Category: BLOG

Your mercy is in the sunrise, Lord; you speak love over us once again. Your faithfulness is never dependent on ours; you just keep offering your grace. You set the mountains in their places and tell the leaves when it is time to fall. You bring rain and sunshine; you offer strength and beauty. The wind and the storm as well. Thank you for your love and your provision. Please consider us today. Guide our moments and conversations. Open us to what you are doing right now and give us courageous spirits to embrace what you reveal. We are sometimes slow to accept so please remind us again of who and whose we are. We welcome your presence; we are in your hands. We will trust in you.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24

Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.
Proverbs 3:25

This morning when I turned to my bible reading plan it listed Proverbs 1-3. I was so very glad! The Proverbs are wisdom sayings – mostly written by Solomon, who was given wisdom by God (I Kings 3:10-12).  When I read Proverbs it helps me. It reorients me to wisdom and grounds me. Today it feels like refreshing water; like an early morning glide across the lake.

When we walk with God we have a different experience, even in times of disaster.  It doesn’t mean difficult things won’t happen. Clearly, we are living through unprecedented days that change constantly.  It is not easy.  The word “disaster” has a whole new meaning for all of us right now.  AND the LORD continues to be our rock of stability, wisdom and strength.

The wisdom of God that keeps our foot from being snared is not an opinion or current event.  It is not pressure or pleasing. It is not compromise or bargaining.  The wisdom from God is what we find in and through the relationship we have with Christ; a daily seeking. It is wisdom that the LORD gives us when we are humble, teachable and ready to receive more than we have known.  It is the bold question: “what does the love of Christ look like right now?” And then being open to hear God’s answer.  This keeps our foot from being snared. This keeps our paths clear, even when the direction is only the very next small step.

What small step do you need to take today?  Ask boldly and humbly for the LORD to direct and guide you. God is faithful. Your prayer is answered in your seeking.

God, please help us to walk with compassion, wisdom and love today. Whatever small step any one of us needs to take, please make that clear. It is our desire and intention to honor and follow you. Thank you for your faithfulness.  Amen.

Grace is sometimes
   the space between us.
Where wisdom whispers
what we can and cannot do.
I listen deeply from wherever
   I am.
Perhaps, you listen too.

Walking blindly in the dark
   Faith, the trusted guide
My heart grows quiet
Yet speaks oh so loud!
   Ancient answers come:
       “in me alone, abide.”

Let the winds blow
Let the viruses roam
Let circumstances wreak havoc
   however they may…
Love will persist!
Love prevails!
Love beckons me; just stay
   the course.
The course runs true.

Vona Rose Wilson / 5.6.2020

The kitchen table where I grew up was the place of lessons, laughter, tears and love.  It was at that table we shared about our days. If my brother and sister and I had made a  misstep we would learn about it. If we had experienced an adventure in the neighborhood or discovered some great new fort somewhere, this is the place we would share our joy.  Family meetings also occurred here; some joyful, some painful.  This was often where we found out that mom and dad knew a whole lot more about what we’d been doing all day than we imagined they did! Life happened here.

I was 3 years old when we moved to this childhood home. Mom stitched these two prayers and hung them above the kitchen table.  They were side by side, framing the length of the table and ever present.  We saw them at every meal. They were there as we passed by the kitchen on our way to every other place in our home. These prayers became a daily guide for everything under our roof.  No way to miss it. No way to forget it. They seeped into memory and lodged somewhere deep within all of us.

Mom taught us many lessons. Her teaching was daily. We learned how to garden, clean, mow, manage our money, study – all of it. But we also learned a lot by what she didn’t say, but rather, what she placed before us. These two prayers became foundational for our lives. We needed them all throughout our childhood and we’ve carried them in our minds and bodies throughout our adulthood. When I see them now, still hanging in her home, I am thankful. I am reminded of the grounding I was given as a child and the gift that continues to be in my life.

We had no idea that the Serenity Prayer would become so essential to each of us, or that it was the chant of Anonymous groups across the world.  We had no idea that the words of Etienne de Grellet would help us choose how to approach every day of life because it will not come again. Thank God for this gift that came before we knew we needed it and lodged so deeply we can never forget it.  Thank God for our mom, who made sure there were always little reminders to help us through the day.

What’s in your home? What’s on your walls? What are we carrying in our minds and bodies that is helping us navigate these days?

God, surround us with the blessing of wisdom to navigate these days. Bless the tables where people gather. Watch over the parents and the children and those who sit alone.  Thank you, Lord, for the ways you keeping teaching and guiding us along our way.  Your grace is amazing. Your blessings complete. Thank you for loving us. Amen. 

The Blessing – Kari Jobe & Cody Carnes

 

All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
(Jesus in the Gospel of John 14:26-27)

Sometimes knowing and understanding is overwhelming. The last few weeks were the hardest. They knew something was coming; but they didn’t understand it. Jesus knew what was coming and he did understand it. The feeling comes in lots of different situations.

Graduation from high school or college is a time to celebrate.  Students know it’s coming but they don’t really understand it.  Parents know and understand; it can be overwhelming.  There is both joy and heartache; grief and gratitude.  The same is true in the struggles of addiction and illness; the blessing and challenges of weddings; the grief and honoring of life at funerals; the joy and apprehension of retirement; babies being born; job changes…life.  We humans are quite a mix of God’s creation! We find ourselves navigating emotions and circumstances that, at any given moment, can quickly feel like life is spinning out of control.

When Jesus spoke these words to his disciples he was at the last of his ministry on earth. Things were changing and they were changing fast. He knew what was coming. The disciples – the small group of guys – could feel the tension and they knew something was happening and they heard him saying the words about what was going to happen. But they could not grasp it. How could they? It was beyond what they ever could have imagined would happen. In this moment, Jesus is giving them words of hope and assurance because they are going to need them.

You will not be alone! The Spirit will be with you and help you.  Do not be afraid; I am leaving my Peace with you.  Do not be troubled…do not be burdened…what I give you is of God and nothing will take it away.

Right now it may feel like COVID19 has control. Households are being rearranged. Businesses are transitioning from office to home. Jobs are furloughed. Social distancing is wreaking havoc with our need to be near one another. Weddings are being hastened. Plans are …. well, all of our “plans” are on hold or simply let go.  And still, life is happening – births, deaths, graduations, retirements, transitions, marriages, divorces, work, etc.  Each of these coming with its own joy and sorrow.

The resurrected Christ speaks right through this moment with these words: Peace! “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” How do you grab hold of something greater than fear or grief or sorrow or joy or confusion or any other overwhelming?

A breath prayer is a way to begin. Just pick one that works for you today and carry it in your heart, on your lips, in your mind. Say it with your breath. Breath in; breath out and let these words come into your body and spirit. The Lord is faithful. God hears our hearts.  Do not hesitate – simply begin.

Breath Prayers
Lord Christ, bring peace; we need you.
Lord Christ, have mercy on us; we trust you completely.
God of heaven, come quickly to help us.

Peace Be Still by Lauren Daigle

I missed the coming of spring. Still reaching into my closet for boots, sweatshirts and a scarf to wrap around my neck; the warm air surprises me. Did spring come? I remember seeing buttercups and then tulips, but I haven’t stopped to listen to the birds that herald season’s arrival. It’s not too late.

The rush of action to navigate a pandemic is massive.  People who plan and prepare for years are suddenly called into full engagement with what is no longer a “table-top exercise” or “drill”.  Medical professionals who are standing at bedsides and on full alert in ER’s across the world every day are suddenly in “disaster” mode that doesn’t end in 48 hours but stretches out with uncertainty.  Faith communities and social services are on a “mission” that doesn’t end with a flight home telling stories 7 days later; it just continues with each day offering its own agenda. Many are at home wondering what to do with the time. Pandemic.

When these moments in history come, what we have is what we’ve been gathering for a long time. If stress and busyness and frenzy have been packed into our storehouse, it will be fed by the circumstances swirling all around us. If denial and reptile brain have been our way of moving through the days, this moment will likely leave us more disengaged and dazed, unaware of the gift of life passing through our living rooms, offices and neighborhoods.  If you have found a rhythm for life that is grounded in practices that help you keep perspective, that rhythm will help you in disruption, offering a steadiness in chaos. You get the picture – we are showing up in COVID19 with whatever we’ve been storing in our minds and spirits; that is our reality. It’s not too late to notice, and it’s not too late to adjust.

Psalm 130 is a prayer of someone who is suffering, and yet fully knows that God is still present, and God will redeem the situation.  There is a rhythm; a grounding faith.  The one who cries out to God understands the time of waiting and watching as a particular space where hope will come.

1-2 Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life!
Master, hear my cry for help!
Listen hard! Open your ears!
Listen to my cries for mercy.

3-4 If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings,
who would stand a chance?
As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit,
and that’s why you’re worshiped.

Waiting and watching as an act of trust in God’s steadfast presence and mercy, has its own way of shaping our lives.  The one who is watching and waiting is present.  They see things others don’t see. They are attentive in stretches of boredom and listening when insights come. The one who is watching and waiting stays on duty. His eyes are always open.  The more she waits and watches – the more she sees.  Clarity will come like the clearing of a thick morning fog. Look; there it is.

 

5-6 I pray to God—my life a prayer—
and wait for what he’ll say and do.
My life’s on the line before God, my Lord,
waiting and watching till morning,
waiting and watching till morning.

 

Let’s not miss the moment.  While many are busy serving and working as hard as they can to help us navigate these days, let everyone who has been given the gift of time, to use it wisely.  Are you one who is asked to watch and wait?  Are you the “on duty” eyes paying attention to the empty space God is offering; letting it sit open and ready until the time is fulfilled?  Don’t miss the moment.

Showing up with hope and trust enough to simply “be” in this time is a gift to the people around you and to the world. We do not have to cover anything up or distract ourselves from the reality.  It is OK to see both suffering and hope. It is HUMAN and beautiful to be embrace the wholeness of how God created us. We don’t have to pretend, and we don’t have to disguise. We can also look for the gifts of God being given in the midst of even this.

Be present. Be watchful. Be patient. Our hope comes from the one who has already set the kingdom of God in place, and no matter the situation at any given time in history – our God is faithful; the redemption of the world is always being fulfilled.

Don’t miss the moments; each one is a gift. And when the moments come where the love you have received from God is overflowing, there is a person within your reach by phone, message, through the window, in your home and neighborhood, or maybe right next to you. Perhaps that is a place to begin sharing.

7-8O Israel, wait and watch for God—
with God’s arrival comes love,
with God’s arrival comes generous redemption.
No doubt about it—he’ll redeem Israel,
buy back Israel from captivity to sin.
– Psalm 130

Prayer
Lord, help us not to be afraid to be like watchmen – waiting and watching. Help us to be present in the now and to embrace what you give us in this time that will not return.  For today – let us not regret what has been, nor project what tomorrow will be. Ground us in the “now” we are given and help us to wait, watch and stand in the hope that is YOU. Your kingdom is being fulfilled. There is not a time when you are not bringing the fullness of your Love on earth as it is in heaven. That is our steadfast hope and truth.  Help us to embrace your Love today.  As we receive, we are able share with others. We love you, Lord, and we trust you completely. Thank you for guiding us through these days.

While I’m Waiting – Travis Greene