Month: June 2018

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Romans 8:1

Riptide is defined as a strong current below the surface of a body of water which moves in a different direction than that of the surface current.  When one is caught in a riptide, the correct thing to do is not fight against it, just go with it staying parallel to shore until it releases you and you can swim in.  Good in theory, but oftentimes not what happens in a real life situation.  Human nature is to fight against it and struggle until you are worn out.

Our family just returned from a delightful beach trip to Florida.  It’s no secret that we all love the ocean, but I realized on this trip that each of us enjoys it differently.

I personally enjoy the calm, clear ocean water with the small rolling waves just right for a lazy float on a raft.  Randy enjoys a day with bigger waves to body surf into the shore.  The boys love those days when the ocean is rough enough to jump waves and they especially love it when they get knocked down.  No matter how many times, they were knocked down, they always got up to get back in the game.

Struggles in life can come when we least expect them just like a riptide.  They can carry us where we don’t want to go, pull us along where we don’t want to be, refuse to let us go, and wear us out.  The important thing is not how many times we get knocked down, how far we stray from what we know is right, how tired we are of fighting, but the fact that we don’t stay there.  We get back up and face those struggles. God never condemns us, but He expects us to get back up, dust ourselves off, and get back into the fight!

Calm seas are easy and don’t require much effort.  It’s the riptides that show how strong we are!

With the Lord, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.  2 Peter 3:8       Loosely translated, this verse says, God has perfect timing – never early – never late.  God is never in a hurry but He is always on time.                   

When we entertain friends at our house, the planning, set up, grocery shopping and cooking of sides is my job.  The grilling of the meat is Randy’s job.  Although there are things that we do well together. coordinating the grilling with the rest of the dinner is dicey at best.  Randy loves to laugh and talk with friends, which means he doesn’t always check the main part of the dinner.

Usually, the banter goes something like this…Randy, is the meat ready?  What – Meat?  Yes.  No, not yet.  Should I put the salad together?  No, not yet.  Please give me ten minutes before it’s ready.  OK.

Usually in less than ten minutes, the door will open, and Randy will announce that the meat is just right.  Great, but I needed ten minutes.  At that point, he will say, “Well, if we have to wait that long, it will be too late, and the meat will be overdone.” 

That’s just the way it is with us and God on so many occasions.  He asks, Will you trust me with this?, and oftentimes, we reply, No, not yet.  Later He asks, Will you trust me now?  We reply, No, not yet.  On it goes until you have done almost all the things you wanted or needed to do, worried needlessly, lost sleep, and are at your wits end, then you tell God that the time is just right.  Luckily, He never says it’s too late.  Rather, He takes us as we are and continues to love us.

Alexander Maclaren says, Christ sometimes delays His help to test our faith and energize our prayers.  Our boat may be tossed by the waves while He continues to sleep, but He never oversleeps.  He is never too late.

The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.   Proverbs 20:7

Father’s Day is coming, and I began to reflect on how much I miss my Dad and Randy’s Dad, but also how proud I am to be blessed with three great Dads in our immediate family.  Dads are sometimes not given the credit due them in the family circle, but their job is daunting and likened to Super Heroes these days.

They must be strong in both their careers and their family life.  Children of all ages depend on Dads to give them a feeling of worth in this life.  If Dad shows his pride and acceptance,  kids feel it.

Dads must be forgiving.  Words spoken in haste can often scar a child unless they know that Dad’s love is unconditional and forgiving.

Dads must be examples.  If a Dad has integrity, a respect for others, a love for country, and a love for God, lessons are taught by watching him in action.

Dads should be loving.  Love can take many forms such as hugs, discipline, words of encouragement, and the powerful spoken words, I love you.

Randy and I recently attended the 50th wedding anniversary celebration of two great friends.  We have watched their girls grow from childhood to adulthood, attain status in careers, and become exceptional women.  We also had the chance to meet and be charmed by their grandchildren.  I was so impressed by the children’s ability to stand when introduced, shake hands firmly, look adults in the eye, smile, and converse that I had to ask, “What life lessons are you teaching at home?”  The answer was simple, “These kids have learned so much from their dad and  granddad.  They see the healthy respect with which they treat their wives, their family,their friends, their business acquaintances, and their God.  They want to be just like them.”  That’s the best compliment a Dad could ever receive!

Happy Father’s Day to all you amazing Dads!

My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways.  Isaiah 55:8

There’s nothing like a change in travel plans to point out how much I hate to be diverted from my original plan.  I’ve never really thought much about the word diverted; however, last week as we were flying home from a vacation, that word took on new meaning.  The meaning of “divert” is to cause someone or something to change course.  This can obviously happen in life as well as on an airplane.

Our trip home was going fine.  We had a flawless morning, and I was already planning what I needed to do when I got home ahead of schedule.  As we neared the end of our flight, our pilot came on the PA system to announce that there were two storms approaching Atlanta, but he was planning to sneak in and land between the two storms.  That didn’t happen, and before I knew it, the pilot was announcing that we being diverted to Huntsville because we were “dangerously low on fuel”.  Plans diverted.

We were at the end of our journey, but others had connections, rides waiting, scheduled meetings, and other things.   I expected angry, frustrated, disgruntled passengers who were terribly upset at this diversion, but what I found was people who took it in stride and even took the opportunity to talk and socialize with newly made friends.  Most were grateful to the pilot and crew for taking precautions to ensure our safety.

There have been so many times in our lives when the carefully laid plans of ours were replaced by the more important plans of God.  I don’t know anyone who ever planned to deal with cancer, job loss, divorce, addiction,  disease, depression, or sudden death.  I do know that God has greater plans when things happen, and he diverts us for a reason that we may never know in this lifetime.  His ways are not ours, and we would be remiss if we didn’t accept the diversion because He knows the plans He has for us.

Our job is to look for blessings along this diverted path and trust God with the rest.