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Archive for the ‘Life Experiences’ Category

Hidden Dust

Posted in Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on June 17, 2014| 1 Comment »

AAAchoo. Packing to move sure stirs up the dust. hidden dust

I consider myself a good housekeeper. I dust regularly. But, when I began to empty out shelves and pack away books and knickknacks, the dusty back corners loomed at me. Tiny scraps of paper, dust bunnies, cat hair.

My nose twitched. My eyes watered. As I grabbed the dusting cloth and furniture polish, I pondered. “Sniff. Now where did I pack the facial tissue?”

How could I have not seen all that dust lurking? Because the things of my life – books, heirloom figurines, family photos, mementos –  were hiding it. I regularly dusted around them, maybe even lifted them and dusted underneath. But the pesky specks settled in the far back depths, unseen until I emptied the shelf. I thought to myself. Hmm. Perhaps I should take more time on a regular basis, say every few months or so, to empty the shelves and dust more thoroughly. If I could find the time…

A faith lesson tickled my mind –

Sometimes, God moves us in order to shake up the dust a bit. He takes us from our comfort zones where life has settled around us, and in the process of rearranging and weeding out the things we have gathered to us, our patient Lord reveals the accumulation of specks we have neglected.

Perhaps a negative attitude towards someone.

Maybe a lie we regret telling.

The time we acted less that Christian,yet left unconfessed.

LIttle things we have tucked away in the back of our lives and not tended to very well. But no one sees that, do they? Over time, we may not notice it either. We have cluttered up our life-shelf with other things. The more current things get our attention. Those we confess, and clean away. Yet, these other things in our past continue to accumulate in the depths of our souls.

Today, I found a message from God in some dust bunnies at the back of my shelves: Cleaning up my act may mean rearranging things in my life so God can point out to me the areas I have neglected – the ones out of sight.

Perhaps I need to carve out more time with Him on a regular basis so He can help me reveal my past mistakes. That way, they don’t build up. Maybe, I can do that while I am dusting my shelves more thoroughly in the new place. With each swipe of the dusting cloth, my Lord will show me where I need Him to wipe away my sinsfrom the corners of my heart.

Lord, help me find the time to do both, and, no matter how arduous, rejoice in it.

Where will you find God today?

 

 

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The Little Drips

Posted in Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on June 4, 2014| 2 Comments »

Recently a foul odor whisked through my living room.  In my somewhat open-concept space, the kitchen is separated from the living room by a half-wall, so I ran the disposal – nope. I emptied the trash- no, not that.  With a shrug, I sprayed some air freshener just as my Bible study group arrived. But, they began to smell it as well.  It became more predominate as the evening progressed.

What was it???

After they left, my foot hit the carpet by the couch and a felt a squish. The carpet was wet! Moving the couch, which butts up to the half-wall that separates the kitchen from the living room, revealed the source. The wall was bulging, the baseboard cracked and the carpet tinted blackish-brown where it met the wall. We had a leak!

It seems one of the apartments above us had a crack in the disposal drain pipe. Water had been dripping down the wall and pooling behind ours on the first floor. Mildew had taken over as well as tiny water bugs. YUK . IMAG0015 (1)

When they opened the wall, it all cascaded out, along with the stench.  It was pretty nasty. It took two maintenance men and a carpet/mildew specialist, all with skills I did not possess using materials and lots of tools I didn’t have, to clean it up. That took time. The wall had to dry, the carpet had to be sanitized, stretched and dried. The sheet rock replaced, and new baseboards installed. Finally, a fresh coat of paint was applied.

What struck me is that the same can be said of the little sins in our lives. Nothing big by the world standards, mind you. The white lie to a friend, using the office copier for personal use, sleeping in instead of having your prayer time, being purposely rude to someone in traffic, not quite tithing in the offering this week because that dress on sale needed to be in your closet,  losing your temper with your kids and saying something cutting about their character instead censuring their actions, never quite apologizing to a hurt friend, watching that soft porn movie or reading that steamy romance novel…

…drip, drip,drip behind the walls we build up. No one needs to know, right?

But eventually, some physical evidence will emerge. It may be restless sleep, a tendency to be grouchy, muscle tension, or a sour stomach.

It may take more than just you to solve the problem if you let it go too long. Of course, Our Lord is the master fixer – the only true One who can make our mess clean and pure again. His mercy can cut through  the walls we’ve  built to reveal the accumulative effects of our “little drips” sins. But He may bring in other people or tools to help do the clean-up work. It may be a passage in Scripture or a sermon by your pastor that whacks the first blow at the wall. Perhaps a close friend to pray over you, or a Christian counselor,  will provide the tools or the know-how to eradicate that pesky little sins that have been eating at you deep inside where you thought nobody could see.

You will probably have a part in the process as well. It will take time. It may get a bit nasty. But it will be worth it.

..because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.   Leviticus 16:30

...let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22

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Daily Bread or Doughnuts

Posted in Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on May 29, 2014| 1 Comment »

ID-10067177I stared at a freezer full of the same ol’ stuff I’d been eating for weeks on end. Veggie burgers, frozen vegetables, skinless chicken breasts.  I opened the fridge to the same stuff. Reduced fat this and that, no-calorie dressing, salad bags, zero-fat Greek yogurt. Sigh – Losing a pound or so a week on this healthy diet gets monotonous at times. I crave French fries, grilled cheese, a chocolate shake, Alfredo pizza, Mexican food. Lord, why does all the good stuff have to be so bad for me, so high in calories and ssoooo tasty? When I was younger I could eat it all and not gain an ounce.  I grumbled under my breath, grabbed a protein drink and some celery stalks, and slunk to the couch to read my assigned Bible passage.

Half way down the page, my mouth opened into a large “o”.

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”  (Numbers 11:4-6)

When God told them through Moses that pork and shell-fish were a no-no, did they complain as well? Possibly.

I’m no different. I can continue to pig out on fast foods and shell out my money on prepackaged meals, or choose to buy healthier, fresh food choices and exercise more. I can be thankful for what God provides from the earth for my nourishment, or crave the sugary, fatty, salty, and carb-laden man-made things that I can’t or shouldn’t have and grumble about it.

The Hebrews had herds of animals with them and money to buy grains and fruits as they wandered past other nomadic tribes in the wilderness. But did they consume them after the first were tithed to God? The BIble doesn’t say. It does say that God gave them manna –  the bread of the angels – to be their wholesome daily supplement. Each daybreak they were provided just enough for one day, except the day before the Sabbath when the Hebrews received two day’s worth of manna so they wouldn’t have to labor on their commanded day of rest.

What was God teaching the Hebrews? Two things. Rely on Him each day and He will provide what we need, but not necessarily what we want.

He wishes to teach me the same thing.  In my diet, as in every aspect of the rest of my daily life, I need to rely on Him to provide my needs.  I shouldn’t whine because I can’t eat or buy certain things. But unlike the Hebrews, I am still in Egypt.  In today’s pre-packaged, credit-happy world, it is way too easy to buy more than we make, eat three times a day what people used to consider an occassional treat, and waste more time on useless entertainment like Tv, video games and social media sites than ever before. How easily we can become enslaved!

I need my Lord, each day, to help me choose between what He wants to provide and what I want to grab or grumble about having.  Promised Land up ahead or stay in Egypt.

Maybe it would be easier if God isolated me from the world and gave me the food I should eat to lose weight each day at daybreak – just enough for that day.

Give me this day, my daily bread.. but, not the doughnut, Lord.

Nah, like the Hebrews, I’d probably grumbled about that as well after a few months.

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Skirting His Presence

Posted in Biblical, Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , , on May 27, 2014| 2 Comments »

HA altar-301-XL

courtesy of Gordon Henry, photographer

In the church where I work, it is customary to leave a remnant of the consecrated bread and wine in a cabinet on the altar called the Tabernacle. (The white curtained area under the brass dome and the cross.) That way, Christ is always present in the Sanctuary. It’s a tradition that stretches back as far as the regulations in Exodus, which was carried into the early Catacombs where the first Christians worshipped, and is still practiced in many churches today where the Holy Eucharist (Communion) is celebrated.

Exodus 25:8, 30  “Then have them build a sanctuary and I will dwell among them…Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times..” 

A perpetual candle on or near the altar area is lit, to signify that the consecrated elements representing Christ’s body and blood are present in the Tabernacle. When the candle it a glow, it is customary to bend a knee before the altar to honor God and to recall that one day every knee a shall bend at the name of Jesus. (Philippians 2:10)

Throughout the week, I bop in and out of the Sanctuary. I straighten the hymnals and distribute offering envelopes, visitors cards, etc. I place bulletins  at the entrance and put one on the organ bench for the organist.  ON the lectern, I leave large-print Scripture passages as well as the prayer list for the readers. I change the hymn board numbers. I take deliveries of candles, unleavened wafers, wine and linens to be placed in the locked sacristy until they are needed for the services. At times, I pray in there as well.

Each time I enter, I can walk down the center aisle, bow to the Tabernacle, and then go about whatever it is I came to do. Or, I can sneak in the side entrance, go down the side aisles, and bypass the altar. Well, truth be told, if I am in a hurry, I often sneak in the side. I don’t take time to approach the altar, dip my knee reverently and quietly, and then proceed with the reason I entered. I’m just going to dash in and back out again.

One day, God convicted me. That quiet, booming voice inside my heart asked, “Why do you ignore my Presence?”

I slipped to the altar, knelt and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

How often do we skirt God during our day? Aren’t there times we feel Him tug on our shirt and say, “Hey, smile and nod to that person over there,  give that homeless beggar a dollar, call so-and-so because they need to hear your voice, or stop and pray for this person whose name I have flashed into your brain?”  But in our busy-ness we skirt His whisperings and go about our tasks. We  try to schedule a time to read His Word, to speak to Him, and hopefully to listen. But, much of our day is  – “I’ll get back to you on that, Lord.” That is, until we need HIm. Until we get that phone call, slam on our brakes in a near-miss, or feel anxiety inch into our chests. Then, we bow a knee, right?

God is always present in our lives once we have “tabernacled” with Christ and allowed Him to become a part of our hearts. We cannot escape God. Like Adam and Eve we don’t have the privilege of being able to hide from Him. He will seek us out.

The Psalmist wrote, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Psalm 139:7

I found God (again) today in the church sanctuary where I work – a reminder that His presence is always there with me.  LIke the perpetual candle flame dangling from the gold chain to remind anyone who enters that God is in their midst, I have Christ’s light inside me to remind me His in in the midst of me.

Lord, let me never choose again to ignore you, or try in my hurriedness to skirt around You. May that tabernacle remind me to always bow a knee before You and acknowledge You in my day.

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Averted eyes

Posted in Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , on May 20, 2014| 1 Comment »

I have begun to power walk, well for me it takes all my power to do this, for a half hour early every morning after I have my Bible and coffee time. I live in a large apartment complex, and a few other people are stirring at that daybreak hour. ID-10018835 However, I have begun to notice something that disturbs me down to my core. Averted eyes.

Today, I passed seven people, and only one looked at me and returned my smile – a child. Everyone else turned away, or changed directions when they saw me approaching with my water bottle, walking shoes, and sweat-beaded brow. Now surely an overweight, sixty-year old 5’2′ woman is not threatening. So, instead of thinking it was all about me, I began to observe that they reacted the same way to others who were heading for their cars, walking their pets or taking out their trash. No one acknowledged the presence of anyone else. Heads down, eyes averted, they went about their business.

What happened to the friendly “howdy” and wave? When did people become so wary, so sullen, and so solitary? When did we begin to disconnect from each other? Is cyberspace to blame? Population growth? Unstable economy? I think those may be symptoms, but the disease is greater than that.

People are lost. They have no hope. They need a Savior.

Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless. Job 8:13

How can we help people to hope again?  By showing them our hope that is unmovable.  .

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Psalm 62:5

I will continue to walk, and continue to nod and smile. Maybe the small silver cross I wear will catch their attention. Perhaps they will see something in me they are lacking. And maybe, just maybe, after our eyes begin to connect, they will let me get close enough to wish them a good day and to tell them I hope God, who is the source of my hope, blesses them. I just might be the one person who smiles to them, or acknowledges them positively with caring eyes.

I also hope I start to jiggle less and less as I walk more and more .But, at least now God has given me a purpose outside of myself for my morning strolls. I walk to bring hope to averted eyes.

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A Tree Grows in… What??

Posted in Life Experiences, Nature, tagged , , , , , , , on May 12, 2014| 1 Comment »

10307430_10153104667781002_242652077577200201_nA friend posted this photo from knoxville.com on Facebook. It’s making the circuit, so maybe you’ve seen it. At first I laughed…then my mouth formed an “o.”

God spoke to me in volumes about tenacity, strength through adversity, and determination to become the beautiful creation He has in mind for you to be.

That car must have been there long before the tree was little more than a sapling. Yet, somehow, this tenacious little piece of bark pushed through metal, leather, springs and rust to stretch out into the sky.Year after year it struggled to grow, and eventually sprawled out beyond the boundaries that contained it. Limbs shot from its ever-increasing trunk until it overcame what had held it back.

The same God-given weather – rain, sun, cold and heat – that nourished the tree deteriorated it’s captor. Windows, once hardened by glass, shattered. Metal, once molded for strength, crumbled. What was once an obstacle became a pathway to the light, and a container to guide further growth.

If you are facing obstacles right now, I hope this picture of a tree sprouting healthy and strong from an old rusty car gives you hope. Through the struggle,no matter the diversity you face, you will become what God intended you to be if you don’t give up. Anything is possible if you rely on God. Keep stretching, keep reaching for Heaven’s goodness. God will provide.You will overcome any adversity if you turn to Him.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Isaiah 40:29

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27

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Soul Sniffles

Posted in Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , on May 7, 2014| 2 Comments »

ID-10070268It started with a tickle, like a feather under my nose. Then, the scratchiness in the back om tongue. By this morning, my head was stuffed with cotton, my throat burned, and a shallow cough had settled into my chest. Yep – I have a cold. It’s okay – it’s not contagious over cyberspace, so you don;t have to click off.

As nasty as a summer cold is, I found a God-message in it.

Do our souls react to sin the way our body reacts to germs? I think so.

At first sin is a mild irritant, but if we let it enter in, the Holy Spirit will make us uncomfortable as it tries to defeat the sin, the way our bodies’ white corpuscles attack a cold germ. It may take a lot of sneezing to get it out of our system. Not pleasant, but for the best.

Ignore the sin even more, and it can even make us sick. We begin to feel out of sorts and irritable. If we don’t confess the sin and try to live our lives with it, it digs in deeper to become a full-blown infection, just like a cold can turn into pneumonia or bronchitis.

Like taking cold and cough medicines, confession may not be pleasant. But it is necessary if we are to heal. The earlier we begin treatment, the quicker we can nip the symptoms in the bud.

There are other things you can do. Let your prayer be like a facial tissue- expel your sin and then toss it away.

Like hot tea, the vapors of mercy can soothe you. And to prevent your sin from infecting others, forgiven can be like a hand sanitizer that keeps the sin from re-entering our hearts. In fact, when we encounter a negative, grouchy or hurtful person, maybe we should grab our spiritual armor the way we dig in our purses and pockets for the hand sanitizer bottle when someone sniffles or coughs. God’s Word is the best defense to keep our souls healthy.

When you have a cold you are supposed to rest because you are weak. Are we not supposed to rest in the arms of our Lord when we feel spiritually weak?

The experts say to intake lots of water if you feel a cold coming on. Jesus said He is the Living Water. If we intake a huge dose of Him in our lives, will that help flush out our sinfulness? Oh, and you are to increase your Vitamin C. For the spiritual sniffles, is the Vitamin C otherwise known as Christ? Do we not need more of Him in us?

Hmmm. Is that why they called Jesus the Great Physician?

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Despite the Drought

Posted in Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , , on April 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Springtime in Texas usually tempt tourists to flock to our back roads. Splattered in carpets of blues and pinks, then shifting to reds and yellows, wildflowers cover the landscape. They spread across fields like God’s colorful quilt, hugging the fence posts and stretching over the edges of the farm to market routes. But, not this year. The lack of rain has taken its toll.

smart phone 003Yesterday, I traveled to a family member’s funeral in the Texas Hill Country. The two-lane highway should have been covered in wildflowers. Instead, mostly brownish-yellow grasses spread along the sides of the road.

The creeks ,once bubbling over the limestone rocks, were dry beds. The larger rivers were so low the cypress trees, which lace the banks, craned their roots out of the dirt in search for water. The temperatures were already soaring into the low 90’s , even though it is April. The thirsty landscape prompted me to guzzle a bit more bottled water as we rode.

Yet, along the way,I noticed a few delicate blossoms hardy enough to pop through the cracked, parched ground. Some clung near rocks. others nestled against cacti, which by the way, were in abundance. They were welcomed signs of renewal and beauty in an otherwise dreary scenery.

Our faith can be that like these sturdy blossoms. Through times of spiritual drought, nuggets of Scripture long ago memorized, verses of a hymn once sung a the top of our lungs with hands lifted high, or a wall plaque or bookmark with a comfortable passage can pop through our worried minds to give us a smile–just as the bluebonnets and buttercups eked through the drought-strickened Texas grasslands this spring. When sickness, death, financial uncertainty or loneliness is all others see, our faith-eyes can detect small patches of color amidst the brown as a sign from our Lord that He is still with us.

If our connections with our Lord are deeply rooted, they will survive any season. Our storehouse of faith-building examples will provide the Living Water we need to survive. We can still blossom despite the dreariness of our circumstances. Our roots are still finding the water that provides life. At the funeral, I saw faces of hope, though some were streamed with tears. Like the wildflowers this year,even in the midst of their grief, they knew our family member was with Christ  Similar to the cypress trees, their rooted beliefs had found refreshment. When the preacher said, “As he breathed his life breath on earth, his soul breathed his first in Heaven,” heads bobbed in affirmation. Though with tissues laced through fingers, smiles were shared.

Seek God during the great times, never stop reading Scripture, attending church, fellowshipping with other believers, or singing hymns. Spend regular quiet times praying and listening.to God. Store up your faith to sustain you, no matter the season or conditions surrounding you. Then, while others are bent low in the heat, you will blossom.

Here are two verses that remind me of the Texas backroads on the way to a funeral one unseasonably hot spring day —

And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? Matthew 6:30

They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8

 

 

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Get Comfort-able

Posted in Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on April 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

 

Growing up, Mom draped comforters over the ends of our beds. It was an extra cover in case we got cold in the night. Weather in Texas can change in a heart beat. When we felt ill, she would wrap us in our comforter and place us on the couch so she could go about her housework and still keep a watchful eye onID-100112567 us. To this day, a comforter symbolizes love, healing, warmth, and security to me. I still keep one at the end of my bed.  And when I am ill, I still snatch it off my bed and migrate to the couch.

Being cozy and warm is like having arms wrapped around you. You feel cocooned in peace and sheltered from the harsh winds of the world. Prayer shawls can have that effect. They make you feel as if you are enveloped in God’s love. Even without my shawl, my prayer time with God often feels that way, no matter if I am praying for someone else or  if I am coming to Him on contrite knees asking forgiveness. I still feel His Holy Spirit hugging me. His presence surrounds me, protects me and loves on me.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,iwho comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 

That is how Paul starts off his second letter to the Corinthian Christians. My brain spun around this verse like a loop-de-loop on a roller coaster. It wove in and out of the clauses in a spiral that didn’t end. If  I wrote that passage today, my editor would have sent it back with so many red marks all over it – over use of the same words, run-on sentences, etc.

Yet, Paul gives us a true golden nugget because his progression is logical. Giving comfort is a non-ending spiral.  Before we can comfort, we have to have been comforted.You cannot share an experience you have never had. And, because we have been comforted, we should now comfort others. Why? Because as Christians, our comforter is the Father of  mercies and God of all comfort. He designed it so that our response to His comfort would be to spread that comfort to others and lead them to Him.

Because I know my Lord forgives my iniquities, I can more easily forgive others. That opens me to being able to provide them comfort, and more importantly, showing them my Lord who is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

Are your comfort-able to receive God’s mercy and love? Maybe you will feel called to wrap His love around someone else’s shoulders like a comforter this week? Or perhaps, you need to become more comfortable with the idea of allowing someone to wrap His comfort around you. Whichever scenario fits your situation, it’s okay. Grab your comforter, prayer shawl or blankie and snuggle in. Comfort awaits.

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Forever Footsteps

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, Nature, tagged , , , , , , on March 28, 2014| 1 Comment »

Perhaps you recall my blog post in February about the footprints leading up to the church doors where I work. https://wheredidyoufindgodtoday.com/2014/02/01/funny-footsteps/

IMG_20140128_090244_264They are still there. Weather has not erased them. We have had snow, ice,  a few drops of rain, and 80 degree heat pound the concrete. Yet they remain. Five footsteps with a super-human stride that lead up to the main doors. And if you look closely, it appears the man was barefoot and there is a hole in the ball of his foot.  If you are ever in Fort Worth, TX, why not come by 3900 Longvue Avenue and see for yourself?

Yesterday, it rained off and on throughout  the morning – a blessed answer to prayer for this drought-stricken part of Texas where walking on water over the area lakes is no longer a IMG_20140129_132132_544miracle because you can see the rocks as the water barely laps at your ankles.

So when I walked up to the steps today, I held my breath. Would the footsteps still be there after being soaked for hours? Would they have washed away in the drenching rain we so desperately needed and prayed earnestly to receive? I stepped a little slower, my eyes peeled to the ground, yet not wanting to see.

Behold!  There they were, just as prominent as before. A broad smile stretched across my face. The reminder that Jesus is Emanuel – God with us –  was still present. Then, the words Jesus uttered in the last verses in the Gospel of Matthew flashed into my brain. “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.” (28:20)

I shouldn’t need a reminder that Jesus is with me. I believe that with all my heart, mind and soul.  I stand on His promise. Yet, it is comforting to see these bizarre prints each day as I climb the stairs to unlock the door, turn off the alarm, and start my day. And, when I leave to lock up, I know He walks with me back to my car and stays with me all the way home. Even as my eyelids close off the sight of my pillow at night as I drift into dreams, He is there.

I continue to see God in five footprints for as long as He deems them to last. But if and when they do fade, I know God will show me other ways to remind me He is here…always, even unto the end of the age.

Where will you see Him today?

 

 

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