Stretching

I have two morning routines now that I have the time. I start the day with coffee and devotion, then head out for a walk. The devotion I've been doing faithfully for 7 years but I've only been walking 4 miles a day 3 to 5 times a week for the better part of three months now. I know the value of warming up and then stretching before I head out, but I don't always do it.

Yesterday morning I hit the pavement without loosening up, and in less than a mile, my calves and shins were screaming "Fire, Somebody get a hose and beat that woman walking us with it!" Hating to lose my pace, but knowing I wouldn't be able to make 2 miles, much less 4, I stopped and did a few obligatory stretches, which helped, but my walk was definitely not what I wanted it to be. This morning I made sure I did my 5-minute warm-up and stretch before pumping these short legs of mine too hard! I can't tell you that the 70-minute walk was totally pain-free, but you know what they say, "No pain, no gain!"

One of the things I like about walking, aside from the health benefits, is time to think, time to clear my head and focus on nothing, or often, time to spend with God. As I was walking today, I realized that warming up and stretching are just as important to my devotional life. If I'm not careful, I'll just plunge into a devotional reading without greeting God by spending time in prayer and clearing the way for a few minutes of sweet communion with Him--the warm-up so to speak. And, I know that if I skip the scriptures that support whatever I'm reading for the day, then I've just read another great author's writing and missed what the Author and Finisher of our faith has to say. The stretch comes in meditating on the Word. The stretch happens when I apply what it has to say to every aspect of my life so that it is assimilated into the very nature of my being, kind of like the stretches any serious walker should do after a long, hard walk.

Although I'm not a serious athlete, I am serious about my walk, both physically and especially spiritually. I'm pretty sure I won't be skipping the warm-up and stretches again which make for a great finish!

The Right Question

I have of late been struggling with the question "What does God want me to do?" Perhaps struggling is not the right word right now. And maybe"What does God want me to do" is not the right question right now. I recently neglected a responsibility I take seriously and felt the pangs of guilt in my forgetfulness to take care of it. You see, I'm the pinch hitter on the piano at my church, and yesterday-on the the 4th of July of all days-I left my church in a pinch! I had forgotten to get someone to play in my absence. At 9:30 on Sunday evening as the fireworks were going off all around me, they finally went off in my head too. I'm a "doer" so how could I have not done this? I quickly shot out an email apologizing to the key players at church and thanked them for their forgiveness and understanding. Then I sat down for a spell and talked with God about it. I know He and my pastor forgive me!

This morning, still stinging from my failure, God revealed in my heart what I knew in my head. It's not what I do, which will always come up short on my own power, but who I am in Christ that matters most. So, who am I in Christ?

I am His child.
I am loved.
I am forgiven.
I am accepted.
I am free.
I am at peace.
I am secure.
I am chosen of God, holy and loved dearly.
I am sealed.
I am light in the world.
I am Jesus' friend.
I am God's workmanship, created to do His work He set aside for me.

OK. So I'm back to "doing". I am a "doer". "Doing" is the expression of my heart. "Doing" is the expression of my love and gratitude and humility in response to God's love and grace and mercy. I still want to know what God wants me to do. Until He reveals that, I shall rest in the knowledge of who I am!

Paying Tribute

I've been a special educator for 30 years, and I really do prefer the term "special educator" best. It describes what we do, and it describes who we serve; they are both special. The inspiration for my career was a very special cousin of mine, 30 years my senior. Davis was born with significant physical impairments and never attended school. His limited capacity to walk and talk in no way limited his capacity to bring joy to everyone around him. As a young child, I remember saying to myself, “Davis is trying to tell us something.” I remember thinking, “If only he could talk, we’d find out just how much Davis knows.” I remember wondering, “Davis is so happy. How can that be?” He was so clearly bright. He understood conversation. He tried to join in. He would get so excited at being in a room with people. His inability to speak left you wondering just what was going on inside that head of his. Yet no one ever wondered what was going on inside his heart. He was bright, in a way that lit up a room whenever he walked in wearing a smile that no disability could ever stifle. When you saw that smile you saw pure joy, joy that I pray each of us can experience in this life.

Upon his recent passing at the age of 81, tribute after tribute attested to this joy that transcended reason in light of his circumstances. Had Davis been born in this day and time, his life would have been different. He would have gone to school. He would have had access to technology to communicate all that was in his head, and more importantly, all that was in his heart. Somehow or other, it seems appropriate to me that this career I have loved so should draw to a close in the same year of Davis's passing. That passing has caused me to reflect on my desire to contribute to making life better for people with disabilities, a desire that I recognized as a teenager and stayed true to for all these years. I believe I have contributed in some small measure, so it is with gratitude for the opportunity that I retire. Though I go, my love for our work and the people we serve remains with those who carry on, and it remains in my heart.

Be Encouraged

1 Thessalonians 3 (NIV)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thessalonians+3&version=NIV

I've been thinking a lot about my daddy lately. Maybe it's the fact that Father's Day was coming up. Maybe it's the fact that a major milestone in my life is about to happen, and I can't share it with him. Maybe it's that I have more than a little fear that I won't know who I am or what I'm to do with myself without work. More likely I just need him here to be my biggest cheerleader and tell me that God's got a plan, and it's going to be alright!

We all need encouragement from time to time. The apostle Paul was the great encourager. He knew the value of it both in the giving of encouragement and in the receiving. He established churches on his missions and then he moved on. But in the moving on he left a piece of his heart with these newborn Christians and carried with him a love so deep he was compelled to hear from them and be with them again. Paul was like a father, a spiritual father, and those who believed at his preaching and the prompting of the Spirit were his children. Paul's desire was that they grow up in the faith, know God more fully, and be found holy and blameless at His return. He wrote to them. He pined for them. He prayed for them. He felt sorrow in their absence and joy in their successes. They were indeed the glory of his being. He was indeed their biggest fan. Sounds like a father to me!

This week, I’ve thought so much about my own daddy. When I left home after college, we had a ritual. We would talk every morning before I went to work, and every night before bedtime, just to say everything is all right, I’m heading to work or going night night, and most importantly, I love you. Saturday mornings those calls were made a little later. The last Saturday morning of Daddy’s life here on earth, I didn’t get to have that conversation. He and Mother had gotten out early to do some work. So, when I called I didn’t get an answer. I don’t know how many times I called just because I needed to hear from them, to hear that all was well. All was not well that day, but today, I know it is.

I’m so thankful for all the things he taught me in his short 54 years—how to sing, how to ride a bike, how to milk a cow (although I never really got the hang of it), how to drive a straight drive, and how to live life as a Christian—all the while encouraging me and cheering me on. I’ve stumbled; I've fallen; I’ve crashed and burned. But each time, by the grace of God, I’d get back up, and learn from the experience and move on. That’s something Daddy taught me too.

I think he’d be proud of me today—my career, my love for my husband, how my sister and I have taken care of Mother, how we've taken care of each other. He’d be happy for my retirement, and I believe he would be especially pleased by this blog post (although he wouldn't get the technology and neither do I). He would love me telling all of you about his impact on me as a godly father and a godly man. I love him dearly, and I love God more. I can hardly wait to be with them both!

Be encouraged one and all. You have a heavenly father who is your biggest fan.

Missing Church-Missing You

I'm looking out the window at a blanket of white, thinking, "Ive been to church this morning, even though I haven't left my snuggly spot on the sofa." I've worshiped with believers in San Diego, and I've worshiped with Christians in Atlanta. I've heard God's Word broken to me by two of my favorite preachers of the Gospel, David Jeremiah and Charles Stanley. I've heard praise music and a traditional hymn. I even found myself singing along as the worship leader encouraged. I worshiped, but I missed you.

I've grown to love church. I love the institution of church and its ordinances, including the Lord's Supper, which we're missing this morning by the way. I love the fact that people of like mind, people with very little in common, people with no cares or concerns, people burdened with struggles of every kind, young and old, rich and poor, all can come together and worship the one true living Lord. And I love church, the body of Christ, and this is what, or should I say who, I missed. I missed worshiping with you, my brothers and sisters in Christ this morning, so I thought I should tell you that.

Enjoy your day, stay safe and warm, and make time for the Lord this Sabbath day! See you in church!

Hebrews 10:25 "not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." (NASB)