Early Thanksgiving Blessings

Posted on November 14, 2018 by Wendy

May our early Thanksgiving remind us to stop and give thanks.

Thanksgiving is early this year. The latest it can be is November 28th and the earliest is November 22nd. I don’t know what makes it fluctuate, but since I am someone who looks for God’s fingerprints in the world around me, I suspect this year’s early arrival was Divine intervention.

This year’s little midterm elections which are usually a blip on the screen, were particularly ugly and contentious with an extra helping of accusations of cheating from both sides of the aisle. There are several states who have people in key races who have refused to concede, including my own, and once again, the state of Florida has some major voting issues, leaving the country in limbo.

We are clearly divided as a nation, yet there are some things that tend to bring us together. Thanksgiving is one of them.

It’s a uniquely American holiday that calls on us to stop what we are doing; this means working for most of us, but maybe specifically this year, fighting with each other, come together, and give thanks for all we have and let’s face it, we have a lot.

The vast majority of us have electricity, roofs over our heads, clean water and plenty to eat. Even our poorest, have more than those in other parts of the world. Sure, we can absolutely do better and we should definitely strive to do so, but we have no doubt, been blessed.

We have the goal of educating every child in this country, regardless of their sex, race or religion. The American dream is still a shining beacon to those who seek to work for it.

We are free to worship in the way that we see fit here, something that we tend to take for granted. It’s easy to forget that Christians in some parts of the world are killed or tortured everyday for acknowledging their belief in Jesus.

Division has often been a part of American life. From our nation’s birth, with the Loyalists and the Patriots, to the North verses the South, to the Civil Rights Movement that rocked us, but eventually made us stronger, we have always disagreed with each other.

But, in the end, we have always come back together. May this early Thanksgiving remind us how much we actually have in common and Who we have to thank for it, because in the end, acknowledging the Who, can unite us all.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

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Veteran’s Day Prayers

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Wendy

Let’s take a moment to say a prayer of thanks and healing for those who have fought to keep us safe.

Today we observe Veteran’s Day in the United States. It was first commemorated on November 11, 1919 because of an armistice, or cease-fire in World War I, occurred in the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, in the eleventh month. World War I was known as the war to end all wars. The day was set aside to honor the soldiers who fought in that war as well as to honor the peace that had been secured.

There are other allied countries who also celebrate Armistice Day, most notably France.

Sadly, in 1939, World War II began and the Korean Conflict occurred after that. Next there was Vietnam and most recently, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. World War I was clearly not the war to end all wars. In 1954, President Eisenhower designated November 11th as Veteran’s Day, a day when all Americans of all wars, would be honored for their service to our country.

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, there were 20.4 million veterans living in the United States, as of 2016. That’s less than ten percent of the adult population. That’s a very small amount of people who have done a huge amount of work and made great personal sacrifices to guarantee our everyday freedoms and safety that we all too often take for granted.

According to the Census, in 2014, 3.8 million had a service connected disability. Another estimate of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, is that 31% of Vietnam Veterans, 10% of Gulf War Veterans and 11% of Afghanistan Veterans suffer from PTSD. These men and women are carrying around emotional scars with them that others can’t even see, that can interfere with their jobs, relationships, health and their well being in general.

As I read all of these statistics, I feel particularly humbled at the thought that our military is strictly volunteer. We haven’t had a draft since 1973, yet these brave men and women, volunteer their lives to serve and possibly fight and die, for an ideal so precious and so much bigger than they are.

As we take this day to remember our veterans, let’s say a prayer of thanks for their service as well as for the sacrifice of their families and loved ones. But, let’s also pray for healing. For some of them, their physical service may have ended, but their emotional war continues.

We are so very blessed in this country. Let’s pray that those blessings will extend specifically to those who have fought to insure all that we have.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

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First Grade Logic

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Wendy

How we view failure can determine our success.

One of my favorite first graders came into the office today. I turned around in my chair and he was standing there in front of the clinic. The nurse had stepped out for a minute and I asked him what he needed. He told me his clothes were soaking wet.

Now, I love to hear this kid tell a story, so I asked him what happened. I was not disappointed. He went into a long narrative about how he had been on the slide, not the little kids’ slide, but the one for the upper grades. Everything was really wet, so he was sliding very slowly, and when he reached the bottom, he tried to turn to the left really quickly, but he wasn’t fast enough and fell into a puddle.

There are some kids who would have come into the office crying about being all wet. There are some who would have been mad. But, this one just wanted to change into some dry clothes so he could get back to the business of playing, and as soon as his story was done, he wanted to move quickly.

I helped him find some pants and then the nurse returned and she helped him with a shirt. He was out of there in no time flat, headed back to the playground.

I thought about that first grader for the rest of the day and I smiled every time I thought of him. I thought about how he openly told me about his failed attempt on the slide. He wasn’t embarrassed. He wasn’t mad or sad. It was simply a miscalculation and I suspect he would try it again. I also thought about how playing was his intent and he wasn’t going to let anything get in his way.

We can learn a lot from first grade logic.

We all try things that we fail at. They can be anything from a class, or a new business, or baking, or even relationships. We sometimes fail miserably, but even when we get all wet and covered with mud, are we willing to dry off and try again or are we too embarrassed and just give up? Do we see failure as a simple miscalculation or do we see it as a commentary on our character? How often do we let pride get in the way of our success?

As people of faith, we can pray for guidance and if we get a green light, try again, always remembering nothing is impossible with God.

A first grader reminded me we should always keep trying, if it’s important. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

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A Time for Everything

Posted on November 7, 2018 by Wendy

There’s a season for everything and they can all be beautiful.

Yesterday morning, my daily devotional was about the sunrise. It posed the question, that if you had spent your entire life in darkness and finally saw a sunrise, wouldn’t you believe it was a miracle? It went on to point out that, we experience brushes with the miraculous everyday, but we shrug them off because they have become everyday and mundane to us.

I was determined to take those words to heart as I headed off to work. Unfortunately, it was raining, but I kept my eyes peeled. The skies were gray for most of the day and at one point it was pouring, but in the afternoon, it began to clear and the sun came out.

When I walked out of work, it was a gorgeous warm afternoon. I knew I had to take a walk when I got home, even though my to-do list was a mile long.

When I got outside, my heart felt light for the first time in days and I marveled at the fall leaves. It seemed that they had turned colors overnight. How had I missed that little miracle?

As I continued to walk, I really took in all of the different colors and thought about how creative God is. Spring has always been my favorite season. I love to see life and beauty burst forth from what had previously been dormant. But, the leaves around me were just as stunning as the spring flowers are.

As I continued to walk and appreciate the miraculous, and give thanks for it, I felt a truth bubbling up in my heart.

Letting go can be beautiful. Just look at the leaves.

We tend to hold onto so many things we don’t need. My pastor recently said that Americans use two billion square feet for storage in forty thousand storage facilities and that doesn’t even count attics and basements. We used to have megabytes. Then there were gigabytes. Now we have terabytes.

We hold onto a lot of stuff both physically and virtually. We also tend to hold onto a lot of emotional baggage too. But, maybe we should all learn a lesson from the leaves and let some things go. We may find that something beautiful happens.

A seasonal miracle reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Categories: Trusting God, Watching for God | 1 Comment

Prayers for Peace

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Wendy

When peace seems out of reach, prayer is the answer.

When this is published, it will be the day before election day. I am bone tired of hearing about it as I’m sure you probably are as well. Unfortunately, the Peach State, which happens to be where I’ve been a lifelong resident, has become the focus of the entire country.

Normally, no one cares about who our governor is, but not this year. This year millions and millions of dollars have been poured into our state to influence our election, by folks who don’t even live here. I wonder how many hungry kids could have been fed with that money, or how many veterans could have received much needed benefits, or how many struggling citizens could have received job training?

I can’t turn on the television, or the radio, or scroll through my Facebook page without someone giving their two cents worth about this election. At this point, is there seriously anyone who is on the fence about their vote, yet the barrage on weary Georgians continues.

My hubby and I were discussing it on the way to church and I told him if I could crawl into a cave somewhere and sleep for the next few days, I would. He agreed.

But, our pastor addressed the issue at church and she had a better solution. She acknowledged the negativity and the weariness and she reminded us that ultimately, whatever the outcome, God is in control and she recommended a prayer to deal with all of the negativity. Though it was familiar to me, I hadn’t prayed it in quite a while.

But, as we prayed is as a church, I felt some peace seeping into my weary soul. It’s the prayer of St. Francis:

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon, where there is doubt, faith, where there is despair, hope, where there is darkness, light, and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

As a people of God, this election is a huge opportunity to pray for our nation as well as our individual states. May we ask for God’s continued guidance and grace and that His will be done. The Bible tells us that He hears all of our prayers. Let’s choose to remember that.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

Categories: Building Christian Character, Trusting God | 4 Comments

Technical Difficulties

Posted on November 2, 2018 by Wendy

I have been having some technical difficulties and have no post today. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

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Laying the Burdens Down

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Wendy

Sometimes the unnecessary burdens we carry around, can really pile up.

We have just finished a contest at work, where we count and record our daily steps. We are in teams of four and the winning team will be announced today. I can’t even begin to explain how grateful I am that it’s over. I was not pressured in any way, to participate, but for some reason, I joined a team at the last minute.

I don’t own a pedometer or one of those watches that track every move you make, so I downloaded an app on my phone to record my steps. Looks like there really is an app for everything.

I learned early on, that I wasn’t making nearly as many steps as many of the other people in the contest and worst of all, I usually had the lowest number on my team and so, I made sure, I carried my phone with me all of the time. If I got up to make a copy, I took the phone. If I delivered something to a classroom, I took the phone. If I went to the bathroom, I took the phone. When I got home in the afternoon and did laundry, I carried the phone up and down the stairs and I lamented if it needed to be charged, because I couldn’t count my steps.

I was completely aware that the contest was just for fun and my teammates never once, said anything about my few steps, but I put the pressure on myself.

When Monday morning arrived and I realized that I could put my phone on my desk for the day and leave it there, I felt a rush of sweet freedom. For the next couple of days, I truly felt like I had laid a burden down and while I chuckled at myself at the absurdity of my feelings of newfound freedom, it got me to thinking about what else I might need to lay down.

What other unnecessary burdens am I currently carrying that might be weighing down my soul? We can carry things like unresolved anger or pain, or guilt and shame over past mistakes, or the illusion that we can control the world around us. We can even carry things like constant, nagging worry over things we have no control over.

Like that pesky cell phone I couldn’t put down, we can carry those things every step of the way, everyday, in the morning, in the evening, at home, at work, never putting them down.

But, Jesus calls us to a different path. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus calls us to lay down our baggage and trust Him. We don’t need it and we can truly be free once we do. A contest reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Categories: Building Christian Character, Trusting God | 2 Comments

Defeating Darkness

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Wendy

The way to defeat darkness, is with light.

As I sit typing out this post, I find myself wanting to shut off all media. There was a horrible shooting at a Pittsburgh Synagogue over the weekend, that left eleven people dead. Killing people in their house of worship is almost unfathomable, except that it’s not. In Sutherland Springs, Texas, in 2017, twenty-six people were killed during a worship service. In 2015, nine were killed in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, during their worship service.

As I ponder these horrible events, it makes no difference to my heavy heart, that one assembly was Jewish; one was predominately white and one was predominately African American. These were all people who worship my Judeo-Christian God, Jehovah, Yahweh, El Shaddai I Am, Father, Abba. He has many names.

Not surprisingly, the politicians seemed to waste no time in spinning the most recent tragedy to their benefit.

There’s so much division in our country right now over politics. The television ads have gotten so bad, that I’m tempted to watch Nextflix until after the election. Quite frankly, I’m tired of hearing all of the negativity that the candidates are engaged in tearing each other down and the amount of money they are spending to do it, makes me sick to my stomach. Shame on all of them for the frivolous use of funds.

It seems to me, that the attack that we need to be most concerned about at the moment, is the one occurring to God’s people. It’s really not about blue or red. It’s about hate and both blue and red have plenty of that to sling around.

As much as I want to withdraw from it all, I believe as a child of God, that I am called to counter it. The only way to defeat darkness is with light and so I’m writing to remind my readers and myself, that there’s clearly a spiritual battle going one here that’s much deeper than anything we can humanly see or understand.

That’s the only way to explain the hate that seems to be spewing forth from every direction. Hate does not come from God. Darkness does not come from God. The Bible tells us that: “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5

The Bible reminds us that there have always been ongoing spiritual battles and we should put on the Armor of God to shield ourselves. Ephesians 6:10-18 It also assures us that in the end, no matter how lost everything seems, God wins.

There is no possibility of a loss, or even a tie, of this we can be absolutely certain.

Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too. Please join me in praying for the victims in Pittsburgh and for the future of our country.

Prayer is the most powerful and effective weapon we have.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

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Friendship Blessings

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Wendy

True friendship with deep roots, is one of God’s greatest gifts.

Last weekend I attended my 30th high school reunion. I had a wonderful time reminiscing with old friends. It was a small school and so we all knew each other. Two other former classmates and I, spent the weekend at one of my high school bestie’s houses and it was just like old times.

We laughed and picked at each other. We looked at old pictures. We retold old stories and shared new ones. Those girls were some of my closest friends way back when and we were there for each other for everything from learning to drive to breaking up with boyfriends. We have all cried on each other’s shoulder and laughed until our sides hurt.

We were always good at supporting each other all of those years ago. We haven’t seen very much of each other through the years, but we have kept in touch. Our lives have taken us in different directions to different towns.

As for me, I have a senior in high school and my nest is about to be empty. I have spent a fair amount of time in prayer about what my next chapter will be.

I was not surprised to find that God is always listening and always working.

One of my friends has a newly empty nest and she’s struggling a little with her next chapter.

One of my friends has a teenager at home and is struggling a little with, well, raising a teenager.

One of my friends, has three grown kids. Her baby is about to graduate from college. I had the privilege of spending time with her youngest child and her middle child. They were awesome, grown up and funny and I had a ball hanging out with them.

My friend has raised wonderful human beings who I would want to have as friends and neighbors. She offered two of us advice and so much encouragement about our empty nest chapter and then provided us with concrete proof in her own adult children.

The three of us were able to encourage our friend with a young teenager. Boy, those years can be tough, but they will pass. We know, because we’ve been there.

I really hated for the weekend to end, but even though I didn’t get enough sleep, I felt more refreshed than tired. On my drive home, I marveled at how God knew over 30 years ago, when He wove our friendship together, that we would come together now and support each other and laugh together once again, like when we were teenagers ourselves.

I still don’t know what the next chapter holds, but last weekend reminded me that I had no idea what the future would look like 30 years ago either and it turned out just fine. God was at work then and He’s still working. He has sent some of life’s greatest blessings to walk with us along our journey here.

They are called friends and I’m so very thankful for them. A class reunion reminded me. Perhaps you need reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

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Grandparent Grace

Posted on October 24, 2018 by Wendy

Perhaps some of the purest love we will ever witness is between a grandparent and a grandchild.

A few days ago, a young couple walked into the school office where I work, carrying a precious little baby. They had just arrived in town and wanted to surprise the baby’s grandmother. Well, we all got in on it. We helped them get checked in and kept watch for her. We had them step over to the side out of sight, until we asked her to come into the office.

I don’t know when I have seen such pure joy as the joy I saw on her face. She squealed with excitement as she took her grand baby in her arms and alternated between holding her close and then pulling her away so she could look at her.

There were tears in her eyes and in mine too. She then took her granddaughter to show her other babies, who happen to be second graders who she loves like they are hers.

I replayed that scene in my head over the next couple of days. I have always thought that God gives mamas a taste of His love for us through our children, but when I witness the love a grandmama has for her grandchildren, it really takes it up a notch.

It’s hard to wrap my brain around the concept that God loves us even more than we love our children and grandchildren. It’s truly more than I can fathom, yet I know it’s true and I was so grateful I got to witness that love firsthand the other day. My heart felt truly blessed.

Then yesterday, another coworker came into the office with her phone. She said she had something to show us that she had been desperate to share. On her phone, was an ultrasound picture of a tiny fetus. Her daughter was expecting and she was over the moon.

Here again, was a grandmother who was completely in love with a child who was yet to be born, a child who hasn’t even take her first breath, but is already treasured. I was once again reminded of God’s love for us.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:13-14

There’s so much negativity in our world right now, so much anger and so much hate. We can sometimes wonder where God is. Rest assured, He’s still here. If you need proof, find a grandparent and ask them about their grandchild.

Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you did too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

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