Category: Watching for God

We recently decided that it was time to give my son a set of keys to our house. He hasn’t really needed any before now. I pick him up from school. But, this summer there have been a few times when he was at a neighbor’s house and needed to get into our house, but couldn’t.

When I told him that we wanted to give him house keys, you should have seen the look on his face. I mean it was like Christmas had come early. He bugged me for days about getting them. At last, we made a trip to Lowe’s and they have this nifty machine where you can pick out your color and everything. He was delighted.

Next he had to get a cool key chain (or two), complete with an LED light and a Lego character. He couldn’t wait to get home and try them on both doors. When he used them the first time, he was just as pumped.

Human beings love keys. Even babies love keys. Most of them have a plastic set. When someone has done something spectacular, they are sometimes given a key to the city where they live.

What is it about keys that make us walk a little taller? Maybe it’s when someone gives you a key to something, be it a house, a car or a business, they are saying, “I trust you with something I consider precious.”  They are saying that they consider us responsible and worthy and that makes us feel good.

Jesus is our key to the Kingdom of Heaven. When we realize and accept that he is the son of God and appreciate the sacrifice he made for us, we have a key to Heaven’s Gates. Are we giddy about it? Are we excited or has that enormous truth become old news?

I use a key to get into my house everyday. It’s no big deal now; but when I was handed that key by a realtor, when the house was brand new, it was worth its weight in gold to me. It represented dreams and aspirations and my family’s future. I was as excited that day as my son was when he got his keys.

Most of us can remember when we truly, “got” Jesus. It was an overwhelming feeling to try to grasp all of that love, grace and forgiveness. It was the time we received our key. Because of our key, we can pray anytime. We can visit God anytime. We don’t have to wait for someone to open the door to the church on Sunday. We can access God 24/7.

That’s something to get excited about. That’s something that still makes me smile and stand up a little taller. It’s the most perfect, beautiful gift we will ever receive. My son’s keys were a gentle reminder not to let my key to eternity become run of the mill. Maybe it was a reminder for you too. What do you think?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

On a recent trip to Savannah, my family was taking a break from the oppressive heat, in the shade of Forsyth Park. I was walking around and snapping photos of the famous fountain, while my hubby and kids found a bench. Just as I went to join them, a man approached us and asked us where we were from.

Honestly, we were a little hesitant to talk to him. I mean, who was this guy? Was he going to ask us for money or try to rob us?  He introduced himself as the “Ambassador of Love” and told us that the college kids in town had named him the Gullah-Man. He told us to check him out on You Tube. He handed me and my daughter a flower each and told us that each one was made of a single piece of grass. (like a reed) He told us to have a nice visit and walked away.

After he left, I marveled at the artistry. It truly was amazing. The delicate twists and turns made a beautiful, perfect rose. I did check him out on You Tube when I got home and I have to say I’m really embarrassed that I didn’t take the time to really visit with him.

He calls himself an edu-tainer and teaches a little bit about the Gullah culture. The Gullah people are the descendants of the freed slaves from the South Carolina Lowcountry and the Savannah area. Because they were relatively remote from the rest of the South, they have kept a lot of the African culture, from food, to crafts to story telling and language.

In his story, he tells of a boy who wants to become a master at making flowers. His family tells him to become a master, you have to use your hands, ears and mind. They tell him he can dream, but he must practice too and pray because all gifts come from God. As he tells the story, his eyes are closed the entire time and when he is done, he produces the perfect rose.

What amazing advice. Notice, he doesn’t say to use your mouth. We tend to talk way too much; when we really should be listening. He says to dream, but we have to practice. Isn’t that the truth? How can we ever make our dreams come true if we don’t work towards accomplishing them?

Then he says to pray because all gifts come from God. I mean, this guy gives the most beautiful sermon in four minutes flat.

He ends by saying that he is the Gullah Man and he is fighting the War on Terrorism by showing that we are living, laughing and loving in America. We are not living in terror.

There is another clip where he says that he is spreading love and showing that God exists and he goes out everyday and receives blessings from all of the people he meets.

I kept the two roses that he gave me. I placed them on my desk where I can see them when I sit down to write. I feel blessed to have them. They are a reminder to me that God gives us many dreams. They remind me that every single person has the opportunity to make a difference every single day, in their own unique way, and that is a beautiful thing. What will you do today to make a small difference in the world around you? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

When I was visiting my parents’ house recently, I took a short walk up their driveway. Grass had begun to push its way through the asphalt. It was an interesting picture, so I went and got my camera. What do you see, when you examine this photo? I see life finding a way, against what looks like, impossible odds.

It occurred to me how often we try to tame nature. We pave roads and are annoyed when grass pushes through. We try to build houses on the beach or on the sides of cliffs and are surprised when they are swept away. We put swimming pools in gator country and are shocked to find an alligator in our swimming pool.

Nature seems determined to claim what was hers. We fight it, but in the end, we usually lose.

When I really think about it, it’s the same relationship mankind has always had with God. We need Him, but we want to tame Him or use Him to suit our own purposes. We only pray when we want something. We only quote the parts of the Bible that suit us. We only go to church when we feel desperate. We are self-focused.

But even so, God loves us. When you ever really try to wrap your brain around it, it’s truly amazing. The only tiny glimpse we get of this love, is our love for our own children, and that’s just a glimpse. The unconditional love that God feels for us began before we were born, before we were even conceived.

He loved us so much that he sent his son to redeem us. As a parent, that’s still a  mind-boggling concept for me. But, that’s the kind of love God has for us. It’s an all out, over the top, relentless love. It truly is amazing.

We can run from it, like Jonah did, but He pursues us. He wants us and loves us warts and all and in the end, just like nature, just like the grass in the driveway, love will find a way.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

That’s the kind of love God has for us. Like the photo above, when we see nothing but ugly asphalt, God sees possibility and opportunity. He sees life and He wants to give us the abundance we can only get through relationship with Him. Aren’t we lucky?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

 

My family and I took a recent day trip to the city of Savannah. I lived there once upon a time, but that’s been close to twenty years ago. We wandered around River Street like tourists and then we hit the squares. My son was particularly interested in the bench where Tom Hanks sat in the filming of “Forest Gump.”

It was a hundred degrees in the shade that day, and we were thirsty, tired, and sweating profusely. This magnolia was wilting fast. Needless to say, I had two very cranky teens at this point, who had begun sniping at each other. You know how it is with siblings; when the going gets tough, they turn on each other.

Like a beautiful oasis, this church popped into site. It is a gorgeous church. It’s called the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Like most everything else in Savannah, it has a history. The original church was started in the late 1700’s by immigrants fleeing from France and Haiti. In 1835, a brick church was built. It sustained hurricane damage in 1850 and was repaired. The original structure seated a thousand people.

The congregation moved and built a new structure in 1873. It burned in 1898 and was re-built immediately. The first mass in the new building was held, fittingly, 0n December 24, 1899. And now, over a hundred years later, it stands like a beacon on the streets of Savannah.

My teens stopped arguing with each other when they saw it. My son wondered if we could go inside. We saw some people coming out, so we ventured in.

We were met with the cool blast of air conditioning. I can’t tell you how refreshing that was at that particular moment. But, isn’t that always the case when we encounter God after a long journey? Leaning into Him feels so restful and refreshing.

The beauty of the cathedral was breathtaking.

There was mostly silence, even from my crowd, and the people who were speaking were whispering. There were people praying and people lighting candles. There was a quiet reverence for the majesty that stood before us and the One who people come to worship there, week after week.

The sense of peace and quiet inside was almost tangible. My kids sat down in a pew with their dad, silently. I thought of all of the people who had worshiped there over the past hundred years and of the ones before, who worshiped together before they had this incredible building.

Now I know that God is everywhere and we can hold a worship service in the grocery store parking lot. But, there’s something awe-inspiring and deeply spiritual about old, ornate churches. There’s something about the quiet respect that used to be required in God’s house when I was growing up. There’s something special about buildings and congregations that have stood the test of time. I wasn’t the only one who could feel it. The quiet from all who were there, was proof.

We reluctantly left and entered back into the outdoor furnace, thankful and refreshed. We were glad we stopped. My teens even spoke more kindly to each other. (for a little while)

I think that’s how we are supposed to feel when we leave church; awe inspired and refreshed, eager to carry our light into the world. We definitely felt that way on that day. I pray that people feel that way when they leave my home church.

What do you think about spiritual places? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

A really beautiful phenomenon at the beach was the changing of the tides. This inlet was gorgeous at high tide. I wanted to get a picture of it every time we passed over it, which was a lot. It was different every time because the tide was different every time. People who live in this part of the country live their lives around the tides.

The fishing, shrimping and crabbing industries are heavily dependent on the tides. The kayak industry is as well. We rented kayaks one day on the trip. Paddling against the current is really hard, but going with it is tricky too because you can sail right past your intended destination.

It’s amazing that this is the same little inlet isn’t it? It went from gorgeous to ugly and muddy. Kayaks went down it earlier in the day. Now it’s barren; or is it?

My son and I went in for a closer look at low tide and were kind of surprised at what we found. It was teeming with life. There were tiny crabs everywhere, hundreds of them, ducking in and out of little holes. There was a giant conch shell walking around. I didn’t even know they had legs! There were water birds feasting on unseen critters near the rocks. What was seemingly an ugly wasteland was not. It actually had a beauty of its own.

I began to think of the tides in our lives. Sometimes they are high and the sailing is easy and smooth. We don’t hit bottom. We are surrounded by goodness and beauty.

But sometimes the tide is low. Life can look desolate. Maybe it’s due to sickness, death, the loss of a job, broken relationships or betrayal of trust. Sometimes we feel devoid of all that is good and growing, like this inlet looks from road.

But, upon closer inspection, it’s often during those times, that we feel closest to God. It’s during those times that friends come out of the woodwork to help us and show us love, to stand by us. It’s during those times that we experience the most growth.

Remember the story of the footprints in the sand, where the man asked God why during the worst times in his life there was only one set of footprints? He wanted to know why God abandoned him when times were the toughest. God gently replied, “That’s when I carried you.”

And so it is with the low tides of life. When things look bleakest, we need to take heart. There is work going on. There is life. We are loved more than we know and God has a plan even when we can’t see it. The tide will rise again and so will we. That is a promise from the One who created us.

Nothing is ever wasted and we are not alone even when the tide is low. That’s when we should seek God the most.

What do you think about life’s tides? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

When we first arrived in Hilton Head, we walked down to the dock at Harbor Town and were rewarded with a mama dolphin swimming with her calf. They were side-by-side and super close to us. Everyone around was ooohing and ahhing. I snapped and snapped, but I couldn’t get the shot. They would disappear almost as soon as they appeared. It was beautiful. You just have to take my word on it.

The next day when we arrived at the beach, there were two dolphins swimming, not a hundred yards from us.

I grabbed my camera again, and again, was unsuccessful at capturing them on film. It struck me, after a few tries that I was missing the wonder of it by trying to take a picture. This was a huge revelation.

I like to think of dolphins as the dogs of the ocean. People are fascinated by them and they seem to share the same fascination with us. There are stories of them saving people at sea after they fall overboard or are shipwrecked. People will pay hundreds of dollars for the chance to swim with them. Yet, here they were in all of their glory, swimming in the wild.

Adults and children alike, couldn’t take their eyes of them. When I gave up trying to “get the photo,” I too, was mesmerized by their close presence. They swam close by for a long time among the diving pelicans, before they finally swam away.

I pondered the whole, “photo-op idea,” for a good, long while after that. I love a good photo. I especially love candid shots and nature shots and I surround myself with many of both. But, sometimes I think we take, “taking pictures” way too far.

If we have to stop having fun on our trip every few hours to post that fun to Instagram or Facebook, then we might be taking photos to the extreme. That’s a regular conversation, I have with my teen daughter. Everyone else is having so much fun. It’s all over Instagram. My reply is always the same. If they were having THAT much fun, they wouldn’t have time to put it on Instagram. Trust me on this one.

Last summer, my kids, my sister and her kids and my mom, visited this really cool place called Noah’s Ark. They have a bear, a tiger and a lion all living in peace together. They are friends. It was a fabulous thing to see. I simply couldn’t get a good picture. Does that make it any less awesome?

I also have a vivid memory of this woman screaming at her kids and their friends about sitting still and smiling for a photo. I cringed at her tone and whispered to my sister, “I wonder what they will remember from this trip.”

My point is, we have become a heavily visual culture. Newspapers have gone by the wayside. They have tried to put the Bible on video. We don’t want to read an e-mail over five sentences long. We are obsessed with taking pictures. Every man, woman and child carries around a phone with a camera.

While there’s no harm in that on its face, I think it’s important to remember that life is really about our journey and our experiences. Pictures are great, but sometimes the memories are just as good without them, like those dolphins. When I was growing up, film was expensive. Mom took a lot of pictures, but not hundreds and hundreds. And you know what? My childhood memories are just as great.

We should strive to enjoy this moment, this day, whether or not we have the pictures to prove it was fun. What do you think?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂