A Work in Progress….

I’ve never considered myself to be particularly athletic. I don’t remember playing sports as a kid. I’m not terribly graceful or coordinated. But I have found as I age that I enjoy running. I don’t know that I’m particularly good at it, but I am tenacious. My preferred length is anywhere from 5 miles to 13.1. I don’t do sprints. I’m not fast. But I can dig deep and persevere, and there is a lot to be said for that.

Unfortunately, I’ve fallen out of the running habit of late, and to start again, I’ll have to start at the beginning. My strength, my endurance, it’s gone from disuse. But not so with my spiritual training. Everything that I read, that I study, it’s all still rattling around in my brain. Sometimes God brings verses to mind out of nowhere. Sometimes it takes a while for the meaning of a verse to really click. But God uses it all. Nothing is wasted.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for the analogy of spiritual training and physical training like I do for running. Thank You that time, study, and prayer make a difference in my ability to comprehend Your word and to recognize Your presence. Thank You for the tenacity that You built into the fiber of my being and for the fact that nothing in this life is wasted. You can use it all to draw us all closer to You. Draw is ever closer, Lord. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

Lord, You are my center, my shelter, my fortress. When the storms of life assail me, You protect me like the beloved child I know I am. When I am unsure of which way to turn, You guide me. When I am afraid, You gently whisper Your promises. When I mess up and feel utterly worthless, You remind me who I am and Whose I am. I am deeply loved, and I am Yours, Lord. Give me strength and courage.

Lord, I try to do what’s right. I try to be a good wife, mother, friend, teacher, sister. Help me when I feel I’ve given my all and it doesn’t seem to be enough. Help me when I want so dearly to help and encourage those I love and everything I do seems to have the opposite effect. Give me strength, wisdom, discernment, compassion, joy.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for understanding where I am even when I flounder trying to put it into words. Thank You for being my anchor through good times and bad. Thank You for recognizing my efforts and for encouraging me to stay the course, even when it seems to take every ounce of strength. Draw me closer to You. Restore my soul. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

Names are important. They help establish and develop relationships. At the beginning of a semester, I strive to put names and faces together quickly, so I don’t have to say, “I’m sorry, What was your name?” Taking the time to learn names shows that you value a person, care about them enough to learn the most basic thing about them—their name.

And I find it fascinating that knowing someone, even if you don’t know them well, becomes important if you don’t know anyone else. If I am in a room full of strangers and see even one semi-familiar face, I will automatically gravitate toward that person. I know them. They know me. Even if it’s not well, that glimmer of recognition is a tiny beacon of light from which to start.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for understanding the importance of knowing us by name. Thank You for caring enough to know every hair on our heads and every breath we will take. Thank You for calling us and claiming us even as we struggle and fumble through this life. Draw us closer to You. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

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.