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 Spirituality of Thanksgiving

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes we have to let go in order to draw closer to God.
Sometimes we have to let go in order to draw closer to God.

As I was doing dishes this morning, I looked out my window and saw leaves falling down like rain. There were literally hundreds of them. With Thanksgiving a little over a week away, the leaves made me think about letting go of things that not only don’t matter in the long run, but also letting go of things that keep us from being thankful.

Every year, the retailers rush from Halloween to Christmas and try to skip over Thanksgiving. The holiday doesn’t make them much money. But, it’s a uniquely American holiday, where we take time out to be thankful for all that we have.

It seems to me that to truly ready our hearts for the gift of the Christ Child, that we really shouldn’t skip the step of humbly giving thanks to God, not only for our personal blessings, but for being who He is.

That brings me back to those falling leaves. Every year, the trees shed all of those leaves that they needed and used during the spring and summer. They don’t need them in the winter and they beautifully let them go.

As we prepare ourselves for Thanksgiving, are we like the trees, blissfully letting go of things that stand in the way of our being thankful, or are we holding tightly with both hands?

Things like anger, resentment, pride, or guilt and shame over past actions, have to be let go like all of those leaves, in order for us to draw close to God. It doesn’t matter whether the things we are holding onto with a white knuckled grip, were done by us or done to us, if we want to walk with Jesus, we have to let them go.

The Bible tells us to give thanks in all circumstances which can be incredibly difficult when our lives are going badly, but when we give thanks, we are thanking God for who He is and for His love for us, knowing that circumstances will eventually change. When we give thanks, we acknowledge that His plan is better than our own, although it’s impossible for us to understand sometimes.

The falling leaves remind us to let go of all that stands between us and Him. We don’t need all of that negativity. All we need is Him.

The leaves that have been allowed to fall, can turn into a rich fertilizer for things to grow in the future. They remind us that God can use all of our baggage to grow us too, if we allow it, if we let go.

God reminded me this morning of the importance of Thanksgiving. I was reminded not to fast forward to Christmas, but to bask in the moment of letting go and giving thanks. Perhaps you needed a reminder too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

There is Power in the Name

Posted on by Wendy
We are called to be God's light.
We are called to be God’s light.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, the entire world is on edge. We don’t normally hear about that kind of mass killing in the Western world. However, Israel has to deal with terrorists on a daily basis and they don’t just target the Israelis or Jews.

Back in October, a 78-year-old Christian woman named Marike Veldman, was riding on a bus in Israel. She was from the Netherlands originally, but had lived in Israel for many years. She had opened a home for Arab children 32 years earlier.

At one of the bus stops, two Muslim terrorists boarded the bus. One had a gun and one had a knife. They yelled, “Allahu Akbar,” and the one with the gun headed to the back of the bus and began shooting. The one with the knife began stabbing Marike.

But, Marike had her own battle cry which apparently trumped theirs. She began calling out in Dutch, “Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus! Help me! Help me!” She said at the sound of the name of Jesus, the terrorist ran away from her to the back of the bus and allowed her to escape through the opened door.

She was weak and bleeding and walking alone when a Jewish passerby, she calls a good Samaritan, picked her up and drove her to the hospital. She had a punctured lung and a shoulder injury. Two people died in the attack and sixteen were injured.

Seventy-eight-year-old Marike, is expected to make a full recovery. She says that she has no doubt that God intervened and that it was the name Jesus that saved her. Seventy-eight is kind of old to be walking away from a stabbing and with a punctured lung no less, yet God has shown us many times that He is not bound by human weakness or understanding.

I also find it pretty amazing that the woman called out in Dutch, her native tongue. The terrorists were not Dutch and surely didn’t understand what she was saying. Yet, the name of Jesus carried the same amount of power, no matter the language barrier.

Jesus said in John 14:13-14 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the father. You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it.”

Marike’s actions certainly brought glory to God, and Jesus came through just as He said He would.

Philippians 2:9-11, tells us that, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Marike was never alone that day and neither are we. She remembered to call on the One who could save her and He did. The world has always been full of people who love evil, but we are called to remember that we worship a God who is good and He will win.

We are not called to live in fear, but to live courageously like Marike, knowing that He has a plan. The days may be dark, but, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

When the Rain Stops

Posted on by Wendy
While we eagerly curse the rainy days, do we remember to give thanks for the sunny ones?
While we eagerly curse the rainy days, do we remember to give thanks for the sunny ones?

It has rained in Georgia a lot this Fall and close to non-stop over the past two weeks. To add insult to injury, it turned cold over the weekend. I’m well aware that it’s November, but when it goes from the seventies to the forties overnight, it’s a shock to the system.

Everyday last week, the Weather Channel only had a forecast of like 20% chance of rain. Yet, everyday it continued to rain. The general mood of everyone has been kind of low. And you haven’t really ever lived on the edge, until you are a substitute teacher in an elementary class that hasn’t been allowed to go outside for two weeks. They were stir crazy to say the least.

Miraculously, on Tuesday, the sun came out in the afternoon. It was glorious. When it was shining straight into my eyes, as I drove to pick my son up from school, I didn’t even flinch. I didn’t dare complain. It was too precious.

On Wednesday, I had a meeting with my pastor and associate pastor, about ordering new curriculum for Sunday school. We sat outside. It was a little cool, but well worth it.

By the time I returned home, the sun was shining brightly and the temps had climbed into the seventies. I had a ton of things to do, but the day was so beautiful…

I prayed about my to do list and it was almost as if I could feel God beckoning me outdoors where He and I always have the best talks. I gave in and went out. I planted some pansies that had been wilting in the garage, waiting for the chance to break out of their tiny pots.

I blew some leaves off of the driveway, that had piled up in slick layers. I found myself thanking and praising God continuously for the magnificent day.

Then it occurred to me. Life is sometimes bleak and rainy. I mean, it sometimes feels as if the rain will never stop and then, when we think it can’t get much worse, it turns cold. We trudge on through the mud and muck and then when we think our situation will never change, the sun breaks out from the clouds giving us a little hope. Then, often fairly quickly, the sky turns a brilliant blue.

Do we keep on living life as we have been in a state of drudgery and ho-hum, or do we drop to our knees and give thanks for the change? I think if we’re honest, we often are momentarily thankful, but then go right back indoors to business as usual, allowing the answer to our prayers go by, almost unnoticed.

A beautiful sunny day, in the seventies, in November, is a gift. Yesterday, I had enough wisdom, to thank and praise God for making it. I’m not always that observant or grateful, but He gently reminded me.

The rain will eventually return and it will turn cold again, but I think it’s really important to be thankful for the sunny days. I sometimes need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Be Patient and Let God Work

Posted on by Wendy
We all have the opportunity to glorify God with our choices.
We all have the opportunity to glorify God with our choices.

I recently came across a story just too good not to share. While everyone seems to be focusing on the demise of American culture and labeling our society as “Godless,” I keep finding story after story of Christians rallying around each other, that bring me hope.

Interestingly, once again, this story of hope takes place on a football field.

A young man named Luke Keller had seen some hard times. His father left. His grandmother died and his grandfather was jailed. He had lost all hope and he decided on his way home from school, that it might be time to end his life.

He went to mow the lawn, hoping it might get his mind off of his suicidal thoughts. It didn’t. In desperation, he finally decided to call out to a God that he had never believed in. Isn’t that how it goes for many of us? We wait until we hit hard rock bottom before we cry out for help.

Luke said, “God, if you are real and you are what people say you are, then tell me something, because today I’m going to end my life. I need to know if you are real.”

He heard  voice that said, “I want you to follow me.”

Luke needed to be sure. Here again, it amazes me at how often we question God. The supernatural alarms us. We like to check and double-check. But, our loving Father is ever patient with us, especially the young ones.

Luke said, “God I feel like I heard you, but will you please say it one more time so I know I’m not crazy?”

What do you think God did? Did He strike him down for his disbelief? Nope. He obliged and repeated, “I want you to follow me.”

Luke dropped to his knees and began crying. He had been through a year of counseling and after that day, not one more suicidal thought entered his mind.

Luke just happened to be a high school football player and he decided to drop to his knee and point to the sky to thank God when he made a touchdown. He said he was living for God and wanted to glorify Him with every victory he was given. This act was apparently not a problem until his team made the playoffs.

There was a referee who told him he was celebrating when he knelt and pointed and that if he did it again, he would be thrown out of the game. He was crushed. He was only trying to glorify God.

At half-time, Luke’s little sister got a note to him that said, “Be patient and let God work.” She was allowing God to use her too.

On his next touch down, he didn’t kneel and point to God. He simply walked back to the sidelines, shoulders slumped, until he looked at the stands. Around 7,000 fans had all dropped to their knees and pointed to the sky.

You see, we always have a choice. We can be like Luke and seek to glorify God in all that we do. If we make that choice, we have to have faith that God will intervene for us, if the road gets rough.

It really doesn’t matter whether we are on the field, or in the stands, or even the little sister. We all have a part to play.

What is yours?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Just One

Posted on by Wendy
Who knows what kind of difference just one Bible can make?
Who knows what kind of difference just one Bible can make?

Last Sunday, a representative from Gideons International came and spoke at our church. I always enjoy hearing them speak because they always have inspirational stories to share. This time was no exception.

He started off by giving some amazing statistics about the work of the Gideons. Last spring they reached the two billion mark on Bibles they have distributed. He also shared that a few weeks earlier, they handed out nine thousand Bibles on the University of Georgia campus, also an impressive number. He told us that the Bibles they distribute have been translated into ninety languages.

All of those numbers are a really good indicator of the work they do, but our speaker said that he wasn’t there to talk about the numbers. He wanted to talk about just one person that a Gideon placed Bible had helped.

Part of the Gideon ministry is to place Bibles in motel rooms across America. There was a man who checked into a motel with a gun and the intention to kill himself.

When he walked into the room, there was a Bible lying open, on top of the television. It made the man angry, just seeing it, so he took his hand and knocked it onto the floor. It landed opened. Angrier still, he kicked it underneath the bed. Motel beds are built on platforms, so it bounced out, still opened.

In exasperation, he picked it up off of the floor and read the scripture that it was turned to. He expected it to be something about condemnation. He was angry with God and fully expected God to be angry with him.

What he found was John 14:27, which reads: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

At his lowest point, God didn’t condemn him. He reached out in mercy and extended grace through Jesus.

The man spent three days in that motel room and left there changed. He went home to his wife, who had locked him out of the house. She had been raising their children alone, while he was out chasing his own selfish pursuits. She was reluctant, but eventually agreed to go to church with him.

He is now a pastor in North Carolina. Our speaker asked us, “How many lives has that man’s ministry touched?” “How many lives has that one Bible made a difference in?”

It’s not about the numbers; it’s about real people being changed by the Gospel. Every lost soul matters to God.

God is always at work reaching back for us, when we reach for Him and sometimes when we don’t reach for Him. Every effort we make to serve Him has the possibility to make a tremendous impact on someone else.

Our speaker shared just one example of one Bible making a difference. What can I do today to make a difference? What can you do?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Joy of Fellowship

Posted on by Wendy
We should always be on the lookout for the people who God puts in our path.
We should always be on the lookout for the people who God puts in our path.

Last Saturday morning, the ladies from my church were supposed to meet at our new church building to clean our new kitchen. We are moving in a couple of weeks and we were hoping to get everything sparkling clean and organized. Our pastor’s wife was even bringing donuts and coffee.

I’ll have to admit that I was just thrilled by the old-fashioned idea of the church ladies coming together to clean a kitchen. It’s so not PC. Modern society would certainly ask why the men weren’t coming to help. To be fair, they had done their part a couple of weeks earlier, by replacing ceiling tiles.

This was now our opportunity to have some fellowship and do our part to get our new building ready. It was also reminiscent for me, of times when I went to our own tiny church, when I was a kid, with my cousin Janice to help clean up “God’s house.”

It was 8:00 AM on Saturday morning and I had survived  an exhausting week; so I came into the parking lot five minutes late on two wheels. There was only one car there. I breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone was running late.

The one lady who was there, was not one I knew very well. She isn’t in the choir and I hadn’t seen her at Wednesday night Bible study. I knew who she was, but little else. But, the fact is, that I rarely meet a stranger, so I got out of my car and figured I could chit-chat with her for a few minutes.

Although, she has a grown son and is a grandmother, we found so much in common right away. Our beginning conversation was about the new building and our excitement at getting inside. But, it didn’t take long to move onto deeper topics.

She had wanted to stay home and raise her child more than anything and acknowledged how blessed she was to be able to do so. I told her that I didn’t participate in as many programs at church that I would like, but that I was trying to spend every minute possible with my two teens who are still at home. She told me that she understood completely and encouraged me to enjoy this time.

We got cold after a while and got into her car. Our talk turned to our dogs and how we both felt that God had guided us to them and what blessings they are to us. We talked about organic gardening. Before I knew it, an hour had passed. I made a couple of calls and learned that the cleaning day had been cancelled and that somehow my name hadn’t been on the e-mail.

She and I laughed about it and said that we both enjoyed getting to know one another. As I climbed out of her car, I looked up and saw a hawk soaring overhead.

I smiled as I said a silent prayer of thanks for the fellowship with another Christian. The next morning, my pastor’s wife apologized for the mix up and said she felt terrible about it all. I reassured her that I had a delightful visit and made a new friend. She smiled and said that was exactly what the other lady had said.

I thought about it later that day. God is always at work in big and small ways. He puts people in our paths for so many reasons. Sometimes we can help them. Sometimes they can help us. Sometimes it’s simply to build new relationships in Christ through simple fellowship. I’m often too busy to see that.

It wasn’t the first time I’ve learned a valuable lesson in a church parking lot. When was the last time you stopped to enjoy Christian fellowship?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Boundless Borderless God

Posted on by Wendy
The God who created the universe is not bound by human understanding.
The God who created the universe, is not bound by human understanding.

I was recently having a conversation with a friend of mine about a book study she is doing at her church. It’s supposed to be about, “Experiencing God.” She was super excited about the class because she’s fairly new to the faith and she’s found that a lot of the, “studies” that she has participated in are fluff.

She was hoping to get down to some serious discussion about actually experiencing God, which involves way more than getting dressed up and attending church for a couple of hours on Sunday. She was quite disheartened to find that her new study began with a video that basically listed all of the ways that you can’t experience God.

Now I’m sure that the guy who wrote the book and created the video are way more educated than I am. Perhaps that’s the problem.

I’m really not sure how anyone can tell you how you can and can’t experience God. When I pointed out to her that God made a donkey talk, and showed up in a bush, and sent ravens to feed Elijah and that I felt like He could communicate with us in any way He sees fit, she said that the group’s answer to that was, that was in the Old Testament.

Um, hold the phone. If we believe that God never changes and that He’s all powerful, do we honestly believe that He is bound by any constructs that humanity can come up with? My friend said her group said, since we now have the Holy Spirit, that God no longer communicates in the same way as He did in the Old Testament.

But, didn’t the Holy Spirit come to help us and counsel us? He didn’t come to bind God in any way.

I told her that I felt like that one of the most dangerous pitfalls of modern day Christianity is that we have become like the Pharisees. We know all of the rules and can recite many of the verses, but we miss the majesty of God, the mystery of God.

We can’t explain it; so we don’t talk about it. There was a book that came out several years ago called, “Heaven is for Real.” Do we discount that boy’s story because we don’t understand it? What about all of those people with near death experiences who see a light? We can’t explain that either. Are all of those people making it up?

God is boundless and borderless. We couldn’t possibly fathom all that He is capable of with our small human minds. We can and should read the Bible to learn about His character and how He has acted in the past. We have to know that He would never instruct us to do something that is contrary to scripture. We also have to keep in mind that we have an enemy who would.

But, other than that, the Creator of the earth and sky, the One who calls the stars by name, the One who created me and you and numbers the hair on our heads, well His powers are limitless. I think we should always remember that.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

God and Football

Posted on by Wendy

Back in August, a little organization called Freedom from Religion, sent letters to UGA, Auburn, and South Carolina, demanding that they remove chaplains from their football teams. In the past, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Clemson got them too.

It was the same old separation of church and state argument that atheists love to present at any given opportunity. Auburn apparently responded rather quickly and among other things said something along the lines of: the U.S. Congress has a chaplain; we’re keeping ours. Way to go Auburn! (That’s likely the only time you will see those words written here.)

After the UGA vs. Vanderbilt game, there’s a picture on Twitter (pictured above), of the players actually kneeling together in prayer. It’s pretty powerful. Sure, they are rivals; but football is only a game. Faith is forever. I’m proud to be an alum of a school that encourages their players to show their faith.

Parents have lamented for years about the poor role models that sports figures present. Maybe if the pro players attended colleges that encouraged faith along with winning, professional athletes might behave differently.

Last Saturday, UGA played Southern University out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Late in the third quarter, one of their players, Devon Gales was injured. It didn’t look good when he went down. He wasn’t moving at all. I said a silent prayer for him as they carried him off the field on a stretcher, the kind that keeps you from moving.

I continued to pray for him and when I searched the internet, I discovered I wasn’t alone. Facebook had several shares from different sources asking for prayers.

I learned that Georgia’s head coach Mark Richt, a man very open about his faith in Jesus, had visited Gales at the hospital and was quoted as saying, “We’re trying to cover him up with as much love as we can and let him know that we care and that we’re here to help.”

But, that should come as no surprise. Richt is a Christian. Love is at the core of Christianity. A spokesman from Southern University said that Gales’ family and the entire Southern University family was extremely thankful for all of the prayers and support. Also, not shocking, is that the football chaplains have been very involved.

Yeah, the ones that the Freedom from Religion group wanted to remove. I wonder how Devon Gales and his family feel about those chaplains. I wonder of any member of that group would care to comment.

UGA players also took to Twitter with their prayers and well wishes for Devon. Seems God is alive and well in college football.

Football is a rough game where it’s very easy to get seriously injured. The wise coaches know that they need God. The wise players know that they need God.

Everyday life can be awfully rough too. Although, not as physically dangerous as football, it’s easy to get injured just the same. We need God. Our leaders need God. Because in the end, He’s really the only one who can save us.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Be Still and Pray Even on Busy Days

Posted on by Wendy
One of God's greatest creations was the companionship of a dog.
One of God’s greatest creations was the companionship of a dog.

It had been a long day for me. I had been up late the night before waiting for my son’s bus to return from a band exhibition. I had been up since 5:00 AM. As I was driving home from work, I mentally ticked off my to-do list, which included a couple of loads of laundry and dinner, not to mention I could write my name in the dust on my dresser. I also reminded myself that I hadn’t exercised all week.

But, when I got home, instead of rushing around and starting on my chores, I decided to take a little quiet time and do some yoga and pray. I love to pray when I practice yoga. The quiet, intentional breathing seems to invite the Holy Spirit to join me.

I did some stretching and standing poses and then I got down on the floor. “Lord, please show me your face;” I prayed. “Let me feel your presence.”

I was still for a few minutes, something I struggle with some days. When I started on my Pilates moves, my dog Sandy, came peeping around the corner. I kept working and he continued to inch closer, so close that I had to either pet him or kick him.

Of course, I chose to pet him and then he was all over me. He flopped on his back, wagging his tail, greedy for attention and as if I made some kind of announcement, my little dog, Piper came bounding into the room and took full posession of my other hand.

The dogs were in ecstasy as I focused all of my attention on them, my little workout long forgotten. They had missed me. They didn’t care how busy I was or what was on my to-do list; they simply wanted my time and attention. I gave it to them freely and felt more relaxed than I had all day.

At that moment, I knew God had been listening. My dogs served as a reminder of unconditional love. They served as a reminder that all of the stuff I needed to do could wait. The relationships wouldn’t.

When I thought about my canine love fest later, I was reminded that God too, desires my daily time and attention. On my busiest days, He still wants me to make time for Him to read His word and to pray. He’s not very concerned with my to-do list.

On the days I get it wrong, I am given forgiveness and grace. On the days I get it right, something beautiful always happens. Today I was rewarded with wagging tails and doggie kisses. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?

Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Supernatural Christianity

Posted on by Wendy
As Christians, the supernatural really shouldn't surprise us.
As Christians, the supernatural really shouldn’t surprise us.

Last Sunday, I was sitting in church. The announcements had been made. The choir had sung. The scripture passage had been read. The sermon was next. As I was waiting, I felt a strong nudge to pray for my pastor. I don’t know why, but I did.

I said a quick, silent prayer for his peace, for his heart to be open to the Holy Spirit and that he would be able to deliver a message to inspire us all to reflect and share the Gospel with those outside our church.

The message was a good one about not comparing ourselves to others, even though it’s in our nature. It was about how we get super focused on the things of man, not the things of God. It was truth. I enjoyed it. I took notes.

Afterward, I was scurrying around trying to assist in getting our youth together and fed for our outing at a nearby corn maze. Most everyone had cleared out.

My pastor was still there and we chatted for a few minutes. Then he put his hand on my arm and leaned in and told me he wanted to thank me for praying for him that morning. I was silent for a moment, then I asked, “How did you know?”

He told me that he knew there were others praying too, but then he told me the precise moment when I had prayed.

Seems the Holy Spirit was super busy on Sunday, which is why I worship there. I can feel God there. There was a time on my faith journey when that conversation would have given me goose bumps and made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. The supernatural has a way of making us uncomfortable. We don’t like what we can’t explain.

But, for a little over two years now, I’ve been writing almost daily, about God being present in the world around us. I look for Him everywhere and I see Him everywhere. I share that here in this space. I encourage others to do the same.

Honestly, the incident didn’t surprise me in the least, after the initial light bulb moment. Why would I be surprised to find the Holy Spirit active in a place of worship? Didn’t He appear the first time in Acts, when a group of believers were gathered in prayer?

Why would I be surprised to find the leader of my church in tune with and open to the Holy Spirit? Shouldn’t I expect him to be?

Christianity is all about the supernatural. We believe Jesus always walks with us even though we can’t see Him. We believe God hears our prayers. We believe in the resurrection. We believe in all types of miracles. We believe that Heaven awaits us after we finish this journey.

As we grow in our faith, shouldn’t the supernatural become our norm? Should we really be surprised when we see God at work? Just a thought.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂