One day becomes one month

A particular phone call last week delivered a huge blessing.  I’d been praying for the friend who called me, as we had watched her outpatient surgery transform into a month-long hospital stay.  Complications of infection and excruciating pain were at the forefront.  How was all this happening?  Yet we continued to pray.  Then came her phone call.  At a moment when I sat on the couch and had no idea the voice on the phone would be hers, I was amazed.  Not surprised, but amazed to see how the Lord had been working all along.  My friend’s voice now had energy, and I could hear her sense of humor.  Through her days of heavy sedation and subsequent surgeries, the Lord had sustained my friend, and this was a remarkable milestone. …  I love surprises.  Better than that, I love to be amazed at the Lord.  If the idea of prayer is new for you, Matthew 6 offers some insight.  May the Lord give you an immense excitement for prayer.   May He bless you to witness Him at work. 

A prayer for protection

The seating arrangement became eerie.  I felt a hand squeeze my upper arm, and I turned toward the man on my right.  With his head tilted completely sideways and his chest leaning forward, his neck was twisted tightly to glare up at me.  His ogling eyes zoomed further in my direction, and I was soon uncomfortable.  His mouth was moving, and I assumed he wanted to say something, though I could hear only a scratchy sound.  Some kind of a high pitch filtered softly through his voice.  Looking at him, I shook my head to indicate I did not understand.  Then I returned my gaze to the front of the bus.  Yet the murmur of his voice continued, and I felt another nudge of his leg.  I had tried to ignore the first nudge, in hope that it was unintentional.   Now I looked at the man again, and the whole aura was becoming even more disconcerting.  His almost ethereal whisper pressed louder as he said, “Come on! You got to have 50 cents!”  I motioned with my hand and verbally emphasized “No” and likewise shook my head.  And silently I asked the Lord to protect me.  My eyes quickly scanned the bus for options.  Hardly a seat was vacant for moving away from the man, as we’d hosted an active turnstile of passengers.  The man's increasingly invasive ways seemed unending.  Finally, I walked up to ask the driver if my stop would be announced.  I didn’t want to make a mistake my first time on this route.  Turns out the driver was quite the conversationalist, lending me to stand near him till reaching my stop.  I figured God used the driver to deliver me.  …  Overall, my distinct impression was that Satan was messing with me.  For 4 years, God has used our city buses to connect me with people for His wonderful purposes.  What God uses for good, Satan can attempt to use for bad.  Here now I did not want the bad to dissuade me from fulfilling my call.  Subsequent to this particularly unfun incident, a different bus trip led me to the immense pleasure of telling someone about Jesus.  I do realize there may be a day when my bus trips cease.  But not this week.

Movies & comments

Just watched Julie & Julia.  Pretty cute.  A friend told me it was about blogging.  And a line in the movie did set something straight for me.  At times, I’ve pondered what I might change in this blog.  Do I need to personalize it somehow?  I’ve wondered if you as a reader are connecting with the stories.  Is the way I’m writing too distant?  Then in the movie I hear Julie say, “What do you think a blog is?  It’s me, me, me day after day.”  Well, that is one thing I don’t want.  I don’t want a blog all about me.  And so I go back to the idea of personalizing.  Readers, please know I started this whole thing because I sensed the Lord prompting.  And He could certainly include you in the development process.  If there’s something you would find helpful in this blog, please send me a comment or an email.  I have prayed for you, though we haven't met.  I would consider it a blessing and entirely fun to hear from you.

Unseen

Morphine did not erase the underlying anxiety from her surgical complication.  I visited my friend in the hospital.  As I sat on the side of her bed, this sweet friend asked me to pray.  I held her hand and asked for the Lord’s presence ultimately.  Beeping sounds and blinking lights don’t make for calmness.  Even the dings of the elevators remind us something’s wrong and we’re not at home.  I hoped for the peace of prayer to ease my friend’s mind, and indeed she said later that she felt the Lord’s peace.  Yet when opening my eyes after our prayer, I noticed someone standing beyond my right shoulder.  A member of the surgical team had been waiting while we prayed.  Her presence was unanticipated by us, yet I was happy she was there for however long.  Then the opportunity to pray broadened to include blessings upon this surgical team member.  The Lord’s orchestration again.  We simply go about living as He teaches, and He handles the connecting of people.  Unseen at first.

Not just paper & ink

Try it.  I just wonder. … It has happened in a McDonald’s.  It’s happened on the city bus.  It happened this week in a public school teacher’s lounge.  Simply an open Bible.  It attracts.  People say, “Are you taking a class?”  “What are you studying?”  “I’ve been meaning to go to church.”  Without an audible word from me, the Bible inspires conversation.  Sometimes I study when I’m waiting for a friend.  Sometimes I read in order for the Lord to calm my unrest.  Consequently He speaks – and to more souls than the one person turning the pages.

Acoustic rehab

We became troubadours.  Strum the guitar here.  Sing a song there.  First in the physical therapy room with a patient who liked rock-n-roll.  Then down the hallway to meet a lady whose friends came to visit, and they all welcomed the music.  A few doors down, another lady was so happy she could hardly wait to tell her family she was personally serenaded in the hospital.  And when we met a lady who spoke mostly Spanish, we were immensely blessed to find in our music bag a copy of “Supe Que Me Amabas,” at which point I knew the Lord had packed our bag that day.  We did meet one lady who could not speak audibly at all, and so we loved her smile all the more.  From “Bless the Broken Road” to “I’ve Got a River of Life.”  From Martina McBride to Todd Agnew to Randy Travis.  The Lord inspired it all.  Isaiah 61 mentions the brokenhearted and the captive.  The Lord sends us to them, and blessings abound.

More than Santa and cascarones

What a privilege.  I met some children who said the word Easter reminded them of eggs and bunnies, especially those eggs we call cascarones that are refilled with surprise confetti.  The occasion was an opportunity to talk about Jesus’ death and resurrection.  More than once, I’ve met children who thought Santa Claus was born at Christmas.  On those occasions, it was an opportunity to tell about Jesus’ birth.  Each was an unexpected conversation that brought the utmost delight. . .  To speak the name of Jesus our Christ is a humble honor.  When my heart flutters to realize an open door for conversation, I silently ask the Lord to lead. . . May you be blessed to seek His pleasures first.

The video puzzle

Stroll, or skip, or race?  What to do when a new idea hits?  Do we run like Jonah?  Very specifically, he told some sailors he was running from God.  Unlike Jonah, I haven't paid fare to board a ship to flee from the Lord, but I do remember feeling intimidated by the notion to write a book.  I can also remember resisting God’s call to direct a particular choir.  Yet the Lord has blessed me immensely.  And the Lord blessed Jonah in releasing him from the belly of a fish. . .  Months ago, a new thought entered my brain.  Make a video.  A video regarding Me and the Lord on the Bus.  But I don’t know how to make a video.  Don't know the particulars of recording and splicing audio and visual together.  Little did I know that yesterday would reveal some pieces of the video puzzle.  This morning, another puzzle piece appeared.  Now the joy is almost inexplicable, and I’m eager to recognize the next component.  I will continue to pray for guidance.  And I can leisurely stroll while knowing the Lord provides in the moment.  I can figuratively and literally frolic in enjoyment of the Lord’s simple pleasures.  And I will run with the Lord, knowing He wonderfully orchestrates the starting gates and finishing lines of our races.

In the checkout aisle

Furled eyebrows.  Slumped shoulders.  And a distinct series of grunts and groans that conveyed frustration.  Yet the corners of her mouth started to slip into a smile.  As the previous customers departed, she now pleaded to us, “Will somebody help me out here and tell me the 7 sins?”  Evidently while she bagged groceries, she had posed the same question to the cashier, and she honestly wanted to know.  I obliged, “My understanding is that there are many more than 7 ways to sin.”  From there, we talked about reading the Bible and how the Lord can teach and give understanding.  Such an encouraging exchange reminded me of Jabez.  In 1 Chronicles 4, Jabez asks the Lord to enlarge his territory.  Tonight, indeed the Lord had walked us into blessed circumstances.  And I ask the Lord to increase your territory as well and bless your next visit to buy groceries.

A juror's outlook

I’ve served on 2 juries.  One case of fraud was intricately technical on the insurance side.  It lasted a week, and I was mentally exhausted.  I entered that courtroom with the idea of proudly serving my part as a juror.  I was even happy to receive my summons because I’d heard so many complaints about jury verdicts.  How can we complain about verdicts if we ourselves squirm to avoid serving?  Naïve, you say?  Perhaps.  But I honestly endeavored toward a positive attitude regarding jury duty.  Yet the Lord has shown me repeatedly that labels don’t tell whole stories. A jury summons may actually call us to more than one role.  That big room of jury candidates may contain someone whom the Lord deems perfect for us.  A perfect connection simply because the Lord designed it.  On one occasion, I shared a lunch table with a fellow jury candidate, and conversation ensued about the Lord.  It was a time to discuss and encourage, and God revealed again His wonderful orchestration of people.  Jury duty gone wildly exhilarating.