“In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”                                                                                                                                                    Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)

Sitting for hours staring down at hundreds of pieces – colorful cardboard – I start by sorting. I move all of the pieces with flat edges to one pile and begin to divide the rest by dominant colors. Then, I start the process of putting it all together. 

First, the border. All four corners, all sides – done. 

Next, I begin to fill in the interior. Later – days or weeks depending on the amount of free time I have – VOILA! A picture emerges. 

I love puzzles. I have always loved puzzles. I love starting with nothing and ending with a complete picture. I love figuring out where each piece fits and seeing it all come together. 

Many times the pieces fit together perfectly – they come together quickly. Other times, I have to try several times to find the right fit. I think a piece fits perfectly and later I realize it is all wrong when I encounter a road block to putting other pieces in their places. 

When puzzles are complete, they are neat and pretty. A perfect match reveals the whole story. You barely recognize the lines of the individual pieces.

Wow – this sounds like my life! My parents gave me a great beginning by using guidance from God to establish my borders – to give me clear boundaries for my life. Then, it was up to me to put together the rest of the pieces. 

Even more like my life is the fact that sometimes pieces don’t quite fit or I try to force them to fit. Sometimes in life things just don’t line up, which makes for an uneasy feeling. But, when it all comes together it is the best feeling in the world. The feeling of peace, contentment, wholeness. The feeling of accomplishment. 

When I am confused working on a puzzle, I continually check the picture on the box for clues and guidance. Unfortunately, in life there isn’t a pre-painted picture of how our lives fit together. We must rely on guidance from God to find the right pieces and to put them in the right places. The One who knows our whole story. The One who knew us before we were formed in the womb. 

Commit your life to the Lord and He will help you put the pieces of your life together. In time, it will all come together – beautifully.

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.”               Proverbs 16:3

“My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’”                                                                                                                  Psalm 27:8 (NLT)

When I was growing up, my mom would be somewhere in the house calling my name to which I generally responded, “Ma’am?” Her reply was always, “Come here.”

My automatic reply in these situations was, “I’m coming.”

Sometimes I would be outside playing when I was called. At other times, I was right in the middle of a phone conversation with a friend, reading, or something else I didn’t want to be pulled away from. 

When my mom (or dad) called me, sometimes I responded quickly and appeared instantly as requested. Yet other times, I would have to be beckoned 2 – 3 – 4 maybe even more times with increasing frustration before I complied. 

Mom called me for various reasons. She may have wanted me to do something for her, maybe she needed to tell me something, maybe it was time to eat, or maybe she just wanted me to check in with her because she had not seen me for a while.

Today, it is still the same except I get calls on my cell phone. The method has changed but my response remains predictably the same. Sometimes, I respond instantly answering the call on the first ring and then sometimes I am unable to answer the call because of other distractions and it takes me a bit to respond. 

I read today’s scripture and immediately thought of how I respond to the Lord.

I know He is calling me – daily. But how am I responding?

Are you responding to His call?

Do you hit the ignore button – too busy to respond, putting off the call until later? Or do you immediately respond, “I’m coming!” and go to Him quickly to hear what He has for you today?

God has different reasons for calling us. Maybe He is encouraging us to set out on a new venture, maybe He wants to quench our thirst with scripture, maybe He wants to share His love for us or just maybe He wants us to share our love and gifts with others. 

But, are we responding? or how are we responding?

Don’t ignore His call.

Remember to check in with God. Maybe He has something for you to do or maybe He just needs to check on you – for you to see His face … just like our parents did when we were younger. 

He calls us. Feel it in your heart. Then, answer with an emphatic, “I’m coming!”

As our local high school football season begins this week, I thought this reflection would be appropriate. “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the spirit.”     John 3:8 (NIV)

One night at a high school football game, a couple of friends and I were chatting during half time when one of them was distracted by something he found interesting. In the end zone, four spirit flags had been placed in an arc. (Picture those oblong flags some people use to promote their business or call attention to a store or event.)The flags weren’t necessarily the interesting part – nothing highly unusual about that at all. The intrigue stemmed from the fact that only one of the four flags was fluttering in the wind.  My friend pointed out how strange it was that none of the other flags were moved at all. Yet, the one, single flag was whipping at a good pace just feet from the others. 

At the time, this was not a serious moment of scientific discovery; however, we did briefly mention the idea of a crosswind and then quickly ruled that out. As my friend was perplexed, the rest of us proceeded to joke about his deep observation because he dared to distract us with it at a football game of all places! What was he thinking – it was just the wind! Duh!

After making light of this observance and apparently refusing to see what God would have me truly see at the time, later that weekend I came across John 3:8 on the cover of the church bulletin. Upon reading it, I immediately thought about those flags at the football field and suddenly my friend seemed very clever and insightful. “The wind that blows wherever it pleases” chose to effect only one flag that evening. Leaving us wondering where it came from to be able to do that so selectively.

This realization coupled with this scripture caused me to take a closer look and make a comparison. A comparison of the wind to the people in our life. 

People move in and out of our world minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, year by year. Affecting us in different ways. Just like the wind, some folks are that gentle breeze. A cool relief on a hot day. Or the warm wind that envelopes our being and warms us throughout. You know those times when, seemingly out of nowhere, someone says or does something for you that gently raises your flag so to speak. Puts a good wind in your sail. Then there are those people who whip through our world fluttering our flag first in one direction and then quickly in another. Sometimes tangling us around the flag pole.

Worth contemplating as well is our effect on others: How are we like that wind in the lives of others? Blowing wherever we please. In our homes are we the gentle, calm, refreshing breeze or the fierce tornado leaving nothing in our path but destruction? 

The wind is a powerful force – unseen but heard and certainly felt. We talk of the winds of change and so it is with life on Earth … “So it is with everyone of the spirit.” John 3:8

In life we are whipped around by people, events, and circumstances. Life can change direction in a brief moment. Our responsibility is to make sure we are well grounded and secure in our faith so that we can withstand, endure, and – yes – enjoy the breeze!

“Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.”      Psalm 126:5 (NIV)

Let me go ahead and say this writing is not about money. (Insert sigh of relief here)

It is about emotional investments. Those things, events, people, and moments that you pour your whole heart and soul into for an extended amount of time. In many ways these emotional investments are more risky and painful than financial ones.

Think of a time when you gave of yourself so completely that you gave until it hurt with no immediate positive results.

This can easily happen to parents, giving all that you have emotionally and financially to provide your child with opportunities and experiences to set him up for success only to be left feeling unappreciated and useless when the child/teen/young adult goes about making selfish decisions with little regard for you or your teachings. Or how about when a family member makes a poor decision that leaves the entire family devastated, injured, or disappointed. Or when a friend betrays your confidence or takes advantage of you for personal gain with little or no regard for your feelings.

Maybe your moment came when you put all that you had into your job or invested in the development of others, sometimes at the expense of neglecting your own family, only to go unnoticed, unappreciated, and taken for granted. 

If this happened to you, it most likely left you feeling empty, let down, or maybe even feeling like you had been kicked in the gut. 

Have you ever been moved to tears over things like this?

I have.

On more than one occasion, personally and professionally, I have been left tearful and emotionally bankrupt wondering how much more I could do without seeing any positive results. Reflecting on the scripture for today, I realize that I can put it all into perspective. 

When you find yourself giving until it hurts – sowing with tears – you must realize all of your emotional investments contribute to a savings account overflowing with songs of joy. Compare it to good banking practices – we cannot build up a healthy nest egg for retirement or save up to buy that new car/house/outfit/toy without some sacrifice. In the same manner, we will never experience that intense feeling of genuine joy without giving selflessly and making those tearful emotional investments in our family, friends, church and community. 

So if today those tears are flowing as you sow, consider your emotional deposits. Be refreshed, reassured, encouraged, and strengthened knowing that you will reap with songs of joy in return. 

So go ahead and give until it hurts! There is a huge payoff in the end.

“Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Proverbs 22:6 (NASB)

Just when everyone gets settled into a comfortable summer routine, it seems the fun is over and the big yellow buses hit the road taking students back to school. Whether you have a child in school, work in a school, or just travel a road that passes a school, you are affected when that bell rings to signal that school is back in session.

Students return to school lamenting the passing of lazy summer days and acting as if they don’t remember what they learned just weeks earlier. Faculty and staff return to school and seem surprised at the lack of prep time and rush to get everything just right even though they have done the same start up routine for many years previously. Commuters are late for work that first day the big buses run because they forgot how congested the roadways are during peak travel times.  

I can’t help but see a connection between this back to school shock and my spiritual journey. I don’t know about you but looking back at my life I can easily identify times when I have strayed away or taken a “break” from my spiritual routine/training. Like those students who become lackadaisical over the summer and get out of the habit of studying, I have done that regarding my own personal, Christian growth.

It never fails, the spiritual vacation ends with the wake up call to go back to school so to speak. With some grumbling and complaining, I work to get back in the routine of a life centered on Bible study and prayer. Once I am back in the groove, it all comes naturally and I feel better and function more efficiently when I am focused on the right thing – my life with Christ. 

As we get older, a reminder to return to “the way ‘we’ should go” is important. Just like those students who are returning to their formal training and renewing the desire to learn, as Christians we need to return and renew our commitment to walking in the way of the Lord. 

So if you have taken a vacation from your spiritual journey, take this opportunity to go back to school as a student of God.

Remember those basic teachings and make the commitment to stretch yourself this school year and grow in your faith. The benefit you receive will be immeasurable and you will be surprised at how much you will add to your life through your love of learning and the scriptures.

Train and discipline yourself in prayer and devote time to studying the Bible. Then, even though you “go on vacation,” you will not depart from it. 

When that alarm goes off each morning, remember – Class is in session! 

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”     Romans 8:26 (NASB)

She closed the door and ran the water hoping no one would hear and, yet at the same time, praying someone would care.

She felt the moist heat penetrate her skin while the warm, rough fabric absorbed her tears and muffled her sobs. The warm washcloth slid down her face revealing the reflection of her tear-stained cheeks and mangled expression.

The words that had been hurled at her moments earlier echoed in her ears and repeatedly stabbed her heart. It had not been an argument or even a heated exchange. No, it was just a cold, callous expression of youthful independence. This wasn’t the first time. But usually, the remarks weren’t so pointed and personal. 

This time, the words were more personal causing insult and emotional injury. This time, she couldn’t recover and keep her composure. She stood frozen in the pain of the moment and paralyzed by the fear of failure. Failure as a parent.

Later, her sleep was interrupted as she felt the nagging tug of sadness and guilt. What could’ve or should’ve been done differently to prevent this exchange? To soften the heart of her child? Why is it in her relationships with others she feels so accepted yet from her child she feels rejected?

Most of us have experienced something similar and if you haven’t you probably will. Maybe it wasn’t the hurtful comments from a child. Was it the stinging words from a spouse? From someone you trusted? From a parent? All of them are just as damaging.

I have been there myself … more than once. 

I know these moments pass and feelings fade. Disappointment is usually temporary and wounds from words all heal – eventually. But in that moment, you feel like you have been tossed carelessly into a dark pit of despair … lost and lonely.

In those times, I have cried out to God not knowing the right prayer. Not knowing what I need to say or do to make things right. Not knowing how to restore my broken heart.

Miraculously, it is in those moments that the Holy Spirit takes over. Somehow the wordless groans of a grieving soul are transformed by the Holy Spirit into the most beautiful prayer. A prayer that reaches our heavenly Father who will in turn send back the right answer at the right time providing the comfort and guidance that heals the shattered heart. 

When times are tough and you can’t find the right words, when your pain is too great to put into words, when you feel defeated by life, rest assured God hears your wordless cry and knows just what you need – even when you don’t.

“The Lord said, ‘See I have refined you, but not like silver; I have tested you in the furnace of adversity.’”          Isaiah 48:10 (NRSV)

I love to travel. Most of all I love to read about and visit historical places around the United States, especially those important in our colonial past. In my travels, I have visited Williamsburg, Virginia a few times. I love the reenactments and the opportunity to watch the artisans of colonial Williamsburg demonstrating their craft.

On one trip, I remember watching a silversmith as he made jewelry. The intense heat he placed the raw, precious metal into made the metal pliable which allowed the craftsman to mold and shape the silver into whatever he wanted: a ring, a necklace, earrings, etc. The possibilities were plentiful. 

That day, I purchased a simple, silver ring for $5. A hammered silver band. It has smooth silver on the back and the wider front is textured with hammer marks. I wear that ring almost every day and am always surprised at the compliments I receive on this simple, $5 souvenir ring. 

When I read today’s verse, that silver ring is the first thing that came to mind. That simple, inexpensive ring which was molded and made beautiful by a caring craftsman. It was shaped while in extreme heat by applying great pressure. This is comparable to my own life. My simple, non-extravagant life is formed and made beautiful each day by the greatest craftsman of all: God. In the furnace of everyday adversity, I am made more beautiful and useful in His sight.

It is so hard to see the positive results of adversity: the pressures and pains we experience throughout life. But through our struggles, God is refining us for a greater purpose. 

Some days the heat seems hotter than others – truly unbearable – and at other times it is just uncomfortable. Through it all, God is with us. 

So whatever furnace of adversity you find yourself in today know the end result is in our original craftsman’s hands and it will be beautiful!

So I say, bring it on! Turn up the heat – God isn’t finished with me yet!

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”                                                     II Corinthians 4:17-18

Staring down from the balcony, I watched the water ebb and flow: the sand shifting with each new mingling with the water. Most of the time the land form changed ever so slightly with the stirring of the water, but occasionally a large wave or more powerful rush of water caused more of a visual, structural difference. 

Walking along the shoreline, I watched children creating sand structures that were safely positioned away from the water’s edge only later to watch them be chiseled away by the rising tide, many times to the dismay of the young architects. As I carefully made my way back to where I started after an evening walk, I found it difficult to locate landmarks that were once clearly visible because of the changing landscape at night fall. 

I love the beach. It is never the same close up. The landscape is constantly changing. Yet when I fix my eyes on the distant horizon, it is strangely familiar, predicable, calming – the same. 

The landscape of our lives changes similar to those sand shifts. Most of the time, the changes in our lives happen ever so slowly, gently. Shifting into new forms. Taking on a new shape. It is pleasant, normal. At other times, out of nowhere comes the big wave that washes away part of carefully planned and created sand castle. Sometimes, worse – it washes out the whole thing. Our day … week … year … life becomes unrecognizable. 

Yet if we look past the waves to the horizon we are filled with peace and hope – reminded of what we are striving for in this unpredictable world. 

Got problems? We all do. 

Some problems we see coming as they creep up like the slow rise of the evening tide toward our toes. Others hit us when we least expect it.

Remember no matter how big or small your problems are today, they are only temporary. Fix your heart on what is beyond the horizon, our unseen eternal glory. That, my friend, will never change.

In the sunny South, we are currently experiencing those unpredictable, summertime pop-up showers and thunderstorms. While we welcome the much needed rain, when the 10% chance turns to 100% without notice it often ruins our plans and drowns our spirits. Remember: You can’t control the weather but you can dance in the rain!

“God is our refuge and strength, ever-present help in trouble.”                   Psalm 46:1 (NIV)

Picture this: you – in a small boat. No land in sight. Just clear skies. Beautiful, peaceful water. A nice calm breeze. This scene lasts for awhile – long enough for you to get comfortable and at ease drifting in the sunshine. Then, when you least expect it, the sky suddenly darkens. The wind whips. The once calm water becomes violent. Large waves rock your once steady vessel. (Like a scene from the movie Castaway with you replacing Tom Hanks.)

No one wants to be that far away from shore and safety when the elements suddenly change …

… jeopardizing your stability …

… leaving you tossed, lost, and drifting. 

Just as you have no control over the weather when you are out in your little boat, you don’t have control over the winds of change in your life. When you least expect it, your once steady, calm world of family, friends, and community is violently rocked and you find yourself paddling with all of your might to keep your proverbial boat afloat. 

You are clearly not in control of the situation, but God is; your refuge, your strength, your ever-present help.

Consequently, the goal is to never lose sight of the safety and security of the shoreline:  our heavenly Father. The best part is no matter how far you drift off course you are never out of range to call for assistance or support. God will always hear your call. No matter how far you stray or drift. You are never off His radar.

So how are you feeling today? Is it smooth sailing or are you being tossed about? 

No matter where you are in your journey, be sure to include God in your safety plan. 

Whether you need a safe haven or to be reenergized, He is there for you – in calm and during the storm.

Happy Sailing!

(I hope you are finding time to unplug and unwind a bit this summer. I am finally taking some intentional time to relax and rejuvenate and I highly recommend it!)

“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 3:22-23 (ESV)

I sat down in the meeting, opened my tablet to take notes, and the dreaded message popped up: Charge battery 10% remaining. Then, later in the day, I grabbed my cell phone to check in with my daughter and there were no signs of life at all, just a blank screen – not even one blinking bar. Nothing. Could it be? Did I forget to charge the phone overnight … again?

You may remember that old battery icon, the Energizer bunny. You know, the one who keeps going, and going, and going … Why can’t everything last like that? An endless supply of energy. Truth be told, even the Energizer bunny must run out eventually, regardless of what the marketing department would have you believe. I have yet to find a battery that does not have to be replaced or recharged.

We even talk about recharging our own mythical, personal batteries. People talk about the need to renew and recharge which sounds good. But, if I can’t even be trusted to remember to charge my cell phone overnight, do you think I can actually take care of recharging myself? 

When it is left up to me, I only voluntarily take ‘down time’ when I am at the point of extreme illness or exhaustion. Otherwise, I am convinced the world cannot go on without me. So I keep pushing myself. 

I ignore all of the personal signs: 10% remaining (I snapped at my spouse for no apparent reason), 5% remaining (I withdrew from my friends, too busy to touch base with them), 2% remaining (I impose unrealistic expectations on those around me and get upset when they don’t live up to the expectation), 0% remaining, blank screen (nothing left except that empty feeling – call it regret or disappointment).

What good are we to others when we let this happen? What kind of life is this for me or you? Miserable. 

When we live half charged, running on empty, we begin to trudge through each day merely checking off the items on our “to do” lists, running from one obligation to the next only to miss the joy which surrounds us each day.

So where is this miracle battery? The one we can use to keep us going, and going, and going? 

Actually, it is no battery at all. It is Jesus Christ. He will renew us each day and keep us full to overflowing.

Include Him as you begin each day and you will have exactly what you need to keep going, all day – every day.

No batteries required!