendy
The light of Christ changes everything.
“For we live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7

I was recently praying as I was getting ready for my day. I was in my bedroom and it was quiet. I had so many things on my mind, so many people and circumstances to pray for. I felt certain I was missing some of them.

I had been praying about our current political scene in this country. I had been praying about the recent violence involving police. I had been praying about people who I hold close who are battling sickness as well as other emotional issues. I had been praying about a new chapter in my own life.

My heart was a little heavy and I briefly wondered if I had met my prayer quota for the day. Was God getting all of this? Did I need to back up and repeat?

Of course, I know that is not how God works. The Bible says He knows what I need before I even ask it, but at that moment, the world around me from my little space to globally, seemed to me, to be in great need of His guidance and intervention.

As I finished my prayer, I went to the windows and opened my blinds for the day. The sun was bright and flooded the room with light and tiny rainbows dotted my ceilings and walls. The scene took my breath away. I grinned as I grabbed my cell phone to snap a few shots that don’t even begin to do justice to the moment.

Within minutes, they were gone, but the message was received. Yes, He was listening. Yes, He is in control. No, my list of prayers is never too much for Him. I looked heavenward and whispered, “thank-you.”

Now, those of you out there who may be the Doubting Debbie types, I am fully aware that the sun was reflecting off of something in my bedroom that acted as a prism. I am well aware that it wasn’t some kind of miracle. But, the fact that I just happened to open my blinds at the same exact time I said, “Amen,” and at that precise moment, the sun just happened to hit the right spot at the right time to produce those little rainbows…..

That, my friends is faith. I know that God was letting me know that He was listening. The amazing thing is that when I seek Him with my whole heart, in a quiet place, He always has a way of showing Himself, if I am diligent about looking.

There are so many Bible verses that pop into my mind here: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 or “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  or maybe, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

They all point to the Amazing God who we worship. They all point to Jesus. God is always listening to our prayers. Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

River Wisdom

Posted on by Wendy
You can learn a lot from a river.
You can learn a lot from a river.

On a recent trip with my family, we went tubing on a section of the Chattahoochee River in Helen, Georgia. Notice I said tubing and not rafting. Rafting is fast and kind of wild. It often requires a guide of some sort. You have to wear a life jacket and a helmet. It can be dangerous. That’s a little too much adventure for this gal.

Now, tubing, requires me to sit in an inner tube, with a bottom, and float. That’s it. That’s my idea of an ideal way to spend a few hours on a summer afternoon.

It was kind of crowded and I got separated from my family, so I had a lot of time to reflect. I learned a lot from tubing down that river.

First of all, I had no way to steer, so for the most part, I was at the mercy off the current. When I was getting too close to the bank, I would lean forward and use my arms to frantically paddle back into the main stream.

The banks were kind of scary. There were lots of nooks and crannies for snakes to hide. Every now and then, no matter how hard I tried, I ended up at the banks. Sometimes it was because I was pushed over that way by another tuber. Sometimes it was because the current pushed me that way. Sometimes it was because I wasn’t paying attention.

Whatever the reason, I tried to stay off of the banks. But, sometimes I wound up there.

Life is like that sometimes. No matter how hard we try to stay on course, on the right path, we get knocked off. Sometimes we end up on the banks with the snakes because of our own bad choices. Sometimes we get pushed there by somebody else. Sometimes we end up there through no fault of our own.

But, the beauty of being a Christian is that we never walk alone. We walk with Jesus. Thanks to grace, when we find ourselves on the metaphorical banks, we can pray and paddle and have faith that eventually, we will end up back where we need to be.

The second lesson I learned is that the river was full of people of all ages, shapes, sizes and backgrounds. Yet, we were all headed in the same direction. We often bumped into each other. Sometimes people apologized and smiled and sometimes people acted annoyed. Each reaction was a choice.

We have that same choice in everyday life. If we choose to leave our houses and participate in community of any kind, people will bump into us. Whether they do it on purpose or by accident, our reaction to their action is a choice. We can always choose anger or we can choose to let it go and not to take it personally.

When our eyes are set on God, what people do, no longer matters as much.

The final thing that stayed with me, was the opportunity to help others, is always close. I witnessed a little boy fall off of his tube. He was tethered to his brother and he was wearing a life jacket. He was not in any real danger, but he was panicked.

I had the choice to paddle over and offer help or to float on by. I felt led to help and so I did.

I wonder how often I miss that call. How often I’m I focused on my own journey, my own plans and miss the call to help others. That day, I was quiet and watchful. How many times am I self-consumed?

I left that river a little wiser. I was reminded of the importance of faith, focus, and loving our neighbors. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

The Master of Preparation

Posted on by Wendy
Prep work may be boring, but it's so very necessary.
Prep work may be boring, but it’s so very necessary.

Last week on our Salkehatchie mission trip, when it the time came to paint Miss Annie’s house, we had to do some prep work. Her front porch was screened and if we didn’t cover the screen with some sort of protection, the brand new paint would have dripped on it and ruined it.

Our best intentions would have caused damage.

Some of the teens got a little impatient with all of the taping and cutting and hanging. It took some time. They just wanted to paint, but those of us who were older and hopefully wiser, insisted that we get the porch covered before we painted. I am happy to report that not one drop of paint got on her screen.

Our painting prep project reminds me about the massive amount of prep work that went into the entire experience last week. I have thought about all of our lunches and dinners that our director Amy, set up for us through different churches, and one town hall. I have thought of the many hands that prepared each meal for complete strangers, simply because we were helping members of their community, members many of them didn’t even know.

I have thought about our breakfast angels who got up at the crack of dawn every morning to prepare and serve us breakfast with a smile. They had to plan for a week’s worth of breakfasts for a lot of people. We wouldn’t have been very productive if they hadn’t done all of the work way ahead of time. A pop tart wouldn’t have kept tummies full for very long. Those ladies did a bunch of prep work.

I have thought of the site leaders who had to plan in advance for the materials we needed to work on the homes. They had them delivered to the work site so we were ready to go on Monday morning. Because of the prep work, the teams were able to immediately get to work and bonds and relationships were quickly formed.

I have thought about the Holy Spirit at work and how each person there was either personally convicted to come or their parents had been convicted to send them. There were a few who didn’t come by choice and didn’t really want to be there. But, by Friday, each one of them said they would be back the next year.

God knew where they needed to be and He prepared their hearts along the way, for something magnificent. They didn’t miss it.

I have thought about my own family and our convoluted story of how we ended up there and how God was preparing three years ago, for my entire family to attend this year.

Our Salkehatchie trip literally takes my breath away when I think about all of the prep work God did through so many people, to make it happen.

Ephesians 2:10 keeps coming to mind. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

God is definitely the Master of preparation. He really does have a plan. I can’t wait to see what He will do next year.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Witnessing Everyday Miracles

Posted on by Wendy
We often pass over everyday miracles because we fail to look closely.
We often miss everyday miracles because we fail to look closely.

On Thursday of our mission trip, our work site finished up. It was early. There are normally small tasks to do until the very last minute. But, this year, we got it done early. Our site leader shook his head and said it was a first for him in his many years, like twenty-plus, in working at Salkehatchie camps.

The two men with big trucks and trailers had a discussion of whether or not they should go ahead and pull their trailers out or wait until the next day when we returned to place our cross in the yard. They went back and forth, but eventually decided to go ahead and break everything down and pull them out.

As a bonus, they dropped them off at the church and took the entire crew out for milkshakes. We were all thrilled. Later, after we got showers and got ready to go to dinner, a storm rolled in. We were thankful that we weren’t caught out in it and didn’t think too much of it, initially.

Right before we left the church to go to dinner, our homeowner, Miss Annie, called our camp director, going on and on, about how lucky we were that we had pulled our trailers out. Apparently, the storm that came through at her house had taken down a huge limb right where one of our trailers had been parked and the wind had turned over our porta potty.

On our drive to dinner, I shared the information with the group of teens in my car. The younger ones riding in the back, weren’t particularly impressed. But, the eighteen- year- old, riding in the front with me, who was a veteran of Salkehatchie, and had helped out for years, got quiet a minute and grinned as the news sunk in.

He told me that in all of his years helping that he had never known a crew to pack up and pull out trailers on a Thursday and asked me wasn’t it amazing how God was at work?

I was amazed myself and also amazed at the wisdom of this teenager, but then, when we have our kids do God’s work regularly, then I suppose, we shouldn’t be surprised when they recognize Him at work too.

We stopped by the work site after dinner to see the limb. The tree had actually split and the trailer that had been underneath it all week, that was full of tools and already scheduled to work at another Salkehatchie camp in a couple of weeks, would have without a doubt, been crushed.

But, God had a plan for that trailer and its contents and for the family who I am sure desperately needs it in a couple of weeks, and so He intervened.

After seeing it, I think my doubters in the backseat were convinced as well. Miss Annie was also amazed at the protection God had provided. She told us that she knew that God was working for us.

I am still filled with awe at the miracle we got to witness. I’m so incredibly grateful that God chose to show His face in that way, to a bunch of teens, still fairly new on their faith journey, so much so, that I wanted to share it with you too.

I pray that you are amazed and moved as we were.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂