Joyful Again

“Never be afraid - I am with you!  I will protect you.  I am your God." ~ Isaiah 41:10

There’s nothing like an old flame pressing back into your life and asking “How’ve you held up?”

“Me?  Held up?  Well . . .” Jordan stammered.  She couldn’t recall what she said next, but she remembered how she felt: SAD!

‘Sad’ sounds so childish, like something one should be able to cast off with a happy reflection or the smile of a friend.  But ‘sadness’ is real.  It sits inside like the germ seed of depression, just waiting for the right conditions to grow, to send out roots to choke the hope from your heart.

She’d based everything in her life on fear of something bad happening.  Despite her tough exterior, she was paper thin inside.  Taking risks terrified her.

That very day she made a decision to live her life again.  The 32 year-old-Jordan was just as alive and deserving of infinite possibilities as her 18-year-old-self once was.

Slowly but steadily, that’s exactly what she did.

Jordan started talking to God – out loud.  It seemed weird at first, sharing her fears, asking forgiveness, thanking Him for the good things already in her life.

Prayer began to change her.  She started feeling a quiet inside.  It changed her thoughts.  The meditation deepened their connection.

Over time her mind became clearer, more resolute.  Just as burgeoning sunlight promises a new dawn, God helped ease the pain of distant memories and steeled her to think of a more positive future; one that she would mold, build, direct.

Jordan felt more in charge, in command of her own mind, body and soul.  She was a woman walking into her own destiny, yet a destiny that lay squarely in His hands.

Today she’s alive again.  Her job seems more fulfilling.  Favorite oldies make her smile again.  She likes to dress up for parties.  Her prayers work better when she says them near the lake.  She loves being near water.  She likes the way it flows.  It’s alive.  It’s free.  It’s beautiful.  And now God’s helped her realize that she is too.

As we journey through life, there’ll inevitably be periods of incredible frustration and despair.  During those tough times, it will sometimes appear to us that we’ve lost everything, and that nothing and nobody could possibly motivate us to move onward in the direction of our dreams.

God always has something for you – a key for every problem, light for every shadow, comfort for every sorrow, a plan for every tomorrow and human support that comes in many forms.  It can be a simple email or text message from someone we respect, inspiring blog posts, insightful books, helpful neighbors, and so much more.

Almighty Father, I’ll try this day to live a simple, sincere and peaceful life, resisting every thought of anxiety, discouragement, impurity, discontent and self-indulgence.  In its place I’ll cultivate cheerfulness, fairness, charity and a childlike faith in You.  Amen

The Discarded Snow Globe

“Be kind to strangers, they might be angels in disguise." ~ Hebrews 13:2

Three years ago, the silence of the hospital’s ultrasound tech confirmed their worst fears before the doctor on call could do so.  Their unborn son was no longer alive.

Jason and Mari Foster had been waiting since then to adopt, with many heartaches and challenges along the way.  They spotted a photo on a special-needs adoption site and knew instantly that this was a match for them.  A few weeks after filing their adoption petition, the agency phoned.  They’d been chosen.  They’d need to meet him at Seoul’s Incheon Airport without delay.

Jason rushed to furnish his room.  Mari bought clothes and supplies.  Both worried the adoption might fall through yet again.

Mari looked uncomfortable when a young man met them at the airport’s gate.  On the advice of other adoptive parents, she’d purchased several small gifts for a birth Mother.   Clumsily, she tried to hand them to the man carrying their baby.

Hwan smiled, shook his head, and said, “Please take care of baby.”

Her heart skipped a beat.  “Yes, I, we, will,” she stammered.  It felt like a marriage vow, this tremendous and solemn moment.

Hwan handed Jason a small Korean snow globe.  “He like this; it make him smile.”  Then he turned to hide mournful tears and walked away.

Jason slipped it in his backpack and his new ‘family’ headed for Security.

Little did they know, only snow globes that contain less than 3.4 ounces of fluid (tennis ball size) can be packed in a carry-on bag.  Despite frantic pleading, a TSA Supervisor forced the couple to discard the globe, the baby’s only connection to his birth father and the country that had given him life.

The three boarded the plane for Chicago, distraught yet determined that this be remembered as the greatest day of their married life.

Aaliya Aziz watched nearby as the distraught father parted with his cherished globe.  She retrieved it from the trash and vowed to return it … somehow.  Returning to the baggage counter, Aaliya asked that her carry-on bag be checked to her final destination.

When Aaliya arrived home a few days later, she posted a photo of the snow globe on Facebook.  Shared some 40,000 times, the message eventually caught the attention of executives at Things Remembered, the company that sold the globe.

Employees at the company's Ohio headquarters and its Korean store were able to identify Hwan as the buyer who connected her with the Fosters.  Aaliya mailed the globe immediately with a short note: “Take care of this lucky baby.  May this bring him joy and comfort.”

“Yes we will,” Mari said confidently, “Yes We Will!”   She handed her new son his once-discarded keepsake, grateful for the kindness from two unknown angels.

Tender Jesus, so meek, so mild, teach us to be like You in all our ways.  Teach us kindness, gentleness, generosity, and to be giving, forgiving, loving and caring.   Teach us to follow in Your humble footsteps.  Amen

Back to the Joint

“Pain is God’s megaphone." ~ CS Lewis

Born in the Bronx, Alejandro’s youth was abbreviated by drugs and violence.  At seven he discovered his mother unconscious on the kitchen floor, syringe sticking out of her arm.  They saved her body … but they couldn’t save her life.

Over the next few years, drugs ruled her mind, drove her body to horrifying acts of depravity, doing anything to attain her next hit.  The last time he’d seen her alive, addiction had putrefied her into a walking corpse, ready to be nailed into a coffin and swallowed by darkness.  She died a few days later.

He roamed the streets, haunted by the destructive influence of illegal narcotics.  They’d already ruined everything in his life, including his mother and many of his closest friends.  So during the winter of 2001, he killed a neighborhood drug dealer peddling his goods to local school kids.

Pointing a pistol at him, he gave the villain ten seconds to run; started shooting after three.  A jury took pity on Alejandro, finding him guilty of manslaughter instead of murder.  He served nearly thirteen years before being released 22 months ago.

Life on the outside gleamed like a brand new car.  He was happy, and determined to be the best ex-convict ever, in every way, to set an example for those who would come after.

Alejandro prayed the same prayer every ex-con did: “Lord, I promise to change my ways, just don't let me ever go back there again.”   But apparently, that wasn’t God’s plan.

Today he found himself back in the all-too-familiar prison exercise yard - no hum of traffic, no birds tweeting, no green grass or colorful blossoms.  Guards stood in the watchtowers like cardboard cut outs, silhouetted by the sun.

Alejandro cringed when he recognized that voice; one that had sent fear through all inmates years ago.  Ray’s intimidating appearance surrounded him like a fog.  Well over six-feet tall and 220 pounds, his muscles were thick and taunt, like a tightly wound rope.  Time seemed frozen for a second as Alejandro searched Ray’s eyes for some hint of what might happen next.

“Thanks for coming Pastor,” Ray said.  “The guys are thrilled to have you back!”

When he’d first been incarcerated, Alejandro was forced to choose an affiliation for protection; usually determined by race and gang allegiance.  A small number of men however, like Ray, chose Christianity as their ‘gang.’  In a moment of fear and loneliness, Alejandro made the decision to follow Christ.

He soon began leading mid-week Bible studies at the prison church and later thoroughly studied John Macarthur’s Fundamentals of the Faith.

Since his prison release, he started the process to become a Minister with a passion for hardcore offenders committed to changing their lives and the lives of others.

Almighty Father, I never wanted to go back.  But You had a better plan.  Thank You for inspiring in me the passion for prison ministry and a pathway to its reality.  My character has been forged by Your hand, Thank You!  ~ Alejandro

God's Bonus

“Love each other with genuine affection; outdo one another in showing respect." ~ Romans 12:10

Pastor Carolyn was in a slump; a sermon writer’s block.  It always seemed to happen around this time of year.  Maybe it’s a letdown from the challenge of preparing Christmas homilies; or perhaps just a mental vacation before Easter.

Although creativity comes in spurts, Sundays come with great regularity.  She stared at a blank tablet praying for a little Divine inspiration.

Preaching well is hard work.  Ministers are expected to be witty, warm, and wise . . . every Sunday.  All preachers experience this occasionally - trying to come up with yet another message to inspire, reassure or challenge the loyal congregants who so faithfully fill the pews each weekend.

Valentine’s Day is Sunday, but that whole love thing is so clichéd, she thought.  Maybe I’ll speak about friendship; God’s ‘bonus’ to humanity by encouraging one another in pursuing His Kingdom.  And so the process began.

Sunday arrived.  Carolyn’s sermon still needed work.  It seemed disjointed; even incoherent.  Hopefully God can make some good of this one, she prayed.

Before the sermon, it was customary to gather children to the altar for some “Small Talk.”  She’d explain the upcoming message in terms little ones could understand.

Once they were all fitfully assembled, she asked one simple question: “What does ‘friendship’ mean?”  The answers she got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined.

"Friends make you smile when you're sad," little Terri (age 4) answered.

"During my piano recital,” Tyrone (8) shared “I was so scared.  All those people were watching me.  My friend Javier waved and smiled.  He was the only one doing that.  I wasn't scared anymore."

Not to be outdone, Andie (5) added, “Friends give friends the biggest piece of cake."

The youngest of 4, Sanjay (6) rarely got a chance to talk.  This one wouldn’t slip by.  "My older brother loves me ‘cause he gives me all his old toys and then has to go out and buy new ones."

Mia (3) added, "Chloe is my best friend, I tell her that a lot so she won’t forget.”

Finally Nicholas (7) summed it up best.  “If you want to learn to love better, you should start with someone who you don’t like."

Pastor Carolyn sat dumbstruck.  Such wisdom . . . such intelligence . . . such compassion.  She closed with a prayer before excusing them to their Sunday School classes.

Standing before the congregation, she said: “I can’t possibly say it better than these blessed children just did!  Go out and make a new friend today, or draw an old friend even closer.”

And ended the service right then with this benediction:

Lord Jesus, You’ve blessed us with the gift of friendship, the bonding of persons in a circle of love.  Thank You for friends who love us, who share our sorrows, who laugh with us in celebration, who bear our pain, who need us as we need them.  Bless our friends with health, wholeness, life, and love.  Amen.

The Bridge of Determination

“All things are possible with God." ~ Luke 1:37

German-American Engineer John Roebling dreamed of building a spectacular bridge to connect New York with Brooklyn.  He’d already earned a reputation for designing suspension bridges, which at the time were widely used, but known to fail under strong winds or heavy loads.

Troubled by their reliance on dangerously breakable hemp rope, he invented a strong but flexible wire rope as an alternative.  He presented the idea for a steel cable suspension bridge to several ‘experts’.  They panned the idea as impractical; nothing like that had ever been done before.

But Roebling couldn’t let go of his vision.  He believed it could be done and convinced his son Washington (an upcoming engineer), to help further develop the concept.

After successfully bridging the Niagara Falls and the Ohio River, NYC legislators approved Roeblings’ plan for a suspension bridge over the East River in 1867.  It would be the very first steel suspension bridge, boasting the longest span in the world (1,600 feet from tower to tower), and the tallest structure in the Western hemisphere.

But just before construction began, John was injured while taking a few final compass readings.  Three weeks later he died of tetanus.  Despite demands to kill the project, young Washington became the chief engineer.

He designed two large pressurized caissons that became the foundations for the two towers.  Working in the caissons often brought on "the bends" - a serious medical condition caused by exiting high-pressure atmospheres too quickly.  Washington himself was among the many workers permanently impaired.

Though he survived, he became partially paralyzed, deaf, and eventually blind.

With Washington confined to his sickroom, his wife Emily began taking down copious notes on what work he said remained to be done.  She took a crash course in engineering, learning everything she could about stress analysis, cable construction, and calculation of catenary curves.  Over the next 11 years, Emily played pupil, secretary, and messenger throughout the remainder of the project.

Due to her persistence and dedication, Emily was the first to cross the Brooklyn Bridge when it opened in 1883.  She’d never planned on becoming an engineer. But God must’ve had a different, yet better plan.  She accomplished what could only be described as an incredible engineering feat for that time.

She’d later compare the bridge to her own Christian faith.  “It’s held up and stabilized by three separate systems,” she said, “a cable suspension system, a secondary system of diagonal cables, and an underlying web truss.  Deep faith comes from e support systems:  personal reflection and prayer, scripture study, and regular church attendance.”

Let me add that the entire bridge is anchored in deep bedrock below the East River, which is as constant and unshakable as God's love for us.

Lord, thank You that You are the God of not only the possible – but of the impossible as well.  With You, nothing is hopeless!  Help strengthen my faith to believe You for all my needs, even those things that seem impossible.  Amen!

The Broken Wheel

“Let God lead you and He’ll clear the road for you to follow." ~ Proverbs 3:6

Zoey rushed down Michigan Avenue early that morning to catch a train to O’Hare when suddenly a wheel broke off her luggage.  There she stood in the middle of the sidewalk, people busily hustling past her on their way to work, infuriated at her bad luck.

Once again she’d cut it too close.  The young saleswoman felt as hopeless as flies in a fruit jar.  As Zoey searched mightily for anyone to blame, she spotted an old woman oddly out of place among the rush hour crowd.  She walked slowly in Zoey’s direction, gazing in store windows and lugging a tattered suitcase beside her.

The woman was dressed in untold layers of fragmenting wool.  From her appearance she'd been wandering the street for some time.  An unsteady gate suggested there might be a personal earthquake beneath her inadequate shoes.

However she'd come to homelessness, whoever she'd been before she fell into the sub-human class, it would destroy her eventually.  Then what?  Would she have a burial?  Or would she slip away as unnoticed as she’d been today?

Zoey moved toward the woman as if compelled to speak to her. Showing her the busted wheel in her hand, she said kindly: "This wheel broke off my luggage.  Sometimes the wheels of life fall off and leave us stranded with no place to go.  But we mustn't give up. God always has a better plan for your life but you'll never know what that is if you quit now.”

Then she added, “Would you like some coffee and something to eat?”

The woman obliged and they sat, ate, and talked.  Zoey learned quite a bit about “Edna.”  She never knew her father; Mom died of cancer.  Drug addiction bred intense self-hatred.  People treating her like a leper didn’t help matters either.

The pair chatted for a long while.  Then Edna took out a crumpled-up receipt and scribbled a short message.  She handed Zoey the note, smiled warmly and left the coffee shop.

Zoey watched the old woman disappear into the crowd before opening the wrinkled paper.  It contained words that’ll remain with her forever:  “I wanted to kill myself today.  Now I don’t 'cause of u.  Thank u kin lady.”

Her broken wheel just may have saved a broken life.  Going out of her way not just to purchase a meal for someone in need, but actually sitting down with her and listening, may have turned one woman from suicidal to hopeful.

All over a bagel and coffee.  So unexpected!  But not to a loving God who places opportunities before us daily, teaches us how to recognize them, and gives us the encouragement to step forward in faith.

Show me Your ways, Lord; how You would walk in these places.  Teach me Your paths of grace and mercy and integrity and love.  Help me to grasp Your ways so I can walk securely in them even in insecure places.  I need Your perspective today.  Amen