Month: September 2018

Yesterday, I went with my church’s youth to a ropes course. No big deal, except I’m afraid of heights. Seriously afraid. I almost backed out as I was climbing the ladder for the first obstacle, but I knew several of the youth were apprehensive too, and I knew I couldn’t very effectively encourage them to face their fears if I was unwilling to face my own.

I’m not going to lie. That course was the most difficult thing I’ve done in a long time. The first several obstacles were accompanied by my fervent prayer of “Please, Jesus. Please, Jesus. Please, Jesus.” But as I learned to breathe, to trust, to take that first step in faith, to listen to and believe the encouragement of the group, the task did not necessarily become easier, but it definitely became more bearable, more doable. Thank you, Jesus.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for the lessons that so many of us learned during yesterday’s outing. Thank You for the ability to uplift and encourage others and for the inherent uplifting and encouragement that we receive when we give it to others. Thank You that love and support from others makes life not necessarily easier but definitely more bearable and more doable. Help us always to encourage each other and lift each other up. Help us point each other to you and shine your light. Draw us closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

I am a huge fan of understanding things—how things work, why decisions are made, why things happen the way they do. More than once I’ve been misunderstood when I try to learn the rational behind the decisions of others. “Why did you go that way instead of this way” is often misconstrued as “My way is better,” when its really just, “I want to understand your thought process which is so different than my own.”

There have been so many times I wish I could ask God His rational because I simply do not understand why things happen in this life the way they do. But I know I will never have answers on this side of heaven, and I’m pretty sure once I get there, the answers won’t be important. So I trust in my compassionate Savior. I trust His fierce love and unshakable grace. I trust through my anger, heartache, fear, and confusion. I trust because I know that even if it makes no sense to me, it somehow makes sense in His plan.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for my inquisitive nature. Thank You for the understanding that even when I don’t have answers on this side, I can absolutely trust in Your goodness, Your love, and Your sovereignty. Help me to walk by faith, always, especially when the way is dark and frightening, especially when life makes no sense. Draw me closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

The gulf between needs and wants, necessities and desires, can be staggering. And we live in a culture that seems to thrive on making us unhappy with what we have, encouraging us to want more and more. Just thinking about it makes me anxious. But God says, “Be still and know that I am God….” He says, “I will supply your needs.” He reminds us, “I hold you in the palm of My hand. I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

On any given day, in any situation, the LORD provides me with light for my path, with strength for my burdens, with hope for my journey. Some days He showers me abundantly. Joy and hope bubble up and overflow from within. Some days I feel like there’s barely enough hope and light for the next step, but if I trust, He always provides. Sometimes the light is dim. Sometimes the strength feels shaky. Sometimes the way is incredibly frightening, but He always provides. Always.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for Your steadfast love and boundless grace. Thank You for always providing for every need, no matter the circumstances. Help me to shine Your light, to comfort and encourage Your people, to trust Your provision, no matter the circumstances, no matter my fear. Draw me closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

I take my job very seriously. I try to uplift and encourage, to acknowledge what students are doing well, to give suggestions on what can be strengthened. Sometimes it feels like I care more than the students, like I’m knocking myself out, working my tail off, and they are not doing their share. It’s incredibly frustrating, and this week has felt increasingly that way.

But my sweet Savior knows my heart and my needs. As I was counseling my youngest last night that all he can do is be kind and honest with others, the LORD reminded me that that’s all I can do as well. And the day before, I ran into a former student who fought me almost every step last year, who said, “You know, as much as I hate to say it, all that writing you made us do last year has really been helpful.” Lord, Thank You for the reminder that I don’t usually get to see the end result, that You never intend for me to shoulder the entire burden, that all You ask is that I do my part to the best of my ability.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for the heart You’ve given me for my students and my job. Help me to have high standards, to be kind and loving, to recognize and do my part, realizing that You are working in ways I can’t see and may never know. Help me to be a positive, encouraging, stable force in the lives of my students. Draw me closer to You. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

Emily, in the play _Our Town_, muses at one point, “Does anyone ever realize life while they live it….every, every minute?” The answer, of course, is no.  We go through life like we’ve got all the time in the world. But yesterday, I was reminded once again, that life is brief, that tomorrow is not promised, that we have to make this moment count because this moment is the only one we have.

But the number of our days is not a secret to our Creator. He knows the scope and shape of our lives before we take our first breath. And honoring Him with our lives is not about metaphorically bubble-wrapping ourselves to keep us from harm. It is about living with intentionality. It is about understanding that the time we spend today is time we can never get back, so we must spend it wisely.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for the reminder that life is brief and precious. Help me to be very intentional with my time, talent, and treasure. Help me to seek to glorify You and comfort Your people always. Help me to recognize the blessings all around me, to love boldly, faithfully, with no regrets. Draw me closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

I am commanded to love God and love others. But sometimes loving others is easier said than done. Sometimes people are prickly and insensitive. Sometimes they are incredibly difficult to love, to be kind to, because their behavior is so unacceptable. Lord, I truly believe that I will never look into the eyes of someone You don’t love. You love all of us fiercely, even those who don’t know You, who don’t love You, whose hearts are far from You. Help me to love them, too, as You love them, even when they are prickly and selfish and mean.

Lord, I want desperately to draw near to You. I know that You love me unconditionally, and that You lavish me with undeserved grace and mercy. Help me to draw nearer to You. Strip me of the double mindedness that makes me think it’s fitting for You to cover me with Your grace but that I’m within my rights to withhold that grace from someone whom I deem less-than or unworthy.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for Your boundless love and undeserved grace. You know my heart, Lord. You know my struggle. Give me the strength and grace to love like You do, help me to love others completely and in spite of my own shortcomings and theirs. Draw us closer to You. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

I try to be incredibly transparent in these reflections. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the topics God lays on my heart are issues I need to deal with in my own life. And after a week of poor sleep, sinus drainage, sinus headache, sinus grumpiness, He is very clearly this morning telling me to check my attitude. It’s not good, positive, and uplifting. It’s not Christlike. Jesus, help me.

I know why and how this attitude came to the fore. I don’t feel well. I’m grumpy. I’m human. I’m sure there are those who would tell me not to be so hard on myself. But it’s not me I’m worried about. It’s those I love. I’ve been pretty terse with them. Impatient. Instead of being loving and positive, I’ve been pointing out their faults and shortcomings. It’s not how I want to live, not how I want to love. And the truth is, there’s way more good in my life and in the people I love than bad. Jesus, help me speak words of life and love.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for the way You always shine Your truth on issues in my life that need adjusting. Thank You for the call this morning to check my attitude. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10). Help me to be kind, loving, and encouraging to all those I encounter today, especially my family, whom I love so dearly. Draw us closer to You. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

Proverbs 31:25 always makes me think of my dear friend Millie. When she was in the midst of a fierce battle with breast cancer, I painted a version of the verse to give her strength and comfort. Millie is one of many people dear to me, some of whom have lost hard fought battles with cancer, who have passed on.

For me, saying goodbye to those I love, those who have gone on before me, is not easy. Many years ago I stumbled upon a poem entitled “Gone from My Sight” by Henry Van Dyke, which helped me to better wrap my head around death and Romans 14:8. When loved ones die, they don’t just vanish into the great beyond. They change planes, from an earthly one to a heavenly one. Just as there are those here who grieve their going, there are those there happy to see them again, whom they are happy to see.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for a view of death that brings comfort. Thank You for the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us and who still surround us. Thank You for the assurance that whether we are on earth or in heaven, we are Yours and You are ours. Always. Draw us closer, regardless of our circumstances. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

I have a bad habit of reading my school emails and then marking them as unread to respond to later. Last night I decided to go back through them to see if there were items that could be deleted. I found I had over 18,000 emails, over 11,000 marked as unread. Gracious.

As I started scanning through, deciding what could be pitched, I realized that many of the student and parent emails from years ago dealt with similar issues as my current students and parents incur. Instead of making me feel hopeless, it actually gave me some much needed perspective about the stage of life I am able to help my students navigate. It can be a tough time. I was thankful to have two amazing teachers counsel me through it. Hopefully, my positive steadfastness helps my students along their paths as well.

Lord, Thank You for this day and the reminder that high school can be a turbulent time. Thank You for the teachers who helped me navigate the pitfalls when I lived through it. Help my presence, my positivity, to be a help to my students as they navigate this path. Draw us closer to You. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

I find myself rather weary this morning. It’s just been a long week, I haven’t slept well, I’m dealing with sinus drainage, and I’m just tired. And whiny, as you can tell. It is one of those mornings where my prayer is, “Lord, I’m worn out, and I don’t know where You want me to go with today’s reflection. Show me. Lead me. Guide me.”

And He brought me here, to the book of Matthew, to Jesus’s feet  (my sweet Savior), not to crumple in a heap and sleep, which I readily admit sounds incredibly appealing, but to learn from the Master, to remember the source of my strength and renewal.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for the reminder that when I find myself exhausted, bone weary, it is because I have been operating in my own power. Thank You for the reminder that in order to be strengthened in You, I must recognize my desperate need for Your strength, Your help, Your mercy. Help me to take Your yoke upon me, to learn from You, to find rest for my weary soul. Draw me closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.