Category Archives: Spirit Life

Offended

Proverbs 18:17 “The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.”

gsvelJPG

It is unwise to make judgements based on a one sided story and limited facts. Be careful about believing everything heard or read. There’s always two sides to every situation, sometimes more.

When I don’t bother to obtain all the facts, assumptions are made founded on skewed perspectives. Relationships can be damaged, sometimes severely.

Picking up an offense that has nothing to do with me, based solely on what one person has said is a waste of my time, energy and emotion. It’s not worth it. I don’t need more drama in life than I already create on my own!

The Bible calls this gossip and also calls me foolish for partaking.

Jesus said offenses will come (Luke 17:1) and tomorrow has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34) so why borrow offense from others?

If I’m not part of the solution, I shouldn’t make it my problem.

Quietly pray for all involved and move on.

Let God and the people concerned sort it out.

Proverbs 10:18 ESV “..whoever utters slander is a fool.”

Proverbs 17:9 ESV “Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.”

Matthew 18:15-18 (MSG) “If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church. If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love.”

Before It’s Gone Too Far

For the first time since it was built in the late 1990’s, our house can be seen from the street. Our home, which backs up to a lake and was, until recently, surrounded by trees and Florida’s wild palmetto and scrub brush in front and on both sides, has had a seclusion invasion.

A new house is being built on the lot next door. All the trees and brush on the north side of our home have been leveled and we are adjusting to the fact that very soon, a view of looming walls will be replacing nature on our northern horizon.

Our quiet acre of paradise has been invaded by backhoes, construction trucks and crews of workers wielding high decibel power tools and playing loud music, while attempting to converse over top of all the racket they are making. 

Two weeks ago we went outside after a rain and noticed water runoff, beginning near the side of the newly constructed foundation and flowing down, through the mulched area that stretches along the edge of our driveway between the two properties. A tiny rivulet of scooped out earth had formed and washed some of the bark mulch into our driveway gravel.

We pointed this out to the general contractor who promised to take care of it right away. 

He didn’t. 

A few days later after another hard rain, the first stream was larger and several more had formed. Now mulch and sand was washing down the driveway all over the cemented section in front of the garage. While I cleaned it up, the boss man looked it over and said he’d take care of it right away. 

He didn’t.

Several evenings ago we had one of the hardest rains I’ve seen in a while; one of those monsoon varieties with continuous thunder, lightning and a wide open fire hydrant sky, pouring torrential waters down from the heavens for well over an hour. It was one of Florida’s crazy, hazy summer afternoon rain storms.

When we went outside the next morning, an entire section of mulch and gravel and about one inch of sand that makes up the lower part of our driveway and its landscaped edge was washed up nearly to the garage door and under our cars. 

It was a mess. And I was upset!

I won’t bore you with the all the details of what happened next.  I will say that as soon as I went to the shed for a shovel and started digging the trench myself (that had been repeatedly promised) between our property and the construction site, reinforcements were quickly called in to help clean up the mess in our driveway. It took five of us about four hours to shovel, rake, sweep and pressure wash the driveway back to its original state. 

Apparently a fence company has been called and is supposed to come ASAP to put up a silt barrier. It will be buried eight inches under the ground along the edge of our property to stop the run-off and erosion into our driveway. I’m praying they come before it rains again.

I had a light bulb moment for my own heart, when I commented to Mike yesterday, “We all could have been spared four hours worth of sweaty, back breaking work in the hot sun if this had been taken care of back at the onset of the problem.”  

Hebrews 12:1 talks about the besetting sins that hinder us from finishing the course of our life; Song of Solomon 2:15, about the “little foxes that spoil the vine”; Hebrews 12:15, about the root of bitterness that left unchecked, grows until it defiles not only me, but many others; James 1:15 lays out the course of sin from a seemingly petty initial desire to conception and the end result.

It’s impossible to contain a river once it overflows. When I hand the destructive forces of my life over to God at their beginnings, while they’re still small, it allows for the eradication of problems that eventually swell out of control and run loose all over everything and everyone. I need to deal with my stuff before it’s gone too far. 

Inside the human condition, every tiny trickle and tributary left without God’s blueprinted boundary is potentially a mess in the making; a river of self destruction that flows farther and wider than we ever intended. Yes, thank God. He can restore. He can put us back together. He can repair the breach and clean up our mess, but it’s so much better if we just don’t go there at all.

May God help me commit every tiny area of my heart to His work of redemption, so the only thing flowing outward is the living waters of a life lived in Jesus. 

I pray every day what gushes from within me and all over you, is more and more of Him and whole lot less of me.

John 7:38 (ESV) Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

“A little thorn may cause much suffering. A little cloud may hide the sun. Little foxes spoil the vines; and little sins do mischief to the tender heart.”  ~Charles Spurgeon~

“Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.”  ~14thCentury Proverb~

Bring It All

I had a dream the other night. Jesus was calling to us, all of humanity. 

Gently imploring, “Come to me. Bring me whatever you have, whatever you are. I love you exactly as you are so come.”

I was in line with a great crowd of people who were moving toward Him. Some were holding a thimble full of their stuff, some were pushing a wheel barrow full and others were driving dump trucks!

It didn’t matter to us or Him, what any of us had or the size of it, we were just joyfully relieved to be giving it all to Jesus, the good, bad and indifferent parts of us. He was willingly receiving it all and was pleased.

Then I woke up.
I’m thinking the point of my dream is this:
God isn’t messed up or surprised by who you are, where you’ve come from or what you’ve done. He just wants you to come to Him. Lay everything down before Him and allow His love to fill you, bless you and change you. 

He’s calling my name and yours. He’s patiently waiting.

So what are we waiting for?

Quit looking at my stuff and I’ll quit looking at yours. 
Let’s just go – together.
Matthew 11:28-30  “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”(MSG)

Broken Things

There’s a program I like to watch on TV about competing teams of interior designers who are given several hundred dollars for the challenge of choosing a few flea market items to refurbish and re-sell at the same flea market for a profit. The team that sells their re-designs for the highest earnings receives all the money at the show’s end. 

The designers choose objects that are broken, worn, damaged, old, ugly and possibly considered useless. They possess a passion for creative imagination and an eye for seeing something that is not yet there, turning discarded stuff into something people want. They restore value.

Just before Jesus began his ministry, scripture tells us, he was in the synagogue reading aloud this portion of Isaiah 61:

“And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

 “Then,” Luke 4:16-21 says, “He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus came to this planet wrapped in an earth suit – flesh and blood- to restore beauty and value to a broken world; to take us back where we have always belonged, into an intimate relationship with God our Father.

As Master Designer, God lovingly sorts through the scrap heap of our lives and sees us for who we can be rather than what we are. He sets our life on a path of repair and redemption the minute we yield everything we have and are to Him.

Feeling ugly, tattered, damaged, and useless? Though you may see yourself as such, your value has never once diminished inside God’s plan. He proved His obsession for your restoration by paying for it with the life of His Son. 

Are there pieces and parts of you that are shattered, incomplete or in disrepair? Broken things are God’s specialty. 

Surrender all your brokenness to God and allow Him a divine re-design. The process may be inconvenient and even painful at times, but endure it with gladness. 

When God revalues a broken thing the results are priceless and beyond astounding, because that is exactly what you are in His eyes!

Psalm 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Philippians 1:3 & 6 “I thank my God every time I remember you… being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”


Dead Right!


King David’s relationship with his son Absalom, had been strained for several years, after Absalom killed his half brother Amnon (2 Samuel 13). And now, in 2 Samuel 15, we find David and a large group of loyal followers leaving Jerusalem when the king receives word that his son has launched a rebellion and is on his way to the city to overtake the throne. Once again David is running for his life, this time from his own child (2 Samuel 15-18).

After Absalom arrives in Jerusalem and discovers his father is gone, Absalom begins to plot how to find and kill him.  One of David’s trusted advisors, Hushai, has stayed behind under the pretense of switching allegiance to Absalom, but undercover, he is relaying Absalom’s intentions and actions as they unfold, to David, by messenger. 

Ahithophel, Absalom’s top chosen advisor, recommends rallying troops to go after David immediately, but after Absalom listens to Hushai’s counsel, he decides to follow his plan instead.  After all, Hushai has been a close and trusted friend of King David and would have knowledge of the King that no one else does and Absalom, at this point, has no indication to distrust Hushai’s intentions.

Behind the scene, God is using Hushai to reverse Ahithophel’s strategy (which actually was the best one for defeating David) to bring disaster down on King David’s rebellious son, Absalom.

How it all ends is not the most important point of this drama. Let’s spotlight on this scripture for a minute – 2 Samuel 17:23:

“When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his house in order and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.”(NLT)

Wow! When I read this I had to stop and consider, how many times in my own life, would I rather been dead than have my opinion rejected, ignored, overlooked? Maybe not literally dead, but the, “You don’t like what I believe or say so I’m going to pack myself up and cut myself off from you and anyone else who does not value what I think,” kind of dead. 

This mindset is a growing norm in our society. People are polarizing around issues of government, politics, religion, ethics, morals, lifestyles and behavior. Everyone wants to be heard, be right, and all who disagree, on either side of the divide, are considered intolerant, hateful and narrow minded. It’s an all out, “I’m right and you’re wrong,” continuous brawl!

Many years ago, Mike went to visit a church member who was in a mental ward. As this guy shared his plight, he confessed there were things in his past he couldn’t let go of because he was right and “those people” were wrong. Mike asked him, “Would you rather get out of here or be right?” The man’s reply was, “I’d rather be right.” That man could still be in that psyche ward; maybe he died in there for all we know. Sometimes there’s a high price for always needing to be right.

Back in the narrative of 2 Samuel – Absalom thought he had a right to the crown but he died in the war that ensued as he tried to escape from some of David’s men that came upon him. They found Absalom hanging by his long, thick hair that tangled in a fat tree branch after his mule kept going and left him dangling there. And his big-ego counselor, Ahithophel, needed to be right so much, that he hanged himself all because his opinion went unheeded!

The only one really in the right here was David, who had already learned the hard way that being so is not more important than being king, being cast from God’s presence or falling out of relationship with a son or friend. Just a read through the Psalms of David allows us to see how he experienced the lessons of pride, humility, exaltation, brokenness, reliance upon self or trust in God. 

Jesus laid down his rights to be right and died for us. Before doing so, He told us to love one another as He loved us (1 John 3:16). That’s a colossal assignment

When being right and having the last word becomes more important than relationships with people, God, or living a life of peace and contentment, serious trouble is brewing.

Don’t get ‘hung up’ on always being right. I’m painfully and slowly learning it’s better to humbly die to self, than be dead right; cut off from the Spirit of God in my life and those I am called to love and serve! 

That’s way too great a price and one I’m not willing to pay, anymore.

Psalm 34:18  The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite [humble] spirit.

Philippians 2:3-8  Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

John 10:17-18  The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life…No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

Embracing Your Thorn

At Israel’s request for a king, Saul was appointed and anointed as their first, by the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 10).  When Samuel gathered the people together to confirm the new king, he couldn’t be found. God had to reveal to Samuel where Saul was and Samuel may have had doubts about God’s choice when he discovered the new king was hiding among the supplies. This man, though tall and handsome, had major confidence issues. 

Can you imagine a president of the United States so insecure that he hides in a White House closet on Inauguration Day and someone has to find and convince him to show up for the ceremony? That was Saul!

Fast forward five chapters and several years and we find Saul a very different man. He has now disobeyed God’s battle orders in several wars against neighboring nations, and has gone so far as to set up a monument to himself (1 Samuel 12:15). King Saul is so confidently full of himself, he actually believes he has done God a favor in his disobedience, and when he is confronted by Samuel, Saul is more worried about what the people will think (verse 30) than what he has done.

Centuries later, another Saul, highly educated and convinced of his own righteousness in Pharisee law, persecutes and kills those following the way of Jesus, who claims to be the Messiah, the Son of God. In the early days of the church, Saul, becomes a believer and is called to preach the Gospel after a dramatic and personal encounter with Jesus (Acts 9). Saul, renamed Paul, is given great revelation from God and becomes a man of incredible influence, an Apostle and a leader among leaders – traveling, establishing churches, speaking and writing. His revelations from God comprise a significant amount of the Bible’s New Testament. 

Paul was a very prideful man before his conversion.  It would have been easy for him to transfer this pride to the new authority and knowledge he was given, but to prevent him from becoming haughty and conceited, Paul admits, “lest I be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me,” something that continuously troubled and battered him. Scholars differ about what that thorn might have been, but Paul states clearly its purpose was to keep him humble, his feet firmly planted on solid ground, his heart continuously searched and surrendered before God (2 Corinthians 12:6-10).

There’s a huge lesson in the account of these two Sauls for those who are in leader roles. Abraham Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Whether you lead a family, a classroom, a committee, a boardroom, a business, platoon, army, ministry, church, city, state or country – beware!  Pride and power NEVER mix.  

It’s easy to lose perspective in a place of authority, a few accolades and victories, several successes under our belt and we gradually forget our humble beginnings and what God has brought us from. We start building monuments to our self and our accomplishments, using position for selfish gain and putting power ahead of serving people. Sometimes it’s such a subtle slide we don’t even see it happening until we’ve gone too far. Always be on the alert for the danger of leader pride!

Paul pleaded with God for his “thorn” to be removed and God said no. If you are a leader and have a thorn in the flesh, some circumstance, trouble, irritation, frustration, that keeps you planted and rooted in the reality of who you are without Christ, be thankful for it! If you don’t…well…you might want to ask for one.

It could be the thing that saves your heart, life, reputation and the people you are called to help and serve.

Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6 “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 

Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself. ~Elie Wiesel~



Contentment


Most of the church staff is away at a leadership conference. I wanted to go but I’m home with my son instead. So now I have a choice to make. I can be sad, mad, annoyed, feel left out and left behind OR I can see a day ahead full of amazing promise and purpose.

It’s a beautiful Florida day and my garden and flower beds are bursting with blooms in the spring sunshine. The lake behind our property is sparkling like diamonds in the sun and the ducks, egrets, osprey, sand cranes and song birds are calling to each other. The little Anole lizards are sunning themselves on our pool screen, the males showing off for the gals, with amusing pushups and throat puffing.

I’ve already had time to exercise, get into God’s word and spend some time in conversation with Him. I have things swirling in my head that need to be written, several sewing projects to complete, a stack of books to read, some things that need to be organized and a few new recipes I’d like to try. There’s laundry to do, floors to sweep, bathrooms to clean and when Jon decides to come out of his room I will need to spend a few hours convincing him to get in the shower. There’s plenty to do, much to be thankful for and no time to pout or be miserable about what could or should be on such a gorgeous day!

I’ve come to realize that God sometimes calls us down a different path than those around us. Our life may not look like everyone else but He still has a plan and a purpose in it. We may not understand all the whys or hows, but His sufficient grace is great enough to change our heart from one that whines, kicks and complains, like an unhappy toddler not getting what she wants in a toy store, to one of peace and contentment in our circumstances.

If contentment comes only when conditions surrounding me are pleasant and bursting with abundance, accomplishment, accolades, fun, happiness and warm fuzzy feelings, I’m in big trouble. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, tells us we should be thankful IN all things. I’m glad Paul didn’t say we had to be thankful FOR all things, that’s too hard to do. The more I practice thankfulness the easier it becomes. My contentment meter registers less and less like an over-active earthquake seismograph, emotions level out and peace reigns once again. It’s a beautiful thing!

There is a loud and annoying bulldozer in the lot next door grading and leveling for a new house soon to be built, and my hubby called asking me to look up a restaurant on Google maps where he and the rest of the staff can all go for lunch together, but today I will choose to ignore that as well.

Proverbs 14:30 says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Don’t know about you but I want life, health and peace flooding over me-inside and out.

I’m going to go make myself a salad and choose God’s plan for my day, for my life. I may need His help to start over again tomorrow, but on this day I choose contentment.

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Heaven Is Here


My dear friend Thelma came to stay with us for a few nights. She needed a quiet retreat to get some work done on several projects; the second, third and fourth books in her “God’s Lil People” series for kids, and another unusual book which I am really excited about! 

Since I’ve known Thelma, she has had a passion for exposing children to the miraculous and supernatural power of a living God. She and her husband, Lou, live with their oldest daughter, son-in-law and their three children in a sprawling house on several acres in Kissimmee, Florida. The oldest granddaughter, who is now ten, has been regularly visiting Heaven in her dreams at night for the past six years or so. When the family finally realizedthis, Thelma began chronicling Rachel’s experiences in the morning after she wakes up. Rachel recites and Grama writes with a fury. 

I just spent a good part of the last few days reading Rachel’s journeys to Heaven (since 2009); her descriptions of what she sees there, rooms and levels, healing grass, mountains that move then explode into waterfalls that flow with healing water to us on earth,  her personally assigned angels named Promise and Laughy, who take her places throughout Heaven, explain things to her and give her a birthday party, people she meets, such as her dad’s parents, who she never knew on earth because they died before she was born, and best of all her wonderful conversations with Jesus whom she often meets in their special “Love Tree” where they climb up to just sit and talk. According to Rachel, the Love Tree has large, beautiful rose–like flowers all over it, you can eat them and they taste really wonderful.

It is an adventure full of joy, beauty, love and trust with simple, yet profound revelation of doctrine, theology and scripture, things that Rachel is still too young to understand, but are very evident in her conversations and discoveries. It is also an unveiling of the wondrous heart of God for all His children, who sparkle like diamonds on earth when Rachel and Jesus look at us from Heaven. 

The most awesome surprise in Rachel’s dreams is that Heaven is already on earth and we spend so much time mired in our natural and physical, temporary realities, we aren’t even aware of it. We don’t understand what being, “Seated in heavenly places” (Ephesians 2:6) really means or what, “Christ in you the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) can do for us nor do we totally grasp the concept of, “On earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10). We don’t realize that we are already living in the Eternal and this life is just a chapter in the never ending adventure.

The past decade of my life, God has been speaking to my own heart about how complicated I make Him, how I want to do what He has already done and how I attempt to reason instead of trust. Like Rachel says, your spirit where Jesus already lives, should always ‘pump up’ to your mind. Your mind should never ‘pump down’ to your spirit. How I long to live in that place where my mind is servant to God’s spirit within me!
To be privileged to read Rachel’s encounters and have my own understanding further enlightened and my heart set free inside a simple, yet deeper level of truth, is a great joy and honor. I feel as if I’m floating in another realm just thinking of it! I can’t give it all away, but I’m incredibly thankful that I have been asked to be a part of this project-layout, design, editing-whatever way I can help, I am thrilled to do so.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these,” (Mark:10:14) As Rachel teaches us about the Kingdom of God in Heaven and it‘s connection to earth, I’m more than willing to follow along and learn of Him, whom my soul loves and longs for above all else.

Mark 10:13-16   People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them

More Than a Chair

Jon has had a recliner in his room in front of his TV, where he watches his DVD’s and old VHS movies, since we moved to Florida. This particular old chair came with us from New Hampshire twelve years ago and had seen better days. It was stiff and ripped from years of overuse and no amount of scrubbing improved the look of the tan vinyl. It was time for it to go to old furniture heaven.

Those of you who’ve been around us for any length of time know we are craigslist junkies. Most every major purchase item taking up space in our home and driveway comes from craigslist. My money saving husband is a huge proponent of letting others pay full price for something, use it four times, decide they don’t want it, then sell it to him for less than half the original cost. He get’s thrills and chills from obtaining a nearly new item at a bargain. So when it was time to buy Jon a new chair, Mike visited his favorite store-craigslist.com. 

We didn’t want to pay much. Jon is not very kind to his possessions, so after looking for a few weeks we finally found him a decent used recliner at a decent price, borrowed a truck from a friend and went to pick it up. At least that’s what we thought was the only purpose of this venture.

While Mike was tying the chair down inside the truck bed the woman we were purchasing it from (I’ll call her Susan) and I began chatting. In the course of our conversation she shared that she was moving and selling a lot of her furniture-“downsizing” is how she put it. Also, as often does, the question of Mike’s occupation came up and the fact that he is a pastor. 

We paid her and were getting ready to hop in the truck to leave. As Susan started to walk back toward her garage she turned suddenly and called out, “Pastor Mike, Oh Pastor Mike, I wonder if you could do something for me before you go.”

I turned around, looked at her and the first thing that came out of my mouth was, “Do you need us to pray for you?”

She immediately dropped her face into her hands and began to sob uncontrollably. I went to her and gathered her shaking body up in my arms holding her for about three minutes while she cried all over me. When she gained enough composure to speak she half cried, half yelled, “Why did God have to take him away?!”

“Who have you lost?” I asked gently.

“My husband,” Susan wailed, grief pouring from the depths of her being, “He just died suddenly of a heart attack. He was only 62. Now he’s gone and that’s why I’m moving. That chair you’re buying is his.” 

She stared at Mike, giant tears gliding down her face, like he could somehow wave a magic wand and make it all OK or at least give her an answer that made sense.

We couldn’t give her an answer of course, because we don’t know. We don’t know why people die suddenly, why tragedies occur, why things just don’t make sense sometimes but we could tell her about The Answer-Jesus. The man of sorrows who died to take every ounce of grief, heart wrenching pain and confusion we can face in this life, upon Himself to give us hope and peace. And we prayed with her, hugged her and tried our best to give her some comfort in the few minutes God divinely ordained us to be there. 

As it turned out Susan did want Mike to muscle something in the garage for her that needed fixing, something that required having a man around to do. He helped her with that and she thanked him profusely. We asked her if she needed anything else, said our goodbyes with a promise to continue praying for her and left with her husband’s recliner gently shifting in the wind in the truck bed as we drove the highway home. ‘

Anytime I walk into Jon’s room, I will be reminded of a day we thought we were just going to make a purchase, but God knew of a heartbroken woman thirty miles away who needed a hug, a prayer, a ray of hope, so He set up a divine appointment – with a chair.

If you think you need a title, a platform, or a microphone, to do ministry, think again. Right this very minute opportunity to give away the love of Jesus is all around you. Ministry happens anytime, anywhere there’s you and people in need, so open your eyes, open your ears, open your heart and be aware of the “chair” moments that arise in the routine events of your every day .

I Peter 3:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hopethat you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

Watching Your Waiting

This morning, I spent two and a half hours at the lab, waiting to have the “vampire’ nurse (my nick name for phlebotomists 🙂) draw blood for my annual physical next week. At least thirty people were ahead of me when I arrived and a steady stream flowing in behind me; so many people, there weren’t enough seats for everyone. 

Since this lab is the only one covered by my insurance and it closes at three everyday and is not open weekends, today was my only option. Mike has Fridays off and he was home with Jon. I knew I was in for a long wait so I signed in and settled myself with my friend’s new book, fresh off the publisher’s press last week, and delved into chapter three, where I had left off.

During pauses in reading, I realized several things:

  • People are mad when they have to wait. Ninety percent of the folks in that room were fidgeting, sighing and complaining-loudly-with the two gals behind the reception desk the target of everyone’s impatience. I put my reading aside for a while and observed these two harried employees. Though overwhelmed, they were working hard to process the masses through quickly. It was obvious they were trying to hold it together, maintaining a decorum of courtesy and self control in spite of a slew of angry patients adding burden to their workload . 
  • People don’t entertain themselves very well. Maybe our technology has turned us into a culture of ADD types with toddler attention spans. There was only one other person in the room reading a book, oblivious to the chaos around him. No one came prepared for a long wait and that only perpetuated more impatience.

Galatians 5:22 lists patience as one of the fruit of the Spirit. If I am intentional about walking in the Spirit everyday as Galatians 5:25 exhorts, then my fruit should be coming more evident. When out in the community am I mirroring an image of Christ that reflects His glory or one that damages it?  Christ followers should be the most patient people in the room, in the line, on the freeway, in the world. 

The world is watching. The folks in that waiting room this morning sure were. Watching each other was the only thing they had to do. What did they see when they looked at me?

Heavenly Father, by the power of the Spirit at work in us who claim to be Your followers, may others see the good fruit of patience manifested in us everywhere we go and in everything we do. Today, we submit to Your work in our heart and life to bring us to that result.

James 1:4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.