Lessons learned from my surgery!
It’s been 12 weeks since my reverse total shoulder replacement. The picture is my new hardware! I knew you wanted a visual! What have I learned?
- #12 We have a God whose creation heals in amazing ways. He uses time! Our instant focused hearts learn, when God uses time.
- # 11Lowering all expectations is a necessity. There were a few days I never left the lazy boy for more than a minute! It was okay!
- #10Getting dressed is totally optional! To put a shirt on, one has to have their head lower than the arm in a sling that doesn’t move. Yup- it was quite the sight!
- #9 Vice grips aren’t just for the workshop. They work well in bathroom holding a hair dryer so one can dry hair one handed.
- #8 It is possible to eat with your less dominant hand. You change the kinds of food you eat, and it’s a slow go, but possible!
- #7 Making a fire in the fire pit is very therapeutic. Watching fire is calming, as if I wasn’t calm enough!
- #6 I enjoy my own company. With Jim in the field 15 hours a day, it was just me and the dog! We did well!
- #5 Having a dog is a beautiful thing!
- #4 have a new friend, my P.T. Therapist. I saw him twice a week for 12 weeks. I might shed a tear in the parking lot the last time we meet.
- #3 Time with friends- precious. Since they wouldn’t let me drive, I needed rides to therapy twice a week. Jim in the fields, so friends stepped up. I loved the conversations, the lunches afterward and those who went out of their way to be a friend.
- #2 God meets our needs in the oddest ways. A bouquet of flowers, is just flowers until you read the note. I don’t have allergies, but my eyes were leaking! God did many of those little things, in big ways for my heart.
- #1 Time moves on. My life might have slowed and in some ways stood still, but the rest of the world kept going. Sometimes we think we are “big stuff” but time didn’t care that me, big stuff, was just one armed, stuck at home, mostly sitting in a chair. Time moved on in a beautiful rhythm. God stood still with me, but time moved on. I would rather time move on and God stand with my heart, than God moving on and time standing by me.
But perhaps the biggest thing I learned is they lied. I learned yesterday it’s not 12 weeks of rehab, it’s actually 16. Then he said, well actually it’s 9 months before the bones are actually grown together and the calcification, blah, blah, blah (I had a minor heart attack at that point). I wanted to hit him with the resistance bands I had in my hand but refer to #4. So, in 9 months I can golf again, and eat with whichever hand, whatever food I want, and pick up something without thinking, “Is this more than 8 lbs?” And yet, compared to a year ago, I don’t have pain, I can pull up my pants without crying, and I can play guitar without compensating for a shoulder that won’t work. P.T. therapy hasn’t been that bad, you just have to do it. God is good. Friends love well.
We are dust!
Psalm 103: 14
“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”
It’s the little things usually that send me into a tizzy. Maybe you just fall apart at the big things, but I like to think I am special! Big things I handle, little things send me face-first in the sand, but usually it’s a mud puddle.
How do you handle when you blow it? Maybe it’s not a big mistake, maybe it’s a small one. Maybe it’s not even much of a mistake, just not totally “right”?” It’s one of those “my standard” moments when for someone else, they would be thrilled to be in your shoes. Not me. I have determined in my mind, those aren’t the shoes I want to wear therefore it’s not good enough! These moments begin my view of myself as a mistake, can’t do anything right, and start walking down the comparison path that always sends me seeing myself at the bottom of the heap.
This morning this verse jumped out at me. God knows what we are made of- he gives us a lot more slack than we give ourselves. The last part of the verse gives me permission to be human- “he remembers that we are dust.” If I think of my life in that way, what an incredible piece of dust I am! Look what I accomplished!!!
When I look at my mistakes through my eyes, I am a failure, a flop, and useless! When I look at my life through God’s eyes, the one who created me, he thinks we are a pretty awesome piece of dust! That changes everything!
Potluck: what do I bring?
Got the invite and I need to decide what I am bringing to the potluck! I have spent more time worrying about my “dish to bring” than I have worrying about what my heart is bringing. Sometimes that is much more important than food!
God knows what’s inside the box!
I am sitting by the fire watching the morning awake. The tree is twinkling, the lights make the morning sparkle and the gifts look so beautiful under the tree. I love Christmas. I love gifts. However , not all the beautifully wrapped gifts under the tree actually are gifts: some are just beautifully wrapped boxes. I know which ones are which- no one else does! There are times in life when I grab a beautiful box to unwrap, something I think that will be a wonderful gift and God takes it out of my hands and gives me another one. It’s a different gift wrapped box and not nearly as beautiful as the one I grabbed! Whats the difference? God knows what’s inside the box! I need to keep reminding myself when I am holding a slightly wrinkled wrapped box in my life, that the beautiful one with gorgeous ribbons may be still under the tree because it’s empty! The gift God has for me, has purpose for my life! I get caught up in what I see. God gets caught up in what he knows!
Whats your why?
What’s your “Why?”
I quite well remember the bantering of the toddlers, when they discovered the word, “why”. Most every statement, regardless whether it was a question or a statement was met with “why”.
Put your boots on the mat. “Why?” It’s time to pick up toys . “Why?” Eventually after thirty minutes of back and forth I would become the mom I said I would never be by hearing myself utter, “because I said so.”
Sometimes I do it to God. I want to know why! But knowing “why”, is so much different than knowing my “why!”. Understanding how an engine works is an answer to “why.” Figuring out “why” something is sitting on your counter, helps resolve confusion. But knowing my “why”, the purpose God put me on this earth for, is a deeper meaning to “why”. It feeds the soul, renews the mind and energizes the heart. Sometimes my “why” is nothing more than the driving presence of love and being loved. My “why” is being who God made me to be. I don’t have to be more. I love praying for people. Beyond just praying for people, I love sending prayers. That’s my “why”. God will place someone on my heart and I don’t ask “why” anymore, I just pray and then send a prayer. It’s amazing how the questions, the “why’s” of their heart, are being answered by my “why”, the calling God has led me to. Sometimes, there isn’t an answer, but an overwhelming sense of God being with both of us.
What’s your “why”?
What gets your heart pumping faster? What gives you a deep satisfaction of being Jesus on this earth? When does the beauty of God meet the hearts of others because you were just being you? That’s your why! Be it!
Advent
It’s not simply about lighting the candle for advent, it’s about “what” the one who created light is asking of us. Its all about how we should live and where our focus on the light should be.
Where are the wise men?
Where in the house are the wise men? It all began as an attempt to teach the kids the sequence of events in the nativity. Almost every nativity scene I have ever seen, had wise men parked right by the manger and Mary. From the Bible accounts the magi, wise men, or visitors from the east, came when Jesus was in a house. Matthew 2 gives us the events but almost all nativity scenes include camels, tall men holding gifts and dressed different than the shepherds and Joseph.
So in my feeble attempt to help the kids have fun with the Christmas season, we put up our nativity scenes but the wise men had their own special adventure. The rules were simple! If you find the wise men hanging around the house, move them somewhere else. After all it wasn’t when Jesus was born that they showed up, so make it fun! I found wise men in the flour bin, in the refrigerator, under the counter, in the living room and one year someone hid them so good we lost them for almost a year. This year, it’s just Jim and I. The wise men are sitting with all the nativity scenes. Perhaps it’s because I am getting forgetful enough, hiding them could be their undoing!
What do we gain by making the wise men wander? We bring fun back into our homes. I never did Elf on the shelf, but I did let the wise men hit the floor, hide in the bookshelf and sit in the washing machine! Keep Christ in Christmas, but put some fun back in your home!
Find the humor in life!!
If you look, there is humor all around you. When you see the humor, you just might see yourself down the road.
Entering a truck stop I noticed him. He was standing kind of in the way, looking like he was waiting for someone. I was waiting for someone too, Jim, but I was walking circles around the Dunkin donut/cinnabon sign and the hot dogs on the roller grill.
When Jim showed up with our paid for drinks in hand, the one he was waiting for came from the restroom area. She had “mission” on her mind and in her step. He was in a “ meander” mindset. She was in a huff! He was just watching the “huff “ head for the door. She noticed us, he didn’t. She opened the door wanting him to move faster. He didn’t get the memo. Twas then, it was obvious they were not on the same page, probably not in the same book. Her frustration came out as she kind of quietly urged him to “get moving, there are people behind you.” We were just watching the story unfold in front of our eyes. We had front row seats to “we have lived together a long time”.
She threw the second door open and there was a bit of an attitude. Okay forget the bit, she was torked and I had a feeling it wasn’t because he was slow walking through the door. As she determinedly headed for the car, he looked at me. What he said, priceless, and sent me into hysterics. With a slight grin he said, “ we’re not really fighting.”
It was as obvious as meat gravy on mashed potatoes, but I managed all the self control not to laugh and I came up with the most intelligent thing to say I could think of. “We will be where you are soon enough.”
He laughed. I laughed. Jim and I got in the truck. His wife slammed her car door.
I am not sure there is a spiritual application anywhere here except we can all identify. There are days when one of us is upset and the other clueless. There are days we welcome strangers into our hysteria. Laugh about it!
Ministry
Ministry: in the New Testament Paul didn’t give a list or things you could do to serve. He leaves that up to the creativity of the giver.
1 Peter 4:10: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various .”
Chainsaws as a gift? Washing dishes, a gift? Doing laundry from a weekend of people being blessed, a gift? Perhaps you don’t think about what you do every day as a gift, but to those who receive the gift, it’s love in action.
Bob Bardwell served. He served in a wheelchair, with a heart full and eyes looking ahead. He leaves a legacy in Ironwood springs Christian ranch, and it’s in our backyard. Well, a few miles down the road from our backyard but it’s a diamond in southern Minnesota. It’s elegant, quaint, full of options to serve and something God is honored with. Check it out! Go on the website. There are retreats happening all winter. There is a need people to serve in many places, from the kitchen to the lodge, horses and help on the tubing hills. Stop and talk with Bob Yanish, the new director. Get a tour! Invest in using what gifts you have received to serve others!
It’s a community worth being a part of!
Bracing for the inevitable
Bracing for the inevitable.
I find myself thinking of Jamaica and the islands in the line of the hurricane. Why Jamaica? I spent some time there years ago and loved the mountain village we stayed in. They are bracing for the storm, the inevitable, insurmountable unknown. All they can do do is button down the hatches, wait and pray.
I find myself there: not in Jamaica but in life. James reminds us we will have trials but hurricanes? Jesus said not to worry, but hurricanes? Aren’t those things worth worrying over and about? Those are inevitable moments in life that I would love to button down the hatches and hide! Instead Jesus tells me to be a light on top of a hill. But the inevitable is going to happen Lord. Doesn’t that matter?
Jesus doesn’t seem to mind because he is the reason my light won’t go out. Power outages, burnt light bulbs and blown fuses are a part of this life. In Jesus world, the light is always on and I don’t need to fear the inevitable, I need to prepare for the inevitable by knowing who keeps my inner and outer lights lit and burning. That’s where prayer walks in the door of where I am buttoning down the hatch. But Jesus also sits and waits with me while I get the courage to hold my light up and wait. By holding up my light in the waiting, there may be someone also in the middle of the inevitable that needs to see their next step.
One foot on a banana peel
Lamentations 3:25-26
The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
As kids, we went to visit her parents, the Urch’s, with Grandma Campbell. Mary Lou came to my Bible study for many years. She was Irish, and so every St. Patrick’s Day, we would have Irish-themed items at Bible study. I would always get a card; we were both Irish since her grandfather and my great-grandmother were siblings. I brought her back Irish trinkets when I passed through Ireland. She had a unique perspective on life, and she possessed a wonderful sense of humor.
I usually have a notebook to write in; however, since I can’t write very well left-handed, I kept nudging Jim and saying Remember that.
Her pastor shared that he had asked her, one of the times he saw her, how she was doing, and she said, “Well, I got one foot on a banana peel.”
That’s funny, but it’s actually a lot like what our lives seem to be like. We don’t know when our footing is going to give ways. Life changes, health has its challenges, and other people’s decisions can significantly impact our lives.
We thought we were standing pretty strong, and then all of a sudden, we realized we had one foot on a banana peel. Lamentations remind us that we need to wait quietly. That doesn’t mean we don’t say anything or do anything; it doesn’t mean we don’t look at our feet and make sure we’re not standing on a banana peel. But what it does mean is that we know God is good to us.
God is good to us if we have one foot on a banana peel. God’s going to be good for us if we have two feet on a solid rock. God’s good to us, if we have one foot on one side of the bridge and the other foot standing on the other side. God is good to us if we find ourselves falling. God is good to us.
Mary Lou doesn’t have to worry about which foot is on a banana peel now she’s got both feet in heaven, but it sure gave us all a little chuckle at the celebration yesterday.
Keep an eye on the road, see where you’re walking, and make sure nobody’s intentionally throwing banana peels at your feet, but even if they are, remember, God is good.
The waiting rooms of life
Psalm 27:14:
“Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!”
Waiting. To wait. Waiting for someone, something, for time to pass or for the hurt to heal. Waiting is hard and drains your strength.
Waiting rooms aren’t always the beautifully decorated, comfortable chairs and kind secretaries. Sometimes other people are waiting who are crabby, sick, grieving, and vocal about the waiting. We try hiding in the corner, we try drowning out the noise, we try not to watch the clock slowly, ever so, go farther and farther from what we expected would be our time to “quit waiting” and be called back, to whatever that could be in any given circumstance.
“The waiting rooms of life are where we learn to worship.”
Waiting rooms: the places I don’t want to be for very long.
Learn; repetitive until the concept stays in my heart.
Worship; giving God the glory for what He has done and is doing in my life. That may be why the Psalmist reminded us to be strong and take courage. Waiting isn’t for sissies. I also get a bit jealous when I have been waiting, and someone comes in, tells their name to the receptionist, and is called back right away. I am still waiting, and seething, and muttering under my breath. In that process, I am missing the moments that make me strong, give my heart courage, and the settling that comes from waiting on the Lord. I am trying to create my own timeline based on how important I think I am.
Lord, help me to settle back and listen to the spirit leading as I sit in the waiting room. Let me hear what you are teaching me rather than pacing the floor waiting for my name to be called or the door to open.
You won’t fall off a ladder…
You won’t fall off the ladder you don’t climb. Brilliant statement I realize but those nine words have kept many people from stepping beyond their imaginary lines in the sand. There is such a fear of failure. There is an enigma about starting and stopping something. People fear criticism and dread losing. Being 2nd place our culture has turned into being losers rather than almost winning.
Hence, we tend to look at a ladder and come up with excuses and questions. Maybe it won’t hold me? Perhaps it’s only for decoration. What if it’s someone else’s ladder? Why should I go to all the work to climb?
Let God awaken in you the desire to grasp his power and start climbing ladders that He has been putting near you. Look at them as possibilities. Question the curious such as what could I see if I climb? What is waiting on the next rung? How much will I learn by pulling myself up to the higher level? Who will encourage me as I climb?
For me the most exciting question is, what is God leading me to with another ladder? However, the fear of falling off a ladder is real. I have done that. Broken backs, broken legs, broken Arms, and broken ladders are a few of the options that happen when you fall off a ladder. But what if you made it to the top? What if you could see from a higher advantage point? What if you meet some cool people on ladders near you?
You won’t fall off the ladder you don’t climb. You also won’t see the world from different perspectives standing on the ground. And just in case you didn’t know, you can fall while standing on the ground! Take a risk and let God open up your vision to where he is working. Climb the ladder he has propped against your heart!
Togetherness
There are days when I wish “beam me up Scotty “ was reality. A huge blessing in life is friendship. The blessing becomes a heart ache when distance keeps me from spending time with the people who move my heart, fill my cup and make me feel loved.
Being together, well there is something special about it. However togetherness can’t happen unless you are in the same vicinity, or bluntly put together.
One of the blessings God created is the capacity of our heart to be together in spirit. It used to be a letter in the mail, or a phone call, and now, we have texts. A prayer texted, a simple note sent, is being together, and it makes the heart sing! Oh I know I can make new friends and create those bonds where I am, and I do, but there is something about being together with certain people that makes the world a better place. Be that person, be together either in person or in the heart! It’s a wonderful place to be!
preparing a place…
Armed with a dust buster, cleaning supplies and another vacuum, I began my morning. It wasn’t like any other morning and it wasn’t at home. I should clean at home but this is more fun. I am turning the lakehouse over as they say in the Airbnb business. No, we don’t have an Airbnb, but we do have temporary custody of Gods house, a beautiful lakehouse up north. I say temporary custody because nothing we have is ours- it’s all on loan from God. While we are on this earth this is one of the many things Gods lets us enjoy. There have been a couple times when I call Jim and say, “Gods house has a problem and I have a feeling you are the one to fix it.”
This day, I was cleaning, readying the place for the next visitors to enjoy the lake, northern Wisconsin, and peaceful nights, listening to the loons calling.
As I cleaned I prayed for those coming by name. It’s my neice and her husband so I know them well, especially as I was cleaning the room that is Grace’s favorite. As I cleaned I got excited and then it hit me. No, the light fixtures didn’t fall, I recalled a verse in the Bible.
“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”
John 14:2 ESV
Does Jesus get as excited as I was getting making beds and cleaning? It says he is preparing a place for us. That’s me. He knows me just as I know how much Grace enjoys the window seat reading. He knows what I like, where I like to sit, what worries me and what makes me laugh. I wondered as I prepared a place. Does Jesus get as excited as he is preparing my place? He probably doesn’t need Windex, Murphy Oil soap and a Dustbuster, but then again maybe!
I’ll bring snacks
It sits on a shelf in my kitchen as a constant reminder, I am not in this world to be alone. It’s not about me, my vacation plans or what I will do in retirement. It’s not about the new cafe in town someone suggested I try, and it’s not about what’s on Netflixlix tonight. None of those are necessarily bad in themselves, but when they take me away from helping someone climb their mountains, holding the snacks, I have my priorities in the wrong place.
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11
One thing I have learned in my few decades on the planet is how lonely, alone is. When people don’t know what to do or say, they stay away. That is interpreted as, don’t know, don’t care. When you walk beside someone, you still may not know, but by walking with someone, that action, shows you care. You may have noticed I didn’t say talk, I said walk.
If Jobs friends had brought snacks, perhaps shoving them in their mouths would have lessened the poor choice of words they used. Sometimes carrying the snacks and being beside someone going through a struggle is just what is needed! When tempted to give advice, put another frito in your mouth and chew. Often encouraging and building up, isn’t about making something, it’s about being someone!
Keep it Going!
Keep it Going
This is NOT my normal. Jim is at Ironwoods Springs working at the ranch. I had to run to town, stop at the most interesting people-watching store in the world, Costco, and then, yes, then I was hungry. It was across the street from Costco, so I pulled in to get a chicken sandwich. Yes, I know you needed to know what I ordered! I gave my money to the first gentleman, then drove up to pick up my little bag, which would satisfy my immediate need for something hot and edible. Notice I didn’t say healthy!
The young man, a nice-looking young man, handed me my bag and then said something that took me back. He smiled at me and said, “Keep it going!”.
I’m not sure if he wanted to ensure I drove off so I wouldn’t clog up his drive-thru line, or if he was just being humorous. Either way, it’s excellent advice.
There are days I need a text every other minute, and a few phone calls to tell me, “Keep it going.” This year has been a year of change. Every once in a while, a friend will send me a note, which is their way of telling me, “Keep it going.” It’s similar to the encouragement that Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:11
“Therefore, encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” If we reword that verse, it could say, “Therefore, keep reminding those you love to keep it going.”
Send someone a note, make a phone call, turn left when you go into town, and knock on their door. We need reminders that we aren’t in this world alone, and others care that we don’t clog up the drive-thru places in life. Many things distract us, and we stop to look, ponder, and reevaluate if we should be going at all. Step by step, we walk toward heaven. Step by step, trip by trip, stumble by stumble, and often we just need someone else walking alongside to remind us, “Keep it going.” Maybe when you tell them to “Keep it going”, give a hug too! That’s a lot more filling than a chicken sandwich!
Falling in the Lake
Ecc. 4:10
“If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”
What a great verse on paper, what a hard lesson to live out. I am here with friends at the lake and 7 children. Where two or more are gathered, well, Jesus didn’t say what would happen if 11 are together and 7 are kids! I can tell you. Laughter, lots of food, stories, and flops! The water toys haven’t had this much fun in a long time. Hitting golf balls in the lake, kayaking and fishing or should I say catching. The amusing moments have been the paddle boards. Well the paddle board isn’t the funny part, it’s the getting off and getting on! The Bible verse though gallant as it may seem doesn’t apply to water sports.
Better phrased,”If either of them falls down, good luck! No one can help the other up right away because they are too busy taking pictures….and laughing.”
Unfortunately that is similar to some of our response when Christian friends struggles. We may not be taking pictures, but we are letting them get up by themselves because, and then we have the excuses! We may not be laughing out loud, but we snicker when no one can see us.
Be the kind of friend who has their feet in the water, ready to help another! Yes, your feet will get wet and probably your heart too, but that’s what Jesus did.
Giving Someone Grace
It was about this time I asked him if he upped his life insurance! One learns a lot about each other working together, but none as crazy as when a couple does a “project.” This project was putting a new deck on at the lake, the old one having a few too many soft spots and rotten boards to put off any longer. With a funeral trumping the ladies retreat weekend, Jim headed north, I was already up there hosting friends, with the load of decking and impending warm weather (90 degrees plus each day).
We have remodeled two houses and one cabin before this weekend… but this time, in the heat. I would compare it to a Bible proverb but the only one I can come up with is, Proverbs 4:9-10, “ two are better than one, because they have good return on their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.”
All I knew is that if he fell it was a good ten feet down! And I have a bum leg and a bum shoulder- I might not be much help except the “I told you so “ speech I had rehearsed.
What have I learned in 37 plus years of projects together?
– Give someone the grace to do it wrong and don’t say a word. Probably better if you don’t think the words, either but definitely don’t say them.
– A glass of cold water is love. Especially when it’s 95 degrees.
– There are many different ways to get the job done. Leave it at that.
– God made man and woman different. I won’t go any farther on that one!
– Being a tool handler or an assistant, is important. Just be okay with such a lowly job!
– I am not his mother! That one I had to go over a few times in my brain! Sometimes words just come out unfiltered.
– When it’s too hot, take a break. A nap on the couch, in air conditioning does cool off the mind and the body.
Spiritually, I have no clue where to take this little weekend of adventure. We are only half done but I will bow out and let two men replace me. Everyone will be happier cuz I will make sure they have cookies and soda’s.
When we walk along side someone in life who is doing everything the wrong way, or so we think, just give them a glass of ice cold water, and take a break in the shade. It’s okay, to walk to the best of a different drum, unless you are playing with three other drummers.
Just be reminded, it doesn’t take long if we look in the mirror, to see how many times we have done things “our way” and a mature believer walked with us to made sure we had something cold to drink and a cool place to sit.
The Importance of Fellowship
The importance of fellowship. Ships & boats began with Noah’s ark, fishing in Galilee, Jesus preaching on a boat, and introduced us to shipwrecks in the boom of Acts. Boats and ships have a part in our Biblical history. What is the difference between a boat and a ship? Boats are smaller vessels intended for short passages and for fishing and inland wster travel. A ship is designed for ocean travel, coastal waters with the capacity to carry cargo and handle people in a much larger capacity.
Ships and Boats are important in because each of them have their specific purpose.
Study the word, fellowship, and it means being together, the Greek word meaning to have in common with. If you are on a ship, there is lots of being together with other people. Partially because you are surrounded by water and probably things in the water that would like to eat you!
We are on the ship of life with others. We are throw together with friends, and stranger who are simply friends we haven’t met yet!
What’s so important about fellowship? Being with people, learning about people and loving people keeps us out of the water. Water, is wonderful, we need it and enjoy it however, in the water for too long and you are tired of dog paddling, your skin wrinkles and when the temperature fluctuates, so does your body and your internal organs need a bit more controlled environment to live well. Thats not to mentioningn a few sharps that may be hungry and think you might be tasty.
Fellowship varies as much as the ships of old. From the wooden boats, to small canoes, Viking ships, cargo ocean liners, and cruise ships, all offer something unique. So it is with fellowship. We need it. It offers protection, security, warmth, love and just as a ship can take us many places so can friendships. Friendships are developed in fellowship moments. Friendships draw others to Jesus just as Andrew went to bring his friends to Jesus.
We live in a culture of being alone. Amid technology that communicates more efficiently than ever before, we as a culture are lonely. Thats because we aren’t getting on board with fellowship! You might argue, you like your boat, its your dads boat, its been in the family, and you are comforta le with it. Tie it up along the shore and become a part of fellowship! But I’m was a so busy, you may say, I don’t have time to spend with people. Lydia in acts was a successful business women yet she took time to go to the river for fellowship and prayer! Fellowship brings about a sense of belonging, others to enourage you, advice and commentary, and scripture tells us to spend time with other, encourage one another, pray with one another, carry each others burdens and to break bread together. In other words, get on the “fellowship” ship. It will change your life and a few other people’s too. You can still have your little dingy for short trips.
Generosity
What is your reponse when I say the word, generousity? The first thing many say is, I don’t have any money.
Originally it comes from the Latin, generōsus , a word that meant of noble birth. By the 17th century it had changed to be focused of qualities of character such as kindness and sharing. Yet I would contend that generosity isn’t from a Latin word or a culture, it comes from the heart. Proverbs 11:25 “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. “
Our desire to prosper, often thwarts what generosity means. To keep, to invest, to save is to prosper. Jesus turned it around. To become rich, one gives, gives away and gives up! Gives so others have in common (Acts 2), gives away to the needy ( Matthew 6) and gives up our hope in wealth (1 Tim. 6). But first before any of that happens, the heart has to be open to giving. The eyes must convince the hands that the heart and mind have decided to give. One has become a generous person when the heart grabs generosity and lets it guide our time, our personality, our attention and our pocketbook. Otherwise we give a bit, feel good about our bit, and keep the rest of the bits for ourselves.
Generosity that is led by God, “gives”, and “shares”, and “does” with the heart turning the steering wheel. When we are generous, the prospering promises by God, sits in the passenger seat and smiles from the heart! Step out of your normal and take a drive to generosity. The scenery beautiful!
Thumps
It was a thump. Not just a thump, but it shook the house. It scared the dog, not just shook the house, and I might have jumped a foot off the chair. I was up, getting my mind prepared for the weekend that lies ahead, musically speaking, when I heard and felt the thump. It wasn’t windy, so it wasn’t a tree branch. No one had come into the yard, but even so, that wouldn’t shake the house. I walked into the kitchen and looked out the window. Lying on the ground was a bird. I am not sure why our windows are so alluring, or why they don’t ring the doorbell if they want to come in, but birds seem to love to do a face plant, beak plant, in one specific window. I made a mental note to have Jim carry it off. Later, I went walking with the dog and saw it lying there. It wasn’t quite where I thought it had fallen. When Jim came outside, he went around the corner of the house. I heard him holler, “Where is the bird?” I walked over. No bird. I guess he/she just needed to get his wits back in his head before he could fly back and tell the family, “You won’t believe what I did this morning.”
There are times when we hit spiritual and emotional walls in our faith walk. Romans 12:12 says, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” The Message version adds a bit of thought:” Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. “
Hard times are when you hit a window. Hard times are when you are lying on the ground, trying to get your breath. Hard times are burnout moments when you can’t take another step. Just keep lying there. Let yourself catch your breath. Let time get the cobwebs out of your head. Don’t be concerned about what people will say if they see you lying, getting your breath. A kind friend will make sure no one steps on you. A loving friend will wait until you get your breath and help you fly away again. A really good friend will remind you, as you are flying together, that’s a window, you might want to turn right about now.
Ladles or Sieves
I am with grandbabies and finding that our daughter does the same thing for her kids that she did when she grew up. The best toys come from the kitchen. Water toys from Dollar General are fun, but they can’t hold a candle to the stuff in our kitchens, or better yet, in the recycling bin. A ladle is in the wading pool by the water table. It’s a ladle for soup, or broth, or whatever else one needs a ladle for. Our kids also had a sieve, which, for hours, Tyler would shake out sand, wash it in the pool, and then do it again. I don’t know his plan; perhaps he had seen too many movies about mining for gold. Ladle scoops about a cup of liquid and anything else one gets when one scoops with a ladle. Sieves let things small enough to go through the holes fall right out the bottom.
If John meant what he said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15:11, then dipping out of the Joy pot, we’d better know what utensil to use. Dipping a ladle in the pot of joy, we may fill our lives much quicker with joy. We may get some joy using a sieve, but not the speed or quantity that a ladle will give.
Romans 14:17 reminds us, “Of these things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
So often, we seek joy, pray for joy, and go after joy with a sieve. Our joy is not full; it seems our joy is spilling all over everyone else, but not us. We blame the joy or the pot rather than looking at what we are holding in our hands.
Use a ladle to dip in the pot, to get the joy God has promised.. Resist trying a new and improved sieve; it isn’t a ladle. It wasn’t made for what a ladle is made for. God wants us to have joy and have it more abundantly. But we like our sieve, a family heirloom, and we’ve always used a sieve, so we keep dipping in the pot of joy, hoping for more joy without looking at what’s in our hand. The traditions of life keep us trying to use sieves. Maybe God is trying to do something new in your life, where joy is concerned, but he needs you to look in your hand. If you don’t have joy, what are you trying to get joy with? A sieve could equate to doing more, trying harder, or asking more people what they think? The ladle could represent listening longer to God, spending more time in prayer, being more intentional with time in the Bible, and putting aside things that haven’t worked in the past. Grab a ladle, dip it into the pot of Joy. A ladle has a long handle to avoid getting burned and a large cup to carry liquid and solids. Check what’s in your hand. If you want joy, put the sieve away and grab a ladle.
Tall Drummers
It was because I said, let’s sit on the other side of church today. Normally we sit by the couple with the cute little boy in Mary’s row. Every church has its own seating issues and the church we go to at the lake, was an old grocery store converted into a church. ( I think) It’s great except for the two large rustic posts holding the roof up. We walked to the other side of the room and sat down. When I looked up , all I saw was the large wooden rustic post! I don’t mind hearing pastor Andrew preach but I enjoy watching what’s happening also. That made sense why the seats were empty. We moved across the aisle. Perfect. Perfect that is until the worship band was done and the drummer, all 6’5” of him sat down directly in front of me. I traded a big post for a big man! Fortunately he had a hunch! I mean he hunched over so I could see the stage. If not, there was an empty chair beside me, I could have inched my way to better vision.
Often we trade one problem for another. In life, the changes we make seem okay for awhile and then the drummer shows up! And sometimes, we are the drummer in someone else’s life! Be willing to move and be willing to have a hunch!!! Jesus moved a lot, and he could see through big posts and 6’5” drummers!
Rowing Corn
Rowing corn. It’s a really cool moment when the corn emerges from the ground. One day it’s black dirt and the next you see the tiny bits of green making its way through the dirt, perfectly spaced and reaching for the sun. To a farmer, its hope. Once the seed germinates and begins to grow there is hope of a crop. It’s an unknown as for what kind of a crop will grow, but there is hope. Hope makes you skip. Hope makes the heart sing.
Sometimes I wish God will help us row people. What I mean, is I wish we could see growth, their faith germinate and hope they they will grow and mature. Just a little bit of growth, just that little stalk of faith sticking out from the ground. Is it because sometimes we want the whole corn stalk before the tiny shoot? We want people to mature too quickly ? We want the toddler to run before he can walk? We want the corn picked before it’s time? Are we patient with the corn field but impatient with the people next to our hearts? Jim plants corn based on days until maturity. 100 or 90 day corn means the corn will be close to maturity in that time frames but then again that also depends on the heat elements, the rain and the sun. People don’t come with time maturity stamped on them. Give them time to grow, and then maybe give them a little more time. We marvel at each part of the growth process. We don’t hurry one stage to get to the other. Remember that with people. And take a drive and row the corn!!! It’s kind of cool!
Broken pianos and spicy hearts.
There are times when you don’t believe what people say. I tend to see the glass as waiting to be filled, while others see it as almost empty. The impossible to me is a challenge waiting to be tackled, or in this case, played.
I went out of respect for a woman I have known all my life. I played and sang at her husband’s funeral; she was a good family friend, and I needed to be there. The first comment I received as I walked in, chatting with people, was from the one who would be leading the service. He told me they would be singing a cappella as the piano didn’t work. Something inside me chuckled, and outwardly I smiled. I am good at smiling outwardly when I am laughing on the inside. I really doubted that the piano didn’t work. Pianos are often more dependent on the player than on the condition of their physical well-being. When the silence got too much for me, with no beautiful music playing before the funeral, I told the son I would play if he wanted. He said, “Please do, but they said the piano is broken. “I nodded and went over and sat down. Fortunately, there was a bench that could hold me.
What is a broken piano? The same thing as a broken heart. There is a part that isn’t working as intended, but there are many good parts still as wonderful as when it was created. Broken hearts have a tendency to make us quit. We are no good anymore. Broken pianos get pushed to the side of the church, and people put flowers and decorations on them.
I played. I played the old hymns. I played for a spicy lady, as Pastor Jim referred to her, with a heart of gold and a love for God. I played the songs she would have loved to hear. Okay, it was out of tune. A few notes had all three internal strings on a different pitch. It was music, and it was beautiful in its own way. And oddly enough, it slightly resembled Leah’s life. After Melroy, her husband died, life just wasn’t the same. It wasn’t in pitch anymore. A few of the keys in her heart were broken, some had the ivories off them, and she didn’t look like she did in her 20s and 30s, but she was still beautiful, loved her family, and prayed for people. Perhaps slightly out of tune, yet with the master’s touch, her life still had purpose and beauty. We sang her favorite song, “His eye is on the Sparrow,” and “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus” to a slightly out-of-tune piano, and yet isn’t that the point of Jesus? He takes us somewhat out of tune people, adds some spicy sauce to our hearts to make us tasty, and turns us loose to love people. The grandchildren shared about their grandma’s praying with them. A slightly out-of-tune, spicy grandma has and continues to make a difference in their heart, even though she is gone from this earth.
If the piano could talk, what a story it would tell. It was the same piano I played for weddings, concerts, and at least two other funerals I can remember. That piano had been played by kids just learning to play, and those who knew enough to avoid the upper register, which had several keys that were there, but non-operable. Those slightly melodically off notes made the music sweeter. Those people in life who are spicy make us smile. The beauty of a grandmother’s love is a beautiful picture of God’s unconditional love on earth. And people singing, slightly off tune, to a very out-of-tune piano, well, that’s life. Don’t miss what God is trying to teach you through things, like pianos, that you think don’t work anymore. Slightly out of tune, well, focus on the word slightly and let God give you a precious memory.
Planting
I am trying. I am trying to thin out plants. Some are small seedlings, others are big chunks of Hosta or other plants. Some of them transplant easily, others are a bit stubborn coming out of the ground, and act like they are dying before I even get them in the ground. I try to be careful while digging the plants to get all the roots. When I put the new seedlings in, I prep the ground, dig it deep, and ensure a good water source. I am conscious, trying to be a good gardener, getting the seedlings in, and growing well.
I think I am tenderly digging my seedlings and plants, but I don’t know what the plants would say.
Sometimes, the Holy Spirit is rough with the spade. Some might say I am a wimp. Often I feel the tines of the spade on my heart, and I am stubborn coming out of the places I put myself, not necessarily where God wants me. The Holy Spirit’s job is to get seedlings into my heart. To move dirt, dig up roots, and get the root ball, sometimes it takes a bit of jiggling, moving, and digging deeper. If the Hosta could talk, would they ask me to go easier, or pull gentler, or perhaps take more dirt with the roots? I tend to give the Holy Spirit more advice than needed. After all, he has the spade to dig, it’s not in my hands. I am the dirt that he is transplanting into, and what God feels is needed in my garden. The garden doesn’t talk back to the gardener, or at least it shouldn’t. The garden should grow what is planted. It’s the gardener’s job to do the transplanting and care of the seedlings. Sometimes, I forget and think I am in charge. Holy Spirit, remind me you are planting seedlings in my garden within my heart that you know I need, that others gathering from my garden need, and that you know will grow well within me. Don’t let my heart get caught up in where or what you are transplanting to my heart. Just let me be a place for you to grow within me, nurture others from what grows from me and bless the one who rest amongst the bushes you grow to shade another’s heart.
Find a safe Place
Find a safe place- that’s all we heard last night. The weather was all over the news, the channels were squiggly on the TV, we still have an antenna, and the people talking would freeze during a sentence. The red line at the bottom of the tv screen told us, we were in a tornado watch. What were we doing? Sitting outside watching the storm. The formations of the clouds and the way they were rolling across the sky were breathtaking. Why were we outdoors? To watch and be amazed. We don’t really believe the weather reports anymore since they are seldom right. Also, we know we have a safe place. The dogs have already determined their safe place is NOT outside.
Safe places, they have their place! We had a limestone basement in the old farmhouse growing up. I only remember going down twice but many times lying by the door. It was there if we needed it but not a place we wanted to be. I would rather watch the tornado going overhead. And yes, it does sound like a train!
That’s so different from the safe place God provides. Proverbs 18:10 “The name of the Lord is, a strong tower, the righteous run in to it, and is safe.” Gods protection is a strong tower not a basement. It’s as if he is saying watch the storm, cuz I calm storms- you don’t need to hide. Yet, often people take their tornados into a safe place with them. The storms they are in, come with them when they go to the Lords strong tower. One doesn’t have a quiet house when the windows and doors are letting the craziness of the storm in. I want to be the one standing in the boat watching God calm my storm, not the ones hiding under the blanket afraid. I have a feeling a few of the disciples in the boat missed seeing the waves and wind instantly cease because they were too scared to look. They believed the warnings of man and not the power of the name that was in the boat with them. We had hail, lightning lit up the sky, the house shook a bit, the dogs shook even more but what a display of power and beauty.
Dishwashing
Dishwashing is a spiritual discipline. Let’s define spiritual discipline first, so we are all on the same page. Spiritual disciplines are the things you do that draw you closer to God. Let’s rephrase that so some of you fishing people claim fishing brings you nearer to God, it cultivates and deepens your spiritual awareness, which brings you to a closer walk with God, which leads to being God in action on earth. Dishwashing is a spiritual discipline. Now, let’s define dishwashing. Back when I was a kid, in the 1900s, we washed dishes by hand. We also had a mother who checked the dishes to ensure we didn’t pull a Matthew 23.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you to clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish so that the outside of iit so it may become clean also.”
The Pharisees were good about cleaning the outside of cups and dishes. There was a ritual they went about doing. But their hearts were full of anger, hate, and wickedness. Jesus called them on the carpet for being ritualistic, but not real.
I like doing dishes. I like the squeaky clean feeling, rinsing them, and putting them on the drying rack. I like doing it because I don’t have to do it very much. As a kid, I did dishes to complete the chore. Mother made me rewash a few more than a few times because I may have skipped the inside or didn’t scrub whatever was stuck on the inside. Cleaning the inside first, then focusing on the outside, makes a cleaner wash. According to Google, and we all know that’s the truth, learning on the inside of a dish before the outside is more efficient. Cleaning the stuff on the inside keeps them from settling on the outside. Cleaning the inside keeps the outside from being contaminated.
My heart needs a dishwasher. My heart needs time to get the crud, poor attitude, envy, and ugliness out of my insides so that the outside of my heart isn’t trying to cover up the internal mess.
It could be better said like this, rather than put on four sweatshirts and two pairs of pants to make sure no one sees how dirty you really are, why not just take a bath? Instead of putting the dirty bowls upside down in the back of the cupboard, clean them and put them front and center.
Be a dishwasher and wash everything dirty: inside and out. According to Google and my mother, it’s also important that you start with the least dirty dishes first. It keeps the dish water cleaner longer. We can also use that in our hearts. Take care of the little things that aren’t right in your heart, and work your way up to the things that need a scrubber, some Ajax, and elbow grease. God will help, the Holy Spirit will guide, and Jesus, who was very much at home with towels, will be there to dry and help put away.
Road closed ahead
“A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks; a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.”
Proverbs 22:3 (Message)
There are reasons for signs in life. I know, seems like a shocker, but signs do mean something. Try pushing a door that says pull. Try pulling a door that says push. You won’t get in or out and you amuse many people! The writer of Proverbs might not have been on our street, but then again, he could have been. What does a sign mean when it says, Road closed ahead? Here are my definitions based on people’s actions.
“It’s a shortcut-I don’t see anyone working.
The sign doesn’t close off the road and other people live there so here I go.
It’s merely a suggestion.”
We live on a gravel road that has some issues. There are washboard days when it’s so bad we literally watch people go in the ditch because they got caught in the washboarding effect. Gravel roads can be temperamental. We watch the fishtailing of their cars when they get caught in the loose thick gravel on the side and there is no control just “hold on honey”. The signs “loose gravel” doesn’t slow down someone late and going too fast. The signs “loose gravel” then becomes, call a tow truck to 625th street. Believe me, they slowed down quickly!
The county is fixing the road. Hence the sign, Road closed ahead. The other day the big machines are working piling large rows of gravel to rework and people are trying to drive through. It’s one mile! Drive around the section! Nope! They chose to drive through road closed signs and bottom their car out on the gravel pile.
Jim almost got stuck in his truck, the uncle got stuck. We live here: we have no option. The sign is a warning. For the many who bottomed out and got stuck because they felt the sign was a suggestion. Read Proverbs 22:3 again: my version .
“A wise person sees a road closed sign and drives the detour; a fool drives past the sign, gets stuck and blames the sign.”
I am watching a few people in my life ignore signs. When they get stuck, they blame the sign. Let’s make it simpler. I see people who ignore the Bible and then blame God. When you are hung up on a pile of gravel and can’t go anywhere, there is probably a “Road closed ahead” sign in your rear view mirror. Don’t blame the sign. God gives us the freedom to drive past the signs in life he puts where we can see, right in the middle of the road. It’s our choice to turn the steering wheel and intentionally head into the unknown. Give it some thought the next time God puts a sign in your path. It’s longer to drive around the section, or back up. Ask the person waiting an hour for a tow truck and have to repair the undercarriage on their car. Was it worth it? Like the philosopher Jeff Foxworthy would say, “Here’s your sign.” It’s there for a purpose!!!
Jesus is a wall banger- don’t leave the cross on the ground.
It’s windy. It’s really windy. Something has been banging on the side of the house for a while. Finally, I realized what it was. It was the cross. We have a large, almost 6′ tall cross made from barn wood, made by a friend, that hangs on the front of the house. It’s a centering focus for me. I walk up the front steps on the deck, and there is the cross. I come out to walk to the fire pit, there is the cross. I pull into the garage, start walking to the house, and see the cross.
This week, the rest of the world notices the cross. Perhaps not intentionally, but with Easter, even though brightly colored eggs, baskets, and bunnies take center stage in advertising, there is the cross, maybe slightly hidden but still there. In a world where the confusion is center-focused, and chaos seems prominent, we need the cross more than ever. Not just now, the week leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we desperately need the cross. We need to see it, let it balance our hearts, let it realign our priorities, and let it change our eyes from the distractions back to the deliverer.
But the wind, you remember it’s windy here- really windy. A few minutes ago, there was a crash. It wasn’t a tree, or a branch, or the grill dancing across the deck, and yes, we have had that happen, it was the cross. The cross is now lying on the deck. It’s safer there. It won’t bang on the siding and disrupt my work. It won’t break or break something in its errant slamming against the house. Yet, I don’t want it to stay there. I like it hanging up, so I am reminded.
In our culture, many are content to leave the cross/Jesus lying on the deck. They use the excuses I tried to make. It’s safer there. It won’t bang on the siding and hurt something, something, or become disruptive with its noise. The cross/ Jesus on the ground, also won’t bother other people. And yet, isn’t that what Jesus came into the world to be? Disruptive to the legalism of the day, bother the hearts of those who refused to acknowledge God, throw out those who made his Father’s house a den of thieves, continually disrupt man’s hearts, blind men on the way to Damascus, and pierce the hearts that are hardened by the ugliness of this world?
Don’t let the cross stay on the ground. Jesus came to be a wall banger!
The Geese and the lake.
The quiet and serenity of the lake is interrupted by noise. It’s not noise to the geese, they know very well what they are saying. It’s not noise to God. He creates them with this unique, very odd, way of communicating to each other. It’s noise to us, who do not understand.
Lord let me use my voice to encourage. Let it be more than noise and nuisance. Let my words be meaningful, moment appropriate and filled with love. Let my prayers be more than the honking sounds of a goose, and more like the melodic songs of a dove. but Lord on days when all my prayers sound like are like this, I know you understand my heart!
I am not the only one confused!
I am not the only one confused. I thought spring had begun. So did the tulips! They peeked their head out, short green shoots, only to discover it’s cold, it’s wet and the snow is covering them.
I walked around looking at my poor little tulip shoots today. The sun is out and it will be slightly warmer. They will grow a bit more each day primarily because the outward conditions are NOT how they grow.
Tulips growth is based on a combination of chilling weather
condictions and warming temperatures and sun in the spring. But there is something deeper within that drives their growing. That’s why watching them erupt through snow, doesn’t matter as much because their driving force is their growth is something special underground, within their bulb. Something within, is the force that pushes the green stalk to form what will open up to be a beautiful tulip.
I tend to peak my head out as God grows me and see my circumstances and want to go right back down and hide. The cold mornings of life, the snow others are throwing on my heart and the windy words that shake me, tell me it’s not worth it, no one loves you and life is too difficult- retreat! Yet like the tulips, my outward circumstances are NOT how I grow. I grow because of the power under the soil, the bulb God created me to be totally equipped with the Holy Spirit to do good works and inspire people. My growth has little to do with the circumstances. We tend to blame the circumstance. We tend to use the situations in life, and excuse our poor behavior because of where we are. Or, we claim its the circumstances are what gives us the strength to endure. No, our growth comes from deep within, just like the tulip bulb. It’s all about what God has provided in my bulb, my heart.
Tulips are known for their resilience. They will pop up and provide beauty when it’s time. How can I be as resilient in my life so I don’t look at the snow and cold surrounding me and freak out? Where do I need to focus so my surroundings are simply a place to grow and wait for Gods timing? God has given the bulb under the ground what needs to bloom when the time is right. If he worries about a tulip, I know he has put within the bulb of my heart, the growth already started to bloom. I just need to wait for his timing, and quit griping about the cold and wet spring! That too will change!
In the middle of nowhere
In the middle of nowhere is actually in the middle of somewhere! Really, that’s where I am. I could tell you based on gps where I am, but looking at my surroundings, I am in the middle of nowhere. Nowhere that is, based on my knowledge of where I am.
Now if I were home, Minnesota, I might be in the middle of nowhere, but it’s home to me, so it’s my somewhere. To others, not familiar withh the hills and crannies od aouthern Minnesota, it might be the middle of nowhere. It’s all perspective.
To those who live here eastern Colorado, it’s their somewhere. It’s home, it’s familiar and it’s their somewhere.
To me, I am approximately a long ways from the mountains of Colorado and close to the Nebraska/ Kansas border.
Often, God takes us out of our somewhere and places us in nowhere. He does this to talk to us, teach us and remind us our perspective in life is so much different than his.
Yesterday we had to trust the GPS, directions given us and the road signs to get to the middle of nowhere. Yet in the nowhere, its somewhere to the people who live here. Their directions may tell us to go north for a ways and turn left by the old barn and it’s the third place by the grove of trees. If it’s your somewhere, you nailed it and you understand it. To a stranger, it’s the middle of nowhere and all the barns look like old barns and we think a grove of trees is a forest not three clumped together hiding from the Colorado wind.
God puts in places to build our faith. We need to trust him when we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere. When we put our faith in God not the foreign landscape, the unknowns of life and the confusion inside of us, our nowhere becomes our somewhere. There is so much beauty in the nowhere’s of life. Don’t miss enjoying them as you find your somewhere. God is in both!
“Oh. no- the elastic in my underwear won’t stretch”.
I got challenged. It happens sometimes, but this was probably one of the funniest. I spoke in Colorado at the Yuma Christian Church women’s retreat and a friend drove up from the Springs to accompany me. Since she has known me for over 30 years, I had her introduce me rather than the organizer of the women’s retreat reading a bio. Well, Pam did an excellent job and then started talking about the odd titles of my books. That’s when I laughed out loud. She challenged me to write a devotion based on one of the sayings she had written down. What was I to do? I had to accept. So Saturday afternoon, with very little time to think or prepare, I took this title and wrote something. I don’t want to call it a devotional, but you might get the giggles, as did all the ladies at the Women’s Retreat. The title was none other than, “Oh. no- the elastic in my underwear won’t stretch”.
“I can’t do it. There have been many times when I thought I couldn’t. I have tried, and it isn’t working. My faith is weak, my follow-through is poor, and my want to—well, that went out the door.
What’s the issue? God is asking me to stretch my faith, and I can’t. It’s as if the elastic in my underwear (my heart) won’t stretch. Stretching our faith is where we encounter miracles. It’s where we warm up our muscles to the possibilities that God has waiting for us. God can do so much in our lives when we stretch our faith. But, we start to stretch and get the horrible feeling that we are stuck, can’t breathe, and it’s as if the elastic in the underwear of our faith won’t stretch.
In Luke 7, the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. They should have said, Lord, we need new spiritual underwear. Jesus was asking them to live by faith. They kept doing what they had always done. To move mountains, they needed the faith of a mustard seed. They had difficulty bending down to pick up the seed off the ground because they were slightly bound by their traditions and understanding.
God sees our potential and we lose out on the faith moving mountain moments because our underwear is too tight. We keep putting on the faith we always have, and it’s too small. Perhaps God is asking us to leave the things we used to use and change the sizes of our faith (underwear). Jesus asks us to change, not just keep griping because our elastic won’t stretch and our underwear is too tight. God has bigger and better things for us if we are willing to step out of what we have always tried and let him move our faith on to bigger and better things where we can breathe deeper and aren’t bound by elastic that won’t go any farther. Maybe it’s time to change the things in life we have always tried, but they aren’t letting our faith stretch!
What happens when you eat?
What happens when you eat? Okay, I don’t mean the process of which food breaks down inside your digestive system and enters your intestines. Although interesting it’s just biology. Perhaps the better question is, what happens when you eat with others? Eating together not just opens the mouth, it opens the heart. Jesus did it. Which of course is one reason why we should eat with others, but he did it because he knew the value of hand on spoon, open mouth, chew, listen to others, laugh, tell more stories and repeat. In the Bible to eat with someone meant you accepted them. You accepted them regardless of their social status, their ability to provide or their posture at the table. I imagine there were people telling their friends they ate with Jesus on a hillside! Okay, 5000 plus people ate with Jesus on a hillside but we love to share who we eat with because we sense a value when someone says, eat lunch with us! Elbow to elbow, bite for bite, filet mignon or leftovers, it’s a time of being together with the same mindset and for a few minutes heart to heart sharing a meal.
It was much more than sharing left overs today, it was warming the heart and being loved upon. It was much more then sending us on our way with a belly full, it was sending us on our way with a heart full.
The tree…
We moved to the farm in 1997. At the time, I loved trees. I still love trees but now I look at them differently. When the kids were small we played in the woods, created hidden places to explore and made hot dogs over a poorly made fire but good enough to roast a wiener and s’mores.
As I get older, I see trees differently. This morning as the dog and I went for our walk around the property, I looked at the tree. Usually the bald eagles sit in this trees watching over the farm. From the angle I can see from the house, it’s tall and majestic. However from the side I saw this morning on my walk, the odd crooked growth made me stop and wonder. What made it grow crooked? Was it the wind? Was it something in its growing that it leaned the south? If I could talk to the tree perhaps it would tell me how it all happened? Was it a slow moment in time or was it a storm that bent the twig that grew crooked? As my dog ran to find his perfect spot, I wondered how I look at crooked people? Sometimes I am not as gentle as I would be with my questions, as I might to a tree. The way the tree has grown doesn’t diminish its usefulness. It still provides shade, leaves, habitat and beauty. When it comes down, the wood will be used for many purposes and the animals that live within the bark are thankful for their protections and safety. When I look at people who are bent from life, do I see them as useful, beautiful and providing places for others to relish from their shade?
Jesus seemed to look for people who were bent over from life. He gave them a reason to live, to have a reason to exist and find usefulness in their bentedness( I love making up words). Of course Jesus straightened people up, which I can’t do, but I can bend down to love them, listen to them and look in their eyes! Looking in the eyes of another, is the easiest way to the heart!
Choose Joy
At Bible study, the focus was on finding contentment in the journey. The challenge was to find the joy in the moment, being in the moment and feeling the itch of wanting more but not scratching it. Life is best lived when we take the moment God gives us and find the beauty there. This soon will pass when the moments are a challenge, and this too will pass when the moments are breathtakingly! On my way home, i thought of the extremes of life and how I have been blessed with both and found joy in the moment, in knowing the extremes.
I have loved and I have been loved.
I have done wrong and I have been wronged.
I have sung music and I have listened to beautiful songs.
I have walked in the rain and I have been in a desert.
I have had friends and I have been a friend.
I have cried and I have wiped tears from another’s eyes
I had stood in the quiet forest and I have wandered the prairie.
My stomach had been full and I have gone hungry.
I have been lost a lot, and I have found my way many times.
I have eaten the delicacies of sweetness and tasted the bitter.
I have been warm and have been chilled to the bone.
My feet have walked on the dry leaves in fall and touched the emerging buds in spring time
I have slept like a baby and I have tossed restlessly awake until morning.
My eyes have beheld the birth of a child and I have closed the eyes of a loved one in death.
The opposites of life teach us how to live. Learn to embrace all the moments in life. Choose to see Joy in the moment!
Through the eyes of a child’s heart
Through the eyes of a child’s heart, life is simple. It’s trucks and loaders and an adult should drop everything to play.
Through the eyes of a child’s heart, life is short. Now, can’t wait, 2 minutes has no concept of actually 120 seconds.
Through the eyes of a child’s heart, one sees fear and anxiety differently. We think we know, therefore we tend to hide or mask our fears. Children are real: their eyes show what they cannot hide. Through the eyes of a child’s heart, they are the most important thing to you, or so they think. Just being on the floor with them, reading or listening charges their heart and fills their emotional tank.
Through the eyes of a child’s heart, the simple things mean alot. Rock piles, eggs and sausage, play dough and dump trucks. It’s just a chunk of play dough but in their minds it is a rock, on a mountain and a bolder by a stream. Through a child’s heart one can fly without wings, dance without music and sing without words.
Guess you can tell where I have been for the past 48 hours… seeing life through eyes of a child’s heart!
Kwik Trip encounter
I had myself a personal encounter with the Kwik Trip cashier. It is normal for me to attempt to engage the person behind the counter. It’s not normal for words shared to become a conversation. I stood in line holding an armful of things. I went in to get two, ended up with three and a bit awkward I will admit to hold them without spilling or dropping. We exchanged words and then she said, “Can I get you a bag for your items?”
That’s where the “ I does it myself” mantra jumped in- the words our oldest child excelled in saying. I told her no thank you, I would simply drop them all over the parking lot providing entertainment for everyone including her. Then I knew I had met my match! She didn’t miss a beat. “and I would speak over the parking lot intercom, that’s why I offered you a bag Ma’am”. Then she laughed and said “ have a great day- visit us again soon” and then just for spite she said as I was gathering my three awkward items, “get your act together now!”
I piled my arms full and she watched me exit, pushing one door open with my foot and the next with my backside! I got to the truck with no incidents and no intercom announcement in the parking lot.
Why is it so hard to accept a plastic bag? Why is it so difficult to simply let someone else make our waltz through the parking lot easier? Why do we go through life proclaiming, “I does it myself.”
Jesus said, through Paul, that we are to bear the burdens of each other. It’s kind of hard to bear someone burdens with them when they stagger through the parking lots of life with their issues piles high, the top things balanced awkwardly and slightly swaying the entire pile. It takes very little effort to accept a bag. It takes very little effort to hand off one little thing, the one that could break the camels back (remember that game).
Our human nature uses the intercom when we dump everything over the parking lot. Jesus’s nature, jumps over the counter, pushes the door opener and is on his knees picking up our mess before we can respond.
Just a few minute encounter after church left me with a lot to think about. May I be quicker to allow someone to help me than argue why I can does it myself!!!
It’s COLD
Cold. Maybe. A chill in the air. Perhaps. Below zero. Definitely and yet it’s just number we have assigned in a thermometer to the changing times. Years ago how cold was cold? If you don’t know it’s 26 below zero with a windchill of 45, it’s just cold.
This whole winter vortex time has made me think more, primarily because it’s too cold to be outside which is my preferred place unless it’s “this cold”.
People. Some are warm. Some are hot. Some are cold and then there are those whom we cannot put a temperature on but we can feel the below zero windchill.
I came home from my week of sabbath with people who warmed my heart. Perhaps they were warm, maybe some of them hot but I chose to be in their presence because of their influence to my heart. They warmed my heart. They gave me things to think about. I felt the love whether it was eating chocolate covered peanuts or doing a puzzle. Our hearts have a thermometer, and we can feel when the mercury is rising or falling.
There are a few people, no, I won’t name names, that chill my bones. I can get along with almost anyone, but there are a few that make my heart shake slightly. It’s the windchill factor. Jesus hinted and it’s a song also, “they will know we are Christian’s by our love.” That can also be a reflection of our chilled heart when we give people the cold shoulder, or an icy stare. Perhaps being Jesus some days, is raising the temperature in someone else’s bubble. But to do that, you have to get close enough for them to feel your warmth and they feel safe enough to take some of the layers off their heart.
My week of SABBATH
Sabbath. A word we associate with the Old Testament, or perhaps the Jewish faith. Sabbath. A reference to quiet, simplicity, or not working. As a child, the only reference to the Sabbath is from the Bible and reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book, “Farmer Boy,”. She shared a hysterical description of the kids sneaking out to sled while their father napped. Rather than sitting on their bench and reading, they thought they could have a quiet slide down the hill only to be met halfway down by a pig, which landed on their lap on the sled and bellered. (I am not sure pigs beller but you get the point) the entire way down the hill, alerting the sleeping father.
Twenty-five years ago, I was sick. The doctors said we don’t know what’s wrong, so heal yourself. That began my search for health, which resulted in discovering what Sabbath means.
Sabbath, a simple seven-letter word, is so much more than the day of rest from sunup to sundown in the ancient world. It’s more than simply not walking more than ¾ of a mile.
Sabbath is not the absence of activity, but the presence of intentionality.
Sabbath isn’t a day of rest as much as it is a day of reset.
Sabbaths are more than just moments of quiet; Sabbaths are moments of reflection.
Sabbath is to reboot the soul, refresh the heart, renew the body and return to the beauty of why God said, “It is good”.
I have been on a Sabbath week. That has included over 1900 miles, four different beds, nine town I drove by the city square, five time I stopped to chat, and in a few minutes, hug goodbye. My trip also included lots of food, and hours of sitting on a stool at a kitchen counter listening, laughing and loving. My sabbath week included holding hands in prayer, watching miles of rolling hills, curvy roads, one car wash, several gas stations, hitting a bird, brunch in the Arkansas hills, and many lunches with friends. My sabbath included walking into an office of someone I did not know, handing them a paper and asking them whose handwriting was on the paper then talking for half an hour about what that name represented. It included those things because for me, the Sabbath is a change of my normal pace, to redirect my heart to let God speak through experiences, friends, strangers, and silence. Rather than observe the sabbath with an absence of things to do, I spent a Sabbath week being intentional. I purposefully said hello, waved goodbye, hugged friends, snuggled with children, chased an armadillo so I could get a good photo, stopped along the road to marvel at the beauty, crowded into a room with college girls talking through Proverbs, and held the doors for strangers. Rather than resting on a couch, or lying in a hammock, I chose to reset my heart with hours of music, podcasts, sermons and being in a slightly uncomfortable chair for many hours, perhaps trying to stay awake at times, listening to the challenge to find Hope, be Hope, and hearing thousands sing Hallelujah. There were quiet moments. Moments I knelt by my bed, prayed, listened to God and reflected on how blessed I am, how simply God touched my heart and how profound a hug and “I love you” were.
Genesis 1:31 tells us “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Now before you contend I am taking everything out of context, God saw what he had done had purpose, and it gave him pleasure. Sabbath can become a time of purpose which brings our hearts pleasure. It changes the forward direction, causes us to stop and bring purpose into what often becomes a time of passivity. Sabbath is to reboot the soul, refresh the heart, renew the body and return to the beauty of creation. That means different things to different people.
For me, I will head home exhausted but refreshed. I am wearing my clothes a second time, but my heart is renewed and I don’t think I smell too bad! The list of friends and their prayer needs is etched into my soul. My week of sabbath has revitalized my desire to serve, given my soul spiritual nuggets to chew on, shed a few tears that surprised me, allowed me to make music in a small country church, play a few friends guitars and listen to the birds singing outside my window. Sabbath has been rejoicing as the text came with the news of a new grandbaby safe and healthy in the arms of a very proud dad and mom. Sabbath allowed me to rejoice in the ‘good’ moments that God gave me, and the uniqueness of creation known as the flatlands of Iowa, the hills of Missouri and the rocky hollers of Arkansas.
I will turn the car north on I-35 heading for home and it will be the end of a beautiful week of Sabbath. My heart is full. You know the full that you think when you think it can’t get any better, yet I know it will. God will have a few surprises for me as I head to the cold north tundra and to my fireplace, my dog and the guy who says he is looking forward to me being home, which usually means, he has run out of the food I stocked for him, needs some laundry done, and maybe is lonely and wants to listen to me talking endlessly about my Sabbath. After all, when God said it was very good, he went on talking for 66 more books. The end of Sabbath, begins by adding more to the story that has already begun. Create a sabbath and see where God leads your heart. It could be to Arkansas or Missouri!
Keep a Kleenex handy when you pray
The best gifts bring tears. Perhaps it’s the unexpected that shakes the heart. Maybe it’s the long anticipated desire finally come to fruition. Or it’s just, unexpected, surprise, shock and the gift moves the heart which in turn brings tears.
Oh and yes, I must say there are times the gifts and the tears are perhaps slightly unwanted and it’s tears of what do I do with this, or the realization that someone really thought that’s what you needed and instead of laughing hysterically you reaction is tears.
The best gifts come because they are gifts that bring the focus back to the most important part of life and that is the love someone felt, and then acted upon! Priceless are the tears a gift brings.
The past few days I have stood with my arms around people and prayed. It wasn’t a gift to be unwrapped but we all had tears. The beauty of friendships are gifts. The gifts of prayers are filled with gratitude and often dripping with tears!!! And very easy to unwrap!! Put your hands around someone and pray for them. And maybe have a Kleenex handy!!!!
Quick on the Draw
John 18, begins with Jesus heading for a place to be alone. I can relate. Sometimes being alone with good friends is the best place to be. Verse 10 stops my heart for many reasons but it brings me to ask the question, how am fast of a draw am I?
I am a pretty good shot. I can hit the dot on a paper plate at the shooting range, I can hit the golf ball within five feet of its target( for me that’s huge) and I used to be able to sink free throws repeatedly! But am I a fast draw? I wonder how much Peters accuracy came into play when he cut off Malachus ear? I think he was aiming for his head and missed! But the point was he drew. He pulled that knife out of his hidden robe when he felt Jesus was threatened. Would I? Do I?
Luke tells us in chapter 22 Jesus healed him. Jesus would have put his head back on had Peter had a longer sword of different results with his aim.
My question is, am I that quick to defend Jesus with either my words or my actions? The rest of the disciples stood by. Peter, reactive Peter, did something. The wrong thing, but he did something. Give me a friend anyday that does, maybe things that aren’t the best actions, but they show their love for me by acting. Far too many of us just stand with our hands at our side while life goes on. Give me wisdom to draw when I need to, the self control when it’s needed but most of all, let me love so others know I am all in, by their side, ready to grab the snake by the tail and let it fly if I need to. And just for the record, I HATE snakes, so I would really have to love you if I grabbed one to protect you!!!
Lord let me love you so much, I am willing to draw. Give me wisdom what to draw, in both my words and actions.
Connecting the dots
It began with, “We are going to take a small detour.” He should be used to that after 36 years of living with me. He should be used to that, as he had heard it probably a million times. Why he questions me at all is a shock to my heart.
We were somewhere in northern Wisconsin driving to find frozen waterfalls. In the map I saw a word. Call it rabbit trails, or mind meanderings, it’s when the one hears or sees a word and it starts connecting dots!
Some people don’t connect dots. The husband isn’t good at connecting dots because he doesn’t do dots! I do dots. No, it’s not the ice cream, not polka dots, and not the candy! It’s when you experience people, events, or places and they become dots in your life. Connecting dots is when life’s circumstances bring those dots together.
We went out of our way because of the convenience of technology. I texted my friend if the word should ring a bell? She said yes that’s where they used to live. Jim asked how I could remember that little word? I said I was just connecting dots or maybe I said it’s because I am an elephant. We drove down toward the little town, took pictures of the signs along the road and a picture of the house and the old church now became something else. He didn’t slow much so I could take better pictures. He said it was something about oncoming traffic and getting killed just to take a picture, but I think it’s because I connect dots and he doesn’t!
What does connecting dots mean? It means I listen to dots, I invest in dots, I visit with dots and I love dots. I go out of my way to connect dots and I have a wide variety of dots in my life. The coolest thing is when I hear someone ask someone else, how do you know them, and I watch the dots connect in the oddest but coolest ways.
God talks with us through people, loves us with circumstances that become answers to prayers and leads us through a series of connecting dots in life. We see His plan, when we look back at the wild goose chases and see them as connecting dots. My challenge to you, be a dot! On the white page of life lay down dots. Then sit back and watch God connect your dots!
Jesus and the garden
A song I have sung, played, and listened to for many years is a song from which comfort is brought, emotions are driven, and beauty is portrayed. Yet, I don’t like the song. No one wanted to come with me. Few really helped if they were with me, and I didn’t know what I was doing most of the time. The song? “In the Garden.” It begins with, “I come to the garden alone,” a very innocent line, and I thought of it as I began reading John 18 this morning. Jesus went to the garden. There are actually four gardens that I could find mentioned in the Bible. But in that quick little comment, in the disciple’s make of Jesus going to the garden, my mind is nowhere near the garden of early Bible times, and my head is wrapped around my feeble attempt to have a garden.
Jesus and I have something in common. No, I can’t turn three loaves and two fish into a buffet, but I make a good cinnamon roll batch. I can’t turn water into wine, but I can take my pail of water and spill it all over the floor. It seems like I am good at that one!
Jesus and I have weeds in our garden; perhaps that’s why none of the kids wanted to go to the garden with me. It might not be a big deal if it was to pick tomatoes, eat peas off the vine (because that’s what you do), or dig potatoes, but much of my time in the garden was spent pulling weeds. Unfortunately, I pulled many plants because I wasn’t sure which was a weed or my plant.
Jesus went to the garden, and his garden had a weed.
Earlier in a parable, we are told to leave growing things together, and the weeds will be sorted at the harvest. That goes against most gardening rules. Weeds take up the energy, moisture, and ground in which other plants can thrive. I thought we were supposed to pull the weeds when we knew they were weeds so everything else could grow? Judas was the weed in Jesus’ garden that showed up in Luke 18. For whatever reason, Jesus allowed the weed to walk with him, listen to him, and eat with him, knowing he was a weed in a plant’s body.
I will get dressed today, and I have a plan for the day with things I have felt led to be doing. What am I dressed like, and what will I act like? Will I look like a plant, but inside am a weed? Will I walk alongside plants being choked out by weeds, and I help them pull some things from their life that are taking up air, moisture, and space and are not healthy? Will I walk beside Judas and, like Jesus, love without comment, without prejudice, and without an agenda? Will I just let Jesus love through me, or will I want to start pulling things that bother me, something I might call a weed that’s really a flower waiting to blossom?
I didn’t get past the second verse in John 18 today, but it sure gave me a lot to think about.
Keep your stick on the ice
I have had the honor of traveling around the world, spending time in London, Amsterdam, Kampala, Singapore, and have also enjoyed Logan, Kansas, Enfiels, NH, Cashmere, WA and Berne, MN. There is a big difference. Some you may have heard a lot about. They are “well-known”. Others are just bumps on the roadmap that I found myself in. Comparing the two, I will take a bump any day over a big! Last night we went to one of the small bumps and went to the local hockey game.
I love the feel of small town America. There is something different about the bumps than the bigs. We laughed the whole night. I elbowed my husband several times as he made noises throughout the National Anthem. (He wasn’t singing) It was sung with pride, but got a few of the notes, a lot of the words wrong and I have no idea what key we ended up in but it wasn’t the one the song started in.
I love hockey. I grew up on Al Shaver and the Minnesota North Stars. We had the games on using every radio we had in the house and barn.
Last night the hockey game was good. They brought out the Pee Wee kids to stand with the players before the game. Some could skate. Some could skate better. Some used their stick as the third skate.
Between the first and second period before the Zamboni came back out to polish the ice, here they came again. They split the arena and the kids played. Played is a term I perhaps should not have used. Flipped, flopped, crashed, cried! Yes, there is crying in hockey. He was poised wobbly on his skates in the middle of the rink. The game played around him. Visibly, you could tell the desire to play was gone: he was done. The coach came over to encourage and he wasn’t having any of it. Eventually, he stood in the middle, shoulders bent, the long sleeves of his jersey covering his large hockey gloves, and his head dropped. As a mom I could tell the position and through his little helmet you could see him crying. The others played around him as if he wasn’t even there.
Sometimes in life I feel like that little boy. I am done. I am tired. I don’t want to play anymore! I want to go back to the dressing room of life and get my gear off and go home. The rest of the world around me doesn’t even seem to care that I am in the middle of their game clogging up the fast break to get to their goal. They just play around me.
Eventually the coach came over and skated with him to the side of the rink. Then, came the end of the games if you can call them that, and they all skated, slipped and fell in a line for the picture! Guess where our little guy was? He was hiding by the penalty box. Once again the coach picked him up and brought him over and plopped him on the ice with the other kids.
Lord help me on the days in life when I just don’t want to play the game I find myself skating in. Give me people like the coach to keep encouraging me to hang around the edge of the rink. Give me mentors to pull me back into the picture even if I don’t feel like it. Lord we are all in this together. Remind me when I don’t want to play, that I am still on the team! Sometimes I will have days, when in the middle of the rink crying seems like my best option. Whatever and whoever you send me Lord to pick me up, use them to remind me to keep my stick on the ice! The puck might actually come my way!
We did it. We put away Christmas. I had already taken down the big tree, but this past weekend, the rest of Christmas left upstairs was carefully put away. Well, perhaps not carefully, either. I just put it away.
Some people neatly organize, wrap the lights, and ensure everything has its place. I begin that way, and then it erupts into “we are putting it away, just get it done” mode.
This morning, my Bible study mentioned putting away, but it wasn’t the Christmas tree; it was bitterness. I went right back to my unorganized flopping of Christmas into the box.
Ephesians 4:31-32 says, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.”
Put away. Does Paul mean just thrown in a box, with the lid tossed on the top? Is Paul referring to those who meticulously wrap, organize, and create a place just for each ornament? Does it matter? Really, for all of you who have little ornament crates and wrap your lights, does it matter?
Well, let’s fast forward to next November when the boxes or crates come out of the basement. That’s when it matters. When the ornaments are broken, or you can’t find where you put them, yes, it matters. When the lights have knit themselves together over the past 10 months and are a tangled mess. Yes, it matters.
Take that to “bitterness” and those other words that taste like anger. Paul says, “Put away.”
Does it matter how we put away our bitterness? Perhaps when we toss the bitterness in the box without dealing with it, understanding it, asking forgiveness for it, and moving past it, the next time a situation comes into our hearts, we find the ornaments of our bitterness are a broken mess. The lights of anger have twisted themselves so much in our hearts that we relive the bitterness all over again.
When we put away with purpose, whether lights or anger, we will have fewer moments of being tangled up again and frustrated. Perhaps when Paul said “put away,” he meant a deeper intention than just boxing up and stashing it in the back of the crawl space.
Need mommy!
We have been with the a couple of the grandbabies! It’s a different world, one of which we have been in and through but how quickly we forget. Our lives don’t allow us to be close to watching the grandchildren grow up. Plans went awash to enjoy a water park vacation with the kids and grandkids in ohio, literally with the rain, ice, snow mess that went across the middle of the states so we settled for hanging in Illinois with two of the grands. Wade is 2 1/2! He is all farmer, all boy and all moving parts work in fast motion. But there are moments, when he becomes the little boy with a heart that has one solution. His voice changes, his arms go up in the air and he loudly declares what will solve his immediate issue! Need Mommy! Nothing else will satisfy. Nothing else will fit in the need box and no one else can take the place of Mommy.
We kind of have joked about it this week. We all need things. Need coffee, need chocolate, need a vacation or need a break! We need a friend, we need our space, we need good advice and we need someone to listen.
When was the last time you loudly proclaimed you need Jesus and would not settle for anything less? No one else, nothing else, no substitutes and no delays. You need Jesus and you need him now. You are being just like the toddler Wade who will settle for nothing less than his mommy right now!
Phil. 4:19-20 “And my God will fully supply your every need according to his glorious riches in the Messiah Jesus. Glory belongs to our God and Father forever and ever!
Dont ever be afraid to “need” the one thing that will wrap around your heart like nothing else will do. Need Jesus!
I didn’t think ahead but then again why should I have to: I have a husband! Every time we walk into church Jim grabs two communion cups. Every time. If you know Jim, he is rather predictable. So today, I came back from playing the keyboard during worship, sat by my wonderful predictable husband as we prepared for communion and, he only had one cup!
I mouthed, “I guess we are sharing.” It was then that God slapped me on the side of the heart. The Lord supper is all about sharing. Jesus shared the cup and the bread. Matthew 26 reminds us that he broke bread and gave it. It wasn’t those nice little plastic cups with a wafer on top. I can imagine it was a series of passing out varied broken off pieces of bread, sharing as it was passed down the row. Only in our culture do we tend to think we need our “own”? After the meditation, Jim reached over and held out the wafer. I broken off a piece. He sipped half of the juice and handed it to me.
Okay, yes I know we could have raised our hand and the usher would have come and given us an extra one but I chose not to. I chose to let the meaning be of sharing, working together and allowing the simple become profound.
Special Touch Ministry 