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Today it has been a week since Phyllis my spouse took off on a mission trip to Poland. I get emails from her and she is doing fine. However, it has been raining there and they are doing an outdoor Vacation Bible School. So, they have had to be creative. When I hear from her I am reminded of how much I take for granted in my life. The day before Phyllis left she was told by the doctor that the second mammogram was fine and that her health looked good to him. Sitting in my office this morning, God is speaking to me to appreciate all of life. My health, my family and of course a spouse who loves me and who is a real help in life.
Today I have a funeral. I visited with the widow yesterday and she was telling me all about her spouse. In the middle of this conversation she cried. She said she would miss him. I have heard those words many times and as I left that home I thought how blessed I am that in a few days, my spouse will be returning home. I am wondering how much of life I really do not take time to be thankful for. As I go about a very busy day I am going to count my blessing. The air conditioner just kick on again and as I sip my coffee I am thankful for air conditioners and the one who made the coffee for me. Let the praise roll on.
Reading is one of my true passions. Books seem to just be loaded with ideas and thoughts that have proven to be helpful to me. I have a wide range of reading materials that call out to me. What is strange about this passion of mine is that it seems to get stronger through the years. It is so alluring that I have found myself not able to put a book down once I have gotten into it. From my reading I have learned that there is so much more to learn. This has caused me to believe that learning is a life long adventure. One never gets to the spot where there is nothing more to learn.
I find this realization to be very exciting. With each word I read and digest I grow and my depth of experience is widened. It would be a boring life indeed if my thoughts and ideas were not challenged and even changed. In my walk with God I see Him calling out to me and speaking to me in so many ways and words. Because of this I am continually being called upon to go forward to new avenues of service. I love it when someone says to me that I have changed. I would hope so, life is not a mountain to be conquered but an adventure to be lived.
For me life has it struggles. Mostly I struggle trusting God with life. As I write these words my spouse has to go to the doctor for the retaking of a test. There could be nothing to it or it could be something. She will know in a few hours if it will require more tests or not. As I sit at my desk my mind is racing around on many thoughts. In the midst of all of this, I wonder why I cannot just sit back and trust God.
I know in my head that I cannot control life. Life is beyond my control and yet I somehow think I can make life go the way I want it to go. I need to stop my typing and put my mind on God’s love for me. It is difficult at times in my life to realize that God is working everything for good in my life.
I started this by saying I struggle. By sharing this fact my struggling is less.
How does God work? About the time I think I have an answer He does something that I would have never dreamed He would do. Why can’t He be more predictable? Sometimes God just flat out surprises me with the way He works. If you know me very well you know I love to control life. More than once I have found myself living in a rut and doing the same thing over and over again. It seems comfortable to me and certainly requires nothing out of me. But then along comes God and tells me to think differently and discover a new truth or insight. Pestering me God calls me to mature and move closer to Him.
Spending time with some relations recently has caused me to look at my life a bit closer. God has been calling out to me to knock down any walls between me and others. God is not the author of barriers but rather calls us to be reconciled to Him and others. The Him and others are closely connected. As I visited with my loved ones I realized how we are different and yet very alike. That was a good insight but also a painful one. How do I love those closest to me and realize that I am more alike than I want to admit? Their weaknesses are my weaknesses and their strength are mine as well.
Today I am thanking God for His hand that at times is nudging me to be more than I am now. In fact sometimes I think God pushes me to newness that is both exciting and frightening. I guess I will never figure out God. After all He is God and I am well ….. less than Him.
I spent last week at our Church’s Annual Conference. We, all the United Methodists south of I-80 in Illinois, meet in
I had never really thought much about this topic and I was not prepared for the depth of the subject. Hospitality is much more than simply opening our homes up to an evening meal with friends. It is much more and much more difficult than I had previously thought. To offer hospitality to ‘strangers’ who may be different than ‘us’ takes God’s Spirit guiding and directing.
No matter how challenging, God calls us to be people who offer hospitality to those who need it. In my life it takes God’s help for me to be open to those who are different in ways that make me feel uncomfortable. Not only is that difficult but giving time in the midst of being so busy requires creativity that God only God can give.
God is a hospitable God. I like that thought.
Today I am rather tired. The weekend took something out of me. One of the observations that came to me this weekend is how easily one’s words can be misinterpreted. I am wondering if we all don’t need interpreters to run beside us and translate what is being said to the hearer. Could it be that we all speak different languages and are not even aware of it? From my own experience I know that I tend to hear things from my own experiences and past.
One of the great miracles in the Bible happened on Pentecost. We have just observed Pentecost Sunday so I lift this miracle up so that we might think about it again. At the First Pentecost all spoke in their native tongue and were understood. Perhaps the miracle was not in the speaking but in the hearing. That is what I am asking God to give me today. Ears that truly hear and understand what others are saying. It has been said that listening is more important than speaking. I am asking God to help me listen -really listen more. May the miracle of Pentecost be repeated again in each of us. When this happens then we will all find ourselves understood and more open to others.