God Is Faithful in All the Details

I wrote this Monday and am just getting around to posting.  For those who do not know, my son suffered a traumatic brain injury while attending camp at JH Ranch in California on July 28, 2014.  It has been a rough road at times during his recovery, but God time and time again shows himself faithful!

I know some of my posts are long, but if you never read another one, please read this one! If you doubt there is a God, or you doubt that He could love and adore you, please be encouraged and take hope from what happened to me today.

It all started two weeks ago. I was sitting outside the Newk’s on Highway 280 having lunch by myself. A very attractive woman who was older than me approached me and said; “Your hair is so cute. I have not lived here long, do you mind telling me who cuts it?” I told her I would as I was scrambling for my phone that I could not readily find. I told her to write her phone number on my napkin, and I would text her the information.

After she had left I found my phone, and I texted her my name and the name and phone number of the friend who cuts my hair. She texted me back right away and told me she was so grateful to now have a place to get a good haircut. I responded to her “God is good all the time.” A few minutes later I get another text from her asking me if I would be willing to have lunch with her. I felt there was a bigger picture-God’s picture- being played out, so I said SURE!

Last week, she texted me and said she had gotten her haircut by my friend and she was anxious to have lunch. I told her I could not go last week because my sister was in town, but could the next week. She responded, “How about Monday,” and I agreed.

Today was the day! To be perfectly honest, I was feeling a little blue this morning about some circumstances. I prayed and told The Lord I was not feeling like going to lunch today, but if it was His will for me to go, to make it happen. I still had a sense there was a story unfolding. Not long after my prayer she texted me to confirm.

We meet today at noon. As we were standing in line to order, she said to me, “You have no idea who I am, but I have found out who you are.” Now a statement like that immediately made me a little nervous! I awkwardly said, “what do you mean?” She told me when she was getting her haircut, my hairdresser was talking about me (not in a bad way), and she told her just enough that she learned who I was. She then told me, “I work for JH Ranch, and I was standing at the lake the moment of your son’s accident. Immediate tears!

She went on to tell me that she and the other staff around the lake knew it was serious, and they all dropped to their knees in prayer. I now am crying hard. She felt bad, but I assured her this was a good cry. A cry of, Oh what an awesome God I worship who orchestrated this whole meeting. A God, who knew just what I needed today. A God, who blows me away, with His love for me. God is good, and He does care about every detail, even my melancholy, Monday morning.

Needless to say, we did not eat much. She shared so many stories with me that filled in what has been a lot of blanks for over a year now. I shared with her all the mercies and miracles we experienced after the paramedics had taken Carter from the ranch.

She also told me that she had initially passed me outside Newk’s that fateful day. She noticed me, and something inside her tugged at her heart, “Go talk to her.” Then, after she received my last text, again she told me she felt that nudge, “Invite her to lunch.” All along she didn’t know why but she has learned to be obedient to those promptings.

This divinely designed encounter was one of the most beautiful gifts I have ever received. I will never forget today! God can love you like that too, friends. I am a sinner who needs grace every day and every hour. Still, He adores me and today he blew me away with his faithfulness and love. Thank you, LORD, for loving a sinner like me. I ask you today to shower your affection on all my friends, reminding them WHOSE they are.

What Are You Running After?

 

What are you chasing today that is seemingly bigger, better, prettier or more satisfying than what you have?
I have written about our dog, Paisley, before. She teaches me valuable lessons when I am paying attention. I often bring her a new toy. Shinier, bigger and better toys. When she first gets them, she is elated. She plays with them non-stop for a few days, and then they suddenly lose all their mystery, charm and satisfaction, only to sit untouched in her toy basket until the next better one comes along. The cycle again repeats itself with each new toy.
I am a lot like that, too. The world has many distractions that capture my eyes and shift me from an eternal focus to an earthly one. I become an exhausted runner, chasing, chasing, chasing. Every time I attain what I am chasing, that deep soul ache is temporarily satisfied, until I realize the ache is still there and that next “better thing” did not come through for me either.
What I have learned after years of running is that I do not need to be running towards something, but to Someone. If I am not chasing a deeper relationship with Jesus, I will be chasing something all my life that has a temporary return and fleeting satisfaction.
Life is a marathon; that is true. I don’t want to get to the finish line with only shiny medals that will rust and turn to dust. I desire to cross that line falling into the arms of the One, who will always satisfy, eternally provide and perpetually be at my side.
What are you running after today?

A Prayer for Replacing Panic With Prayer

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Father when things do not go according to plan as they often do not, I am prone to a default reaction of panic rather than a posture of prayer.  Panic leads me to fear and worry sending me spiraling away from You.  The further I become from you, the more responsible I feel to make life work on my own.  In my busyness to “manage” life, I become so distracted with misguided priorities that I neglect my time with you.  As your word recounts in Luke, call me “out of the kitchen” as you did Martha.  Place within me the heart of Mary that desires to sit fully surrendered at your feet and bask in your presence.  Amen.

Are You Waiting?

  
Are you waiting?
I am a fairly patient person but when it comes to waiting on matters close to my heart, I am a work in progress. Waiting for answers to my desperate prayers, especially the ones I have been praying for a long time challenges my patience and tests my faith every day. (Psalm 119:81)

I am learning to train myself to remember that my wait is God’s welcome. It is His invitation for me to grasp a deeper dependence on Him, strengthen my trust in His plan, not mine, and to spend more time in His presence. Also, I have come to realize that when I am waiting, He is working in me the most. He is pruning me and perfecting His plans for me.

God answers some prayers immediately. Some take us through many intervals of being on hold. I think in one way or another we are all in a season of waiting. I am practicing being grateful in my wait because I believe God’s word. (Lamentations 3:25)

I know that His timing is perfect even when it looks imperfect to me. I am practicing praising Him in my waiting because I am certain it is a conduit He uses to work all things for my good. (Romans 8:28.)

Sometimes my wait ends in an outcome that my earthly eyes view as unfavorable, but God has eternal eyes, and I trust His superior vision above my self-centered sight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

If you are in a time of waiting, do not let it be wasted. Practice prayer. Practice trusting that God is perfecting His plan for you. Lastly, practice praising Him for the good things He is doing for you that no man can immediately see or imagine. It will transform the weariness of your wait, and give greater purpose to your grueling pause. (Psalm 33:20-22)

Keep fighting the good fight, friends!

Does It Matter

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There is pervasive suffering in our world today.  There are hundreds of worthy causes that need to be defended.  There are multitudes of deprived people who need to be reached and served.  We must choose our battles with wisdom and motives bridled by integrity.  In all things, we put our passion into may we ask ourselves; is it kind, necessary, and for the good of all affected.  Will my action unite or divide?  Will it stir up more dissension or spur along cohesion?  Lastly, if I die tomorrow, will what I was fighting for matter?

Prayer for the Suffering This Morning

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Jesus in a world of evil that produces the likes of Ashley Madison convict us to lay down our stones of hatred and stretch out our arms in help. Give us the strength to be peace planters, not problem perpetuators. Families are being ravaged by sin. Suffering is no surprise to You, Father. You are not shaking your head in disbelief or seeing us with disparagement. The world says we are doomed, but with confidence You say, ALL, can be delivered. In Your economy Lord, the redemption starts at the moment of the wreckage. Help us remember that you are in the business of restoration, not ruination. You represent redemption, not retaliation. You are a fountain of mercy, not misery; and You Lord are a grace giver, not grievance granter. Lend comfort to the hurting Father; the innocent, the condemners and the condemned. May we go and sin not, but when we do, remind us that in repentance and rest is our salvation. In quietness and trust is our strength.~ Isaiah 30:15. Amen.

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Be the Church

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I just read a news report about a Houston father, husband and police officer that was gunned down while pumping gas into his patrol car.  More violence against our people from our people.  The division is disheartening.

In the article, the District Attorney was exhorting people to drop qualifiers and recognize that ALL lives matter.  While I agree with her 100 percent, this is not a strong enough argument to change or stop the violence.  People don’t need to be convinced; they need to be converted.  Only light can extinguish darkness.  Jesus is light.

All lives matter is a slogan.  Jesus is a Savior.  Slogans may change headlines, but they will not change hearts.  

I fear Christians are becoming too quiet and thus being drowned out by the noise of the world.  Being the church is more important than being at church.  All lives do matter, but changing lives masters more.  Let us not be divided by our color; let us be defined by our character!  Rise!  Be the church.

Let It Be You, Jesus

 

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Jesus let it be your heart not headlines that capture us.  Some days discouragement seems the easier option.  Remind us you are in the business of deliverance despite destruction.  Your mercy and grace reach the biggest of mess ups, the deepest of deceptions and the grandest of griefs.  I ask you to encourage us in our brokenness today, Father.  Amen.

I Am Sorry

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“Everyone knows that every week or two I am going to screw up.”

I was talking with a friend recently, and I felt the tremendous burden of this statement as the affliction of their heart was revealed.  It was a very sad moment for me, because what my friend truly did not grasp, is that every day I am going to screw up, too.  (Sorry, I hate that word, but to do justice to the burden they were carrying, I am staying true to the quote.)

We are all sinners. Me, you, your neighbor that “appears” to have it all together, your child, your spouse, and even your pastor.  If we are yoked to perfection, we are hopeless.  

What matters is not that “we screw up,” but that we repent and say I am sorry from a place of sincerity in our self and with an awareness of our neediness for a Savior.

I AM SORRY; three little, powerful words that will transform your life!

Isaiah 30:15 ~This is what The Sovereign Lord says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation.”

May you find freedom here today, friends.