On the Road Again

For the past couple of weeks, I've been traveling with my husband.  He's been working, and I'm just along for the ride.  As we made our way across North Carolina, down in to South Carolina, on to Florida, and now making our way back home, we've encountered all sorts of weather.  We've spent some time with family.  And we've stayed in several different hotels.

In Greensboro, we stayed in a Courtyard, where we were upgraded into a very nice suite. When we stopped overnight in Columbia on our way to Florida, we stayed in a SpringHill Suites, which was very nice, although the décor was a little too ultra-modern for my personal taste.  We chose to stay in a hotel since Al's dad had the flu, and we had no desire to share any of that!

Our time in Florida was spent at the Marriott Grande Vista, one of Marriott's vacation club properties.  We had a great room with a lovely view.  Peaceful surroundings.  Good food, good coffee, and a wonderful balcony where I enjoyed spending my mornings.

As we're making our way back north, we're back in Columbia.  Al's mom had some surgery a couple of weeks ago, and is being discharged from rehab today.  One of the reasons for stopping over here is to be available to help out as she gets settled back in to her normal surroundings.  However, just in case any of those nasty flu germs are lingering, we've chosen a hotel.  This time we're in a Fairfield Inn.

Al commented last night when we got here that this is a lot different from what we've gotten used to over the last couple of weeks.  Fairfield Inns are just basic hotels.  And that's what we have here.  A recently renovated, but still very basic, hotel.  No suite.  No balcony overlooking the golf course.  Just a basic hotel room. 

It occurs to me this morning that this road trip is a picture of life.  Sometimes things are going wonderfully well, as illustrated by suites or rooms with balconies overlooking golf courses.  And sometimes things are going along just fine, nothing outstanding, but on an even keel.  That's the picture from this very ordinary, but nothing at all wrong with that, Fairfield Inn.

Sometimes there are potholes.  We encountered a lot of those on the drive up from Florida yesterday.  A lot of them.  That's part of being on the highway these days.  And potholes are just part of life.

Life is a journey.  Sometimes the scenery is beautiful.  Sometimes the accommodations are extraordinary.  But sometimes not.

Sometimes the road is smooth.  And sometimes not.

Sometimes the potholes are deep.  But sometimes not.

It's all part of the journey. Just as these varying accommodations are all part of my road trip.

I wonder what the rest of the weekend will bring.

Because the journey continues.  We're not home yet!

"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 3:14 NASB)

The A List

Earlier this week awards were handed out to actors and actresses, directors and producers, these so-called A Listers who are famous for their movies.  They walked down a red carpet, were photographed over and over, and were watched on television by millions of Americans.  Some of them received the coveted Oscar statue.  Since that awards ceremony, these A List individuals have either been lauded or scorned for their fashion choices, their hairstyles, and their acting abilities, or lack thereof.  It's all part of being on the A List.

I have an A List of a different sort.  It has nothing to do with celebrities, but everything to do with priorities.  Some time ago I compiled this A List of things I am praying for my sons and for their families.  These are my priorities for these dear ones who are so precious to me.

Their health is important to me, but it didn't make the list.  Financial freedom is important, but not a priority.  Many of the things the world might consider most important in life are not on this list.

I compiled this list with a different set of priorities than what the world might consider important.  This list of mine is about the things I consider of most value in their lives. 

My A List, the list of things I consider most important as I pray for my children, is this:

• a passionate love for God and His Holy Word
• an awareness of God's grace
• to know the life and power of God's Word in a real and personal way
• to love others and treat them with kindness and respect
• to be reflections of God's glory
• to glorify God with their lives
• to follow hard after God

That's my A List.  What's on your list?

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."  (Philippians 3:7-8 NASB)

A New Home

Some of you read that title and thought I would be writing about the sale of our house and the subsequent move to a new house.  Go ahead and admit it.  That's what you thought.  But if you thought that, you would be wrong, since unfortunately, I have no sale to report.

I have, however, moved.  When we arrived here at the Marriot Grande Vista in Orlando on Friday, we were given a very nice room in a location very convenient to pools and to the market and to restaurants on property.  That was great, since Brian, Emily, and Christopher were coming over to join us on Saturday.

Our room had a wonderful view. 

 

 

 

We spent a pleasant night in that room, with the only noise being the occasional whack of a golf ball wafting up from the tee box just outside our room.

 

All that changed on Saturday morning.  There's a lot of renovation going on in that particular building, so the construction workers got started bright and early.  Even worse, our next door neighbors moved out and later in the day another group moved in.

The original neighbors were a family with small children.  Even so, they were very quiet neighbors.  The new neighbors, not so much.  After listening to them party for a great part of Saturday night, I thought we had a group of middle school girls next door.  Imagine my surprise to discover it was a group of older women!  They were even louder on Sunday night, continuing their partying until well past 2 AM!

 

After two nights of not much sleep, I was losing my patience with the whole place.  What happened to my peaceful, relaxing vacation?  (I'm "vacationing" while Al is working.)  Al went over to have a chat with the office folks, and the result was that we have been moved to new room, at the back of the property, with no construction, and no noisy neighbors.  So far, at least!  The manager even moved our belongings for us and gave us a Homedics Sound Spa to use for the remainder of our stay.  We slept very well last night to the sounds of the ocean!

 

Our new home also has an amazing view.

 



 

 

Later today, back in South Carolina, family and friends will gather to celebrate the life and the homegoing of our pastor's father.  Dr. John Wilton lived a long life, a life devoted to sharing the love and grace of the Lord Jesus.  Today he's in his new home, celebrating that love and grace in the presence of the Lord and Savior he served so well while here on earth.  Truly Dr. John's life exemplifies the words of the Apostle Paul.....I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.  (Galatians 2:20). 

 

There's a wonderful new home waiting for all of us who know and love the Lord Jesus.  Who have accepted His free gift of pardon for sin and eternal life.  Some day we'll be in our new home, just as Dr. John Wilton is today. 

 

Until then, may we be faithful to live for Him fully each day.  Faithful to share Him with others.  Faithful to love Him and worship Him and serve Him with our whole hearts.  So that we may truly be able to say, as Dr. John did, as the Apostle Paul did....

 

"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  (Philippians 1:21 NASB)

 

 

 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)

It's Time to Draw a Circle - an Encore Post

As I have been preparing to participate in our church's 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting, which begins next week, the topic of prayer as been very much on my heart and mind.  How to pray.  Why we pray.  Why we don't pray.  What we expect from our praying. Do we even know how to pray?

I have been pondering these questions, and they have drawn my mind back to a post I wrote a little more than a year ago which was titled It's Time to Draw a Circle.  That post had its birth as I was waiting in the dentist's office, doing some reading while I waited.

For those of us about to embark on this 40 day journey, it seems appropriate to republish the post.  And even if you're not among those who will be fasting and praying in our church, the post may speak to your heart as well.  About prayer.  About the need to pray.  About our motivation for praying.

Because, my friends, it's time to draw a circle.

Here's that original post:

"Go home.  Lock yourself in your room.  Kneel down in the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw a circle around yourself.  There, on your knees, pray fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival within that chalk circle."  (Gypsy Smith, 1860-1947, British evangelist)

While I was waiting in the dentist's office, I pulled out my Kindle to do some reading.  And it was then that I came across the Gypsy Smith quote.  I immediately stopped reading and put the quote in my notebook, the one I nearly always have with me.  I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since.

Earlier in the day I had come across another quote that also made it to the notebook.  It was part of a Facebook status update.  I'm not sure the origin of the quote, but it stuck with me, just like the Gypsy Smith quote.

"We're so focused on God changing our circumstances that we never allow God to change us."

These two quotes have been playing over and over on a continuous loop in my mind since yesterday.  And they have caused me do a lot of thinking.  Thinking about change.

About what needs to change.  About why I want it to change.  About what's really important.

There are some things, some circumstances, in my life that I would like changed.  For one thing, we would like to sell our house and relocate.  That's definitely a change.

But as I think about that, particularly when I line it up with that second quote, I wonder if I'm praying for the wrong thing.  Am I guilty of being too focused on the circumstance?  Too focused on things like changing houses and not enough focused on what needs to change in me?

It occurs to me that I may not be the only one.  That there may be others out there who are doing the same thing.  Focusing on what needs to change - or what we want to change - in our circumstances, and giving far too little attention to what needs to change in us. 

Perhaps it's our attitudes.  Or our selfishness.  Or our prayerlessness.  Or our tempers.  Or our relationships.  Or our worship.  Or lack of.  Or our prayer life.  Or lack of.  Or our focus. 

Perhaps we're concerned about our country.  About politics.  About the loss of our freedoms.  About the changes that are happening all around us.

Whatever it is, maybe it's time for us to draw a circle, as Gypsy Smith suggested. 


"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  (Hebrews 4:16 ESV)

The Prayer Box

Recently someone mentioned that I might enjoy reading The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate.  I haven't yet read the book, so this is not a review.  But I did look it up on Amazon to see what it was about.

According to Amazon, The Prayer Box is the story of a young mother with two children who has come to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to escape her difficult past. She finds lodging in a guest house where she only gets to know her landlady after the landlady's death.  It is then that the young mother discovers a collection of eighty-one prayer boxes, one for each year of the landlady's life.

I don't know if I will actually get around to reading this book, but I loved the idea of prayer boxes!

 

What a wonderful idea to write down your prayers - and the answers - on pieces of paper and save them in beautifully decorated boxes!  Or shoe boxes. Or even in plain boxes.  What a legacy to leave to those who come after you.

 

I love the idea of journaling prayers.  I've written about this before.  But this idea of prayer boxes fascinates me.  It's too late, of course, to have a box for every year of my life.  It's too late to have a journal for every year as well, since for most of my life I have not been consistent with journaling.

 

But it is never too late to begin a new thing.  And I'm giving serious thought to starting a collection of prayer boxes!

 

What about you?

"Lord, teach us to pray."  (Luke 11:1 NASB)

 

 

Maybe Browning Was Right!

I was reading through some old blog posts yesterday, mine and those written by others as well.  I came across a post I had written several years ago titled That's Not How I Would Do It.  I could just as easily written that post this week or this month, because there are a lot of things going on in the world about which I could say that's not how I would do it.

My husband and I often get a good laugh from his dad.  When we are driving Al's parents around town, to a restaurant or to shop, we usually hear, more than once, "we don't go this way."  When Al is helping his dad with a project around the house, it's common to hear "that's not how I do it" or "we don't do it that way."  It has become a standing joke around our house! 

 

A few years ago, following Al's dad's knee replacement and his mom's Alzheimer's diagnosis, we had arranged some in-home help for them.  That worked only for a short while.  The reason it no longer worked?  She didn't "cook like we do".  She did things differently "than we do them".  "We don't do it that way."

The poet Robert Browning once wrote God's in His heaven; all's right with the world.  I have to take issue with that.  There's a lot that's not right with the world!  Earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, unemployment, broken marriages, strained relationships, financial strain, riots.  Do I need to go on?  And that list didn't even mention ISIS and other terrorists. You could probably add other things to the list based on the circumstances of your own life.  All we really need to do is turn on a news broadcast for a few minutes to see that there is much that is not right in our world. As I think about all those things, I find myself saying If I were in charge, I wouldn't do it that way.

 

There are any number of things about which I would like to say we don't do it that way. And if you are at all like me, as you look at the circumstances in the world around you, you might also be thinking that if I were in charge, I would do things differently.  This is not how I would handle it.

The good news is, we don't have to handle it, at least in terms of making everything turn out right.  That's not our job; it's God's job.  Our job is to trust Him, to be obedient to His commands to us in Scripture, to know that He knows what He's doing, and to remember that He has it all under control.  Our God is an awesome God, as the song says.  He's also a sovereign God, and He's got it all covered.  Our sovereign God has it all under control. 

 

Maybe Browning was right after all!

"For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.  All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing and He does what He wants with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of earth.  There is no one who can hold back His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?' " 

(Daniel 4:34-35 HCSB)

In the Waiting Room

Have you spent any time in a waiting room lately?  Perhaps at the doctor's office or the dentist's office.  Perhaps in a hospital, waiting while someone you know is having tests or surgery.  Perhaps in some other type of office. 

Waiting rooms are interesting places for people watching.  Waiting rooms are proof that people come in all shapes and sizes.  Tall and short.  Round.  Or not.  Blonde hair.  Gray hair.  Red hair.  Brown hair. 

Waiting rooms are also proof that people come with all sorts of temperaments.  You discover this as you observe how they handle their time waiting.  There are patient people.  These typically read or chat with a friend, occasionally perhaps glancing at their watches to check the time.  The not-so-patient ones are always in motion, often loudly bemoaning how long this is taking or wondering why they have to wait in the first place. 

Recently I even saw a young man taking a nap in the waiting room!  And by young man, I mean someone in his twenties.  There he was, curled up on the waiting room couch, with his jacket rolled up like a pillow under his head  Apparently he was expecting to be there a long time!

Waiting is a fact of life.  In the doctor's office.  At the traffic light.  In line at the supermarket or the post office.  We could make quite a long list of places where we spend time waiting.

But waiting is not confined to a particular room or to a line in the store or to a traffic pattern.  In many other ways, waiting is part of the fabric of life.

We wait for the cake to come out of the oven.  We wait for news that the baby has been born.  We wait for the check to come in the mail.  We wait for news about this or that or the other thing.  We wait for answers to our prayers. 

We wait. And like the people in the doctor's office, we are often impatient in the waiting.  That may be a fault of a culture that is accustomed to instant everything.  It may be a fact of our temperament, in that some of us are just wired to be more patient than others of us.

What's the point of all this waiting anyway?  Perhaps one of the reasons we have so much waiting to do is to reinforce the truth that God is in charge.  That He is God and we are not.  To teach us to trust His timing and His ways and His character and His purposes.

Waiting reminds us that in all things, God is at work causing all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  (Romans 8:28).

Waiting reminds us that God is in control.  That He is sovereign and His ways are best.

Waiting teaches us to trust Him.

That's an important thing to remember today.  Whether you're waiting for medical news.  Or you're waiting for a financial need to be met.  Or you're waiting for a house to sell.  Or you're waiting for answers to some other question or need in your life.

Time in the waiting room is not wasted time.  It's learning time.  Learning patience.  Learning that God's ways are best.  Learning to trust Him.

If you're in a waiting room today in your life, as I am, I'm praying for you.  Praying that we all might learn the lessons God has for us.  Praying that we will know that He can be trusted.  Praying we will learn what that really means.  Praying that in this time of waiting, we will get to know our God better.  Praying we will recognize the answers when they come. 

Above all, praying that through the waiting process we would be learning and growing and becoming all that He desires us to be.  That we would see the waiting as not so much about the answer as it about the process.  The process of growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity.  Amen.  (2 Peter 3:18 NASB)


"Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a level path."  (Psalm 27:11 NASB)

"Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD."  (Psalm 27:14 NASB)

A Little Flexibility

Our plans for this week originally included some laundry and household tasks for yesterday along with packing for our travels over the next couple of weeks.  Al has out of town business, and I'm going along for the ride, particularly since these travels include some time in Florida, which is never a bad thing in the winter.

But our plans were interrupted.  The weather forecast was calling for inclement weather and so on Sunday afternoon we had been in quite a dilemma about what to do.  How much would it really snow?  Would we be able to wait until Tuesday afternoon to leave and still be able to get to Greensboro?  Should we wait?  What should we do?

Eventually we decided that we should come on to Greensboro a day early, just in case.  That meant quite a rush around the house on Sunday evening getting laundry done and getting clothes packed.  It meant rescheduling my much-needed haircut and pedicure.  (Many thanks to Caroline, who volunteered to come in on her day off to take care of my personal maintenance!  In case you are wondering, I didn't ask her to do that.  She got in touch with me and suggested it. And I am so very glad she did!)

All the Monday tasks got done on Sunday night, I had my "beauty appointment" on Monday morning, Molly was dropped off at the kennel a day early, and we got out of town ahead of the snow.  Fortunately, snow didn't begin here in Greensboro until after we arrived.  Light snow was falling when we got here, and began to increase in intensity, then mixed with sleet, as the day came to an end.  We are safely ensconced in our home away from home for the next few days, with a Cracker Barrel nearby!

There's a winter wonderland outside the window.  Not a huge accumulation of the white stuff, but enough to be beautiful and to have called off school for the day.  Unfortunately it's mostly ice, which makes driving school buses a bit treacherous.  Of course, I'm sure none of those school children really minds having a day off from school!

I tell this tale to remind us that sometimes we have to be a little flexible.  Things don't always go according to our plans.  Sometimes our schedules need to be rearranged.  We don't always get our own way.  It's just a part of life, and we need to be reminded of that from time to time.  Those of us who tend to be a bit OCD particularly need reminding!

Thomas Jefferson once said, "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."  He could have said "In matters of scheduling, be a little flexible......."

The second part of that quote is a good reminder to us as well.  There are times when a little flexibility is a good thing.  There are also times when it isn't.  There are times we need to stand firm.  We need to stand like a rock in matters of principle.  No matter what the culture says.  No matter what our best friend says.  No matter what the TV sitcom does or what the celebrity-du-jour says.  In matters of principle, stand with the Scripture.  And stand firm.

"Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.  Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."  (Ephesians 6:13-17 NASB)

A Valentine Love Story

Once upon a time a shy young woman was visiting a girlfriend she had met the previous summer when they both worked on the staff of a church camp.  This young woman and the girlfriend made plans to attend the church "college and career" valentine party.  Also attending this party was a young man who had recently been discharged from the Air Force and had come back home.

I was that shy young woman, and the only thing I remember about that party was that young man. The young man is now my husband.  I was told many months later that he went home that night and informed his dad he had met the woman he was going to marry.  I confess it took me a little longer to come to that conclusion.  But it didn't take many weeks for me to realize this young man was my soulmate, the love of my life.

And now, more than 40 years later (we met in 1971), nothing has changed.  Well, a few things have changed!  We have grayer hair, and a few more pounds, and some wrinkles.....all those things that are part of the aging process.  What has not changed is the absolute certainty that this man is one of the very best parts of my life!  These days, when I think about Valentine's Day, I don't think about hearts and flowers and where we will go out to dinner, or even if we will.  I think about that Valentine's Day in 1971, one of the most significant days in my life.

In an era when love is defined by Hallmark movies and ridiculous sitcoms where life's problems are easily resolved in less than 30 minutes, I am grateful to God that He knew exactly who would be best for me.  I'm grateful beyond words that this one He placed in my life is so much more than I ever dreamed of!

Life hasn't always been easy.  We have had to deal with some really hard stuff over the years.  We've laughed together.  We've cried together.  We've prayed together.  There has been some sickness and some health, some better and some worse. 

Yet through it all, life has been gloriously wonderful, and  I wouldn't want to do this journey called life with anyone else. 

Seasons

This has been an interesting weather week; we've experienced several seasons.  Sunday we had a bit of spring, with warm temperatures and March-like winds.  Monday was a rainy season, a bit reminiscent of summer storms.  Tuesday we had several seasons in one day.  We began the day in winter, with clouds and gloom.  We progressed to sunshine, blue skies, and warmer temperatures, but ended the day back in Narnia with frozen fog here on this mountain.  Today we are definitely in winter, with very cold temperatures, even colder wind chills, and the possibility of some snow.

Seasons change.  They come and go.  It's part of life, and not only in a weather sense.

Consider the young man who was a star on his high school football team.  Perhaps he went on to play college football.  But now, some twenty or more years later, he just can't compete at the same level.  He still loves the game, but his body won't cooperate any more.  He's in a different season.

Perhaps as a child or adolescent or young adult, you were one of those people who could eat anything and everything, yet not gain an ounce.  I was never one of those people!  But even people who had that kind of metabolism when they were younger often find themselves in middle age with a "middle-age spread".  It's a different season of life, and the body just doesn't respond as it once did.

Once upon a time I had a dress that I loved.  To this day I still remember and love that dress, even though it's been more than twenty years since it was hanging in my closet.  It had all my favorite colors in one dress, and I loved wearing it.  Until I gained too much weight and it no longer fit.  But I kept that dress.  I kept hoping it would fit again.  Eventually I realized that wasn't going to happen, and the dress found a new home in the bag of other no-longer-for-this-season items that were going to Goodwill.  No matter how much I loved that dress, its season had come and gone.

Life is filled with seasons.  Seasons for athletics.  Or food.  Or certain clothing.  Seasons related to age.  Infant to toddler to adolescent to teen.  Young adult, then parent, then grandparent.  The cycle of seasons takes you from young adult to becoming a parent, and the infant-toddler-adolescent-teen season progresses to your infant growing up and eventually becoming the parent of an infant, and on and on and on it goes.

These seasons of life involve growth and change.  Physically.  Mentally.  And spiritually, as well.

Have you ever stopped to think about the seasons of your life?  Not so much the seasons of physical life, although we can't really avoid thinking about that when we look in the mirror each day.  The marks of our maturing are evident on our faces.

Spiritual maturity may not be quite so evident.  But it is just as important. Perhaps more so.  We don't want to stay in the same season forever, but rather our desire should be to continue moving forward, progressing on to ever increasing maturity in our spiritual lives.

If we give birth to a child who always remains a child, who always drinks milk from a bottle, who never learns to feed himself, then we realize there is a problem.  And the same is true in the spiritual sense. 

An infant who remains an infant is not healthy.  Neither is it healthy for us to remain infants in the spiritual sense.  We need to move forward, from season to season, moving toward maturity.

Are you stuck in a season today?

One of the best ways to get unstuck is to spend time with the Lord.  Talk to Him.  Spend time in His Word.  Ask Him to help you.

And He will.

"Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation."  (1 Peter 2:2 NASB)

Remembering

I read Psalm 42 this morning.  And I remembered.

Even if you aren't sure that it's the 42nd Psalm, you're probably familiar with it.

As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee......

I've been reading this Psalm for years.  I've been singing these words for years.  But they really came alive to me on a December Sunday morning at Ein Gedi, in Israel.

It was on that Sunday morning that I saw this:

 

 

 

These are ibex, the "deer" referred to in this Psalm.  And as the photo indicates, they live in a dry, barren environment.  There's not a lot of water there.  The Dead Sea is in the background, but there's no drinking water there.  Not even for an ibex.  A deer could get pretty thirsty in an environment like this.  As I think about that, and as I look at this picture, I ask myself just how thirsty I am.

 

Here in the mountains of western North Carolina, we have a different kind of deer.  And a different environment.  A deer doesn't have to go far to get a drink of water.

 

 

 

 

It occurs to me that these contrasting environments really illustrate a truth about Christianity in America today.  We're surrounded by "water" in the sense that we have an abundance of opportunities for Bible study, an abundance of Christian books, Bibles in multiple translations, an abundance of opportunities to drink deep of the water of the Word.  Yet the downward shift in our culture would make it seem that we are in a dry and barren land.  Why is that the case?  How did we get to this point?  Is it because we have such abundance that we have become complacent?  Is it that we just aren't thirsty enough?  Something to think about.

 

But I digress.  As I read Psalm 42 this morning, I remembered.  I first visited Ein Gedi when we traveled to Israel in 2010.  We were at Ein Gedi on a Sunday morning, and it was there that we had our morning worship.  As we sat there, watching the ibex, in this oasis in the desert, Dr. Wilton read Psalm 42.  And so I will forever associate that Psalm with my memories of being in that place.

 

As I'm remembering, I also remember a conversation with Dr. Wilton on that same day.  We were at Masada, just a few miles down the road.  As our group was gathering to ride the cable car back down to the base of the mountain, the few of us standing there were having a chat.  I remarked that I was on overload.  And I was!  Sensory overload.  Information overload.  Just overloaded and overwhelmed by what I had already experienced.  And we hadn't even "walked where Jesus walked" yet!

 

We had spent a few days in Cairo, Egypt, and then had journeyed through the Sinai, following the Exodus route.  We had arrived in Israel the afternoon before.   We had seen pyramids and papyrus.  We had visited Christian churches in Egypt.  We had been to Mt. Sinai.  I was trying to remember everything, so afraid I would forget something. And I was just overwhelmed.

 

Dr. Wilton gave me some good advice that day.  He said not to try to remember every detail.  Just experience it.  And then, he said, when you get back home you will never read the Scriptures in the same way again.  When you read the Word, your mind will recall where you were and what you saw and what you experienced. You will see it all in a completely new way.  He was right.  I often remember that conversation.  As I did this morning when I read Psalm 42. 

 

But there's more to that Psalm than deer thirsting for water and the parallel to our souls thirsting for God.

 

David was on the run.  King Saul wanted to kill him.  And so David hid in a cave.  A cave at Ein Gedi.

 

 

 

 

 

In this particular Psalm, David not only wrote about thirsting after God.  He also wrote these words:

 

"Why are you in despair, O my soul?  And why have you become disturbed within me?  Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence."               (Psalm 42:5 NASB)

 

Probably no one is trying to kill you this morning.  But you may be in despair for some other reason.

 

Perhaps the issue that troubles you is a health concern.  Or a financial need.  Or perhaps you've experienced a loss.  If we could all gather in once place and share the burdens of our hearts, I'm sure there would be quite a long and varied list of issues.

 

But in all those situations, these words hold true, just as they did for David so long ago.

 

Why are you in despair?  Hope in God.

 

That's an important truth worth remembering.

 

 

As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee.

You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship Thee.

You alone are my strength, my shield;

To You alone may my spirit yield.

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship Thee.

 

(-Martin Nystrom)

 



 

 



 





Now. And Then.

It's a little foggy up here this morning.  This is the view from my front porch.  Normally a photo taken from this position shows beautiful mountains, sometimes snow-covered, sometimes draped in clouds, sometimes verdant green.  But today this is the view:

 

 

The view from the end of the porch and behind the house is completely different.

 

 

 

No, it didn't snow last night.  And we didn't have an ice storm.  This is fog frozen onto the trees.

 

I did a little meteorological research this morning (translation, I Googled it!) and learned that this phenomenon is apparently known by several names.  Frozen fog.  Ice fog.  Rime ice. I even saw it referred to as hoar frost, but based on what I read, I think that is actually a different thing.  Whatever it's called, it's beautiful.

 

We spent most of our day in Asheville yesterday, and as we were driving home through Burnsville, the skies were sunny.  The closer we got to home, the more of this we saw.  It was like driving into a different world.  I felt as though we had gone through the wardrobe and were entering Narnia!

 

The ice fog, or frozen fog, or rime ice, or whatever it is, is beautiful.  The fog not so much.  The fog is more a nuisance.  It obstructs my view.  I have some errands to run later today, and if the fog doesn't lift, driving down the mountain and into town will be challenging because of the fog.  I won't be able to see my way clearly.

 

All this fog reminds me, as it so often does, of what the Apostle Paul had to say in the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians.

 

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face."  (1 Corinthians 13:12) 

 

I'm seeing "dimly" out my window this morning because of fog.  But it won't always be that way.  The clouds will lift.  The sun will shine again.  And the view will be glorious.

 

Now.  For now we see life dimly.  Our spiritual vision is not completely clear.  We don't always think clearly.  We don't have a clear understanding of spiritual things.

 

But then.  Then we will no longer see dimly.  Then we will see face to face.

 

What a day that will be!

 

 

What a day that will be,

When my Jesus I shall see,

And I look upon His face,

The One who saved me by His grace;

When He takes me by the hand,

And leads me through the Promised Land,

What a day, glorious day, that will be.

(-Jim Hill)





By the Sea

On Sunday we sang another of those great old hymns that I can't remember having sung for quite some time.  We sang "Break Thou the Bread of Life", a hymn I can remember singing frequently when I was a child.

As we sang, I took a trip down memory lane.  Not to the church of my childhood, but to a hillside by the sea where the Bread of Life taught His followers. 

 

 



As I sang, and as I remembered, the words of that hymn became my prayer:  Break Thou the bread of life, Dear Lord, to me. 

 

 

"Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law."  (Psalm 119:18 ESV)

 

 



A Little Word That Packs a Big Punch

If.  It's such a little word.

That little word is often part of very important phrases.  Quite often the "if" is followed by a "then".

Perhaps at some point you gave or received a graduation card with that word on it.  "If" is the title of a Rudyard Kipling poem which often adorns graduation cards.

It begins this way:

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

 

Eventually the poem ends with an implied then:

 

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

 

If you can accomplish all the things the poem talks about, if you can achieve the kind of character qualities named in the poem, then you will have achieved maturity and success.

Parents often use that word when dealing with their children.  If you do this or if you don't do that, certain consequences can be expected.  For example, "if you do that again, then I'm going to ________."

There are numbers of if/then statements in Scripture.  Perhaps one of the best known is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14:

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

That verse is often quoted as we bemoan the state of our country.  As we think about things like declining church attendance or a shift in cultural values.

And we think.......if only those unbelievers would change their ways.  If only we could experience another Great Awakening.  If only all those people would go to church.  If only all those pagans would get saved.

Certainly it would be wonderful to experience a great spiritual reawakening in this country.  It would be wonderful to see more and more people coming to belief in Christ. 

But look closely at that verse.  It is not a verse about what pagan, unbelieving people should do.

If who?  My people.

 

Whose people?  God's people.

 

And if God's people do what?

• Humble themselves
• Pray
• Seek God's face
• Turn from their wicked ways

 

Then what will happen?

 

"Then will I [God] hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land."

 

If.

 

Such a little word.  But it packs such a powerful punch.

 

Do we want our world to change?  Do we want to see revival in our land? 

 

We know what we need to do.  God has spelled it out for us here very clearly. 

 

What are we waiting for?

 

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV)

 

 

 

Do You Have Yours?

There was wonderful response to yesterday's post!  So many of you have contacted me about your prayer journal - or desire to have a prayer journal.  It seems I'm not the only one who has a history of being a sporadic journaler!

After that response, I decided today to go a step further and share the journal I've been using.  This works better for me than anything I've tried in the past.  Certainly this is not the only option, and you might find something you like better, but this is what works for me.

Here are a couple of photos of the journal I have been using:

This journal has enough pages for a couple of months.  There are two pages for each day.  On the left side is a place to record new prayer requests at the top and ongoing requests at the bottom.  The right hand side has a place for answers to prayer and for praises.  There's also a Scripture verse for each day.

This particular prayer journal is not very expensive.  I purchased mine from Amazon, but it's likely available at other places as well.  Or you could just purchase a spiral notebook and design your own layout.

It's not important that you use this particular journal.  It is important that you have some sort of journal.  That you write it down.  (See yesterday's post for more about that.)  It's important for you to see how God is at work in your life and the lives of others.  It's important to pay attention.  It's important to be consistent.

Have you begun your prayer journal?  If not, why not begin today?

"The LORD's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning.  Great is Your faithfulness."  (Lamentations 3:22-23 NASB)

Write It Down!

Life can be full of uncertainties and disappointments, wouldn't you agree?  And full of challenges and stresses.  Full of all kinds of situations that leave us scratching our heads and wondering what's going on.

Brandon and Stephanie are needing a car.  A couple of weeks ago Stephanie's car came to its end.  It just quit.  The little engine that could is now the little engine that can't.  So it just sits there on the driveway.  They've been looking for a car that they can afford, and they thought they had found it.  They test-drove the prospective car on Wednesday, and yesterday got their mechanic's opinion about it.  His advice was a resounding "no" on that car.  That's a disappointment.  "No" was not the answer they were hoping for.  But there's a "yes" coming.

Christopher woke up with a nasty red rash yesterday morning, so Emily took him to the Emergency Room.  A new hospital has just opened very close to where they live, so she got to check out their emergency room!  That nasty rash looked a lot like measles.  Thankfully, that was ruled out.  The diagnosis is something viral or perhaps an allergy.  Bring on the Benadryl.  But how do you avoid an allergen when you don't know what it is?

Parenting parents is a challenge.  As they get older.  And they're stubborn.  And their health is not nearly as good as they would like to pretend or like you to believe.  And when there's Alzheimer's in the mix.  What to do. When to do it.  How to handle the situations that come up.  All these things are part of this season of our lives.

And there's the on-going "house situation", as I have come to refer to our efforts to get this house sold.  Keeping it clean.  Waiting for a showing.  Thinking there's a buyer.  They decide "no".  But another showing is set.  And then they don't show up.  And on and on and on it goes.  It really is a roller coaster ride!  (And I have never been a big fan of roller coasters!)

All that just scratches the surface of the situations that need praying about.  It's hard to keep up.  It's hard to remember.  I found myself the other day asking God to forgive me because I had forgotten to pray for a situation that really needed praying about.  But I just forgot!

Maybe it's that I'm getting older.  (Yes, I admit it.)  Maybe it's that there are so very many situations that need prayer.  Family.  Friends.  Our nation.  Our world.

I just can't keep up!  I can't always remember.  So, I write it down.  The requests.  The on-going needs.  The answers.  Especially the answers!  What a blessing to go back and see how our faithful God has answered prayer!

Over the years I have been a sporadic journaler at best.  And even more sporadic about writing down prayer requests or keeping a "prayer list".  But I've finally found a system that works for me, and what a blessing it has been. 

One of the greatest benefits of this prayer journal is being able to see when and how God answers.  Some times the answers come quickly; sometimes not.  Sometimes the answer is "yes"; sometimes not.  Sometimes the answers come just as you prayed; sometimes the answer is better than you could ever have imagined.  But whatever the answer is and whenever it comes, the blessing of the prayer journal is that you have your own personal written record of the faithfulness of God.  His faithfulness toward you!  What could be better than that!

If you're not keeping a prayer journal, you might want to try it.  You don't need anything fancy; just a spiral notebook will do. 

But write it down.  And then get ready to be amazed as you see how God answers!

"Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full."  (John 16:24b NASB)

How Was Your Day?

"Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."  So says Parkinson's Law, an adage articulated by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in a humorous essay first published in 1955.  (All that info comes from Wikipedia, in the interest of full disclosure!)

So, according to this "law", whatever you have to do, whether a lot or a little, will fill the time you have available.

Yesterday I didn't have a great deal on my to-do list.  That was in large part due to an appointment I had on my schedule that would take a several-hour chunk of time in the afternoon.  But.....

As I stood on the porch to assess the condition of our road, I realized it was still covered in a great deal of ice and snow, in spite of the bright sunshine and warmer temperatures of the previous day.  And that left me wondering what the condition of the road was on the parts I couldn't see, which are the parts that the sun doesn't actually shine on.  Because that all seemed pretty iffy to me and was making me uncomfortable about driving down the road, I made the decision to reschedule the appointment. Better safe than sorry, in my view.

That decision left me with a large block of time.  And although there were many other things I could have done to fill that time, things that I hadn't actually written on my to-do list for the day but that need to be done, it took me all day to accomplish the few things I had written down for the day.  Because "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."  Or maybe just because I was lazy.  Or because I accepted this block of time as a free gift with which I could do as much or as little as I liked.  Or because I would just rather be reading a book than cleaning out a closet! 

In any event, I was not terribly productive yesterday.  I could have cleaned out a closet or a drawer.  I could have done some writing.  There were any number of things I could have done.  But I didn't.  I just frittered the day away.

My goal today is to be more focused and productive.

How was your day?

"So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."
(Psalm 90:12 NASB)

Continually

This year I'm reading through the Bible following a plan called "Eat This Book: One Year Bible with Daily Psalm".  Currently I'm reading in Leviticus, which I don't mind telling you is not an easy read.  Today's Psalm was one of my favorites, Psalm 34.

Psalm 34 begins this way:  "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth."

That sounds very Psalm-like, doesn't it?

But read it again, slowly, and really focus on the words.  I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth."

Those are convicting words.  Because, honestly, I don't bless the Lord at all times.  I'm not praising continually.

Sometimes I'm whining.  Or complaining.  Sometimes I'm short-tempered.  Sometimes I say things that would have been best left unsaid.  Sometimes (too often) I'm sarcastic. And critical. And a bit too blunt.

Perhaps you could say the same.  Or is it just me?

Whining. Complaining.  Criticizing.  None of that equates to continually praising.

I'm convicted today by these words from Psalm 34.  I'm confessing my failure.  And I'm praying that today, and every day, I'll be learning to do more continually praising and less continually complaining!

"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 NASB)

All Means All

"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 4:19 NASB)

That verse is on my mind this morning.  As I have been praying for friends and family members.  As I have been reviewing all the ways God has answered my prayers and met my needs.

I can't get that verse out of my mind.

We seem to associate that verse most often with financial need.

But it means so much more than that, doesn't it?

All your need.

All means all.

Not some.

All.

And all means all.

So whatever you're needing today, in whatever area of life, He is able to meet your need.

In relationships.

On the job.

In your health.

In your finances.

When there's too much month at the end of the money.

When you're lonely.

When you're anxious.

When you need encouragement.

In every area of your life.

He is able to supply all your need.

Even when you don't understand how.

Even when life doesn't make sense.

Even when you can't see any light at the end of the tunnel.

Even then.

He is able.

He is able to supply all your need.

All.

And that powerful truth makes me very thankful indeed.


"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!  Amen." 
(Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV)

I Changed the Words!

Yesterday in our worship service we sang a hymn that we haven't sung in quite a long time.  In fact, I can't remember the last time I sang Come, All Christians, Be Committed in a worship service.  Or anywhere else, for that matter.

But sing it we did.

Come, all Christians, be committed to the service of the Lord.

Make your lives for Him more fitted, Tune your hearts with one accord.....

 

 

And on we sang, until we got to the last verse.

 

Come in praise and adoration, all who on Christ's name believe;

Worship Him with consecration, Grace and love you will receive......

 

Worship Him with consecration.  Except that isn't what I sang.  I sang, Worship Him with concentration. 

 

What??!!  Where did that come from?  Was I having some kind of dyslexic moment? Was that some sort of subliminal message?

 

The dictionary defines consecration as the act of consecrating; dedication to the service and worship of a deity.  So, consecration is a good word for that text.  Worship with an attitude of dedication.  Commit yourself to the Lord's service. That fits into the text of the hymn.

 

On the other hand, concentration is defined as exclusive attention to one object; close mental application. 

 

With that definition in mind, perhaps concentration is an even more appropriate word.  Giving the Lord our exclusive attention is certainly the essence of what worship is.  But how often do we sit in our worship services thinking of any and everything but the Lord!  We're thinking about what we're going to do after the service is over.  Where we'll go for lunch.  What we'll eat.  Wondering if we remembered to turn the stove off before we left home.  Organizing our plans for the rest of the week.  Reviewing our calendars.  Thinking of who we need to call.  And on and on and on we could go.

 

And please don't misunderstand.  I'm as guilty as anyone.  Our minds are "prone to wander", to borrow a phrase from another hymn.

 

So here's a challenge for us the next time we are in a time of worship.  Let's focus on giving the Lord our exclusive attention.  As we worship Him with consecration, let's also worship Him with concentration!

 

"Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable."  (Psalm 145:3)

To hear a Methodist church choir sing Come, All Christians, Be Committed, click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi0LrzhRBWs