Know what I do when my mood starts to drop? I check my email! Because something in me always thinks that outside circumstances will intervene to save my day, will steer my life in the right direction without my even having to drive. Even when I’ve prayed about something and asked for help, first thing I usually do is go check the mail, check my email, or go look on Facebook. Not that I haven’t had miracle answers that came by email or snail mail. But usually my answer is to wait, keep hoping, keep praying, read scripture, get busy or some other process that involves me and not circumstances.
A new flip phone ad I saw the other day so completely plays into this. A guy is incredibly happy with his life because of his new girlfriend that he met at some store that he found on Facebook or some other networking site that he plugged into via his new flip phone. He now has this perfect life and all he had to do was buy the right phone!
Isn’t the thought of “fate” stepping in and changing our world an exciting prospect? It’s why so many movies are made with that story line. Look at “Serendipity”, “Sleepless in Seattle”, even – no especially – , “An Affair to Remember”. They all have a plotline, some element or key scene that depends on fate intervening in the characters' lives. That moment when eyes lock, a check arrives, an accident occurs, or a stranger approaches and lives change.
Sometimes it actually works! For years I surfed and looked for houses on my laptop, all over the place, not just in northern Virginia. And one day I decided to pursue lakes in South Carolina. I fell in love with a little house with lot of built-in bookshelves. And destiny - GOD - intervened and led us to that very house. Steve and I both know for certain that it was where we were meant to be. Every day just proves it more.
Here’s the flip side of all this. The way God wants us to live is exactly as I’ve described. No, not compulsively checking email every ten minutes or looking for our life changes on the internet. But giving up complete control. To Him.
He’s bigger, richer, smarter, more loving, and knows us better than we know ourselves! Plus He has these really great plans for our lives. Why then is it so hard to just let Him have control? It’s hard not to think of Him as too big (“Why would He care about my little worries and plans?”) or too small (“Sure, I believe, He will provide my needs today but this is my whole LIFE we’re talking about.”).
Truth is, He’s both big enough to handle our futures and caring enough to want to help us with every small detail. He loves to step in and turn our shoulders in the direction that is best for us. And because He adores and delights in us, we can trust Him completely. Plus He sees the big picture that we can’t see! Hands off the wheel and watch for the excitement of living life out of control!
Psalm 20:4; Psalm 33:10, 11, 13-15; Proverbs 16:9; Jeremiah 29:11
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed…The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations…From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do…In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps…For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Cool, Clear Water
Summer heat brings it on, that always thirsty feeling. I’m trying to monitor what I spend those hot summer afternoons guzzling. The morning is pretty well set – two really huge cups of coffee with cream and sometimes sugary flavoring syrups. And we’re not messing with that, okay?
But after lunch is when the real thirst starts. I got an interesting email about Coke™ vs water. You may have seen it and the facts are startling:
75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
Even mild dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism as much as 3%.
Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.
There were also a number of pretty gross facts about Coke™, but I checked them out on Snopes and, thankfully, they were exaggerated. I’m glad because sometimes nothing but a cold Coke will do the trick, am I right? While I did not research each of the water facts, I did enough reading to know that they make sense.
When we’re thirsty, really thirsty, only water gets into our bodies and does its good work. I don’t think any of us will argue that fact. But what about drinking all the water we need to keep operating at an optimum level?
I’m sitting on the porch and I’m thinking, how will I do this? I could buy some Perrier™ or some flavored seltzer. But the bubbles are a whole other thing and not so good for me. I could buy some of those little flavor packets to put into my bottle of water.
Why not just drink the straight stuff, the pure, clean water? Isn’t this how we approach church and Bible study? “I wasn’t crazy about that message – why can the preacher not shake in a packet of ‘feel good’ and ‘abundant living’. I don’t want to just read the Bible – it’s boring. Why not add some sugar Bible study to liven it up?”
Not that there’s anything wrong with that! I love “feel good” and “abundant living” and a good Bible study energizes me and gets me moving in the right direction. But the water – the living water, the Good News – is just fine on its own. It gives me all the energy and peace I need when I remember to get my full amount every day.
Jeremiah 2:13; John 4:13, 14
My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water…Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sometimes Faith Is about Nothing
I believe that God intends for me to write. And when I seriously consider the question (and seriously consider actually sitting down and spending time at the laptop), He usually confirms that for me. He did that again through a sweet friend this morning.
Actually opening a blank Word document when I have absolutely nothing, no thoughts, ideas or creativity at the front of my mind is a scary prospect. I say that I believe He wants me to write. But that means also that I must believe He will provide. I have nothing to offer here. Never did.
A couple of years ago, a friend and I felt led to write a devotional book together. While we didn’t finish it, we did each write about forty or so devotions as we were working toward that goal. It was an exciting time for each of us because it was such an exercise in faith and trust. Neither of us had written devotionals before and we had no thoughts out of the gate. We were literally just waiting each few days for God to give us something.
And He was so faithful to do just that. One of us would call the other one and say, “Guess what just happened? I found some crickets in my garage!” And out of those strange circumstances, God would give us some kind of message to share.
So here I sit with you. Waiting and trusting that He will provide. I am determined to post today, so grab some sweet tea because this may take a while. It is the first time I’ve done this with utterly nothing to go on. Usually I have at least seen a field of daisies or something to get me started. Well, Travis killed a spider this morning, but I’m not feeling any messages there.
But isn’t that sometimes the point? We have an issue or a relationship that requires what only God can give. We don’t have what it takes to fix it – we know this. So we read the Bible and we pray and we confer with friends. We say we will trust – we will have faith and be strong.
But the weeks stretching ahead – sometimes even the long hours of a single day – tell us by their very lack of activity, that this thing isn’t going to get solved soon. And we’re frustrated by the lack of control. If we could just DO something.
Wow. I left to go get a sandwich. And you, friends that you are, stuck with me. I looked throughout the house for some small token that would trigger something to help me bring this one home. And here I stand, hands still empty.
The process of writing (and life) sometimes requires that we toss the worries out the back door, settle into the rocker with a cup of coffee, and trust that this long, dry spell is God’s way of forcing us to get quiet and do some listening.
If this is your first trip to the back porch, welcome and believe me when I tell you this is a first. I don’t usually hang my empty screen out to dry in front of everyone. But today I feel like this “nothing” is the message. That the waiting is something we all do and the confident expectation that God will deliver is more important than the field of daisies.
Psalm 5:3; 27:14
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Actually opening a blank Word document when I have absolutely nothing, no thoughts, ideas or creativity at the front of my mind is a scary prospect. I say that I believe He wants me to write. But that means also that I must believe He will provide. I have nothing to offer here. Never did.
A couple of years ago, a friend and I felt led to write a devotional book together. While we didn’t finish it, we did each write about forty or so devotions as we were working toward that goal. It was an exciting time for each of us because it was such an exercise in faith and trust. Neither of us had written devotionals before and we had no thoughts out of the gate. We were literally just waiting each few days for God to give us something.
And He was so faithful to do just that. One of us would call the other one and say, “Guess what just happened? I found some crickets in my garage!” And out of those strange circumstances, God would give us some kind of message to share.
So here I sit with you. Waiting and trusting that He will provide. I am determined to post today, so grab some sweet tea because this may take a while. It is the first time I’ve done this with utterly nothing to go on. Usually I have at least seen a field of daisies or something to get me started. Well, Travis killed a spider this morning, but I’m not feeling any messages there.
But isn’t that sometimes the point? We have an issue or a relationship that requires what only God can give. We don’t have what it takes to fix it – we know this. So we read the Bible and we pray and we confer with friends. We say we will trust – we will have faith and be strong.
But the weeks stretching ahead – sometimes even the long hours of a single day – tell us by their very lack of activity, that this thing isn’t going to get solved soon. And we’re frustrated by the lack of control. If we could just DO something.
Wow. I left to go get a sandwich. And you, friends that you are, stuck with me. I looked throughout the house for some small token that would trigger something to help me bring this one home. And here I stand, hands still empty.
The process of writing (and life) sometimes requires that we toss the worries out the back door, settle into the rocker with a cup of coffee, and trust that this long, dry spell is God’s way of forcing us to get quiet and do some listening.
If this is your first trip to the back porch, welcome and believe me when I tell you this is a first. I don’t usually hang my empty screen out to dry in front of everyone. But today I feel like this “nothing” is the message. That the waiting is something we all do and the confident expectation that God will deliver is more important than the field of daisies.
Psalm 5:3; 27:14
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
I Want It Now!
I belong to a certain generation. You know us. We’re the ones who walked to school in the snow – uphill – both ways. We love to comment on how our kids are behaving, how the government is going to the dogs and how disciplined we were as kids growing up.
Seriously, if we wanted something, we earned the money or saved our allowance. Nothing came easily; more important nothing came quick! We planned and we waited and we yearned. When we finally got the treasure, we appreciated it for a good little while.
This will not be a sermon about how young people today don’t appreciate what they have. Or how easy it is to get it. The desire to have it now affects each one of us. Immediacy is the name of the game. We missed that movie? On demand! Oh, I loved that song. Itunes! (Okay, this one is a particular issue for me these days. I have a new ipod and I’m concerned for our retirement income.) Food on the run? We’ll get you through the drive-thru in less than five minutes.
But what about the burdens we’ve been carrying for weeks, for months? Where is the answer?
We want what we want yesterday. Why is it not in our hands now? Why do I have to wait? This year, the message I’ve been getting loud and clear is that, if it is an issue that we have to deal with, Jesus has probably experienced it.
I heard an author/speaker, Lisa Harper, with whom I was unfamiliar at the Charleston Women of Joy conference this year. And what a pleasure to get to know her! I am reading her book, “untamed”, and getting to know the wild side of Jesus. She is one of those people to whom I particularly relate – seemingly slightly irreverent, but not really when you read the whole message. A little rebellious and totally in-your-face honest. She has a refreshing take on scripture and one of her chapters deals with Jesus’ temptation in the desert.
And as I read about it, it occurred to me that His final temptation was right down my alley. I’ve always thought, no big deal. Satan offered Him the world and He refused. Well certainly He did! He knew that He would get it anyway! But let’s break it apart a bit. Take a look at Matthew 4:8-10:
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Jesus knew the end of the story. He knew what He was facing. And here Satan was saying, “Listen, I’ll give it to you now. Just worship me. No death, no suffering, everything you want NOW.”
He knows what it feels like for us to wait – how hard it is when He asks us to just believe that He has it under control. We don’t know the end of the story; we don’t know the answer. But we do know that, even when Jesus knew, He waited. He’s been there and He doesn’t ask us to do anything He hasn’t done Himself.
Seriously, if we wanted something, we earned the money or saved our allowance. Nothing came easily; more important nothing came quick! We planned and we waited and we yearned. When we finally got the treasure, we appreciated it for a good little while.
This will not be a sermon about how young people today don’t appreciate what they have. Or how easy it is to get it. The desire to have it now affects each one of us. Immediacy is the name of the game. We missed that movie? On demand! Oh, I loved that song. Itunes! (Okay, this one is a particular issue for me these days. I have a new ipod and I’m concerned for our retirement income.) Food on the run? We’ll get you through the drive-thru in less than five minutes.
But what about the burdens we’ve been carrying for weeks, for months? Where is the answer?
We want what we want yesterday. Why is it not in our hands now? Why do I have to wait? This year, the message I’ve been getting loud and clear is that, if it is an issue that we have to deal with, Jesus has probably experienced it.
I heard an author/speaker, Lisa Harper, with whom I was unfamiliar at the Charleston Women of Joy conference this year. And what a pleasure to get to know her! I am reading her book, “untamed”, and getting to know the wild side of Jesus. She is one of those people to whom I particularly relate – seemingly slightly irreverent, but not really when you read the whole message. A little rebellious and totally in-your-face honest. She has a refreshing take on scripture and one of her chapters deals with Jesus’ temptation in the desert.
And as I read about it, it occurred to me that His final temptation was right down my alley. I’ve always thought, no big deal. Satan offered Him the world and He refused. Well certainly He did! He knew that He would get it anyway! But let’s break it apart a bit. Take a look at Matthew 4:8-10:
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Jesus knew the end of the story. He knew what He was facing. And here Satan was saying, “Listen, I’ll give it to you now. Just worship me. No death, no suffering, everything you want NOW.”
He knows what it feels like for us to wait – how hard it is when He asks us to just believe that He has it under control. We don’t know the end of the story; we don’t know the answer. But we do know that, even when Jesus knew, He waited. He’s been there and He doesn’t ask us to do anything He hasn’t done Himself.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Joyful
MercyMe sings this in their “I Can Only Imagine” lyrics:
I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine.
Like that’s a good thing! C’mon, you’ve thought it. How boring is this going to be? I’m grateful that Randy Alcorn has given me a bright and beautiful, Scripture-based picture of what I have to eagerly anticipate! But I’m sure it will include years and years, no, eons and eons, of praising God. And I just wasn’t sure I was up to it.
Before this weekend, that is. I attended a Women of Joy conference in Charleston with some friends. I’ve always loved good praise music and I love to sing. And of course I want to praise my Lord. But forever?
That was before I stood with thousands of other women praising God – clapping, singing, raising hands, dancing. Really acting foolish to anyone who didn’t understand what was going on and happened to look in off the street.
Can I just tell you that I was transported and wished it would continue for hours. Eternity? Yes, I believe so. I would have even been willing to skip meals for this! What does that tell you?
Our worship leader was Travis Cottrell and he and his band and singers did a wonderful job – as did our concert performers Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith. My girlfriends, if you have never attended a large women’s conference, it’s worth the price of admission just for the singing! I really believe it may be the closest we can get to heaven on this earth. Men, I’m sorry – I don’t know that you’ll be able to experience it unless you’re willing to brave 5000 women and more tears and emotion than you’ll encounter in a lifetime. I didn’t think so.
But I will tell you what I brought home with me. I intend to make it so much less about me and so much more about Him when I get the opportunity to sing from now on. I’ve heard of “losing yourself” in worship before and that has a new meaning for me now.
Psalm 30:11-12
You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.
I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine.
Like that’s a good thing! C’mon, you’ve thought it. How boring is this going to be? I’m grateful that Randy Alcorn has given me a bright and beautiful, Scripture-based picture of what I have to eagerly anticipate! But I’m sure it will include years and years, no, eons and eons, of praising God. And I just wasn’t sure I was up to it.
Before this weekend, that is. I attended a Women of Joy conference in Charleston with some friends. I’ve always loved good praise music and I love to sing. And of course I want to praise my Lord. But forever?
That was before I stood with thousands of other women praising God – clapping, singing, raising hands, dancing. Really acting foolish to anyone who didn’t understand what was going on and happened to look in off the street.
Can I just tell you that I was transported and wished it would continue for hours. Eternity? Yes, I believe so. I would have even been willing to skip meals for this! What does that tell you?
Our worship leader was Travis Cottrell and he and his band and singers did a wonderful job – as did our concert performers Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith. My girlfriends, if you have never attended a large women’s conference, it’s worth the price of admission just for the singing! I really believe it may be the closest we can get to heaven on this earth. Men, I’m sorry – I don’t know that you’ll be able to experience it unless you’re willing to brave 5000 women and more tears and emotion than you’ll encounter in a lifetime. I didn’t think so.
But I will tell you what I brought home with me. I intend to make it so much less about me and so much more about Him when I get the opportunity to sing from now on. I’ve heard of “losing yourself” in worship before and that has a new meaning for me now.
Psalm 30:11-12
You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Sand is Sand
I just returned from a week at Hilton Head with my brain unfuzzied yet one more time by ocean breezes…well, actually winds this week. Steve and I believe we need to get to the beach every few months or so to let the waves and the roar and the wind clear and blow out the space between our ears.
I sat in my fold-up chair (the kind that unfolds into four points for legs and collapses into a sling for easy carrying – wonderful invention) and let the sun work its magic. I have three positions for beach bumming and I alternate them every few minutes or so: nose in a book, head flung back and face to the sun, or eyes peeled for dolphin or those long undulating lines of pelicans searching for bait fish. I stay there until my skin feels crinkly and Steve pokes me and says “you’re done.”
The other day, though, as I sat and thought, it occurred to me that I always assume the beach changes to meet my mood. I closed my eyes and realized that I could have been at any age in my life or at pretty much any beach.
I was there with my teenaged daughter and her friends, giggling and watching for surfers. I treasured my first trip to the Outer Banks with Steve alone with no kids on an October week when the air was cool and I sat watching him fish. I cried one July as I watched a mom holding hands with her preteen daughter and thought about the young woman I had left at home alone for the first time, afraid that I had lost her for good. I watched my handsome son walk away and wondered if he knew how much I loved him. I stood in the waves with my grandkids and shrieked when a wave caught me by surprise. I walked with Steve on a Mother’s Day with tears in my eyes as I watched other happy families splashing in the surf.
Every time I go to the beach my circumstances, and usually my mood are different. And I just assume the beach changes with me. It doesn’t.
I have been so many different people during my life. And my God is faithful. He is the great I AM and never changes. Isn’t it a beautiful thing to have Someone we can count on to be there and to be the same no matter who we are when we approach Him?
I Samuel 15:29; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17; Deuteronomy 7:9;
He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind…I the LORD do not change…Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows…Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.
I sat in my fold-up chair (the kind that unfolds into four points for legs and collapses into a sling for easy carrying – wonderful invention) and let the sun work its magic. I have three positions for beach bumming and I alternate them every few minutes or so: nose in a book, head flung back and face to the sun, or eyes peeled for dolphin or those long undulating lines of pelicans searching for bait fish. I stay there until my skin feels crinkly and Steve pokes me and says “you’re done.”
The other day, though, as I sat and thought, it occurred to me that I always assume the beach changes to meet my mood. I closed my eyes and realized that I could have been at any age in my life or at pretty much any beach.
I was there with my teenaged daughter and her friends, giggling and watching for surfers. I treasured my first trip to the Outer Banks with Steve alone with no kids on an October week when the air was cool and I sat watching him fish. I cried one July as I watched a mom holding hands with her preteen daughter and thought about the young woman I had left at home alone for the first time, afraid that I had lost her for good. I watched my handsome son walk away and wondered if he knew how much I loved him. I stood in the waves with my grandkids and shrieked when a wave caught me by surprise. I walked with Steve on a Mother’s Day with tears in my eyes as I watched other happy families splashing in the surf.
Every time I go to the beach my circumstances, and usually my mood are different. And I just assume the beach changes with me. It doesn’t.
I have been so many different people during my life. And my God is faithful. He is the great I AM and never changes. Isn’t it a beautiful thing to have Someone we can count on to be there and to be the same no matter who we are when we approach Him?
I Samuel 15:29; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17; Deuteronomy 7:9;
He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind…I the LORD do not change…Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows…Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Whatever the Task
Certain verses conjure up strong memories for all of us – the old “standards” learned in Sunbeams (for the really ancient of us), GA’s, Acteens, Awanas. We hear them and, not only are they familiar to us, but they transport us to another place and time.
Familiarity can be a great thing, ranking right up there with tradition. But it can also have a negative connotation – suggesting boredom, staleness, taking for granted. I think sometimes we do this with those old verses we learned so long ago. So I was grateful this week when God gave me a fresh picture of one of my favorites.
Since we are retired military, we do our grocery shopping at Shaw Air Force Base. I suppose I’m not unique in that, when I see a jet take off, I get a thrilled clutch in the pit of my stomach. Most especially I love the noise. We were driving a block over from the airfield and I saw a…sorry folks, I don’t know my planes…fighter jet take off and bank a deep turn and head straight up into the sky. My heart did a flipflop but my attention was immediately diverted when Steve slowed to a stop for a young man in uniform carrying a bag of trash across the street to a dumpster.
Both men, the pilot and the man walking across the street, wore the same uniform (well not the identical uniform, but you get my drift). Both serve the same country and belong to the same branch of service. But their jobs that particular day were vastly different.
At once, I was sitting in a circle in my childhood church with my fellow sunbeams, surrounded by the flannel board and the pictures of the good Samaritan and of Jesus with the lamb across His shoulders. And we were saying our verse for the week. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” That sentiment became such a part of my everyday life that I usually forgot its message.
The entire verse is as follows:
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
I’m assuming our leader thought the verse in its entirety was both too long and too dark for us wee ones. But reexamined as an adult, I take both encouragement and motivation from it. It says I have this one chance to become more like Jesus. I have this one chance to do whatever I’m doing with enthusiasm and love.
So whether you’re teaching a circle of toddlers a powerful story lesson or wiping down their toys with disinfectant wipes, be encouraged! Do it with all you’ve got. Whether you’re watching a son or daughter walk down the graduation aisle with pride or changing yet one more set of sheets that have been messed up by a little one with an upset stomach, know that what you’re doing matters. We all serve the same loving Father and He expects the best we have to offer Him!
Familiarity can be a great thing, ranking right up there with tradition. But it can also have a negative connotation – suggesting boredom, staleness, taking for granted. I think sometimes we do this with those old verses we learned so long ago. So I was grateful this week when God gave me a fresh picture of one of my favorites.
Since we are retired military, we do our grocery shopping at Shaw Air Force Base. I suppose I’m not unique in that, when I see a jet take off, I get a thrilled clutch in the pit of my stomach. Most especially I love the noise. We were driving a block over from the airfield and I saw a…sorry folks, I don’t know my planes…fighter jet take off and bank a deep turn and head straight up into the sky. My heart did a flipflop but my attention was immediately diverted when Steve slowed to a stop for a young man in uniform carrying a bag of trash across the street to a dumpster.
Both men, the pilot and the man walking across the street, wore the same uniform (well not the identical uniform, but you get my drift). Both serve the same country and belong to the same branch of service. But their jobs that particular day were vastly different.
At once, I was sitting in a circle in my childhood church with my fellow sunbeams, surrounded by the flannel board and the pictures of the good Samaritan and of Jesus with the lamb across His shoulders. And we were saying our verse for the week. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” That sentiment became such a part of my everyday life that I usually forgot its message.
The entire verse is as follows:
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
I’m assuming our leader thought the verse in its entirety was both too long and too dark for us wee ones. But reexamined as an adult, I take both encouragement and motivation from it. It says I have this one chance to become more like Jesus. I have this one chance to do whatever I’m doing with enthusiasm and love.
So whether you’re teaching a circle of toddlers a powerful story lesson or wiping down their toys with disinfectant wipes, be encouraged! Do it with all you’ve got. Whether you’re watching a son or daughter walk down the graduation aisle with pride or changing yet one more set of sheets that have been messed up by a little one with an upset stomach, know that what you’re doing matters. We all serve the same loving Father and He expects the best we have to offer Him!
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