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Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6

A few days ago I walked in on a conversation in the hair salon among several women. I wasn’t privy to the beginning of the conversation, but suddenly one of the ladies exclaimed, “Lord have mercy!” Those three words took me immediately back to my young days working in my Grandmama’s “beauty shop” in my hometown. I helped out on Saturdays there by sweeping the floors, shampooing the ladies, and any other job my Grandmama needed.

I can distinctly remember the phrase “Lord have mercy” being used frequently, and I always wondered exactly what it meant! One lady came in one day, and when I asked how she was doing, she said, “Well, I am halfway between “Thank you, Jesus” and “Lord have mercy.“

I think many of us can identify with that sentiment. There are days when we are thankful, but there are just as many days when we need God’s mercy. Mercy is defined as compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone when it is within their power to punish or harm; A disposition to be kind and forgiving; God’s gratuitous compassion.

When I was growing up, our Sunday School class at our church in my hometown was regulary assigned a Bible verse to commit to memory. The 23rd Psalm was one of those verses, and everytime I recite it a visual image of the shepherd with his sheep comes to mind (maybe from the Picture Bible I used). I can always picture the green hills with the shepherd following his sheep and protecting them with his love and mercy.

Phillip Keller in his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, says that the high summer land where the sheep grazed was called the “tablelands.” The shepherd would go ahead of the sheep to clear out the noxious weeds and other things that might harm the sheep, but no matter how carefully the shepherd prepares the way, the sheep still encounter thistles and thorns along the way. The shepherd must attend to each injured sheep and rub their wounds with oil. The shepherd never scolds the animal, he just tends to the wounds. This is a portrait of God’s merciful ways as no matter the hurts we incur in this life, He is always there to tend to them.

There are many times in this world where we need to extend mercy to others, and there are even more times when we need others to be merciful to us! A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice, and justice demands death. “I don’t ask for justice,” the mother replied, “I beg for mercy.” Napoleon responded, “But your son does not deserve mercy!” “Sir,” the mother replied, “it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask.” “Well then,” the Emperor said, “I will have mercy.“

I can identify. Years ago when I had my Learner’s Permit, my parents would allow me to drive by myself around the block of our small town. One day my aunt’s sister from England was visiting and asked to ride along. It wasn’t long befoe she asked to drive. She was eighteen, and I assumed that it would be an easy thing for her to do, so I let her. As we turned the corner, she hit the accelerator instead of the brake, and we crashed into a telephone pole. Nothing was hurt except my Mama’s new car. That evening as I waited anxiously for the punishment I knew was coming, my Daddy came in. “Sugar,” he said, “we all make mistakes, and you made one! I’m thankful you are both all right. Just remember to learn from this lesson, and by the way, this was an expensive one! ” I didn’t get justice. I got mercy!

Goodness is God giving us what we don’t deserve. Mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve. Just like the shepherd following the sheep, God follows us with mercy. That’s good news because if he followed us with justice, we would all be in trouble! God’s goodness and mercy are following us to bring us closer to the Good Shepherd.

God’s expression of mercy is the most profound expression of His love because it shows us that He remains faithful even when we are unfaithful. When the Lord is your shepherd, his love and mercy surround you now and forever.

He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from the deep mud. He stood me on a solid rock to make sure I would not slip. Psalm 40:2

A while ago, I was talking to a friend who had discovered that the foundation of his house was begining to show its age because cracks were developing there. The doors were getting hard to open and close, and there were places where the bricks were separating. The cracks were small , but the concern was that they would continue to grow.

This conversation took me back to the first place Randy and I lived after we got married. Randy was in school at Emory, and I had secured a teaching position in DeKalb County, so we were looking for a place in a location which was convenient for both of us. After a search, we found an older house on a quiet street near Agnes Scott College which seemed to fit our needs.

The two story home was built in the late eighteen hundreds, and the owner was renting the downstairs and the upstairs as apartments. Two students already had the downstairs, so Randy and I rented the upstairs for our first home. It was a large space with high ceilings and large rooms. We furnished it with old furniture from my parents, his parents, and an old couch an Emory student was selling on the street!

The kitchen had a little cubby for a small table, so we used an old one that belonged to Randy’s mom. The house had a few (many) problems, but when we sat down the first time at our table, we noticed that if you put food on one end, it would slide to the other. We joked that it was a good thing because we never had to pass our food.

The owner sent someone out to check out the problem and make sure the room was safe. They found a supporting beam which had cracked, and could no longer support the floor, so it had to be replaced. They did a “fix” but unforunately, the floor still sloped!

The owner knew this was a temporary fix, but he did just enough to satisfy us and put it out of his mind. Fortunately, we moved to Snellville at the end of the first year, so we were lucky that we weren’t there to experience the result.

Just like cracks in the foundation of a house, the foundation of our lives can experience cracks. It’s easy to ignore them. For example, most of us were brought up on a solid foundation of faith. We went to church, we believed in the sciprtures, and we prayed. Gradually, cracks begin to appear in our spiritual lives, but we don’t realize how bad they have become until we are faced with difficulties in life. We suddenly realize how large the cracks are and how much they have separted us from the foundation of our faith.

On January 19, 1919, a steel vat containing 2.3 million gallons of molten molases burst and created a 30 foot tall wave of the syrup which drowned people and horses, destroyed buildings, and crushed freight cars and automobiles. The enormous tank had cracks, and company officials had reacted to the constantly leaking cracks by repainting the tank to match the color of the molasses. Their philosophy was “out of sight, out of mind.” The officials knew it was dangerous, but they did nothing about it, and 21 people were killed.

There’s an important lesson for us in the above stories. They say that we must pay close attention to the cracks in our spiritual lives because what we ignore today, we may drown in tomorrow. As Christians, the further we get away from the Lord as the foundation of our life, the more we substitute other things as the foundation of our lives.

It happens to all of us, even the disciples were guilty of ignoring the cracks in their walk with Jesus. Before the Passover meal Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, but the disciples forgot to wash the feet of Jesus. After Jesus explained how the bread and wine symbolized His upcoming crucifixion, they started arguing about which of them would be the greatest in the kingdom. They were ignoring their cracks.

The good news for us all is that Jesus still loves us even though we have ignored the cracks in our foundation. This week we need to remember to check our spiritual foundation for cracks. Don’t ignore the cracks that separate us from Jesus as the Rock.

Make your motion and cast your votes, but in the end God has the final say. Proverbs 16:33

The other day someone posed the question, “Do you believe you are lucky?” That’s a tough question to answer for me because I have heard the superstitions about being lucky all my life. Things like “Find a penny, pick it up, and all day you’ll have good luck,” may not be true, but I don’t pass by a penny if I see one! I might also convince myself that that day could be my lucky day!

Recently a friend and I have engaged in a friendly competition of finding four leaf clovers. He is quite good at spotting them, and when I asked his secret he said, “You don’t find them, they find you!” Since he gave me that advice, I’ve become pretty good at finding them (or letting them find me), and I make it a point to take a picture and send it to him every time. I think I’m winning the competition!!

The leaves of a four leaf clover are said to symbolize faith, hope, love, and luck! It is said that Ireland has more four leaf clovers than any place else, hence the phrase, the luck of the Irish! It’s also said that if you are lucky enough to find a four leaf clover, look for more!!

Luck is defined as success or failure brought about by chance rather than one’s own actions or chance considered as a force that causes good or bad things to happen. However, if we pull out the Bible, a concordance, or all the resources available to us, there is not one mention of luck. We would never see Jesus picking up a coin and exclaiming, “Oh my this is my lucky day!” We never see Peter have an amazing catch of fish and say, “Boy, I must be lucky.”

The above scripture refers to casting of lots (similar to the rolling of dice or the tossing of a coin) to settle certain judicial cases. This scripture suggests that something so random as the tossing of a coin or the rolling of dice, even a lucky tee shot or putt, is not outside the sovereign control of God. Therefore, these results are not merely luck.

Consider this story. On March 1,1950 at Westside Baptist Church in Beatrice, Nebraska choir practice was scheduled to start, as it always did, at 7:20 on Wednesday night. Ususally everyone was there right on time. On this night at 7:25 an exposion demolished the church. The blast was so strong that it shattered windows in surrounding homes, yet everyone of the choir’s 15 members escaped injury. How? They were all late that evening. One had car trouble, one had to finish a letter, one was finishing ironing, one overslept from a nap. Some had no special reason why they were late, yet they were. Is that luck or divine intervention?

The question, “Do you believe you are lucky?” I believe that God sends things at certain times that help us to remember that He is in control and has the means to reassure us along the journey of life. For example, a penny reminds me that God is watching me that day, and I usually utter a prayer for something about which I am concerned.

A four leaf clover reminds me to be faithful, have hope, and love others. While I’m walking and holding it in my hand getting ready to take a picture and send it, gives me time to ponder those these things in my life. A rainbow reminds me of God’s faithfulness to us even in this day and age. A hummingbird reminds me that there are loved ones living in the Father’s House that are waiting for us.

Friday night, we lost a long time dear friend unexpectedly. It was devastating for us, but if she were here today, she would probably say, “Yabbadabbadoo, I am so lucky! I am hearing the words well done thy good and faithful servant; good work. You did your job well. Enter into the joy of the Lord.“ If we know that God is control, then we know that our choir singing The Majesty and Glory of His Name on Sunday was not luck, but the work of a sovereign God reminding us that He is in control. We can envision her already singing with the heavenly choir, and warming up to take over as the director.

It is not luck that God places us in a certain place at a certain time, but rather His plan to enhance our lives with those whom He sends for us to love. We love you, Debbie, and boy, will we ever miss you!

Do I think I am lucky? Yes, indeed. If this week you experience some lucky sign or occurence, ask yourself, “Did this happen so God could show His kindness and love to someone through me?” I bet it will be your lucky day!

Count the stars. Can you do it? Genesis 15:5

According to experts, today parts of our country will be able to view a total solar eclipse, a rare event for us. The event will cross over the Pacific coast of Mexico and pass through parts of the United States. A total eclipse happens when the moon passes between the earth and the sun completely blocking the face of the sun causing a period of darkness. The sky will darken as though it were dawn or dusk. The next solar eclipse is predicted to be in August of 2045, but according to experts, part of this eclipse will be visible in our area between two and three this afternoon, and it will last about three and a half minutes in each vicinity in which is passes. The rumor is that in this area, we might get a glimpse!

Darkness during day light hours is a rare occurrence, but it happened several times in the Bible. One of the most memorable one is called the crucifixion darkness in which the sky became dark for three hours during the crucifixion of Jesus. The Gospel of Mark tells us that from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness all over the land. That time would be from noon until three in the afternoon.

How big is a God who can command darkness to envelop the earth for a specific amount of time, and one who can create a solar system to do His will for the amazement of his creation!! It shows us that God is so big that He is the undisputed God of the universe. He knows what He is doing, and He is doing it!! Psalm 115:3 says, Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.

Growing up in a rural area with no tall buildings or city lights lent itself to nights in which we had the opportunity to sit and star gaze. If you begin to try and count the stars in God’s universe, you quickly realize the answer to the scripture above. There’s no way for humans to understand or comprehend the enormity of what God has created and controls.

It is much like the mysteries of life which we can never fully grasp. The things we all ponder, like: “Why does one family seem to suffer endless tragedies? Why do marriages fail? Why does one person get promoted and the other not? Why do friends betray you?” and the list goes on. John Piper says God is so big that “every day He is doing about 10,000 different things in your life, but you will only be aware of maybe three.” We are like a child looking through a keyhole in that we only get a glimpse of what lies on the other side.

Sometimes we get a chance to be reminded of just how big God is and how some things that others might have meant for evil against us, God meant for good. Last week I got a random email from a lady who was, at one time, a friend. It brought to mind a rather painful time in my life where untruths were uttered, rumors spread, and because of it, many things changed. The email read, “I am not sure you will want to hear from me, but I need to ask your forgiveness. I know your memories of me are bad ones, so I understand if that isn’t possible.”

It was impossible for me to say that I don’t remember or think about that time, but because God is so big, I was able to return her email with a sense of forgivness in my heart for me and for her. It made me realize that I can’t change the past, and I don’t want to. I can simply say that God is good and God is big.

We all need a big God. We need a God big enough to cover our pain, our problems, our mistakes, our fears, and whatever we are facing. A God that is big enough to orchestrate a total solar eclipse is certainly big enough to care for each of us. Remember even when we don’t feel it, He is working.

Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light. Raymond Edman

I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins. Jeremiah 31:34

We have arrived at the day after Easter. The Easter lillies have adorned our homes and churches, the songs of Resurrection have been sung, and we have felt the joy when we utter the words, “Christ is Risen. He is risen indeed.” The question is, “How long will we remember all the feelings of forgiveness and love that Christ has shown us by his suffering and death on the cross?”

One of the best feelings a person can ever have is the day when we “pay off” that college tuition, that car, or the day the home mortgage is stamped, paid in full! We are relieved to know that we owe nothing else, and we are already thinking of ways to spend the excess money that we will enjoy every month!

How many times after we receive that document announcing that our debt is paid in full do we spend thinking about that bill that has been fulfilled? Most people celebrate the moment, and then forget it! It’s no longer on our list of worries or things to do. If we can forget these things, why do we beat ourselves up when we can’t forgive ourselves for some sin we might have committed?

One of most wonderful statements in the Bible is “God forgives.” When we admit our sin and ask God to forgive us, He cancels our past. He chooses to forget our wrong doings, our sins, and our failures. Even if we died tonight, stood before God in heaven, and asked Him about a sin we committed yesterday, He would say,”What sin?” It was paid in full on the cross.

It’s hard for most of us to conceive of the price that Jesus paid for us on the cross. On a much smaller scale, it’s like eating in a restaurant and when we get ready to pay the bill, the waiter says, “A friend of yours has taken care of your dinner for you. You owe nothing.” What if we tried to pay the bill anyway? In the first place, we couldn’t because it had already been paid. In the second place, it would be insulting to the friend who had already paid meaning that we wouldn’t accept the hospitality.

The same thing is true us. Either we accept the fact that Jesus paid it all in is entirety or we keep trying to pay it ourselves. First, we should remember that when Jesus died on the cross, the debt was paid, the work was accomplished, and the sacrifice was complete. The sacrifice of Jesus was sufficient to cover the sins of every person, past, present, and future.

Next, if Jesus paid for our sins and paid in full, that means we don’t have to. God offers His salvation for each of us without price.

Finally, since Jesus paid the price in full, the only thing we have to do is accept it. “Jesus died. God is satisfied.”

In his book, Written in Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a young boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained to the boy that she had the same disease from which he had recovered two years earlier. Her only chance was a transfusion from someone who had had the disease and who had the same blood type. The boy was the ideal donor.

“Will you give your blood to your sister,” the doctor asked? Johnny hesitated as his lower lip began to tremble, but he smiled and said, “Sure, I’ll do that for my sister.” Soon the children were wheeled into the hospital room. Mary was weak and pale. Johnny was robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny smiled.

When the nurse inserted the tube in Johnny’s arm, his smile faded. He silently watched the blood flow through the tube. When the ordeal was almost over, Johnny said, “Doctor, when do I die?” Only then did the doctor realize that Johnny thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his own life. Johnny had made the decision to give up his own life for that of his sister. Fortunately, his death was not required to save his sister.

Jesus was required not only to give His blood, but His life. He paid everything in full!

The chorus of the hymn, Jesus Paid It All. by Elvina Hall sums it up beautifully. The chorus says, Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came straight down from heaven, and came straight up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move. The angel spoke to the women, “There is nothing to fear here. I know you are looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised from the dead just like He said. Now get on your way quickly and tell His disciples. “He is risen from the dead, He is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see Him there. Matthew 28:1-7 selected verses

Easter comes to give us a fresh revelation of God’s love for us so that, as Paul says, “we will be able to take in the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love.” The word extravagant is defined as “going above all that’s expected or deserved.” On the cross, Jesus went to extravagant measures to show His love for us, and this love comes with no strings attached and costs us nothing.

What does His extravagant love look like? Picture the cross. If we were the only person who ever lived, Jesus would have still died just for us. The following story illustrates it perfectly.

In medieval times, a priest in a European village invited his morning congregation to “Come back tonight for a special sermon about Jesus.” Curious, many came back that night to find the sanctuary in darkness and the priest nowhere to be found. As they groped their way to the pews and sat down, they heard the priest walking down the aisle to the front. When he reached the cross that hung on the wall, he lit a single candle.

Without saying a word, he lifted the candle to illuminate the pierced feet of Jesus, then His side, then one nail pierced hand, then the other. Raising the candle, he shed light on the bloodied face and the crown of thorns. With a puff, he extinguished the light and dismissed the congregation. Nothing more needed to be said. The words, “Christ crucified” and “for me” were evidence of His extravagant love for us.

The Easter message is that the crucifixtion wasn’t the end. Christ rose and lives to love us with His extravagant love. In Easter Earthquake, James A. Harnish explores the earthshaking promise of Jesus’ resurrection. “Easter Sunday shatters the power of fear,” he writes, “because Christ is risen, we no longer allow fear to dominate, control or manipulate us. We don’t remain imprisoned in the tombs of our past failures or buried under the weight of present anxiety. In the risen Christ, old things pass away and everything becomes new.”

“Easter is the proof that God hasn’t forsaken us and is present among us. The Resurrection contradicts the assumption that Christ resides on an etherea cloud in a distant heaven. Rather, we find him on the dusty road that leads to the real stuff of our ordinary world.”

“Jesus’ followers can find him everywhere. The risen Christ will meet us along the confused, chaotic, fearful paths of our lives and speak the same words the women hear at the tomb. Do not be afraid.”

This Easter let’s celebrate the extravagant love of Christ for each of us! Ponder the words from the hymn When I Survey The Wondrous Cross by Isaac Watts as we prepare this week for the betrayal, the crucifixion, and happily, the resurrection.

When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of Glory died. My richest gain, I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small, Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Happy Easter!

When they reached Jerusalem, Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: “Go over to the village across from you. You will find a donkey tethered there with her colt. Untie her and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, say, ‘The Master needs them.’ He will send them with you.” Matthew 21:1-3

During my young years, I grew up around many different animals such as cows, horses, pigs, chickens, plus the usual dogs and cats, but I only had one experience with a donkey. The donkey was walking along a fence and I was on the other side, something spooked him, and he let out an screeching “Hee Haw” while kicking both of his back legs straight out behind him. Since that day, I have had no interest in getting to know a donkey.

After that experience, it’s pretty interesting to me that in the first public acknowledgement of Jesus as the Messiah, He chose to enter Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. It seems that a stallion, a camel, or even an old gray mare would be much more appropriate than a big earred, loud mouthed donkey.

However, in researching this strange animal, there are many things about donkeys that I had not bothered to learn. Donkeys have been around for over six thousand years being domesticated in North Africa and Egypt. In Greece, they were used to work the vineyards, and the Roman army used them in agriculture and as pack animals.

Donkeys differ physically, mentally, and emotionally from horses. They are highly intelligent creatures, sociable and calm, and they are capable of independent thinking and decision making. They are strong and won’t do something they consider unsafe which gives them the reputation of being stubborn. They are great, trusted companions, and are altogether quite amazing!

This humble animal was chosen by God to showcase His son riding through the streets of Jerusalem while cheering crowds lined the street chanting Hosannah in the Highest and waving palm branches because of his characteristics. A horse might have been spooked, a camel might have lain down, and an old grey mare might have run with fear, but the donkey stayed steadfast and walked our Savior through the streets not taking a misstep.

Corrie Ten Boom, a devout Christian who helped shelter hundreds of Jewish people from Nazis during World War II, was asked how she stayed humble despite her fame. She said, “When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a doneky and everyone was waving palm branches and throwing garments into the road and singing praises, do you think that for one moment it ever entered the head of that donkey that any of that was for him? If I can be the donkey on which Jesus Christ rides in his glory, I give him all the praise and all the honor.”

In short, if God can use a donkey in His service, surely He can use all of us as well. The question is, “How can we be ready to serve Him when he needs us?” First, just like a donkey, we should be surefooted. When trials come our way we need to maintain our present course and keep on the path of the straight and narrow. Christ wants individuals who will do what is right and stay the course.

Next, we must be dependable. Just like donkeys, we have our flaws, but with Christ as our example, we can become dependable and faithful to His calling. Just like the donkey, we must be true to our cause and to our duty!

Finally, we have to be workers. Sometimes we complain about not having enough time to work for the good of the kingdom, but Christ was the ultimate example of working tirelessly for others. If we could be more like the donkey, we would never complain about carrying the burden because Christ bore all of ours.

This PalmSunday, instead of focusing on the Hosannas and waving the palm branches, remember that Jesus told his followers that in order to follow Him, they’d need to carry or take up their cross. This year, be a donkey and lift Jesus up to a world that desperately needs to hear the good news of the resurrection. How well do we carry our Savior?

Martha, dear Martha, you are fussing far too much, and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it – it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her. Luke 10:41-42

Apparently, the month of March has been set aside by Congress to recognize and celebrate the contributions of women throughout history and today. My understanding is that it is a time to honor women and organizations who work for basic equality and fairness. Although, it seems that I am totally out of the loop on these things, it couldn’t have come at a better time for me to use this platform to raise a little awareness of women and their role in the lives of their families and friends.

Women are everywhere throughout the Bible, but there is a special story in the Book of Luke. In Chapter 10, Jesus and His disciples enter a village where we find the story of two sisters, Mary and Martha, who opened their home to the weary travelers. The two sisters are very different, as not only sisters, but also women tend to be. Martha is the hostess who hurries around making sure that the house is clean, the table is set, the food is prepared, the chairs are comfortable, the decorations perfect, and the guests feel welcome and comfortable. She is the one who prepares and takes care of everything. Mary, on the other hand, simply positions herself at the feet of Jesus and listens.

Both of these women are valuable, and Jesus never condemned either one, but He did remind Martha that she was “fussing far too much”, and she could possibly be finding herself “distracted, worried and upset by things that aren’t that important”. Mary took the time to put aside the distractions and listen to the important things Jesus had to say.

We women have had and will continue to have great opportunites, responsibilities, and duties in this world. We are strong in our committments to our families, our friends, our church, our community, and our God, but sometimes we forget to remember that we are also human. There are times when we are so busy caring for and doing for others that we forget to listen to our own bodies and minds when something “just doesn’t feel right.”

With this in mind, listen to this synopsis of my recent experience with “listening”. On December 9 of this year while attending a choir performance, I stood to sing and realized, I couldn’t catch my breath. Women don’t let this affect them, and I pushed through and went on. Fortunately, the impact was so frightening that I made an appointment with my primary care doctor who referred me to my cardiologist. After several tests, which revealed a problem, I had a heart cartherization that resulted in two stents being placed in a main artery which had two different blockages of seventy five per cent each.

During recovery, the cardiac care ambassador came to sit down and talk with me. As it turns out, Mary (note the name) was a former member of our church and Randy had baptized both of her children. We caught up, and she showed me diagrams of my heart while we discussed the God given gift I had just been given to live another day and share the importance of “listening” when He gives us warning signs.

Mary challenged me to make others aware by saying, “If you can make one woman aware of her heart and the warning signs that might save her life, then your experience will have made a difference.” If you read this and think, “Sometimes I just don’t feel right” and puruse answers, then I’ve done my job!

The end of my story is a good one. During my post cardio visit, I asked the doctor, “So, where do I go from here?” She said, “Go and live your best life!” The heart of a woman is full of so much love, compassion, strength, caring, service, and fortitude! Just like Mary, we just need to take the time to listen to our heart and go and live our best life!

Jesus would remind us not to fuss about things that aren’t important, but rather to be still and listen.

My sincere gratitude to my doctors, the amazing cardiac nursing team of incredible women, and all those who helped us through this journey!

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1

During this forty days of Lent, it has become clearer than ever to me that just like these days to Easter are a journey, our every day life is also a journey. The nation’s problems and unrest, the international state of wars and human suffering, even the weather seems to have added twists and turns to the journey our lives take every day.

Sometimes we feel as though we are attacked on all sides by a new situation, daily inconveniences, unexpected problems, people who seek to deter us from our mission, illnesses among friends, and even the loss of someone. Sometimes it seems that the constant setbacks cause us to stumble and fall. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way to go back and fix the things that have happened along our journey so that things would turn out the way we had it planned?

I have always enjoyed the movie, Back to the Future with Michael J Fox. In the movie, Marty McFly (Fox) is accidently sent back from 1985 to 1955 in a plutonium powered DeLorean when an experiment by his eccentric scientific friend goes horribly awry. Marty is charged with a journey where he must make sure his parents meet, fall in love, and marry, or he will cease to exist. In the process of the journey, he manages to change a few things from the past which end up making his life and his parent’s life a good bit better when he comes back to the present. It’s an enjoyable work of fiction, but things like that just don’t happen.

If there was ever anyone who could have changed the journey of his life, God could have done that for Jesus. He could have spared Him the rejection, the emotional trauma, the endless days of walking and healing, the spiritual agony, the betrayal, the temptaion, and the crucifixion, but He would have missed the miracles, the healings, the love, and the resurrection.

God was in control of the journey that His son would make for our salvation. Jesus knew He had a hard journey ahead of Him, and God had prepared Him to expect that.

Just like Jesus knew some things to expect on His journey, it would probably help us to be mindful of some things on this journey that I think we should all expect. First, we will experience opportunities and opposition. When God opportunites present themselves, sometimes opposition will present itself as well. Sometimes others will attack us on our journey to achieve these opportunities, but we can be sure that their attack should be considered a form of respect. It means that they consider us a high value target, and they can use the attack as a way to upset the plans that we have been given by God.

Next, people will hurt us. These people are usually needy (self centered), negative, distracting, draining, or doubting. They want to pull us down instead of lifting us up. The Christian thing to do is to encourage them, love them, help them, but never be influenced by them. When the journey with them becomes impossible for us to give them a hand up without pulling ourselves down, the only answer is disconnecting graciously and turning them over to God.

Finally, people will help us. When God has a job that needs to be done, He calls someone to do it, but He seldom calls us alone. Through our ministry, God has put many new ministries in our path, but fortunately, He always helped us to recognize that there are many things we can’t do alone. Not everything is our gift, so we should always ask others who are more qualified to stand with us and help. Paul spent an entire chapter in Philippians acknowledging the people who had helped him fullfil God’s vision when he said, Everytime I think of you, I give thanks.

A journey is defined as a process of experiences, challenges, and discoveries along the way to our life’s destination. As travelers we are constantly encountering new people, places, and experiences that shape who we are and what we become. copied

Our journey is now and ongoing. We have a chance this year to contemplate our journey up to this point and add expectations. Unlike Marty McFly, we can’t change the past, but we can improve the present!

Prayer: Dear Father as we continue our journey today, strengthen our mind, body, and soul to be aware of your tasks that are set before us. Thank you for others who surround us on this journey! In Christ’s name. Amen.

Say only what helps, each word a gift. Ephesians 4:29 The Message

The warm weather and the promise of spring makes me think of how much I always have enjoyed being around water. Growing up in our small town, we were fortunate to have Lake Seminole about eighteen miles from our childhood home. Our Daddy bought a boat during our growing up years mainly because our Mama loved water as well, and she loved to water ski! They named the boat after each of us girls, The San-di-kay.

During the summer months, Saturday and Sunday afternoons would find our family, our relatives, and lots of friends at the lake. Our Daddy was the “Captain” of the boat which meant he pulled skiiers all afternoon. It didn’t matter who you were, if you got in line on the dock, he’d drop off a couple of skiiers and pick up a couple more!

Our Mama spent countless hours in the water teaching all of us to ski. She’d float around with us while Daddy circled around with the ski rope. Her instructions were simple: Keep your skis together, lean forward, and let the boat pull you up! Most importantly, if you fall, drop the rope!! If you get up, stay behind the boat, don’t try to cross the wake! Before she was finished with us, every one of us was slaloming, skiing with her, and crossing the wake!

The wake is defined as the wave a boat generates as it moves through the water. It is also said that the wake is the path you leave as you move through the water. It’s fun to cross back and forth across the wake once you become an accomplished skiier, but it can be treacherous and daunting for a novice. Many a new skiier has tried and fallen.

A wake can also be applied to our life when we think of it as the path we leave as we move through life. The results can be positive or negative, but each of our throw out some kind of wake. If we are breathing, we leaving a wake. If you are a skiier, you know that when you look behind you, your ski has left a wake of its own. Behind the wake of a boat, people are either skiing and having a great time or they have fallen and are in need of help.

What is the wake we will leave behind us in this life? Think of the people we most enjoy spending time with and describe them. Are they grumpy? Are they bitter? Are they negative? Probably not. The people who leave a wake like Jesus would do are celebratory, passionate, kind, loving, caring, and compassionate.

In our daily life, we need to be conscious that our wake will affect everyone we meet. We will either leave them better off, worse off, or unaffected. Phillippians 2:3 reminds us that we should do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but, to the interests of others. In you relationship with one another, have the same mindset as Jesus.

Our wake will be affecting people long after we are gone. and we may never know what the wake will look like. Everybody that we come across daily is fighting a battle of some kind, and we may be the one person that crosses their path who is able to speak a word of encouragement, concern, or caring. Don’t let them down.

It’s not always convenient to leave a wake that shows God’s graciousness and love to others. Graciousness is like our clothes; we have to put it on each morning and wear it all day. Thoreau says that it is not until we are lost that we begin to understand each other.

During the next thirty days of Lent, remember we are leaving wakes for others wherever we go! Be conscious of the impact our wakes have on those around us!

Dear Lord, thank you for guiding us as we make our wakes through life. We trust you to direct us on this remarkable journey.