Category: Devotions

If someone had a video camera in the vicinity of the elementary school today they would have had a Funniest home video of some sort. I was sitting waiting for Baihley at my usual spot, in the football parking lot, and as I sat talking to my sister on the phone, which incidentally waiting time is my catch up with family time, I was watching across from me the kids line up to go to the buses. I saw the hub-bub and I heard the yells but what I saw was what prompted my action. Lately it seems as if I’ve been in the right place at the right time. It’s happened more than half a dozen times in the past 3 months and I still marvel at where God has placed me not only to save a life, rescue a toddler, pray for a friend, listen to a heart break and the other night sit with someone as they sobbed. I asked God awhile ago, 2 years to be exact, that I wanted to be do more and be more than just what I had been doing. Hang on with both hands when that happens because it’s been far beyond my imagination where this has led me. The other night as I watched a lady leave a Bible study sobbing, I found my feet following her. I wasn’t from that church, I didn’t have a clue who she was but I knew one thing; I wouldn’t want to cry alone. Today wasn’t quite so dramatic but it was humorous. I was sitting watching the drama unfold and thought I should take action. Take home folders are important to first graders. Take home folders are life. They carefully, well maybe not so carefully, put their important papers, well okay, probably not so important, but to a first grader they are life crisis. Those papers are their papers. Whoever this take home folder belonged to decided to exit the back-pack enroute to the bus. It’s a very windy day here in Minnesota. The wind has been swirling all afternoon. I rode horse all afternoon, I should know. Buddy was a bit on the goosy side for awhile as he listened to the wind instead of Katie and me. I told my sister I should get out and pick up the papers; much easier said than done. I grabbed one, then the other one flew away and five more were coming at her. When I went to grab it, the wind picked it up and ten feet in the air it flew heading for the field fence. Here I was chasing papers all over the parking lot. Just when I would get to one, the wind would pick it up and away we would go. Once I went to jump on one and all I got when I jumped was dirt under my shoes and the paper laughingly headed toward the outhouses by the football fence. Eventually I got them all picked up. I learned his name was Christian. He had several smiley faces and a parent signature. There were book order forms, spelling words, math worksheets and several parent signature sheets. I had a hand full by the time I got all I could find and walked back across the highway past the buses and into the office where I gave them to the secretary.
What difference does picking papers up have to do with my day? Not much really, except think of how much better our lives would be if we all picked up papers for each other? I’ve dropped my papers before and watched them fly away. It’s a very helpless feeling. Sure, those first graders papers aren’t that important, but to him they were. We all have our opinions of what’s important to people. If it’s not important to us we think it shouldn’t be important to others. We watch people’s papers scatter and we don’t care enough to get out of our car, or comfort zone and run after papers flying in the wind. I wasn’t really crazy about chasing papers all over today but something prompted me to get out of the car and pick them up. That same thing prompted me to follow the lady who was crying last week. That same thing prompts me to listen when someone starts talking to me and I see in their eyes there is more to the story that just words. There are times we have to put our agenda aside and get out of our car and chase papers. Most of us think we are too busy. We let the papers fly around and let whoever cleans up the road ditches handle the mess. Perhaps God is calling you to pick up other people’s papers. That could be simple, that could be complex. It could be a five minute amusing job as it was for me today, or it could be an hour of crying along side a friend. In the end, it might not be a big thing in your life, but it may be a life saver to them. A lot of it is just caring enough when things start flying to stop and offer your hand. The papers may mean very little, but your extending your hand because you care will mean more than you will ever know. And I hope tomorrow when the teacher gives Christian all his papers, he smiles from the bottom of his little first grade shoes!!!

I missed it yesterday- the shouting, throwing of clothes and laying down palm branches. It was a much more culturally appropriate response to Palm Sunday I am sure. I missed that description, although I am not sure I have ever seen it.
John 12 tells “They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting “Hosanna!”
Matthew is a bit more descriptive. “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. “
Mark 11 says “Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!”
and then there is Luke. “As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Four ways of looking at Jesus coming to save them. Going to meet Jesus, spreading coats, spreading branches, shouting and praising God for all his miracles. I would love a Palm Sunday with that kind of sacrifice to need saving.
We sing Hosanna which means “Lord Save us.” It is from the Hebrew phrase meaning “Pray, save us” If I was needing saving, really felt I needed saving, I am not sure I would be calm about it. There have been more than a few times that I have needed saving and Jim got a phone call that wasn’t necessarily calm and collected.
So if I really think I need saving, which I do, and I am convicted that Jesus is the only one who can be my Hosanna, how far am I willing to go? Throwing my coat, doesn’t seem like a big deal because I have more coats. In that time, they might have only had one, and not a Samsung Washing machine in the basement to clean it after it got walked on by people, and by a donkey. I have a chainsaw and a lopper- cutting branches off trees is easier for me than it would have been for them. But if I cut the branch, the growth is over. The tree branches provided shade. Shade is now gone. And the shouting? We are careful not to offend people by talking to loud or saying the wrong thing. Am I willing to shout to anyone who will let me talk their ear off about the miracles he has done in my life? What if they get upset with me? What if they call me intimidating, or bragging or tell me to be quiet?
That’s what we hear happened on Palm Sunday. How can we calmly stand singing about how we need saving? What coat am I willing to throw on the ground? What is valuable to me that I can lay down to show Jesus I need saving or that I am thankful for salvation? What needs to be cut down, let it die, for me to live deeper for him? When do I need to get over my pride and shout a bit because of a need I have, and a need Jesus will/has handled for me? We love to tell the good stories, the miracles, and we should. This week however, might be a good time for us to think about what we are willing to lay down, cut down or shout about.

They left us alone. We had two bottles, the grandbaby and directions of what to do. We pulled all the tricks out of the very new grandparent bag of “what to do when baby fusses “ moments. Two bottles downed, play time, scooting across the floor and every toy tried failed. It was time for bed. Not for us, unfortunately!!! He fussed, he cried, he got himself all worked up. I got another big burp out, grandpa heard it in the other room and then I defied the orders. The orders, “don’t snuggle him just put him in the bed.” I held him close and sang wordless melody’s that had no beginning nor end. Slowly his body relaxed and it was a few minutes and his eyes were closed and he was “gone”. I didn’t put him down right away. I just held him close.

An hour before we got the news our friend had passed. Since her diagnosis of cancer, she had become my wednesday prayer partner. I held that precious baby and imagined God holding her close as her body struggled with the transition of going home.

This really hit home as I thought back to one of her messages to me.

“Thank you, Marette. I’ve been having more discomfort/pain as this cancer grows and that makes it easy to feel more of the darkness. I’m His child though, and he is holding me, even when I don’t recognize it. ”

Wade knew it wasn’t mommy holding him but he did know someone was and he was loved. Lori knew who was holding her, even when it didn’t feel like it: her faith knew God was.

May we all trust God when the darkness of reality, cancer, pain, frustration and failure covers our heart. May we have the confidence that Lori had. We are Gods children and He is holding us. To go to sleep in the arms of God must be a very comforting beautiful moment only surpassed by waking up in Gods arm in eternity.

Not recommended! We heard that suggestion getting off the boat. Of course, I am married to someone who said, they didn’t say we couldn’t, they just said, not recommended. I have no desire to walk on a sandbar that is highly recommended that I do not walk on. It’s not something that tempts me at all. Yet, there are so many things in life that God says as we get off the boats in our world, and head out into our day “I wouldn’t recommend that” that intrigue me!

We find all sorts of reasons to do the “not recommended” because we see it as exciting, or fun, or perhaps just because it wasn’t recommended, seems like a green light to try it. I have no clue why it wasn’t recommended that we walk on the sand bar. Perhaps because it wasn’t safe, maybe because it’s government property and probably the biggest reason is there is no reason to. Often just because something exists doesn’t mean we need to conquer and put our flag on it. Along with the “not recommended”, there are plenty of things they told us to do when we got off the boat. Yet, that sandbar kept calling me to wonder, why it had other parameters.

God give us a wide avenue in which to walk: the recommended things in life that bring us life, hope and joy more than we can ever fully take in. Yet, we look at the “not recommended” things and start drooling.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5. Simply put, it’s recommended that we abide in him. Yet, we see the not recommended which takes us apart from him, and we just want to know what it would be like to step onto the sandbar.

Enjoy today in the things God has given, recommended and blessed your life with. Those sandbars in life will be there, we don’t have to look or wait for them. And trust the people God has put in your path that reminds you what isn’t recommended. Someones we just need someone standing there as we get off the boat reminding us where to walk and what isn’t recommended.