Warning!

One of the projects on my to-do list this fall is to make a photo book of our recent travels around the country.  So far, progress is very slow.  This is a daunting task!  Trying to sort through thousands of photographs to find the favorites and the best and the ones which most clearly tell the story of our adventure is overwhelming!

As I have been identifying favorites, this is one that made the cut:

 

 

 

Signs like this one were present in many of the rest areas as we traveled across the Southwest.  Some of them were phrased a little differently.  Rattlesnakes may be present.  So read one of the signs.  We don't typically have signs like that in rest areas here in the South. 

 

I chose that photo for my photo book because it was a part of our experience on the road. 

 

I also chose it because it's a good reminder for daily living.  There are hazards everywhere.  That's why we need to have our guard up.  Always.

 

There are rattlesnakes.  And roaring lions.  And wolves in sheep's clothing.

 

Be on guard.

 

"You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."  (2 Peter 3:17-18 NASB, emphasis mine)

 



Your Password Is Incorrect

We live in a world that requires a password for everything.  Access to your smartphone.  Or to Facebook.  Or to Twitter.  Or to online banking.  Or online shopping.  Or to retrieve your voice mail.  There's a password for everything.

Have you ever forgotten a password?  Oh, the frustration!  And if you forgot the password and you also forgot the answers to the security questions that would help you retrieve and reset the password........

It's a nightmare. 

We went through that a couple of times over the summer.  And then again, yesterday, Al forgot a password that he had just reset a few weeks ago.  We had written it down on the day it was reset.  But because we were on the road, it didn't get written down in the place it normally would have.  Which meant that yesterday there was a search to find where it had actually been written down.  Eventually we found it, after much searching and frustration.

All that frustration reminded me once again how thankful I am that, when it comes time for me to enter Heaven, I won't need some combination of letters and numbers and special characters.

Because Jesus paid it all, and because I am in a personal relationship with Him, there is no other password needed.  I will enter Heaven, as the old gospel hymn said, in the merits of Jesus who for sinners bled and died. 

No other password needed.  Thank You, Lord!

"Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit."
(1 Peter 3:18 NASB)

Done Any Eavesdropping Lately? An Encore Post

Go ahead and admit it.  We all do it.  Listen in on the conversations around us.  I'm not talking about the hide-behind-the-door-like-a-sneak-so-you-can-hear-the-conversation-between-your-parents kind of eavesdropping.  I'm talking about just listening in on conversations that happen around you, the conversations that you aren't really a part of.  In the restaurant.  In the doctor's office.  At church.  In the mall.

When you listen to those conversations, what do you hear? 

Here's what I've heard a lot of lately:  complaining, whining, grumbling, negativity.  It's too hot.  It's too cold.  It rains too much.  It doesn't rain enough.  The coffee is too hot.  The coffee is cold.  The coffee is too strong.  The coffee is weak.  The tables are too close together.  It's too crowded.  I don't like that song.  The music is too loud.  Why don't we sing my favorite song?  Why are the chairs arranged this way?  The chairs are too close together.  The chairs are too far apart.  I don't like drums.  I don't like guitars.  On and on it goes.

There's a recurring theme.  What I like.  What I don't like.  Me.  I.  My.

Even among those of us who call ourselves Christian, there's an awful lot of complaining and grumbling and selfishness.  Maybe especially among those of us who call ourselves Christian. As though life is all and only about us and our own personal preferences. 

That's sad, isn't it?  Because the truth of the matter is, as Rick Warren wrote in The Purpose Driven Life, it's not about you.

Is this how we are displaying Jesus to the world?

I challenge you to pay attention to your conversation today. Really listen to yourself.
Eavesdrop on your own conversation, not just the conversations around you.  What's the dominant theme?

Certainly we live in challenging times.  The economy.  ISIS.  Border security.  Self-serving politicians.  The list of challenges could be very long.

And people around us are hurting.  Because of illness.  Or bereavement.  Or some other circumstance.

 But our joy isn't based on circumstances, is it?  Our joy is in the Lord Jesus.  And shouldn't that joy should be reflected in our conversation?

"Finally, brothers [and sisters], whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."             (Philippians 4:8 ESV)

"From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  My brothers [and sisters], these things ought not to be so."  (James 3:10 ESV)

"Through him [Jesus], let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name."  (Hebrews 13:15 ESV)

"Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude jesting, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving."  (Ephesians 5:4 ESV)

"Do all things without grumbling."  (Philippans 2:14 ESV)

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer."  (Psalm 19:14 ESV)

Seasons

We began a new season this week.  I love this time of year!  Fall may be my favorite season.  Cooler temperatures.  Leaves changing colors.  All things pumpkin.  What's not to love?

This week I'm in a different season for another reason as well.  For me this week has been the season of getting back to normal.  While we could certainly debate what normal is, and I agree with whoever first said that normal is a setting on the dryer, this has been a week of trying get back to regular routines. 

After three months on the road, living out of suitcases and sleeping in hotel rooms, this has been a week of adjusting to being at home.  A week of enjoying the blessing of sleeping in my own bed.  It has definitely been a week of doing laundry, which is finally caught up, and of unpacking suitcases, getting things back into their proper places, and of trying to reestablish some sense of normal.

Seasons change on a regular basis; we can look at the calendar and know that.  Summer, winter, spring, and fall are all part of the rhythm of life.

There are other seasons as well.  Seasons of adjustments.  Seasons of getting back to normal.  Seasons of health and seasons of sickness.  Seasons of joy and seasons of grief.  Seasons of youth and of old age.

Seasons change.  But even as they do, how thankful I am that, through every change, our loving Heavenly Father remains the same.

"This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."  (Lamentations 3:21-23 ESV)

Living Loud for Jesus

Some time ago, I came across an article about the 11 things the parents of boys should know, or some title similar to that.  I think the article originally appeared in the Huffington Post, which is not a publication I typically read, and when I tried to find the article again to verify the title, I couldn't find it.  No matter.  What I particularly remember from that article is the author's point that boys are loud.

The article was written by a woman, and apparently one who had never spent a lot of time around little boys.  I, however, as a mother of boys, was not surprised by this point at all!  Before we go any further, let me clarify.  I hate generalizations.  Hate them!  To say that all boys are this way and all girls are that way is both unfair and inaccurate, but debating that isn't the point of this post.

What I can tell you, from my own experience as a mother, is that boys can be loud.  They may not always be loud, every moment of every day, but they can make a lot of noise.  At least it seemed so to me.  In fairness, even though I grew up as a quiet, shy girl who spent most of her time with her nose in a book, I am sure there were days when my mother, who was herself the quiet type, thought I was very loud!

Children, both boys and girls, can be loud.  They play with an enthusiastic abandonment that doesn't really notice, or care, if their enthusiasm is disturbing someone else. Children arrive in the world with loud cries, making their presence known.  They cry loudly when they are hungry or sleepy or wet.  And that living loud continues until some grownup along the way convinces them that they are making too much noise and need to be quiet. 

I think there is a lot we as adults, particularly as Christian adults, can learn from the enthusiasm of children.  Children live loud.  They live with enthusiasm and abandonment.  They are not particularly concerned with what other people think.  They radiate joy.  They don't hold back.

Think about that, about living loud, as it applies to the Christian life.  As Christians, are we living out our faith with enthusiasm and abandonment, or are we holding back because of a concern about what other people will think?

Are we, as Christians, living loud for Jesus?  Are we, you and I, living a Biblical Christianity or a cultural Christianity?  Are we more interested in what the culture thinks of us, or in what Jesus thinks of us?

In a culture that increasingly tries to marginalize or silence any expression of Christian faith, what does it mean to live loud for Jesus?  How can we live loud for Jesus today?

Something to think about.

"Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!"             (Psalm 96:3 ESV)

There's No Place Like Home

"There's no place like home."  (Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz)

Eleven weeks. 11,676 miles. 33 states. 37 hotels. Several thousand photographs.  And far too many restaurant meals.  Now we are finally home, and I have to agree with Dorothy.  There's no place quite like home.

To say that we are tired after such a journey would be a massive understatement!  For the last couple of weeks, we have pretty much been on auto-pilot.  Just going through the motions.  Dreading the thought of yet another meal in a restaurant.  Not even wanting to have to think about reading another menu and deciding what to eat.  Weary of loading and unloading the van yet again.

In the midst of the weariness, there were some high points during these last few weeks.  Time with family and with special friends was woven into the schedule, and that really helped get us through. 

On Friday we were both as excited as little children on Christmas morning!  After a final family breakfast with Brian, Emily, and Christopher, we put our little fur baby in the van and set out on the long journey home.

This was really a welcome sight!

 

 

 



Just a few hours later, this......

 

 

And then the photo I had been waiting to take.......

 

 



 

 



After all those miles, and after all those weeks, we were finally home!

 

It was wonderful to sleep in my own bed!  To be in my own shower!  To have coffee out of my own coffee pot!  In my own favorite coffee mug! To sit in my own comfy chair!

But even as I'm enjoying being home again, my thoughts are also turning toward the day when I am truly finally home.  As much as I am loving being home again here, how much greater will be my joy on that day when I am truly finally home. 

I'm looking forward to that day.......the day about which Jesus spoke when He said, "In my Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."  (John 14:2-3 NASB).

Looking forward to that day when "we shall always be with the Lord."  (1 Thess. 4:17b NASB)

I'm looking forward to being finally home.

 

But just think of stepping on shore-And finding it Heaven!
Of touching a hand-And finding it God's!
Of breathing new air-And finding it celestial!
Of waking up in glory-And finding it home! 

(Don Wyrtzen)

 

 

A Hotel in the Flight Path, and Other Distractions

We are in Tampa now, the last stop on our road trip around the country.  Earlier this week we were in Miami, in a hotel very near Miami International Airport, where every few minutes another plane takes off.  As it takes off, it flies right over the hotel where we were staying.  And it's loud.  Very loud.

Fortunately that doesn't go on all night.  But with great frequency and regularity, all day long, plane after plane flies right overhead.  It's very distracting.

On Tuesday, after I did the final touches to class set-up and took attendance in Al's classes, I spent the rest of my day [attempting] to catch up on some Bible study, and also [attempting to concentrate on] the pastor's message from last Sunday.  I say attempting to because those planes were very loud and very distracting.

In addition, just when I was really digging into my Bible study, the housekeeper showed up to service the room.  In most hotels where we have stayed, the housekeeper can clean the bathroom, make the bed, replenish the coffee, and empty the trash in less than five minutes.  Not this housekeeper!  It took twenty-five minutes for her to do the same tasks.  It was very distracting.

And she was wearing some very over-powering perfume.  That, too, was distracting, as well as being the cause of a great deal of sneezing!

As we have been traveling around the country, I have observed a number of distracted drivers.  They are eating while they drive.  Or they are talking on the phone.  Or they are texting.  That last one causes me the most consternation.  Even though it's a distraction.  And even though it's against the law.  And even though it defies common sense.  Still people text while they drive.  Young mothers with babies strapped into car seats texting as they drive down a busy interstate.  Teenagers.  Businessmen.  Truck drivers.  Young and old.  Male and female.  All texting as they drive through the city or through the countryside or down busy interstate highways.  Really, is anything so important that it can't wait just a few minutes until you get out of traffic?  Is that text so important that it's worth risking your life or someone else's?  Texting and driving is a major distraction.  And it's so much more than that.  It's dangerous.

We had our first near-accident of the trip yesterday.  Thankfully it's just an almost-accident, rather than being much worse.  As we were leaving Miami, it was dark and raining.  Was that other driver texting?  I don't know.  Was he more focused on his morning coffee and biscuit than on his driving?  I don't know.  What I do know is that because one driver apparently wasn't paying attention, another swerved into our lane to avoid him, and we were very nearly hit.  Just inches away from disaster because somebody was distracted.

Distractions are part of the fabric of our lives.  Airplanes.  Housekeepers.  Other drivers. The telephone.  The doorbell.  The ding from the cellphone.  The neighbors.  The neighbors' children.  The television.  Social media.  Politicians.  On and on the list could go.

What are we to do?  How do we deal with the distractions of life?

While we can't go through life with blinders on, we must learn to focus.  You have perhaps heard the saying, "wherever you are, be all there."  That's good advice.  If you're driving, focus on your driving.  If you're with your children, give them your undivided attention.  If you're studying, tune out the distractions and focus on the subject at hand.

We must learn to focus. We must learn to prioritize our time. And while we certainly need to be aware of what's going on in the world around us, we need to learn how to tune out the noise.  It doesn't come naturally to most of us; focus is a learned behavior.  It's something we must practice.

Learning to focus starts at the beginning of each day when we deliberately choose to focus our attention on God and on His Word.  When we make a fresh commitment for the day.

Staying focused may mean we have to say "no" to some things.  It may mean we have to give up some things, even some good things, so that we can focus on the best things.  It may mean some time away from the television or from social media.

Staying focused means that we deliberately set aside time for Bible study.  It means that we give time and attention, not just to reading the Word, but that we also give time and attention to actually studying it.

Dealing with life's distractions requires focus.  And discipline.  It may require a list of priorities for the day. 

Above all, living a life of focus and dealing with distractions requires the help of the Holy Spirit.  It doesn't come naturally.  But as we focus our attention on Jesus, His Spirit at work within us will guide us in dealing with the distractions of life and will lead us to a life of "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."  (Galatians 5:22-23 NASB)

Even in the flight path!

"....fixing our eyes on Jesus....."  (Hebrews 12:2 NASB)