Nuggets of wisdom—literally

How does a tray of chicken nuggets make anyone so happy?  Here’s what happened.  December is a different kind of month for our family.  As jobs have varying pay rates, December tends to bring us a more plentiful paycheck.  And while more money can be a good thing, it can also set up a struggle.  What is the right way to handle this extra money?  It’s the age-old man-versus-God tug-of-war.  Man's selfishness.  God's selflessness.  Malachi 3 tells of the same predicament centuries ago.  God explained that when people don't tithe, they're stealing.  When they don't return 10 percent to the Lord, they're robbing Him, and consequently a curse came upon the nation.  Yet if they would change their ways and bring the whole tithe to the storehouse, He would bestow blessing so immense they wouldn’t have room to hold it.  And that’s why I write today—to tell of the Lord’s faithfulness in not letting us wallow.  Pressing us through our battle, He put a pen in my hand and etched out a check, and our tithe for the extra income came to fruition. And very quickly He bestowed another blessing. My husband told me about an email we received from Chick-fil-A offering a free tray of chicken nuggets.  Now the word tray implies a large quantity, so we were prepared it might be a misprint.  Either way, big tray or small box, we decided to go.  Soon the cashier hands me a tray of yummy chicken nuggets large enough to feed 8 people, and our eyes must have ogled and our feet must have frolicked in blessing.  That’s $24 of chicken that cost us nothing but the tenacity to press through temptation.  And why would the Lord use Chick-fil-A?  Maybe because it’s one of my favorites.  A tangible illustration of His faithfulness to provide when we follow His word.  God’s grace fed us that day.  More scrumptious than ever, those nuggets warmed my heart.

Sweet Treats

Know anyone looking for a job?  Maybe looking to change jobs?  Here’s a story.  My friends sold their house in California and moved to Texas.  Needing new work, they wondered about transplanting their fire extinguisher business, but then an uncle mentioned selling ice cream.  So they bought an ice cream truck online and later signed a 6-month lease to open an ice cream shoppe neighboring a thrift store, a church, and an Alcoholics Anonymous office.  The truck and the shoppe worked hand in hand, with children buying from the truck receiving an invitation to eat pizza and study the Bible at the shoppe.  Studies began in the summer at 7 PM, initially attracting 4 kids, then growing to host 8, with most ranging in age from 10 to 13.  And my friends loved it.  They loved the children, and they loved the teaching, all the while focusing on honoring the Lord rather than making money.  And indeed the Lord took care of them, supplying income as they had sought and supplying joy that overflowed in every direction.  One mom said, “Thank you for teaching my daughter the Bible.  I thought she’d learn about God in church, but no, it happened through our ice cream vendor.”  One neighbor from the Alcoholics Anonymous office stopped by the shoppe, being grateful to find someone willing to listen, and in turn my friends took pleasure in offering to accompany this lady to church.  But alongside blessings, there came heartache too.  One of the neighborhood boys stopped coming to study because he was removed from his parents to go live with a foster family.  And as sadness set in for my friends, they were grateful all the more to have shared at least a short time with the boy.  As they look back on this whole endeavor with ice cream, they remember it being born from the desire to experience the Lord.  And experience Him they certainly did, even when obstacles appeared.  My sweet friend who is the wife in this story grew up in Mexico, and at first she didn’t feel confident in her use of English to communicate with the ice cream customers, yet she found such delight in watching the Lord navigate the details.  In Isaiah 41:10, God comforts His people, saying, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  And may we each step out in complete confidence of the Lord's ability to provide on our account.

Jesus, my gift-buyer

Is any experience with God any bigger or smaller than another?  Today I submit for you to judge.  And you should know this story causes great sigh within me.  It involves something regularly unraveling my every nerve.  The culprit is gift-buying.  Gift-giving brings joy, but so often before the giving, I’ve already endured the trial of buying.  Whether shopping at a mall, or buying from an individual artisan, or purchasing ingredients in order to make by my own hand—somehow I so easily encounter this hollow feeling.  Even buying for those I love dearly, this void of ideas evidences so predictably.  Recently I pleaded, “Lord, help me.  Show me a birthday gift for my husband.”  Soon I entered a Half Price Books parking lot, at first thinking I was there for paper birthday plates.  I debated, “But Half Price doesn’t sell plates, do they?”  Still I pulled open the store door.  Sure enough, the cashier says they don’t sell party supplies, but I resolved to look around since I was already there.  In the electronics section I see earbuds.  Amazement speaks, “Oh, wow, he’s been talking about new earbuds.  These’ll be great.”  But wait a minute.  Which kind?  Which color?  And there my heart sinks because it recognizes the lethal indecisiveness that’s about to set in.  And how thankful I become for the Lord's quick reminder to ask Him to choose the earbuds, so I don’t waste all afternoon vacillating between color and style.  Then I drive home.  Party time comes, and I realize something else.  As my husband gleefully unwraps the earbuds, he says, “You even got the straight kind!”  And bewilderment must have shown on my face.  He points to our old purple earbuds with the cords that dangle too close, and within me a new height of thankfulness blossoms to realize how the Lord guided my hand to select these earbuds without my even knowing about straight cord options.  Yes, He rescued me again.  And I don’t want to assign any size or weight to this blessing.  Just as the Lord rescued me from a rainy, muddy mess in Mexico, just as He rescued me on a deserted road in Israel, now He rescues me in America in the mire of my shopping.  And this shopping is not necessarily any less of a mess.  Our fears reveal in different settings.  Our weaknesses show at different times.  The message here is that the Lord rescues us over and over—whatever the deficiency, whatever the plea.  In 2 Peter 2:9, we read, “. . . the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials . . .”  The chapter gives historical examples of the Lord rescuing, such as with Noah.  And still today the Lord rescues.  He loves His children.  He hears.  He listens.  And with each rescue, my love for Him grows.

Abscessed

How does heroin use lead to an abscess?  This man told me that’s what put him in the hospital.  “The doctor told me it’s probably because I share needles,” he reported rather matter-of-factly, though our conversation became far more than factual.  For a 28-year-old I’d known only 5 minutes, he divulged his story quite openly.  “I don’t want to go back,” he continued, “and I really don’t know much about praying.  And I’m still fighting the withdrawals.”  Yet he spoke clearly and seemed so grateful for someone to listen.  “My buddy’s got abscesses on his chest, and I told him it’s because of our needles.”  And as this man in the hospital bed pleaded with emotion, I spoke into his eyes, “Do you know how much Jesus loves you?”  His eyes veered away, perhaps feeling a weight of blessing.  No matter the battle, whether drugs or other, Jesus’ power can conquer.  He offers us rest, telling us it’s only when we choose against Him that we cannot enter that rest.  Hebrews 3:19 reads, “So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.”  Today this man’s story inspired me because he was already looking upward.  Jesus can save him from his drug battle and ultimately all his battles, yet each of us faces the same choice to ask the Lord into our heart as Savior.  Today the man allowed me to give him a small Gideons Bible.  And I am so happy to continue praying on his behalf.

Languages of an Israeli morning

Danish, Dutch, Russian, and English.  Each morning we prayed together, the languages evidenced God’s presence across the different lands.  My husband and I stayed in a house in Israel that hosted volunteers from around the world.  We all sought the Lord.  We all shared purpose in serving survivors of the Holocaust.  We all found our horizons broadened in being together.  Yet back home, each of us would tend to view God in more finite terms.  Americans think of God in terms of American experiences.  Europeans think of God according to European experiences.  Tendency is pretty much the same for everybody everywhere.  Only when we experience someone else’s way of living, perhaps only when our geography changes, do we step out of our narrow thought.  Yet our God is big.  Actually He’s beyond big.  Revelation 5:9 speaks of the Lamb whose blood purchased men from every tribe, language, people, and nation.  Just imagine the beauty of having all the world’s languages represented in one room.  Even knowing just our 4 languages in Israel brought a weight of blessing.  Christ’s death and resurrection were for love of people of every language.  Our God is everywhere.

Greetings from Israel

Hello, Everybody!  I missed you while we were in Israel.  Ours was a trip to serve Holocaust survivors, and oh how the Lord blessed all around.  When people meet, when countries meet, you never know what will happen exactly.  To visit these precious survivors just melted my heart.  Hearing their stories, looking into their eyes, I felt my streams of tears turning into rivers.  I asked our Russian translator to convey that these tears were not in sadness but in joy of sitting in their homes and realizing the Lord bringing this call to Israel to fruition.  Connecting through music and receiving their prayer requests simply showered blessing that my body couldn’t contain.  And delivering quilted gifts that our American friends lovingly sewed brought new humility.  To say the scope of God’s work is vast is an understatement.  For this occasion, He orchestrated people from Denmark, Siberia, Holland, and America to all arrive the same country, the same city, the same street at the same time.  And we’re humbled again to see how He’s using this one trip to impact co-workers, friends, and family.  He weaves emotion and thought and inclines the heart, all to bring blessing that ripples out to touch so many.  Our God is big.  And so I pray that you tell of the experiences He gives you.  May your stories brighten the days of those you meet.  Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19)

Conference neighbor with a smile

When is a conference not just a conference?  Last month I lived out the answer to that question.  Part of my job with theatre is to work conferences occasionally.  Our conference floors have the typical vendors, booths, and lots of passersby.  While hosting our booth, we meet the neighboring booths.  On this day we had a lady next-door with such a welcoming smile, and she appeared so easy to talk to.  I initiated, “Hello.  I’m Linda," and noticing she sold books, I leaned in to see her variety of children’s titles.  I asked about her company, and she asked about mine, and in the course of 30 minutes, we discovered some experiences in common.  We’d both changed jobs a lot, which led me to comment, “The Lord has taken me to some jobs I never knew I’d have.”  The words spilled from my mouth as a simple statement of fact, though afterward I wondered, would she say we had God in common?  She explained her family's rather peculiar reactions to some of her jobs, and I shared, “I’ve prayed my way through so many new roles, from teaching school to working with Boy Scouts, then to theatre, and a lot of volunteer positions along the way.”  Really a fun dialogue with her, with all kinds of laughter.  Yet never did she remark or show any facial expression regarding the Lord.  Neither to agree nor to disagree.  Neither regarding prayer.  All the same, I loved her being our booth neighbor.  I loved sharing God’s name with her.  And that’s why this conference was more than a conference.  With the Lord, anything and everything can be more than it seems.  Conference + God = Blessing.

Fight on Babcock Road

Not all battles are obvious.  Not every fight is visible from the outside.  One morning my stomach went topsy-turvy, and I didn’t think too much of it.  Then I remembered the story of Job, where Satan afflicted him with physical sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.  Job's pain was so severe that he picked up a pottery shard to try and scrape away the agony (Job 2:7-8).  That was Satan's tactic then, and he might still attack physically today.  In fact, the more I pondered the idea, the more my topsy-turvy stomach served to motivate me.  I didn’t like the idea of Satan deterring me from anything.  I continued visiting patients at the hospital and recognized the Lord giving a particularly tender conversation, which Satan would have loved to hinder.  I drove to the abortion center to pray, as planned.  Interestingly the somersaults in my stomach ceased.  No more queasiness, and what an amazing joy that came for praying in a place so dark with death.  My joy deepened all the more for realizing the Lord’s power to thwart any of Satan’s antics.  All the more vibrant was my prayer.  I asked the Lord to bring life to that whole area, to shower love upon this property on Babcock Road to dispel and replace all that had been destructive in the past.  May those who enter that parking lot, those who walk or drive by, those who work inside the building, those who live in the neighborhood, and those who pray on the sidewalk know the depth of love and forgiveness that Jesus offers.  That’s a big prayer.  Yet we have a big God.

Saturday hospital plea

You know those days when you wake up so tired?  I'd love a nap.  Absolutely love it.  I lay down around 2:00, but my body wouldn’t relax.  I was restless.  Even with our sweet cat Sally hopping in my lap, the nap didn’t happen.  This Saturday a friend asked me to come to the hospital, and it would mean driving across town for a lengthy visit. Circumstances were complicated, and the Lord used my inability to sleep to spur me toward the car.  He parted the waters for an almost traffic-less drive, an easy hospital parking spot, and blessed conversation.  And you can learn a lot sitting in a hospital room.  In this case, I didn’t know who I’d meet.  Given my friend’s history of abuse and violence, would I meet some of her abusers?  Would I meet those who neglected her in childhood?  Or would the people have changed their ways?  I prayed for private time, hoping privacy might ease my friend into speaking freely.  But the Lord gave something different.  I walked into a roomful of guests, and one man motioned to me, “Please come in.  We’re speaking God’s word here.”  Still I didn’t know who this visitor was, but I entered, greeted everyone, and listened.  Another visitor came, this time wearing a black-and-white clerical collar, and I didn’t know him either.  Actually the whole occasion became quite inspiring, and all because the Lord didn’t give me what I asked for.  Never did I feel sleepy that afternoon, nor did I lack energy for participating in conversation.  In truth, I’m glad the Lord didn’t give me what I wanted.  We are meant to share our lives and not stay bottled in comfort of ourselves.  Instead of sleep, He gave me rest.  I can take a nap another day.

 

Airline scramble

What a thrilling phone call.  A surprising one, to say the least.  This morning I woke up tired and groggy, and the idea of sorting through flight times and escalating prices with the travel agent wasn’t exactly appealing.  I pleaded, “Lord, lead me.  May You give peace.  Let me feel close to You in this.”  Curled up on the couch and staring out my favorite window, my eyes slipped toward the coffee table.  There sat my friend’s notes, and I remembered her talking about 2 Corinthians 5.  Verse 10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”  Suddenly several events from the last couple of weeks converged in my head, and a new idea pressed in:  Ask the travel agent if she knows Jesus.  According to that verse in Corinthians, I would be held accountable for following through.  But I needed to think about this.  I hadn’t envisioned my conversation with the travel agent including this question.  Temptation conjured a variety of reactions she might have, including anger, and a friend suggested to me later that an angry agent could have sabotaged my tickets.  But as it actually happened, around 11:00 that morning, the travel agent called to report ticket prices staying high and to ask what I wanted to do.  Reluctant to spend too much too soon, I replied, “May I pause a minute to pray?”  So with the agent listening over the phone, I asked the Lord to show me whether to purchase now or wait.  Then I opted to purchase at the higher price.  We discussed the fluctuation of prices we’d seen over our roughly 10 days together, and then as I sensed the Lord opening that conversational door I awaited, I asked her if she knew Jesus.  “Yes,” she responded, "I do."  We finished the billing process, and she said she’d email the tickets.  Yet when she called to confirm my receipt, her voice conveyed a curious inflection, saying, “Very interesting, Linda,” and I imagined her speaking complete with smirk and furled brow.  “When I sent your reservations for final ticketing,” she continued, “prices fell.  Your fares to Israel ended up the lowest we’ve seen.”  And as my heart danced in amazement, she added, “And you prayed!  You prayed about the tickets!”  She was clearly happy, in fact so happy that we talked about faith and the Lord for quite a while.  That combination of prayer over the phone and the question the Lord led me to ask her seemed a launching pad for pure joy.  All the while my heart kept turning cartwheels to realize how the Lord lowered the ticket prices.  And certainly nothing required Him to do that.  Just a bonus gift.  There was monetary benefit for my husband and me, but even more it seemed the Lord was encouraging obedience, as He simply loves to reward His children.  And as He bestows many layers of blessings all at once, I witnessed the travel agent being a recipient of encouragement as well.  I look back to recognize the Lord working weeks before, setting me in earshot of a particular restaurant conversation and 2 separate phone calls, which He orchestrated to keep fresh in my head until converging at that perfect moment with the travel agent.  It's thrilling each time I recount the story.  May I never underestimate, may we never underestimate, His omniscience and great power.

The girl at Enterprise

Last month our Honda dealership wanted to give us a rent car while they installed a new airbag.  Our first time to have a recall handled that way, Enterprise Rent-A-Car was the designated company, and when their shuttle driver arrived a bit chatty, our ride to the Enterprise office became intriguing.  In a short 10 minutes, the Lord tipped open an interesting door.  The driver asked about my day, and I asked about hers.  I mentioned my job, and she talked about studying German in college, which led me to comment about languages, saying it sure would be handy to know several languages when we go to Israel this fall.  When the subject of German surfaced a second time, the Lord opened the door to encourage, as it seemed my driver wasn't using German too much in her car rental work.  I offered, “I wonder how the Lord might use your German.  He can create all kinds of circumstances, and it's exciting to think of the ways He might work.  He may have a whole lineup of people for you to meet.”  It was so simple, really.  Unplanned, and just kind of rolling off the tongue. Hebrews 3:13 says, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”  Often the Lord puts me on the receiving end of such comments, and when my brain starts replaying the particular words someone said, I'm amazed all over again how He positions us just perfectly to hear these things.  When He uses one of us to encourage another, He blesses both the giver and the receiver.  In the same way, this day with the rent car held its own curiosity.  I love that we can ask the Lord to connect all our dots, so our past, present, and future are all useful for His purposes.  And so I wonder now for you, how is the Lord orchestrating on your behalf?  Will you step out to encourage someone?

To sing Wednesday

Allergies.  Ugh.  My husband and I were scheduled for music on a Wednesday night, and this itch in my throat wouldn’t quit.  Rehearsing at home led only to gagging and more gagging, causing us to lose all momentum of the songs.  How could a mere itch be so crippling to a voice?  Have you ever been so ready to pour into something, and then there’s a snag in the pour spout?  In my case, the itch kept snagging the voice.  So I asked the Lord to allow my throat a way to sing.  “Lord, may You give freedom for air to flow.  May You protect my voice.  May Your voice sing freely through mine.”  And so at 7:00 we began.  The first song . . . the second song . . . the third . . . and the fourth.  All the while there's a joy deepening inside me and utter amazement for how the Lord is preventing any inhibitions to my voice.  Yet afterward as I took a seat with the congregation, what happened?  I started coughing.  The itch returned and so did the gag, though just briefly, as if the Lord kindly reminded, “I'm here.  You asked Me to guard your voice during the songs, and I did.”  It was the timing, the precise moment after singing.  I hadn’t even fully sat in the chair before needing to exit the room, so the cough wouldn't interrupt everyone else.  That brief itch lent me to reflect on all the allergy troubles before prayer versus the peace the Lord offered after prayer.  And so I ask you, as a reader here today, “How do you need the Lord?  Do you ask Him for a voice to sing or for something different?”  He loves to hear the call of your heart.  I have prayed for you already.

En route to Gateway

Today I introduce you to my friend Tina Garduna.  She's the one who experienced this week's remarkable story, and I thank her immensely for serving to co-write.  Back in April, Tina wanted to attend the Gateway women’s conference.  Already she knew the Lord told her to quit spending money, but the conference idea kept rising to the surface.  She tried to justify the conference, saying it would be good for her spiritual life and she'd celebrate a birthday soon and it was okay to put this on the credit card, but a few days later, the Lord nudged that it was not okay.  To purchase would be disobedient.  And almost immediately after Tina relented completely on the conference idea, the Lord began building a reward for her obedience.  An elderly friend for whom Tina is a caregiver gave her a birthday card with $100.  She told him the story of the conference, and in turn he gave her an additional jar of quarters that cashed in at almost $200.  Not yet enough for hotel, conference ticket, and gas, but the next day her daughter called to say, “Mom, I’ll give you $100 if you do my laundry.”  So she did it.  Sixteen loads later, fatigued and worn, she had another $100.  Through birthday gifts from family, she received another $180, and she now had more than enough to cover all of the expenses.  But she still needed a conference ticket, which would be $135.  She checked Facebook and found discounted tickets that sold only as a pair and later a third ticket entirely free.  Really needing only 1 ticket, she listed the extra ones online to sell, and she hopped in the car for what would become a thrilling trip.  Maintaining a constant seeking of the Lord, she arrived at her hotel and unpacked and headed toward the conference early to see if she could find any ticket-buyers.  Her GPS malfunctioned and caused her to miss an exit, but by this time God's hand had been so overwhelming in every detail that she just knew this was Him positioning her to sell a ticket or two.  She arrived the conference, and the first person she approached bought her ticket!  She sold it for the Early Bird price of $95, saving the woman $40 off the walk-in price.  They were both blessed!  One down; one to go.  As the conference was about to start, a woman texted to buy Tina's last ticket for $60!  Then with all the tickets handled, a new sort of blessing came.  The message "fear not" took prominence.  Back home, amidst torrential rains, Tina's dog had run away, causing her a huge gulp of concern, lending her to rely on that “fear not” message.  Also a lady sitting next to Tina spoke a stunning prophetic word, and interestingly it included that same message about fear.  And we look back now to notice something else.  When Tina first attempted to register for the conference, she tried to input 1 as the number of attendees, but the number kept spinning to 2, frustrating her and causing her to quit the registration repeatedly, though now we recognize the postponement to register was actually a blessing because the Lord would later reveal this intricate and joyful story.  And He impressed a verse on Tina’s heart during the conference.  As she had wandered into the bookstore during an intermission, she saw a beautiful plaque including that exact verse, Jeremiah 29:11, and she even had enough money to pay cash for it.  In Malachi 3:10, the Lord says when we handle money rightly, particularly tithes, He will throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that we won't have room enough for it.  And that’s what Tina experienced.  Hold fast to His word, do not fear, for He has plans to prosper us.  Still to this day the blessings of the conference keep rippling outward, all stemming from one decision to obey.  Tina didn’t spend her money, and in return the Lord spent His.

Fabric question at Hobby Lobby

This trip to Hobby Lobby was different.  With my 40%-off coupon in hand, I headed to the fabric section, and there it was.  A big roll of white cotton batting lying in wait on the shelf.  No apparent price, so I inquired at the cutting table, and the lady told me $12.99.  “May I use my 40% coupon?”  “Yes,” she replied, and as I consented to buy, she cleared the table to measure 7 yards.  Already I sensed in my heart the Lord giving me a special task.  Beyond any purchase of batting, it seemed He positioned me to ask this lady if she knew Jesus.  And she’s the one who started the conversation, “So what are you making?”  I explained about quilting for Holocaust survivors and how we’d seen God orchestrating people and events, all with impeccable timing that's leading us to make a trip to Israel.  I posed, “Do you know Jesus?”  And as her scissors began to cut my 7 yards, she answered with an affirmative nod and peered upward, “May I ask you a favor?  Would you pray for my daughter whose house burned last night?  A man was driving by late and stopped to tell them.  Half of the house was saved, and the Red Cross is helping, but would you pray?”  And I was stunned.  The Lord had used my question as a connection point for prayer.  That prompting in my heart was to encourage both the lady and me, and I continued, “What a blessing that the man drove by!  So you understand how the Lord can line up circumstances.  He led the man to drive by your daughter’s house, just like he led someone to give me a sewing machine and someone else to invite me to a quilting group because I know almost nothing about sewing.  And, yes, I will be privileged to pray for your daughter.”  It seemed a pause of pleasure filled the air for us both to contemplate the wonders of the Lord.  And as this Hobby Lobby trip held a wonderful difference about it, isn’t this the case potentially with all things?  A trip to the grocery store can be for much more than food, like the day the girl bagging our groceries asked us a Bible question.  And I remember a trip to the doctor’s office where I met a lady who was very scared, and the Lord gave opportunity for us to pray.  And on this day at Hobby Lobby, I exited the store in prayer, offering the daughter’s name to the Lord for provision and presence.  How I was blessed to be part. 

Theatre's detour off I-35

What enters your brain when you see a guy wearing a fluorescent vest and holding a sign to stop traffic?  “Oh, man!”  And then, “What’s the holdup?" and "How long do we have to stay here?”  My sentiments exactly.  My theatre group recently took one of the smaller roads off I-35 here in Texas and came upon a car halted behind a worker with one of those fluorescent vests and one of those same traffic signs.  So we halted too.  Meanwhile several sirens sounded, and an ambulance and other emergency vehicles followed in quick pursuit.  Then as things seemed idle for a while, my director asked me to walk up to ask the worker what’s happening, and he informed that one of his fellow construction workers had been hit but that our line of traffic should be released in a minute, so I walked back to our vehicle and let everyone know.  And while sitting in the passenger seat, I was humbled.  How uncaring I had been!  Here someone this man knows and works with was hit by a car, and all I cared about was the length of our wait?  Then I saw the worker walking toward us to explain they’re closing the road after all, so we needed to turn around.  This time, I’m thankful to say, my words were different.  He delivered the news, and I replied, “Sir, I’m sorry about your co-worker.  We prayed for him while waiting in our car.”  I kept thinking how gracious the Lord was to give me a second opportunity.  And indeed my prayer in the car was sincere.  John 15:12 says, "My command is this:  Love each other as I have loved you."  May I remember, and may we remember, how the Lord loves people more than time schedules.  May we love as He does.

Hospital's oboe voice

What a sweet surprise.  Never before had I played oboe for my fellow volunteers.  Even receiving the invitation to play, I could feel my heart flutter because it’d been years since playing at a hospital.  Learning how our volunteer coordinator likes to display different talents from within the group, it seemed oboe had not been part of any previous luncheon.  Would it be too loud?  Too soft?  Too piercing a sound?  I endeavored to arrive a little early and set up, and when the clock hit 11:30, I moved toward my music chair.  “Over the Rainbow” was fun.  “Amazing Grace” warmed my heart.  “My Favorite Things” and “Simple Gifts” seemed to draw favorable reaction.  And then came the one song I anticipated special delight in playing.  In honor of my friend who cuddles the babies in NICU, I played “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” as it’s her favorite set of lyrics to sing over our little ones, and she happily tells how they respond with a smile.  The whole occasion that day brought such joy for me.  To thank our many volunteers for their hours and weeks and years of service, having asked the Lord to sing freely through my oboe and to let nothing hinder His voice, it was a privilege to take part.  Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”  As a child can find rest in the sound of her parent's song, I love the idea of my Father singing and the thought of extending that restfulness to others.  When a lady smiled to say she heard the oboe all the way down the hall, I hadn’t known the sound would reach that far, but I trust it was the Lord making His way to her ears. 

Spanish table for 8

I felt deeply out of sync.  “Lord, I need Spanish.  Give me Spanish, I pray.”  Our friend asked me a question, and my brain conjured almost nothing for an answer.  As often happens, my Spanish starts but runs out, leaving me to finish in English and hope somehow the ideas connect.  To listen at first is always good.  To hear conversation of others helps me acclimate.  Yet as we ate dinner, the desire to speak gradually grew, and my words sat on edge.  Briefly I wondered, would it be entirely frustrating to tell this story and not have the words to finish the best part?  Our table of 8 discussed Puerto Rico and a grave problem there, and suddenly my attempt at Spanish spilled out.  “En Estados Unidos tenemos una gran problema.”  I mentioned America’s situation of abortion.  We have these buildings appearing innocuous on the outside, their doors and windows looking harmless from the street.  Yet horror abounds for what happens inside.  I shared testimony of the Lord bringing beauty to so gruesome a setting.  I remember an ice cream vendor who seemed to stop and pray repeatedly in front of the abortion center.  There was the man who walked from down the street to point his wooden recorder toward the sky to play a melody to the Lord, to praise Him for loving us beyond our self-destructive ways.  Little did I know that while I spoke, the Lord was touching our friends who listenened.  Soon I heard one of the men say he would like us to pray.  Before we left our friends’ house that night, we stood to ask the Lord to save these babies, to save the families from years of pain and regret, to extend His mercy to the abortion workers and let them experience His love, that He would conquer any fear and reassure them all that He himself is life and He sustains life.  The next day with church we sang “All my delight is in you, Lord,” immediately reverting me to our days of singing the same in Spanish, translating “Mi deleite está en ti.”  The word deleite has always grabbed my attention, and my heart started to melt.  My knees hit the floor under the weight of His love.  The Lord had led me through a most intimate experience, a deeply moving set of moments where I saw Him supply for my need, really abundantly beyond my need, once again.  He sat at our table, and I welcomed Him.

A little horseradish, please

Exciting.  Mundane.  The 2 words aren’t often in the same sentence.  But on a particular day in March, they were.  My friend shopped for horseradish at her nearby grocery store.  She put her items on the conveyor belt and prepared to pay the cashier, but not everybody buys 3 bottles of horseradish, so the cashier inquired, “What’s happening with all the horseradish?”  And there in that one little question sat a whole conversation.  My friend explained about celebrating Passover and how the strong taste of horseradish serves as bitter herb, or maror in Hebrew, signifying the bitterness of slavery.  A solid dose of horseradish brings a tear to the eye and offers in the ceremony a reminder of the bitterness of slavery of the Israelites unto Egypt.  As Christians who celebrate Passover, we recognize the bitterness of our slavery to sin.  First Corinthians 5:7 says, “…For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”  We celebrate the forgiveness offered us through Jesus’ sacrifice and the sweetness of our redemption through Him.  What a thrilling opportunity for my friend.  What pure delight to see the cashier listen so attentively.  And how hopeful I was for her to attend our Passover.  It was a routine shopping trip illustrating the Lord’s love of people that He would inspire a question over some simple bottles of horseradish.  A testament of His power to reach so personally into our world to make certain we all hear of His love.  For you, for me, for my friend, for the cashier and all—please know that Jesus saves those who confess He is Lord and who believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9).  May you experience the joy of knowing Him as Savior.

Personal delivery for Holocaust survivors

Why would a customer walk into a sewing store and give away her personal possession?  More specifically, why would a lady bring her sewing machine from home and ask the store employee to give it away to a beginner sewing student?  The whole scene is unusual.  As quilting started for me on such unlikely terms, and as it’s grown to yield some surprisingly pleasing fabric designs, and as it’s brought some sweet new friendships that I treasure, it seems also to be leading toward a trip to Israel.  And to personally deliver quilts as hand-crafted heirlooms for Holocaust survivors there, what a huge blessing and honor.  The idea for the trip entered my brain and recurred enough times that my husband and I filled out applications to work with my friend’s ministry, only to have her tell me over the phone that they’d been praying for musicians to come.  Interestingly the music question on the application was only a small portion of page 2 of a total 5 pages, and it provided only a single blank for answering.  We listed guitar, oboe, voice, and some other possibilities, having no inkling of how the ministry office had been praying.  And actually my husband wasn’t relishing the notion of traipsing through airports with a big, bulky guitar, so I asked my friend if he should bring his guitar.  She replied that someone recently donated a guitar to their ministry, and my husband could be first in line to play.  How sweet of the Lord to keep making the trip more attractive!  Now it’s not just a story of quilting but also music.  That part about their prayer keeps replaying in my head, and the jaw of my heart figuratively drops each time I recount it.  Numbers 22 tells of God speaking through the unlikely mouth of a donkey.  First Kings 17 explains how God sent ravens to deliver bread and meat to Elijah.  Today the Lord prepares a girl who knows little about sewing to become a quilter for the sake of Holocaust survivors in Israel, taking with her a husband whom the Lord inspired as well and some music He's been growing in both of them for years, also connecting her with some sweet sewing friends to lend aid, and supplying her with a sewing machine from someone she never met.  We’re thrilled already, and we haven’t yet set foot on the plane!  May He prepare us all with insight to recognize His sometimes unusual, unique circumstances.  May we not miss any ounce of the joy He offers.  What a magnificent God we serve.  What a magnificent God serves us.

Risen phone on the third day

My husband asked, “Are you sad?  Are you mad?”  I didn’t know how to answer.  A cloud of silence hovered in the car after our bewildering rehearsal.  Things had flip-flopped from the week before.  Play this; sing that.  New people; old people.  Yes; no.  What was happening?  And to think back and remember my giddiness in anticipating the fun we would have!  But here’s the good part.  As I pondered, as I tried to talk things through with my husband, as I prayed for the Lord to take away the anxiety, here comes a curious phone call.  Now 3 days after the tumultuous occasion, one very sweet voice offers some very encouraging words, and suddenly my anxiety starts to melt.  Remnants of fret that had tucked into the tiniest of corners began to dissolve.  Because of the way the conversation eased my whole body, I knew God orchestrated that phone call.  He was comforting me.  He had seen me hurting.  What kindness, and how intimately personal He is.  We had opted to quietly observe and not raise a ruckus at the rehearsal, and in His gentle way, He let us know He too saw every anxious moment.  Days later, the final event was fabulous.  All the sweeter, in fact, for having experienced the inner turmoil and then His love delivering through that phone.  Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God . . .”  Yes, indeed He’s my God then, now, and always.

Inspired at Smashburger

Quilting is about quilts, right?  Right.  Yet with God, there’s always more.  For 8 months now, I’ve loved the friends, the Bible study, and the prayer.  The Heirloom Project sparked my interest in the sewing, but the nuts and bolts of threading the machine still make me cringe.  Crooked seams make me sigh because that means ripping and re-sewing.  The thought of calculating and cutting new sizes and shapes of fabric makes my brain hurt till this day.  One afternoon last fall our group took a lunch break and found a table at Smashburger.  Lo and behold, we meet someone new.  One of our ladies offers the invitation, and our new friend scoots down the bench to join us.  She tells about 2 quilts she’s sewing herself, and then as if my heart had a huge dose of warmth infused into it, I realized the Lord connecting our dots with intricate detail.  We learn about her son and her jewelry work and the fact of her cancer, and how thankful was our group for the Lord introducing us all.  How tenderly we sensed His touch.  Last month she and I and her mom enjoyed a return trip to our same Smashburger, and suddenly my cringes and sighs at the sewing machine didn’t matter anymore.  The Lord loves people, and He creates endless circumstances to encourage and inspire them.  I’m hoping to help my new friend in the future when she needs a ride to one of her cancer treatments, and our group is blessed to continue to pray on her behalf.  The last verses of Psalm 23 say, “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  On this day I experienced that overflowing cup.  What a wonderful contentment to witness the Lord loving His children.

Small Town, TX

Does your job send you traveling?  Mine does.  Our children’s theatre group visits lots of parts of Texas, including some smaller towns, and I love it.  Last month we went to Tyler.  Weather reports alerted us to ice and snow, yet the Lord cleared us a path, and actually the drive was all the more scenic with that fresh glisten of ice melting on the trees.  The school was fun where we performed, and an extra treat was visiting with my son-in-law’s mom.  She lives near there, and she kindly picked me up from the hotel for a very fun time of talking and laughing and enjoying a tour.  Sometimes we want the big city, the big business, the big neon name, but here my heart was fully content.  Really the blessing was extra sweet when recognizing the smaller scale of Tyler and the unlikelihood of most jobs traveling there.  Psalm 23:1 says, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.”  That's saying that Christ is our perfect Shepherd.  When we follow Him, He blesses us that we don’t long for more.  When we seek and listen, when we answer His call, we find our hearts perfectly content.  We don’t ache for what we don’t have.  Technology, clothing, status, you name it, all those things we tend to envy of others.  The joy of experiencing the Lord surpasses them all.  The fullness of knowing Him supplants by far.  I testify to having wasted energy in wanting things in the past, and I don't miss that hassle.  So we ask the Lord to remove the distractions.  May we trust Him to satisfy.  I have prayed for you today to know the joy of His presence. 

To Voskamp's thousand

“You can’t handle the truth!”  That was Jack’s line, with the burning glare and that unrelenting arrogance.  Today I revise Jack’s words on account of something Ann Voskamp says.  In Chapter 1 of One Thousand Gifts, she talks about the sin of ingratitude.  God told Adam he was free to eat from any tree in the garden, except for one.  And Adam chose that one.  So we wonder, why did he allow himself to be lured to the forbidden?  With an abundance that pleased the eye and also the health of the body, why?  It’s like the time I had a shoulder ache.  The pain worsened and worsened and eventually preoccupied my every thought, and I pleaded for the Lord to take it away.  Then one day it was gone.  And with it also disappeared my fervency of prayer.  The Lord had illustrated for me how He brings good from bad and how without the bad pain, I wandered away.  Generally people don’t handle the good very well.  Jack would say, “You can’t handle the good!”  Our provisions are set, our worries should be none, yet we carelessly wander away from the Lord, so He sometimes allows a point of pain to re-center our need of Him.  Our eyes reopen to the realization of our nakedness, our insufficiency on our own, our personal lack.  Hence the importance to be thankful.  Let us not slide away.  May we not require the Lord to illustrate again with pain.  How many times do we relive the fall of Genesis 3?

Coffeehouse catastrophe?

Aaahhhhhh!  What did I say?!#*  I panicked.  Two friends invited the new barista to come to church, but what inadvertent words had slipped out of my mouth?  We like to arrive the coffeehouse early to see what's going on and maybe talk a little before we play.  This time I heard the barista call my name, and his finger pointed to the calendar listing our names for music that night.  But there was also another name.  And a silent gasp fluttered across my throat.  Really it came when I imagined friends rushing across town to join us, and I felt bad they might enter the door and realize they rushed for nothing because we weren’t even playing yet.  The barista offered to ask the other guitarist to reschedule, but my husband reassured, “Don’t worry.  Let him play; then we’ll take a turn.”  So we spent the next minutes greeting friends and explaining, and honestly we enjoyed the longer-than-usual time to visit at the start.  I remember saying aloud, “Maybe the Lord has something in this.”  We sang a favorite Matt Maher tune, and the night filled fast with fun and energy.  And still we were glad to have those somber and thought-provoking moments that good songs and stories bring.  But now it was Saturday morning, and my brain was in a different gear.  I was nervous to recall that gasp when the barista told me.  Was there any part of me that conveyed anger at the situation?  Any facial expression or words I regret?  How often does adversity reveal the truth of our faith?  When I said “Maybe the Lord has something in this,” I hadn’t imagined He had a lesson in humility presenting personally to me.  So I prayed.  And I prayed again.  “Lord, I ask that nothing about my reaction last night dissuade our new barista from this invitation to church.  If there was any hint of anger or any grimace of frustration on my face, let him not remember it.  May he remember Your name and know Your presence above all.”  Philippians 4:4-7 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again;  Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  May He guide us to consider Him and others before ourselves.  And how I thank Him for standing in the gap on my account.  

Beyond our hospital team

Team-building.  It can be good.  My group of hospital volunteers set out last month to improve ourselves via team-building.  An effort toward considering the other person first—whether patient, visitor, staff member, or fellow volunteer.  We walk in someone else’s shoes, so to say, and thoughtfully view from their perspective.  And on this particular Wednesday, a seemingly small gesture had profound effect.  Session 1 asked us to wear a blindfold and let our partner guide our steps.  I imagined my partner holding my arm or my hand and walking alongside.  But that’s not what happened.  I stood behind my partner, and she took my left hand to place it atop her left shoulder and my right hand to place atop her right.  So simple, but what a difference.  This way, my feet would step only where both her feet had already trod.  I didn’t worry about her forgetting to warn me about anything because her whole body was step-for-step directly ahead.  We weren’t walking different parts of any aisle.  She would meet obstacles before I would.  She would withstand the brunt of any collisions.  Any turn she would encounter first.  Jesus says in John 8:12, “…Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  And the Lord illustrated this for me with new meaning.  As a cancer patient finds comfort in a cancer survivor, as a rehab resident is encouraged by a recovered addict, as a fearful young mom heeds wisdom from her older neighbor, we find confidence in knowing Jesus walks before us, after us, and along both sides.  Never will He abandon or forget to guide.  Nowhere will He not provide for our need.  He saves us today, tomorrow, and the next day, and ultimately He saves His children from the eternal torment of death.  He's protected me countless times that I haven't realized until much later.  And on this day at the hospital, I love how He revealed Himself within the ordinary day, how He entered my thinking, how He enlightened our team-building for the grander scale of life itself.  May we ask to sense His presence.  May we know the joy of having Him lead.  There’s no inch of this earth beyond His reach.

Worldwide VEVO

I hear people say they want to be part of something bigger than themselves.  I understand that.  I was inspired when my husband turned on Netflix and watched a VEVO production in another language.  I heard words sounding like levantaré, clamaré, palabra, nunca, and siempre in Spanish and wondered if the language was Portuguese.  I found myself pausing to ponder something I tend to overlook.  This world becomes narrow and self-centered if I let it.  These foreign words I kept hearing represent people who shouldn’t be foreign to me.  These worshipers know my same Jesus.  Because the words resembled what I know in Spanish, I supposed I knew the essence of their song.  Certainly Jesus knows their language.  Those who sang had experienced Him in their land.  He loves them and saves them from the same Satan who torments me.  And if you’re reading this today from outside the United States, just apply the idea in reverse.  Across the ocean from where you sit, there’s a girl named Linda who experiences Jesus saving her daily from Satan, saving her daily from the evil of other humans and from her own independence.  We all wear the same shoes of temptation, yet Jesus resides in the hearts of His children everywhere, and how I'm thankful to be reminded of the size of that "everywhere."  Dialing up this blog, you've been reading recently alongside people from Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, and Venezuela.  That means life is connected.  I kneel to pray at the same time someone kneels in China.  You sing at the same time someone sings in Ukraine.  When someone cries to the Lord in Romania, when someone prays in Sweden, it’s quite possible the Lord has led someone in Japan or Venezuela to do the same, even as He calls us to pray for each other sometimes without ever having met face to face.  Titus 2:11 says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.”  Our God is big.  I pray you know Him as your Savior.  Salvation through Him depends not on any government system or any family history.  Jesus Christ saves upon our individual asking, and His door is always open.  I’m blessed to share this site with you, my brothers and sisters.  You’re in my prayers.

Jesus, my monologue

Last week I traveled to the Valley.  In Texas, that’s the southernmost portion of the Texas/Mexico border.  There God gave a particular blessing that's continued to amaze me.  Never had I experienced Him in quite this way.  The trip began with a sore throat, a runny nose, and nasal congestion—a common trio in our neck of the woods.  Coughing came, and soon I could hardly breathe without a rattle in my chest.  Ability to sleep was minimal.  By our fifth day when my theatre group had its 3 final performances, the rattle had become a rumble.  I managed to stand but very weak of energy.  All those waking hours through the night, I asked the Lord to cover and protect my body, to provide, to sustain, to prevent me from coughing.  For me to cough once would likely set in motion a whole chain of coughs and certainly a disruption to our theatre story.  I asked the Lord, “How will this work?  How will I perform this monologue?”  Quite possibly this portion could feel a lifetime beyond its actual 7 minutes.  And then it was showtime.  Turning the corner on the backdrop, I entered center stage and saw the children.  Finishing the rhythm-and-rhyme section, I could feel a cough approaching.  Yet it passed.  The next sentence, it returned.  Then it passed again.  The fluctuation I knew was the Lord preventing me to cough, and all the while my heart leaped in amazement to realize this effectual tug-of-war over my throat.  Next came the singing section.  The upper note felt a bit muffled, but I noticed no stir in the audience and still no cough.  The raging battle was coming to quell.  Such a physical experience with the Lord I’d not had before, not in this 1-on-1 way.  And amazingly the monologue finished without incident.  The Lord won.  A testament to how He answers prayer and compels His will to completion.  Just as He breathed life into Adam in Genesis 2, so He was my breath this day.  Back home, a doctor diagnosed me with acute bronchitis, and as I stared at my antibiotic and steroid, I relived my monologue.  I remembered the question “How will this work?”  In this case, the answer didn’t reveal until I stepped out into the open.  The Lord supplied my air.  He kept my airway open.  He was my monologue.