Monday Morning Memo: He is Our Everything!

I shared with you last week that I would be having a back fusion on October 2^nd.  I received a telephone call last week asking me if I would be willing to have it done a week earlier and it took me about a nanosecond to respond with a “Yes”.   As a result, my surgery is today at 7:30 a.m.!

I’ve been asked if I am nervous and yes, my stomach has some butterflies flying around.  The reason is because I am always a little apprehensive when someone opens up my spine and rearranges things.  Fortunately I won’t be conscious when that is going on but, Lord willing, I will be conscious to deal with the recovery period which I know all too well.  I’ve heard the expression that the “third time’s the charm”, so I’m hoping that will be true for this, my third fusion. 

I would appreciate your prayers that I will feel His peace and that He will give me the strength that is needed during recovery.  I know that the Lord is in charge and His ways are better than mine, so I will put my trust in Him today and in the days to come. 

Depending on how my recovery is progressing, I may be taking a few weeks off from writing.  As soon as my head is clear and my thought processes make sense (yes, I know…I don’t always make sense now!), I will be back to bugging you on Mondays.

My exciting news is that my new book, Ask Me About My Jesus, is done and will be out this fall!  God has been so good to allow me to put these pages together and I’m excited to be able to share it with all of you.  So if you are looking for a Christmas gift for your friends and family, why not give them my new 90-day devotional.  Whether they are unbelievers, new believers or have been walking with Jesus for many years, I believe there will be something for them! 

I came across this graphic a few days ago and it was such a great reminder to me of God’s love and care for us.  He is our everything!  Nothing we face is a surprise to Him and there is nothing that He cannot handle.  So today, we will trust Him to work within us and through us for His glory!  Amen!

Monday Morning Memo: They Are Watching

Well the date is set.  Two weeks from today I will enter the hospital to have my third fusion and fifth back surgery.  I have been having a lot of lower back pain again and we were fairly certain that something had gone wrong.  An MRI gave us answers: my spine has shifted forward above my lower prior fusion.  So my doctor will just hook this fusion onto the old one, attach two more screws, do some grafting and I should be ready for my recovery time.

Even though I am not looking forward to another surgery and recovery, I am anxious to get it done.  More than likely, there won’t be anything too enjoyable about it, but this time of waiting isn’t too fun either.  I am restricted on what I can do and have to be careful how I move and one of the worst things is that I can’t pick up my grandchildren.

We were blessed to have our grandsons stay with us this past week.  Their parents had planned this trip before my back worsened and had asked us to keep the boys.  We really wanted them to stay with us, so we decided that as long as Dan was here to do all the lifting we would get along fine.  Then when Dan had to be gone working, our wonderful daughter-in-law offered to take them to finish up the week.

Zeke, our 18-month-old grandson, had no clue why Grandma couldn’t pick him up, but Elias, the three year old was full of questions.  Why can’t you pick Zeke up?  Why are you wearing that thing (my back brace)?  Why are you lying on the couch?  I answered his questions and his response was precious.  He said, “Mommy rubs my back when it hurts.  Do you want me to rub your back so it will feel better?”  Who could turn that offer down?!

The next day we were sitting at the table and as always, Dan asked Eli if he wanted to pray for our meal or if he wanted Grandpa to pray.  Eli thought a minute and said, “I want to pray and I want to pray for Grandma’s back.”  Tears filled my eyes as he folded his hands, bowed his head and asked Jesus to help my back to feel better.   

At three, Eli is learning that Jesus cares about us.  He is learning that Jesus wants to hear our requests, not just for ourselves, but for others too.  And he is also learning that sometimes we need to be “Jesus with skin on” and physically touch someone to help ease their pain.  He doesn’t realize he is learning all of this; he has just been blessed to see this lived out in others who are pouring into his young life.

I think it is easy for all of us to forget that we are being watched by those who are coming behind us.  They are observing how we act and react to everything that life throws at us and there is a good chance that they will in turn, act and react the way we do.  I think we often think that teaching them has to be a structured setting, but they often pick up more from us just watching us day in and day out.  Deuteronomy 6:6-7 tells us, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”  In other words, they are learning from us as we do life together.   

If you aren’t a parent or grandparent, you may want to consider getting involved in a mentoring program in your church or community.  There are so many children today who need someone to pour love and guidance into their lives.  Again, you don’t need to take them to an organized day of teaching.  They just need you to be with them, showing them what it looks like to be a devoted follower of Jesus today and in the days to come.

Monday Morning Memo: Feeling of Accomplishment

We have been blessed with a bountiful garden this year.  We have enjoyed asparagus, corn, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers and my favorite…green beans.  There aren’t too many things better than fresh green beans for dinner.

My favorite garden item to put up to use throughout the year is green beans and this summer we were able to can 87 quarts.  I think I like doing them the best because of the feeling of accomplishment I get as I look at the day’s cans lined up on the counter.  Oh, and the smell of green beans canning is amazing…well at least I think so!

If you aren’t familiar with canning, I’ll give you a quick 101 course.  First of all, of course, the green beans have to be picked.  That job was done this year by Dan and our daughter Megan.  The beans are then snapped into smaller pieces, washed and then put into quart size jars.  At that point, I put one teaspoon of salt on top of the beans and then boiling water is poured into each can to cover the beans.  Once each jar is filled to capacity, I put a canning lid on top and then screw a band on to keep the lid in place. 

While this is taking place, I start water boiling in my canner.  Seven quarts will fit in my canner, so once I get seven filled and capped I put them in the canner to start the pressure canning process.  Once adequate pressure has built up, weights are put on top of the canner and it processes for 15 minutes, softening the beans.  At the end of that time, the burner is turned off and we wait for the pressure to go down on its own.  Once that is done, the jars can be taken out and put on the counter.  That is when we then hope that while they cool, we will hear a “pop” sound from each can to let us know that it sealed.

An exhilarating process, isn’t it?  I’m sure some of you, if you are even still reading this devotional, are having trouble staying awake after this riveting account of canning.  I admit that, while it may not be really exciting, it is important that each step is done to ensure that the final product will last on the shelf for months to come.  If I become lazy and try to cut corners to save time, it won’t take long to realize that the jar on my shelf isn’t very appealing to my taste buds.

Sometimes life feels like we’ve been put in a canner, so to speak, doesn’t it?  It feels like we are one of those jars that has been plunged down into boiling water and then life’s happenings cause pressure to build and build around us.  It isn’t too bad if it only lasts for a short time, but oftentimes, it feels like weights have been put on top of us and the pressure seems to go on day after day.  It’s easy then to want to pull the covers up over our head and give up when this happens.

The problem is that we can’t see into the future and as a result, we don’t know when the pressure will begin to diminish.  It then becomes our choice as to what we will do.  As I said, we can hunker down under our covers, or we can let the pressure around us soften us so that we can be more easily molded to look like our Jesus.  He had all kinds of turmoil going on around him during His 33 years on this earth.  He felt every emotion that we have felt and in those times that seemed overwhelming, He showed us by His example, what we should do.  He turned to His Father.  He knew that His strength came from God and that spending time communing with Him, drawing from His power, would give Him the strength that was needed for the coming days.  

If you are in the “canner” of life right now, I want to urge you to not give up.  Allow this time to soften you and mold you into the person that Jesus wants you to be.  Sure, He could cut corners by just letting you stay the same, never growing, never getting stronger.  But He loves you too much to just want the status quo for you.  He knows your potential and for you to reach it, you will need to go through some times of pressure. 

By the way, just like it smells good while the green beans are in the canner, wouldn’t it be amazing if we would smell good to others while we are under pressure?  I’m not talking about our physical odor, but our spiritual fragrance.  2 Corinthians tells us, “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.  But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.”  Wouldn’t it be awesome if our spiritual fragrance would attract those who need to know our Jesus? They just might want Him as their Lord and Savior if they see us drawing our strength from our Jesus when we are under pressure.  Oh what a feeling of accomplishment that would be to have them in heaven with us for all eternity!

Monday Morning Memo: On Our Knees

I’m sure many of you have been glued to the television this past week as hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc in Texas and Louisiana.  It is so hard to wrap my head around what it would be like to experience such devastation.

Many people have lost everything they owned.  Their home, their car and some may not even have a job to go back to, since the hurricane also destroyed many businesses.  Families escaped with just the clothes they had on and some didn’t even have shoes.  They had no idea where they would go or how they would feed themselves and their children. 

Tragically, there were some who lost their lives as a result of this hurricane and so there are survivors who are now forced to deal with more than just material loss.  They now face a loss that no amount of money or government assistance will take care of…a loss of those they held dear.

In an instant, lives were forever changed.  Whether it was material loss and/or human loss, thousands of people are now dealing with a new normal that they didn’t expect or plan for.  I doubt there was anything that could have prepared them for what they have to now endure; this is new territory for all of them.

As I watched the news coverage this past week, I wondered how I would react if I suddenly lost everything.  It’s easy for me right now to say that I would be ok…that I would know that those things were just “stuff” and none of it was going to heaven or hell.  But the reason that it is so easy to say that now is because I’m still sitting in my home with all of my possessions around me.  Until I am faced with the loss, I have no way of knowing for sure how I would react.  As a result, I can’t begin to understand what those affected by this hurricane are going through because I have not walked in their shoes.

This past weekend we were driving and Mat Kearney’s song “Closer to Love” came on the radio.  In this song he says the phrase, “I guess we're all one phone call from our knees”, and when I heard those words I thought of how true they were.  None of us know what today will bring and in a moment’s notice we can receive a phone call, a diagnosis or be involved in an event that will take us to our knees as we seek divine intervention from our Lord.

When something unexpected happens, the key is knowing to whom we should turn.  None of us know how we will react when a life-changing event occurs, but if our first impulse is to fall on our knees in prayer, we are responding in the correct way.  We often hear it said that God won’t give us more than we can handle.  I disagree with that statement.  I believe that God won’t give us more than He and us can handle together.  With Him, all things are possible and when we turn to Him in our time of need, He promises to walk with us every step of the way as we go through the valley that is ahead of us.

I love Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:14-19, “When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.  Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

I don’t know what you are facing today or what you might face tomorrow…but thankfully God does.  You may not be experiencing an unexpected crisis at the moment, but if one occurs, remember there is no better place to begin than on your knees.  God has unlimited resources, unlimited power and wants you to understand how wide, how long, how high and how deep His love is for you.  If Paul understood the importance of being on his knees before God…I’m guessing it’s the best place for us to be too.