Sep 15
I miss my dad.
It’s been a decade since he took his last breath on this earth and I still miss him. Especially during college football season as I’m frantically cheering on my Ohio State Buckeyes (with apologies to all my friends in that state up north!)
My dad was an incredible multi-sport athlete, as well as a successful football and basketball coach as I was growing up. My love of athletics and knowledge of the rules and intricacies of each sport came from him.
And that’s why I always had to call him during halftime of a Buckeye game if I was feeling nervous about the possible outcome.
“Dad, I’m worried we’re going to lose,” I would spit out as soon as he answered the phone.
He always responded with a little chuckle and then began pointing out all the things that were going well for my guys, as well as all the specific reasons they were the better team. Then he would reassure me that the coach would make the necessary halftime adjustments to clear up the deficiencies so the Scarlet and Gray would prevail.
“You’re gonna be okay,” he would add.
He was so smart, knew football so well and understood coaching so clearly that I always believed him.
A loving father’s voice can have that kind of calming effect, can’t it?
I just spent the month of August finding ways to better hear my heavenly Father’s voice. I needed His soothing words so my anxieties could be relieved, my burdens lightened and my heart palpitations literally calmed down.
And guess what?
I heard Him. Usually as I read my Bible. Often as I pored over my devotionals. Sometimes as I lifted my voice in song. And occasionally in my head as I folded my hands in prayer. Each time, it was clear that He was speaking to me.
“Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:4)
“The LORD’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor his ear too deaf to hear you call.” (Isaiah 59:1)
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
LifeHopeandTruth.com
And so many wise words from authors I love:
“Joy does not comes from getting what you ask God for. Joy comes in asking, believing, and thanking God, however he answers.” (Max Lucado)
“Can you think of any need you have that would require more strength than God exercised to raise the dead?” (Beth Moore)
“Father, may the reality of what you say become infinitely more real to me than what I think, feel or experience.” (Chris Tiegreen)
“Sin is the act of going to everyone but God for what only God can give.” (Max Lucado)
My earthly father had a special way of having just the right words to calm me (even though he might have led me astray at halftime of this past Saturday’s game against Oregon!), but my Heavenly Father never gets it wrong. He is all-wise, knows me completely and understands the loving plans He has for me. I always need to believe Him.
I encourage you to find ways to better listen for your Father’s voice–you won’t be disappointed.
Perhaps this prayer from Chris Tiegreen can be yours as well as mine: “Father, my mind cannot afford to be preoccupied with anything other than you.” Amen.
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Be sure to open in your browser to hear the beautiful song “You’re Gonna Be Okay” by Brian and Jenn Johnson.
Jul 21
When you believe in God, it can be hard to come to terms with the fact that He has allowed adversity to come into your or your loved one’s life. Author David Biebel talks about this fact in his book If God Is So Good, Why Do I Hurt So Bad? He says there are two truths suffering people have to reconcile: Sometimes life is agony, and our loving God is in control.
Think about it.
If God knows everything, this diagnosis did not surprise Him.
If God sees everything, He saw the bad news coming.
If God has power over everything, He could have stopped it.
But He didn’t.
Perhaps He didn’t stop you or your loved one from getting cancer or some other life-threatening disease. Or He didn’t keep your spouse from leaving you. Or He didn’t end the lies your co-worker spreads about you. Or maybe He hasn’t answered your pleas to be blessed with a child or a life-partner. You know all too well that sometimes life is agony and you’re trying to wrap your head around the fact that a loving God is in control.
It’s times like these that we need to run straight into the arms of the God who is enough.
Photo by Felicia Buitenwerf on Unsplash
Throughout scripture we meet this God who is enough. In the Old Testament He drops food from the sky in the wilderness to teach the Israelites that He “could be trusted to provide exactly enough–maybe not what they wanted, but enough,” according to our church’s youth pastor Pete Waller, whose recent excellent message inspired this blog.
In the New Testament, Jesus takes a little lad’s lunch, blesses it and feeds thousands of hungry people with it–not to mention baskets of leftovers.
“Jesus knew that He would take what wasn’t enough and make it more than enough–not so they would know what He can do, but who He is,” Pete explained.
Jehovah Jireh: the God who provides. That Hebrew name is not just what our God does, it’s who He is: the God who will provide enough.
Will you believe that today? Will you choose to trust that God is enough for whatever you’re facing? The reality is that God’s Word never promises He will stop all the bad things from happening to us. As The Message Bible explains in its paraphrase of 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 :
“We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized;
we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized.
But God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken.”
Go ahead and hand Him your “not enough” and watch the Creator of the Universe transform it into enough… and even more than enough for whatever unwanted journey you’re on. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Be sure to open in your browser to hear the song “Jireh’ by Elevation Worship & Maverick City song by Brian Nhira.
Jul 07
Image by Jon Hoefer from Pixabay
Perhaps you feel a little like a pigeon-covered statue these days or maybe you simply would like to experience a measure of calm in your harried life. Either way, here are some words to the weary taken from “leftover” quotes (including the blog title), which I ended up not using when writing my last book. I hope at least one lifts your spirits, deepens your faith or somehow encourages you on life’s journey.
“Corrie ten Boom, ‘The Hiding Place'” by Corrie ten Boom Museum is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
“Don’t pursue trials, but don’t flee from them in a panic either.”—Chris Tiegreen, One Year Walk with God Devotional
“Thou hast made us for thyself, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”—St. Augustine, Confessions
“Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.”—Corrie ten Boom, Dutch Christian Holocaust survivor
“We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” Martin Luther King Jr. in his sermon “Antidotes to Fear”
“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”—C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
“Joe Castillo, C.S. Lewis 1” by timgrable is licensed under CC BY 2.0
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”—Corrie ten Boom
“Don’t waste your cancer.”—John Piper, pastor, written on the eve of his prostate cancer surgery
“If God be our God, He will give us peace in trouble. When there is a storm without, He will make peace within. The world can create trouble in peace, but God can create peace in trouble.”—Thomas Watson, Puritan noncomformist teacher and author
“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.”—Robert Murray McCheyne, pastor, Church of Scotland
“All their life in this world and all their adventures had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before.” ― C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle
“The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not.” C.S. Lewis
“(God) doesn’t say, ‘Into each life a little rain must fall,’ then aim a hose in earth’s general direction and see who gets the wettest. He doesn’t reach for a key, wind up nature with its sunny days and hurricanes, then sit back and watch the show. He doesn’t let Satan prowl about totally unrestricted. He doesn’t believe in a hands-off policy of governing. He’s not our planet’s absent landlord. Rather, He screens the trials that come to each of us—allowing only those that accomplish His good plan, because He takes no joy in human agony.”—Steve Estes, When God Weeps
And finally, this gem from missionary Jim Elliot prior to his martyrdom at age 28 by the Waodani tribe, whom he had befriended and attempted to share the gospel with: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
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Be sure to open in your browser to hear the music video “Peace” by Bethel Music, featuring We the Kingdom
Jun 23
Today I’d like to introduce you to “Crash,” a red-tailed hawk, who had the misfortune of colliding with a car this spring in Mercer County, PA, and had to be extricated from the front bumper. The good news is that Crash survived his ordeal, was rescued and then taken to a wildlife rehab center.
Photo courtesy Tamarack Wildlife Center
However, the accident gave the hawk a concussion and damaged his wing, rendering him unable to fly well enough for release (after completing his concussion protocol, I assume 🙂 ). Thankfully, the staff at Tamarack Wildlife Center, a nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation and public education facility in the northwest corner of the state, knew just what to do.
Using the ancient art of feather-mending called “imping,” they replaced Crash’s damaged feathers with strong ones from a deceased hawk. The procedure involves inserting an imping needle, (a thin piece of wire, bamboo or some other material) into the shaft of both the damaged and the healthy feathers. The replacement feather is secured in place with adhesive, such as a fast-drying epoxy. Eventually the replaced feathers will be shed when the bird molts and regrows new feathers.
Interns (l. to r.) Madison Story and Natalie Seburia, photo courtesy Tamarack Wildlife Center
But in the meantime, Crash can inspire us all as he flies on “borrowed wings.”
Is there someone you know who has a “broken wing” and needs some of your “strong feathers” while they heal? I’m willing to bet that your gift/ability/expertise/time is the perfect match to help heal someone who is broken physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually. Why not ask the Lord today how He wants to use you to keep a loved one flying on borrowed wings?
Perhaps it’s something as simple as a phone call to let them know you care or a card of encouragement dropped in the mail. Maybe your “donated feathers” are a delivered meal, a gift card to make life easier, or the offer to run a specific errand. Perhaps what your friend or family member needs most for their brokenness is your prayers–shared in person, typed in a text or simply whispered to God’s ears.
Photo by Melanie Tepper, courtesy of Tamarack Wildlife Center
And if you are the one feeling the damage of not being able to do what you used to, will you swallow your pride and accept an offer of “borrowed feathers?” If you truly don’t have any such offers, please ask Jehovah Jireh, the LORD who provides, to send someone to answer that prayer until you can fly again (or learn to deal with just hopping around!)
Psalm 91:4 proclaims this truth about our God:
He will cover you with His feathers.
He will shelter you with His wings.
His faithful promises are your shield and protection.
Psalm 36:7 adds:
How precious is your unfailing love, O God!
All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.
I love the prayer and plan of David, the anointed king of Israel, when he was being pursued by a powerful enemy:
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy!
I look to you for protection.
I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by.
Psalm 57:1
How will you see God’s work in your life today? As the person who provides borrowed wings? Or as the one who gratefully accepts them until the danger passes? Either way, you are in for a blessing, my friend.
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P.S. If you want to know the happy ending of Crash’s story, the hawk made a full recovery and last week was released into the wild flying high–as evidenced in the above photo of his maiden voyage on borrowed wings. For more info about Tamarack Wildlife Rehab, see https://tamarackwildlife.org
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Be sure to open in your browser to hear the beautiful music video “Psalm 91” by New Creation Church.
Jun 09
Raise your hand if you have never been in the military, but you have flown in a C-5 cargo plane?
I’m guessing I may be the only one wildly waving my arm.
“C-5 Galaxy” by Chad Horwedel is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Perhaps at an air show, some of you have had the pleasure of walking around inside the cargo section of the largest U.S. military transport. According to airforce-technology.com, the C-5 can carry two Abrams tanks; one tank and two Bradley fighting vehicles; 10 LAV light armored vehicles; or six Apache helicopters. (Popular Mechanics adds that almost 25 million ping-pong balls also could fit inside!)
In the summer of 1973, my father was a civilian personnel officer stationed at Bitburg AFB (Germany). As long as I was his dependent, I could have free stand-by flights between our homes. I had flown commercial to Germany and was not at all concerned that the only return flight was on military transport.
Perfect example of ignorance is bliss.
The C-5 seating area had absolutely no windows and conversation with seat mates proved impossible over the engines’ roar. Each passenger was handed three items: a motion sickness pill, ear plugs and a heavy blanket. Drinking water was available in a bucket, along with a metal dipper and paper cups. We were told bag lunches would be provided if the flight wasn’t too turbulent.
“C-5_4” by marksontok is licensed under CC BY 2.0
I was woefully unprepared for how austere this 13-hour flight was going to be, although my first clue should have come when I was in the boarding line and a young airmen behind me inquired, “Miss, would you like some help?”
I turned and gave him a sweet smile and a quick “no, thank you.” After all, I was an independent 19-year-old college senior who, of course, could take care of herself.
And then I got to the cargo entrance and saw the narrow, vertical ladder.
It went straight up through the belly of the cargo area and into a small opening.
I quickly searched for the kind airman, told him I’d reconsidered, handed over my belongings, and slowly began ascending the steep ladder. I doubt the airman recalled his good deed from that day, but I have never forgotten it…and the lesson it’s still teaching me 48 years later:
Photo by Linda DuBose from FreeImages
I’m inclined to hang on to baggage.
Sometimes I lug around negative emotions which steal my peace. (What, me worry?) Other times I hold on to unhealthy habits which stifle my spiritual growth. (Perfectionism, anyone?)
How about you? What’s weighing you down today? Fear of the unknown or even of what is known? Concern for friend or family member? Maybe a physical burden which gives way to an emotional or mental weight?
Psalm 68:19 has good news for all of us baggage carriers:
Praise be to the LORD, the God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.
And Jesus offers a wonderful solution for our predicaments:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Put My yoke on your shoulders–it might appear heavy at first,
but it is perfectly fitted to your curves.
Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.
When you are yoked to Me, your weary souls will find rest.
For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
–Matthew 11:28-30 The Voice Bible
What baggage are you holding on to as you face a steep climb of circumstances? I recommend you do what I continually have to do… swallow your pride and hand your burdens to Jesus. (He’s even better than a really kind airman.)
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Don’t miss the music video by Austin French–it’s only about 3 minutes and will help you experience “Rest for Your Soul.” (Be sure to open in your browser.)
I’m a newspaper reporter-turned-author. And I’m a passionate encourager, but always a truth-teller. I worked for nearly two decades in a unique position as a patient advocate in my oncologist’s office and the Cancer Prayer Support Group I founded in 1991 is the country’s oldest such faith-based group.
