Time Out with God

Like most of you, I have a set morning routine. Most mornings I go through the same routine: get up; exercise; shower and dress; eat cereal while I read my bible; take Chad to school; spend time in prayer and journaling, then get to work. Last week due to some early morning meetings, my routine got out of whack. A couple of days I skipped exercise, only made it partially through my bible reading and as for the prayer and journaling - well, let's just say God only got my drive time. Of course, I could have gotten up earlier and made time for everything, but I chose not to. I realized during the week (okay, re-realized, because God keeps showing me this over and over) that I miss and need my DAILY dose of God - that special quiet time that we spend together - just the two of us.

It doesn't have to be first thing in the morning (although I must admit my day seems to go much better and I'm more focused when it is), but some time during the day I need to take time out and focus solely on God. It helps me acknowledge his presence in my life and it just makes me feel better.

This week I am refocused and committing each day to get my daily dose of God. I hope you will join me in this commitment. If you can't seem to find time in the day - try putting yourself in "time out". Set a timer for 10 minutes - find a quiet place - in the bathroom, if need be - and just pour out your heart to God. Talk to him. Tell him what's going in your life. Then, just sit quietly and listen. Before you know it, the timer will go off and you'll be wanting "time out" again.

Time out with God is one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself (and to your family). It will change your life. Don't wait! Give yourself a great gift today. You deserve it!

"After he [Jesus] had dismissed them, he went up on a mountside by himself to
pray." Matthew 14:23

My Prayer:

Lord, help me to take time out with you every day. Help me remember that even Jesus took time from his daily tasks to spend quite time with you. Show me the special time that you have chosen for me to spend with you each day and give me discipline to set that time aside for you. In Christ name I pray. Amen.

What's Your Role?

Usually when I pray, it is followed by waiting. Waiting for answer. Sometimes waiting for days, months, even years; waiting and waiting. On a few glorious occassions, I have had the opportunity to witness prayers being answered within minutes. One such occassion occurred in the Atlanta Airport. Now, if you have ever had a connecting flight through Atlanta, you are probably aware that more times than not, things don't go as planned. In fact, I've flown into or through Atlanta at least a half a dozen times and I don't recall ever having a flight that wasn't late or canceled. Consequently, when we plan a trip I make every effort to avoid Atlanta.

Several years back, before I came fully appreciate the perils of the Atlanta Airport, Dennis, Chad and I were flying to Florida. We (I) had everything planned out perfectly. We would leave Oklahoma City early in the morning; arrive in Panama City by noon; pick up our rental car; drive to the house we were renting; and arrive before the rest of our family who was driving from Oklahoma.

It was about 1:00 in the afternoon, and we were sitting in Chili's at the Atlanta Airport (so much for the perfect plan of arriving by noon). Our flight had been cancelled and we could either fly to another location and drive an hour and a half to our final destination, or wait until 7:00 for another flight. Either way, we would arrive around the same time, so we decided to wait and accept the airline's token "free" meal. So here we were, in the middle of Chili's surrounded by endless travelers of the same fate. It was Atlanta after all.

As we looked over the menu, I noticed a young couple sitting two tables down and across the aisle from us. The young woman was visibly upset over the delay of their flight and within a few minutes she was crying. As I sat there, without anyone else knowing, I did something very strange to me - I began to pray for her. At this time in my Christian walk, praying was not something I did too well. In fact, just months earlier when Chad and I had joined the church, I announced to the minister that I would be happy to help in anyway, as long as he didn't ask me to pray. Low and behold, here I was, doing exactly what I had said I wouldn't do: praying for someone - a stranger at that. I'm not sure what came over me - perhaps it was Dennis' announcement earlier that morning, "Chad, mom's a control freak. She can't stand it that I'm holding the tickets and she's not." He was right! It was driving me crazy that I did not have the tickets in my hand. What if he lost them or laid them down? If I had them in hand then I knew things were under control. Of course, I didn't admit that to him. Instead, I told him that was not true and he could just hold onto those tickets. I was going to show him. I was NOT a control freak!

Whatever the reason, at that moment, instead of trying to control or "fix" the situation, I asked God to fix. I silently prayed, "God, please comfort her. Help her to see that a delayed flight really isn't that big of a deal. They are safe and together and that's much more important than being late."

Within minutes, it happened! God answered! He answered through the kindness of a waitress. As the young waitress approached and saw the woman's tears, she sweetly asked, "Are you okay? What can I do to help. I'm sorry it took me a while to get to you." With those kind words, the woman began to share her story. The perfect honeymoon she and her husband had planned, had turned out to be not so perfect. The hotel turned out not to be as advertised; their room wasn't ready when they arrived; it rained almost everyday; they had a wreck in the rental car and now their flight was delayed. As the woman shared the comedy of errors, she began to laugh and realize that those things weren't nearly as important as she had once thought they were. As the waitress left to get the couples drinks, the young bride sat there smiling at her husband. I was smiling too! I had just witnessed God answering my prayer. Maybe there was something to this praying thing after all.

We did finally arrive at our destination... 12 hours late; with no rental car - because they had already closed; and our family that that we were going to beat to the house, had to come rescue us, picking us up at the airport, well after midnight. But all in all, it was a great day! In the middle of the Atlanta Airport, I had witnessed God and perhaps for the first time ever, I knew He really does answer prayers.

As we hurry through the last days before Christmas, I urge you to think about what role you will play this season? Will you be the young bride, worried because your perfect plan isn't working? Perhaps you're the control freak who finally asks God to take over and fix it. Or even yet, perhaps you will get to be God's servant that offers kind words to a stranger. Whatever your role, it is my prayer that you will see God whereever you go. If he can show up in the Atlanta Airport, where things always go wrong, he can show up wherever you go this season... even at Walmart.

"I tell you to pray for all people, asking God for what they need and being
thankful to him." 1 Timothy 2:1 NCV

"I am the Lord, the God of every person on the earth. Nothing is
impossible for me." Jeremiah 32:27 NCV

My Prayer:

Father, help me remember what is important, and to learn to find joy and even laughter when my best laid plans go astray. In my heart I know that you are in control and the only things that really matter are the eternal ones. Help my mind to recognize that as well. Show me how to be a light to others, that they may also find joy in you this Christmas season. Amen.

Worry - Who, Me?

I must admit, I'm really not much of a worrier. I believe that you should take care of the things that you can and not worry about the things you can't. If you can't control them, then why spend time worrying about them. They will either happen or they won't; and if they don't, you've wasted all of that time and energy worrying for nothing.

I'm not sure why I'm not a worrier; perhaps I'm just made that way. I don't recall my parents being worriers as I was growing up. My grandmother, however, that was a different story. She worried about anything and everything; and if she happened not to have anything to worry about, she would just worry about not having anything to worry about. She thought, surely something must be wrong somewhere, and no one told her. Oddly though, I don't remember her ever saying she was worried. Instead, she would say, "I've been studying about that." Translate: "I've been worrying about that." I guess she thought if she studied about it, then it really wasn't worrying, and somehow that was okay.

My husband isn't a worrier either. Consequently, you would think that our son is worry free as well. Not so! He can "what if" the life out of you. Here's a perfect example. A couple of years back, he went on a mission trip with our church youth group to Denver, Colorado. On the trip home they stopped to go white river rafting. Here's an excerpt of the float conversation as relayed by one of the sponsors:

Chad: "What if I fall out of the raft?
Sponsor: "You have a life jacket, and we'll just pull you back in."
Chad: "What if you're not strong enough to pull me back in?"
Sponsor: "I can pull you back in."
Chad: "Yeah, but what if you can't?"
Sponsor: "The guide is a big guy. He can pull you back in?"
Chad: "What if the guide falls out too?"
Sponsor: "Then he can push you back in or get in himself and then pull you back in."
Chad: "What if he hits his head on the rock and gets knocked out?"
Sponsor: "I guess you'll have to swim to shore."
Chad: "What if there are bears on the shore?"
...

You're probably beginning to understand what I meant by, he can "what if" the life out of you. By now, if I'm responding instead of the sponsor, I'm saying "I guess you'll just get eaten by the bear and you won't have to be worried anymore." Probably not the "perfect mother" answer, but it's the one he probably would have gotten from his not so perfect mother.

You may think that Chad's worrying was far fetched. I can assure you, it was very realistic to him. Likewise, I imagine God thinks most of our worrying, though realistic to us, is farfetched as well.

See if this sound familiar:
What if my employer starts laying off people?
What if they lay off my boss and I have to do her job?
Worse yet, what if I get laid off?
What if I get laid off and can't find another job?
What if we can't make our house payment?
What if we don't have enough money for food?
What if because we don't have enough food, the state takes away our children?
What if we lose our house?
What if none of our friends or family will let us stay with them?

I can just hear God now, "This girl is what ifing the life out of me."

Did it sound familiar? I hope not, but for many of us, this is the way we live our lives. What if? What if? What if?

Fortunately for us, God patiently answers us. Just like Chad's sponsor (and unlike his not so perfect mother), each time we "what if", God calmly responds. Even when we're too busy what ifing to hear him in our prayers, he speaks to us through his word:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life." Matthew 6:25-27

I like to think of God as our white water rafting guide. He is there to guide us through the rapid waters of life. Giving us direction; telling us when and where to paddle. If we happen to fall out of the boat, he is there pull us back in. And above all, there is nothing, on heaven or earth, strong enough to knock him out. All we have to do is listen to his direction; enjoy the ride; and reach out to him when we fall out of the boat, because he is already reaching out to us to pull us back to safety.

My prayer:

Lord thank you, for being my guide; for reassuring me that I do not have to worry about the unknown; that you love me and will provide for me. Give me the courage, strength and wisdom to take care of the things I can, and to not worry about the things I can't take care of, and to turn them over to you. Most of all, thank you for still loving me even when I forget to rely on you and what if the life out of you. Amen.

Practice Makes Perfect (or not)

Practice makes perfect. I'm sure you've heard this at least once in your life, and if you're like me, you've heard it over and over - sports, piano, clarinet, washing dishes... Well, I've come to believe (okay, honesty here - I've come to know), it's a lie! Nothing short of a big, fat lie. Don't believe me? Just let me serenade you on the clarinet or the piano and you'll quickly come to agree 100%. Despite all the lessons. Despite all the practice under my mother's watchful eye, and ear, I don't do either one perfect. I don't even do them well!

There is hope though. Although I don't believe practice makes perfect, I do believe that practice makes improvement; even when I don't want to practice at all.

One of the greatest lessons I have learned in my spiritual walk was from my Disciple I teacher, Carol Foster. At the time, I was really struggling with one of my co-workers. When it came time for prayer request, I made the logical request of prayer, for tolerance of my co-worker. You should have seen the look on Carol's face, almost a look of horror. Shaking her head back and forth, as if I had just broken the most sacred of commandments, she told me, "Oh, you don't ever want to pray for tolerance or patience; God just might give them to you." I'm sure she went on to explain further, but I didn't hear another word she said. I was shocked. Carol was a devout Christian, an excellent teacher, a minister's wife and the mother of my minister; how could she, and why would she, tell me not to pray for something I needed? Well, unfortunately, I found out the hard way: practice makes improvement.

You see, people like me think we should (and can) ask for something like patience and get it, just like that. You know, the "God give me patience and I want it right now!" approach. The funny (not funny ha ha) thing is, and what Carol was trying to tell me was, that's not how God works. With God, when we ask for patience, instead of waving a magic wand and poof we have them, most of the time God provides us with situations that require patience. Situations that allow us to nurture and grow our patience. It's the same with tolerance. In order to gain tolerance, we have to come in contact with people or situations that require tolerance. Likewise, in order to really learn to love, like Christ loved, we have to come into contact with the unlovable. Although practice doesn't make perfect, it does make improvement; and the only way we can really improve is to practice.

If there's an area in your life that you need to improve, pray about it. Ask God to help you do better. But don't be surprised if the area becomes more challenging as you nurture and grow the new skill God is teaching you. Worse yet, if you don't learn it the first time through, you can count on it coming around again (and again) to give you a little more practice.

"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as [daughters]. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:7, 11

My Prayer:

Lord, thank you that you hear my prayers. Thank you that you love me like a parent and that you allow me to grow through life's hardships that come my way. Help me to remember that the very hardships I face may have been brought on at my own request. Thank you for loving me even when I complain about practicing the very skill I have asked for. Amen.

How Big is Your God Box?

One of the things I struggle with, is putting (and often keeping) God in a box. Sound crazy? Well actually it is. I don’t mean I put God in a box and only pull him out on Sunday when its time for church. I mean I don’t let God be God.

Let me explain. Several months back, my business was experiencing slow times. During that time, I began to pray, “God please provide me just one new job a week. That’s all I need to keep things going.” And, God responded. I began to get one new job a week; some large, some small. Then one day, during my prayer time it occurred to me, why was I limiting God to one job a week? Did I think he wasn’t capable of more? Did I think I wasn’t deserving of more? (Now there’s a definitely maybe.) So, at what I believe was God’s urging, I decided to change my prayer. Instead of praying for 1 job a week, I began to pray for God’s provision and abundance, for his will in my life and my work. Well, guess what happened next? The following day, I went to meet with a client – one of my one-a-week jobs – and before I could return home, I had four new jobs. Not one a week – but four in one day! Amazing!

As I drove home, I laughed out loud at myself, and spoke out loud to God (yeah, I’m one of those crazy people you see driving down the street talking to herself), “OK God, I get it. I was putting you in a box. I was limiting the amount of blessing I was asking for and keeping you from blessing me in the way you wanted to. I get it! No more box!”

Our God is a big God, a loving God, who wants to do great things for us. Yet, by limiting our prayers, our dreams and yes, our expectations, we limit God. God has great things in store for you. Start allowing him to deliver them. Take him out of the box and allow him to provide them for you, in accordance with HIS will. You’ll be glad you did.

“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:11

“… [God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...”
Ephesians 3:20

My Prayer:
God, forgive me for limiting you and your blessings for me by putting you in a box, with my earthly limitations and thinking. Thank you for all of the blessing that you have given me. I open myself up to receive all that you have in store for me, in accordance with your will. May I always remember to give thanks and glory to you, in all things, and to share my blessings with those who are still seeking theirs. In Christ Name, Amen.