The Servants Know

Posted on by Wendy
The servant-hearted know what Jesus can do.
The servant-hearted know what Jesus can do.

On Sunday, my pastor preached on the wedding at Cana, found in chapter two, in the Gospel of John. I love that story. It was Jesus’ very first miracle in John.

I have heard sermons focused on many different aspects of it. I’ve seen it pointed out that Mary told the servants to, “Do whatever he tells you;” and that when we do the same, miracles often follow.

I have previously blogged about, how the story shows the close relationship that Jesus had with his mother. He wasn’t ready to start his ministry and all of the miracles, yet when she asked, he complied.

My pastor pointed out that the only person given a name in the passage is Jesus. Mary is simply called, Jesus’ mother. The disciples aren’t named, just referred to as disciples and we have no idea who the bride and groom were. He surmised that the reason was the focus was supposed to be entirely on Jesus and the mission that he was beginning.

I find truth in all of those ideas. I could probably write pages about all of them. It’s such a deep and rich story.

But, this time when I read it, verses eight and nine spoke directly to my heart. “Then he told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’ They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.” John 2:8-9a

The servants knew. The servants were nameless faceless employees at this wedding. They weren’t family or even invited guests. They were simply doing their job. The banquet was about to run out of wine which would have been a big embarrassing deal. Jesus told them to fill up the ceremonial pots, which would have been used for cleaning their hands before eating, with water.

I wonder if they thought he was  crazy. How could filling these pots with water, possibly help in their wine shortage predicament? But, the servants did just as Jesus told them and they got to witness history in the making. I find it significant that Jesus didn’t do something big and splashy for all of the guests.

The only people who witnessed it were the servants and the disciples. The only people who were allowed to assist in the miracle were the servants. The story ends with, “his disciples put their faith in him.”

But, I feel sure they weren’t the only ones. The servants’ lives had to have been changed forever as well. What was their conversation like? What did they go home and tell their families?

Of course, the story reminds us that the servant-hearted are always the closest people to Jesus. Those who are willing to unselfishly serve and obey often get to witness Jesus at work. The people in the background who are hard at work serving, have some of the best stories to share because they know what it’s like to walk with him.

We may not know their names, but God does and that’s really all that matters.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

MLK Day Reflections

Posted on by Wendy
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. " Dr. Martin Luther King
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. ” Dr. Martin Luther King

Today, our country is observing Dr. Martin Luther Kink Jr.’s birthday and all of his accomplishments for civil rights. The first time the day was celebrated in Georgia was in 1986. I was sixteen and simply grateful for the day off from school. I never really gave much thought to the reason why.

To be completely honest, I never gave the Civil Rights Movement too terribly much thought period. “Whites Only,” signs and Desegregation were things of the past when I was growing up and like most kids, I didn’t find history particularly interesting.

Every now and then, a movie would come out that would do a good job at depicting how life was for African-Americans before desegregation and it was so deplorable, it almost impossible for me to comprehend.

Last week I was subbing in a fifth grade class and the teacher read the students a book about Dr. King. Children’s authors rarely get enough credit. It’s truly amazing how they can tackle very intricate concepts using easy to understand words, pictures, and very few pages. It was called, “Martin’s Big Words,” and was written by Doreen Rappaport.

Although I knew Dr. King’s story, there were a few things that jumped out at me this time. First of all, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, in December of 1955, and was arrested, the African-Americans who supported her, refused to ride the buses until laws were changed. For 381 days, they walked. They walked to church. They walked to work. They walked to school. They walked in blistering heat, rain and snow. They refused to ride the buses on principle. They prayed. They sang. They refused to participate in violence, although they were sometimes treated violently. They believed, with King’s guidance, that God was on their side.

How awe-inspiring is that? Can you imagine all of that walking? Can you imagine being that committed to something today? Can you imagine all of those protests remaining peaceful in this day and time? They remained faithful in their belief and God used their plight to change the hearts and lives of Americans all over the country. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made the, “Whites Only,” signs come down.

The other point that spoke to me, was that Dr. King kept at his peaceful protests for ten years before he saw the legal changes he was seeking. That’s a long time; yet he remained faithful to his beliefs. Through it all, he prayed. He stated that if he were killed that the movement would go on, because the plan was God’s plan, not his.

Man’s way is often about instant gratification, violent and quick, like what we often see going on in American streets today. But, Dr. King reminds us of God’s way. God’s way takes prayer, obedience, trust and patience, something I think we can all agree, is in a large part missing from American life.

I think today is a great day to take some time in prayer and thank God for the faith lessons of Dr. King and other people like him. It’s also a good time to pray that our country will turn back to God and His plans for us.

Every time we choose a peaceful resolution over violence, Dr. King’s dream lives on.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Why Do You Do What You Do?

Posted on by Wendy
It's a good question to ask ourselves.
It’s a good question to ask ourselves.

Last week I read a blog post by Pastor Darian Duckworth. She writes a weekly blog that my church mama from my last church, introduced me to. Isn’t it funny how she sent me one article that she thought I would enjoy and I ended up subscribing because it spoke to me so deeply?

You just never know when you toss that pebble in, how far out the ripples will go. Last week, her post was titled, “Why I Do What I Do.” She ended it by asking the question, “Why do you do what you do?” I’ve included a link here if you would like to read it.  http://www.darianduckworth.com/musings

I thought about her post all week and asked myself that question. I suppose I’ve always wanted to write. As a kid, I had dreams of moving to California and being a famous author. Then I went to college and found that everybody wanted to be a writer. I put that dream on the back burner and moved on to other more realistic pursuits.

Every now and then, I would be so inspired that I would write something down and file it away somewhere, but I rarely gave writing much thought. Many years passed. My faith grew and I thought I might like to start a blog. I prayed about it for a while and the day I wanted to start, my computer crashed; I mean black screen, crashed.

“Okay, God.” I said. “I get it. Not now.”

More time passed and I felt lead to lead a Bible study of some kind, for Lent. I pitched doing an online study to the ladies in my Sunday school class and my mom. It was a closed group. Only the people who were on the list, could read it. We covered the book of Acts.

I learned so much from the study, from reading, writing, and from the ladies who participated. I learned that many times when I sat at the keyboard, the words that I typed, didn’t come from my brain. They were Holy Spirit inspired. It was a truly awe-inspiring and life changing experience for me.

When the study was finished, I was hooked. I read a few books about blogging and Graceful Gaines was born. My premise was a Vacation Bible School principle. “Watch for God in the world around you and share it with others.”

My hope and prayer each day as I write, is that someone who reads my words will be inspired to do the same. God shows me grace regularly as I attempt to share the light of Christ. Sometimes it’s a nudge to take a picture or to get outside and take a walk. Sometimes, I find myself  sitting at the keyboard with a blank mind, after a particularly stressful day and I can think of nothing to share; the words I write on those days tend to inspire the most people and I get the most comments and shares. Again, they aren’t coming from me, alone.

Writing for me, is a constant reminder that. “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

I write to grow closer to Jesus and I pray that by doing so, I can help others draw closer too.

To answer Pastor Darian’s question, that’s why I do what I do.

Now, I’ll ask you; “Why do you do what you do?”

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Loving Thy Neighbor

Posted on by Wendy
Where will you see God today?
Where will you see God today?

I love to share stories that show everyday people following Jesus’ example of the Good Samaritan. Jesus was an excellent storyteller and he went out of his way to share truth in a way that his audience could understand. It was very effective. Even people who have never set foot in church, can often recount the story of the Good Samaritan.

Sometimes, if we keep our eyes open, we can see people acting as Good Samaritans. I just read a couple of stories that were too good not to share.

Last week in Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee, a 79-year-old, disabled man called 911 because he hadn’t eaten in two days. I can’t imagine his desperation. He relied solely on social security and his caregiver had stolen his debit card. I don’t know what the dispatcher told him, but a little while later, he had  knock on his door.

Several police officers walked in with a month’s worth of groceries for him. They bought them with their own money and were so moved by the man’s situation, that they have now started a food pantry at their police department to help in other situations like this.

The woman who stole the card has been arrested. She meant nothing, but harm, but God used it for good. Not only did the man not starve, he got plenty of groceries and a system has been set up to help other people in the area.

Isn’t it awesome to see God at work?

The second story took place in New York. A twenty-three-year-old paralegal, named Joey Resto, was riding on a subway, when he saw a homeless man with no shirt on, literally freezing. He took off his own shirt and hat and walked over to the man, who said nothing, but just held his arms up. Resto gave him the shirt off of his back as well as his hat, and then got off at his stop.

Another passenger, who was watching the entire scene unfold, recorded it all.

We live in a world where people record every single negative thing you can think of, from fights, to street violence, to cops doing something wrong. I wonder what made this New Yorker video someone doing something beautiful.

He told the New York Daily News, “The guy did a good thing, so I wanted to record it. I would tell him, ‘God bless him. That was thoughtful.'”

Oh, yeah, there’s God again. That’s why.

The video has been shared a whopping thirteen million times on Facebook. Apparently, we’re all searching for more goodness in the world, or maybe I should say Godness.

Here’s my takeaway: God is alive and well and working. He works through us, when we let Him. We all have the capability of being the Good Samaritan. When we look for God, we will find Him and when we see Him, we should share it. It’s just one more way of shining the light of Christ.

Where will you see Him today?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

The Power of the Faithful

Posted on by Wendy
"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
“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

I have been following along with an online Bible study of Genesis. Yesterday, I read the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. We could talk all day long about the sins of those two cities or how wicked God considered the inhabitants to be. We could debate the belief that many people consider some our own modern day cities just as wicked as those two.

But, that’s not what spoke to my heart when I read those chapters. What spoke to me was the fact that Abraham who was a righteous man, petitioned God to spare the righteous people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He asked God if He would sweep away the righteous with the wicked. He asked God if He would spare the city if there were fifty righteous people living there.

The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Genesis 18:26

Abraham then asked, if would God spare it if their were only forty-five, then forty, then thirty, then ten. Each time, God told Abraham that He would spare the city if He could find righteous people there. In the end, God only found Lot to be righteous and so he spared his family by removing them before destroying the city.

I am reminded of Noah, back in chapter six. The entire world was evil and God was going to destroy everything in it. “But Noah found favor with God.” Genesis 6:8

“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time and he walked with God.” Genesis 6:9

God was finished with the entire human race and was ready to wash His hands of it, but Noah’s righteousness and his relationship with God, caused God to spare him and his family along with all of the animals.

We live in a dark world at the moment. We could focus on the corruption in our leaders, wars and rumors of wars, terrorism, human trafficking, violence and crime rates. We could debate whether or not we are living in end times. We can even ask ourselves what’s the point of trying to live righteously when so many people around us seem to have turned away from God.

But, then we read the Bible and we find hope. From the very first book, God was looking after the people who walked with Him. We see it with Noah. Then we see it with Abraham where he was able to actually intervene for the righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Noah and Abraham remind us that God is watching over us and that our faith and actions do matter to Him. Every single person of faith can make a difference for someone and we can intervene for each other through prayer.

Yes, the times may be dark, but we are the children of light, and we worship a God who is light; so let’s be vigilant about letting our light shine. Who knows what may be riding on it?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Confessions of a Reformed Pleaser

Posted on by Wendy
If we want to know what God is calling us to do. we have to spend quiet time in prayer.
If we want to know what God is calling us to do, we have to spend quiet time in prayer.

I have been a life long people pleaser. I have always strived to make the people around me happy, whether they were parents, teachers or friends.

I attended a military high school where I flourished. There were very specific rules, spelled out boundaries in black and white. I knew what they were and I obeyed them. My parents were happy. My teachers were happy.

My parents expected good grades; so I worked hard at getting them. My parents were happy. My teachers were happy.

But, one of the biggest downfalls of wanting to make everyone around you happy, is that the older you get, the longer the list gets. In addition to your parents and closest friends, there’s a spouse, your own children, bosses, co-workers, your kids’ teachers, your church family. This list can seem close to infinite.

At one point, I read a book called, “You Are Already Amazing,” by Holley Gerth. She pointed out repeatedly, that we are called to love others, but not to please them. That made a lot of sense and as I let go of a lot of the need to please people, I focused on pleasing God.

I feel that all Christians should try to please God, but if you are anything like me, you have to be careful. We can get in our heads all of the right actions we think will please God. We have to be good mothers doting on our kids every moment; we need to keep a clean house, pray before every meal, honor and adore our spouses, never miss a Sunday at church, volunteer at every church opportunity presented to us, from teaching a class, to leading a Bible study, to singing in the choir, to cooking meals, or being thankful with a smile at all times even when we feel like sobbing.

Most of the things on that list are good things, but we can easily turn trying to please God into believing that we can do something to earn His love. The simple truth is: We can’t earn God’s love or our salvation. It has been freely given to us. The price has already been paid.

We in turn, show our love for God by walking with Jesus. That can sometimes be frustrating for a rule following, pleaser like me. There is no long black and white list of how to do that and everyone’s journey is different.

All we need to know and do, is to spend quiet time in prayer in God’s presence everyday and read His word. When we do that, we become familiar with His voice. We can hear when He calls us to do something. It may be to sing in the choir or to lead a Bible study, or not. It won’t be a huge laundry list. We are not called to do everything, just our part.

We are all called to do different jobs to make a kingdom impact and what we are called to do today, may be different in a couple of years. That’s why we have to spend daily time with God, listening.

Because in the end, pleasing God is something we get to do, not have to do. It’s something each one of us is uniquely qualified to do. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

What Defines You?

Posted on by Wendy
What are you focused on?
What are you focused on?

My hubby shared a video with me last weekend of a sermon in Alabama. It was from one of those megachurches. The pastor’s sermon was centered around the idea that whatever you spend most of your time focused on, eventually shapes who you are.

He used the example of football. If you spend every Friday night watching high school football and then all day every Saturday watching college football, and all day Sunday watching pro football, and then you watch Monday night football, your focus in life becomes football. It’s what you talk about. It’s what you think about. It defines you.

This idea intrigued me because this tendency to hyper-focus on one thing is so prevalent in our society. There are some people who are completely focused on their jobs. They go to work early and they stay late and when they are at home, they are connected with work via their smart phone. Work is what they talk about. It’s what they think about. What happens or doesn’t happen at work begins to define them.

There are people who are focused on their emotional pain. Maybe there was a divorce, or a betrayal, or a death. There’s certainly a time to grieve, but sometimes we can allow pain or anger to consume us. It’s what we talk about. It’s what we think about. We allow it to change who we are and redefine us.

There are even positive things like exercising that can become a problem. It’s good to keep our bodies strong and in good shape. How can we make a kingdom impact if we can’t gt off of the couch? Yet, if we begin each day thinking about our morning workout or spend our day planning an evening workout, or spend every weekend traveling out of town to some type of race, then our activity, whatever it is, has gone from a hobby to a definition of who we are. It’s all we talk about it’s all we think about.

I suspect that just about every human on the planet struggles with balance at one time or the other. But, we also have to remember that God made us for worship. We are made to worship Him and if we don’t put Him first, we will worship something else.

Maybe we should do a self-check over the next week or so and prayerfully ask God to show us what our focus is on and what it should be on. Perhaps we should monitor ourselves and our conversations. What are we talking about? What are we thinking about? Do we need to make some changes?

The fabulous thing about following Jesus is that He is always ready and willing to help us re-define ourselves. We only have to ask.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

 

When the Plan is Out of Focus

Posted on by Wendy
We shouldn't necessarily hit delete because our plans are out of focus.
We shouldn’t necessarily hit delete because our plans are out of focus.

My family and I visited Callaway Gardens for New Year’s Eve. It’s a resort at the foothills of the Appalachian mountains covered with walking and biking trails. It also has a butterfly house that’s a huge solarium with all types of flowers, trees and waterfalls and they incubate all types of brilliantly colored butterflies.

It was almost otherworldly. It was cold and gray outside and we stepped into an oasis with greenery everywhere and something like 85 degree temps, and there were gorgeous, butterflies flying around all over the place.

Of course, my main aim was to capture one with my camera. I snapped dozens of pictures. I just knew God would lead me to share one of those gorgeous creatures here in this space. I mean, God and butterflies seemed like a no brainer to me. They weren’t very cooperative and wouldn’t stay in one place over a second or two, but I felt confident I got at least one good shot.

Upon returning home and browsing through all of my pictures, I learned that I didn’t get any good shots, not even one. I was really disappointed, but after hitting delete many times, I came across this one. It too, was out of focus, but as I went to delete it, I felt a nudge not to. I’ve learned to pay attention to those nudges. I suspected that God had something to teach me through that photo later, although I couldn’t imagine what it could possibly be.

Yesterday, as I was going about my business, thinking and praying about the new year, and some of the things I hope to accomplish, that out of focus butterfly came to mind along with some new thoughts.

First of all, just because the photo was out of focus, doesn’t mean the butterfly wasn’t beautiful. We often experience moments in our lives that take our breath away, but our society has led us to believe that if we don’t plaster them on social media, they weren’t special or meaningful. That’s simply not true.

Just because I am unable to prove to you with a perfect photograph that the butterfly was stunning, doesn’t make it any less stunning. Perhaps we could all learn from that blurry photo that the most important, memory making moments in our lives are often the private ones.

As I continued to think about the photo, I was also reminded that our plans are often not clear. When God plants a seed in us to do something, He often lights the path just one step at the time. More often than not, we have no idea what the end of our journey will look like. The not knowing can frustrate and frighten us, but as Christians, we are called to obey.

We are sometimes called to take Jesus’ hand and step out into the unknown, knowing that although the details may be unclear, like the butterfly in the photo, in the end, the destination will be spectacular.

Turns out, God did have something to teach me from that blurry photo. Perhaps you learned something too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Wind is Blowing

Posted on by Wendy
The wind is blowing.
The wind is blowing.

I have been reading along with an online Bible study called #shereadstruth. We are currently journeying through Genesis, which never ceases to cast forth something new and different for me to ponder, every time I read it. This time I was reading the account of Noah, when something new presented itself for me to think about.

Noah and his family and all of those animals were on the ark for around 370 days, give or take. Now I’m sure in the beginning, as the rain came pelting down and the ark began to float, they probably felt thankful and blessed.

But, the human heart is often fickle. God never told them how long they would be on the ark. He just told them to get on it. We have had a lot of rain here in Georgia over the past few months. There have been days that we wondered if it would ever stop. It rained on Noah for forty days and nights, non-stop.

I wonder how thankful they felt after 40 days. Then the rain finally stopped. Perhaps they wondered if at last they could breathe fresh air again and walk on dry land or run and jump. The rain may have stopped, but they had a long wait ahead. For over three hundred more days, they floated for a period that I suspect seemed aimless and endless.

Have you ever felt like you were drifting endlessly? Have you ever wondered if you would ever feel like your feet were on solid ground? Have you ever wondered if you would feel the warmth of the sun or the freedom to run freely again?

Well, take heart. I’m sure Noah and his family must have felt downright hopeless and forgotten at times, too. But, this story is about a man who loved and obeyed God, and God provided, as He always provides for His children.

“But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him on the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.” Genesis 8:1

Keep in mind, that while that wind was blowing and the waters were receding that Noah and his family were still locked away in the ark. God was at work, but they couldn’t see it. I am reminded that He is at work in our lives too, in the darkness, in the hopelessness, even when we can’t see it.

Lastly, the first thing Noah did was to offer a burnt sacrifice to God. In our world of instant gratification, it’s a stunning picture of Noah’s love for God that after 370 days sealed aboard an ark with all of those animals, the first thing he did was to give thanks for their deliverance. Noah remembered to be thankful.

Noah’s story reminds me to always remember that God is always at work even if it’s like the wind and we can’t see it. His story also reminds me to give thanks for the many blessings that we have been given, even if they were what we believe to be a long time coming. God’s timing is always perfect.

Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Switching from Self-Help to Asking for God Help

Posted on by Wendy
What would our 2016 look like if we lived by those words?
What would our 2016 look like if we lived by those words?

I read a blog post last week that pointed out that we go from celebrating the miracle birth of Jesus and all of the hope and joy that He represents for mankind, to the celebration of a new year, where many of us proceed to make a list things we will do in the coming year, to better our lives.

I have thought about that concept for days. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with New Year’s resolutions or the desire to better ourselves, but have you ever noticed that most of our lofty ideas fall flat by February? Have you ever wondered why?

Sure, it could just be that people aren’t very good at making changes or that chocolate and french fries taste so much better than kale, that make us break our resolutions to eat better. It could be that we really are too busy to squeeze in thirty minutes of exercise required to lose weight. Maybe that television show was truly much more important than the Bible reading time we promised ourselves.

But, maybe our problem with keeping resolutions lies with the fact that we are likely to fail at any self-help venture.

The week before New Year’s Eve, on Christmas Eve, most Christians will eagerly admit that, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

But, a week later, we make long lists of things we are going to do to change ourselves and our lives for the better. How many of us include prayer when we make those lists? How many of us seek the will of God as we make them? How many of us seek His guidance and blessings on our self-help plans for the upcoming year?

As I write this, we are not quite an entire week into the new year. Maybe it’s a good time to make a new list. I’m asking myself what would I like for my life to look like in 2016. But, before I put pen to paper, I’m going to start with a prayer.

I’m going to put at the top of the page: “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3  Then I’m going to write a simple list of things I would like to do this year to change me and my world for the better. I’m going to end it with Philippians 4:13 and I’ll keep it close by where I can see it a remember it and pray about it.

I think I may be onto something, beginning and ending the list with some powerful Bible verses. Maybe you would like to give it a try too. I can’t wait to hear how you do.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂