Overbooked

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be." ~ Psalm 39:4

With her biggest sales pitch just an hour away, Kara hadn’t slept well last night.  Overcaffeination rendered her mind lethargic.

Racing through a crowded airport, Kara realized she’d left her iPhone on the hotel shuttle.  She borrowed a phone to call he own iPhone and ask that the driver please return it.

As the call connected, something terribly embarrassing happened.  Right there, surrounded by thousands of commuters, her bra started ringing.  She’d forgotten about tucking the iPhone in her bra.  That’s the moment she decided that hectic her life needed to change.

No longer would she wear being ‘overbooked’ as a badge of honor?   Her calendar would have to include more than conference calls, work deadlines, and other people’s needs.

At 27, it was time to start living the story she wanted to fondly look back on.

So, on a fitfully, cold winter evening, Kara entered the front doors of a nearby nursing home and asked to visit their ‘loneliest’ resident.  Their nomination sat quietly in room 109.

Kara had no idea who she was about to meet.  But she knew that the memories we covet most are rarely born from within our comfort zone.

She knocked on the door intending to deliver a gift … but discovered one instead: a 98-year-old woman named Stella.

When Kara asked about the best moments of her life, excitement washed over Stella’s face like sunshine through fine white linen; she glowed from the inside out.

Not what Kara expected; how could this frail woman feel so alive tucked away in a place like this?  She listened intently as Stella regaled her life story - glowing about the ways she’d collected fascinating memories.

Stella beamed about a rebellious love that lasted for decades.  They chuckled together when she tallied up the outlandish risks of her youth.  She’d experienced the ultimate luxury that Kara sought but couldn’t buy – a life well lived.

Despite living in this small, beige-colored room and without visitors for several months, nothing could take away the satisfaction a life well lived gave Stella now.

During the hour and a half they spent together sharing stories and laughing, Stella passionately urged Kara to make time for exciting life experiences.  It was the single most important piece of advice she wanted Kara to remember, even asking the girl to promise that she would.

Driving home, Kara steered through mournful tears.  She barely remembered her early twenties.  Probably because she never slowed down long enough to actually live them.  She’d been asleep at the wheel; a life on autopilot.

From today forward, Kara’s life would never be the same again.  Collecting experiences, adventures and face time with amazing people would become at least, if not more important than most other tasks and obligations.

Lord, thank You for the gift of life.  Please calm my hurried heart.  Prompt me to slow down when needed?  Help me experience Your heavenly tranquility and I’ll praise Your holy name.  Amen

A 'God' Thing

“We live by faith, not by sight." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:7

Occasionally we encounter events that seem to be so random, they can only be explained as a miracle.  Such was the case when 21 year old twin sisters Ashlee and Andrea discovered they were pregnant at the same time.  Oddsmakers say the chance of twins having twins is about 1 in 2,500.

What makes the story even more amazing, is that the two moms, living hundreds of miles apart, were six months pregnant when they found out they were both going to have twin boys . . . due on roughly the same date.

They admitted that twins ran in the families of all four parents, and that they didn’t use fertility drugs to conceive the babies.  Since both were likely to be cesarean births, the twin mothers decided to schedule their deliveries for the same day.  It wasn’t a publicity stunt but rather so that all four babies would share the same birthday with their grandfather.

Ashlee went to Georgia several weeks before their due date to be with her sister so that they could be born in the same hospital.

In what might be a medical first, each of twin sisters delivered twin boys by C-section on January 1^st.  Andrea gave birth to identical twins weighing just over 4 pounds each.   Ashlee gave birth to fraternal twins weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces and 7 pounds, 4 ounces.  All four boys - and their Moms – are doing fine.

The boy’s physician claimed the chances of twin sisters giving birth to twin boys on the same date are probably greater than 1 in a million.  What a delightful coincidence – or was it . . . “a God thing!”  Isn’t that what call something miraculous that goes our way?

Christians tend to label things that unexpectedly work out in their favor as “God things.”  This statement always follows something good that’s happened to us - a story of healing, a rare coincidence that went our way, finding a parking space, getting a job or when our child stops warming the bench in time to hit the game-winning shot.

But there’s a flip side to that coin.  When things don’t go our way - it’s still “a God thing.”  When we don’t get the promotion that we wanted - it’s a “God thing.”  Times of suffering, times of misfortune, times of loss – “God thing, God thing.”  It’s all within His sovereign plans.

God’s in control of the “bad” days just as much as He’s in control of the “good” ones.  All of these seemingly random events invite us to experience God in ways we may have never considered.  He’s bigger, more beautiful, and more surprising than we could ever have planned or predicted.

Lord, sometimes Your plan isn’t what we asked for.  It’s hard to see where You are during the hard times.  Through Your grace, help us to know that You’re there, that You care, and that when this world is falling apart, You’re still in control.  Amen

Holding Daddy's Hand

“I am the Lord your God.  Don’t be afraid, I’m holding your hand." ~ Isaiah 41:13

FATHER: My daughter is like a snapchat in time.  I recall her ponytail blowing in the spring breeze, her girlish face absorbing the sun’s warmth.  There’s nothing I wouldn't do to keep her from harm, but I can’t protect her forever.  I can only be there when she falls and stand well back while she reaches for the stars.

I remember entering Disney’s ‘It’s a Small World’ for the first time.  “Daddy?  I’m scared,” she said in a voice that oozed anxiety.  Happily, I reached down and clutched the delicate hand baring such sweet innocence.  A precious moment, indeed.

Honestly, it scares me that these days duck just below the horizon.  She isn’t always going to grab my hand for warmth and reassurance.  Before long she’s going to pretend she doesn’t need me anymore, her independence sprouting like kudzu across the Georgian countryside.

DAUGHTER:  I can’t remember the first time I held my Daddy’s hand, but I’ll never forget the security I sensed when his enormous, calloused hand was wrapped around my faint little fingers.  I adored the feeling of protection, knowing with complete certainty that no monster, sickness, or other danger could harm me while he held my hand.

Through all the stages in my life, Daddy’s huge work-worn hands would comfort me one way or another: reassuring me as I waited for the bus on my inaugural day of school; restoring my self-confidence after breaking my arm; calming my wedding day jitters.  No matter how each giant step in life turned out, the strength of Daddy’s unwavering grip would always be there.

It scares me a lot that the time is near when the hands that once promised safety and security, wither to little more than skin and bone.  Soon his weary fingers would have to reach down from heaven – an ever present positive force in my life.

GOD:  My hand is always within reach.  Times when you’re scared and need someone to hold on to; days when you’re weak and need an extra boost; moments when you don’t know what to do and crave guidance and direction.

You may no longer have your parents to hold your hand when you’re scared.  You may now be the person asked to hold someone’s hand for comfort.  You may need to be strong for others.  But no matter how strong you think you are, there are times when the scared child still lives within you.

In those times, turn to Me.  For I am the LORD, your God, and I will always be there to help.  I too, want to hold your hand and bring you peace.  All you need to do is ask, then take My hand.

“Hold my hand Lord, lead me the way, help me be good every day.  Show me what’s wrong and right, keep me safe through the night.  Let me know what You’ve planned, lead the way God, hold my hand.”  Amen

Seasons of Wither

"For everything there is a season, and a time for everything under heaven." ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

Sarah’s eyes could only detect shadows of light and dark.  She knew day from night and the proximity to a window on a sunny day.  Without colors, she relied on the intensity of other senses.  She loved the seasonal changes for their simple joys.

Nearly blind from birth, Sarah knew before her sighted friends when the winter season was in transition.  She knew every flower of her neighborhood by their scents, either that which they released to the damp air or by crushing a petal to release their aromatic sap.  The daffodils and crocuses were usually early bloomers.  The myriad of lush hues from the grass and leaves were lost to her; but their gentle fragrance never was.

She knew the call of each bird species and marked the progress of the season with their song.  There was more good humor in the air and the children reappeared in greater numbers to the streets. Soccer games erupted in the spaces between the clustered garages and in cul-de-sacs. Skateboarders rode over the uneven pavement slabs, sounding for the entire world like an approaching train.

She felt the breeze kiss her more warmly.  Even the rainfall would be different, no longer driving and harsh, but settling softly on her face, almost refreshing.  The wind would lose its bite, becoming ambient, congenial, and tousling the hair of pedestrians - but no longer stealing their warmth.  It’s the promise of summer to come, of warm days without the weight of winter garb.

But on this bleak, spring morning, that all still seemed months away.

Seasons fade in and out like soft lullabies, their transitions unhurried but never faltering.  Like mother earth herself, they only turn in one direction, always onward, never back.  Sarah breathed in deeply, so wanting the beautiful flowers and sweet-smelling blossoms that she could almost smell the promise of their perfume.

Thought she can’t smell them yet, Sarah knows they’re coming.  It’s happened every year.  She knows with certainty that those bulbs lying dormant below the soil will come to life when God says it’s time.

Sometimes it’s the same way spiritually.  We hit bleak times in our lives, and it feels as if God’s a million miles away.  We chase the dreams He’s put on our hearts, and we wait and wait, but nothing happens.  But just like things happening to those bulbs below the soil, God is busily at work on our behalf, even when we can’t yet see those first sprouts of His endowment.

The flowers are coming.  If God made you a promise, you can count on the fact that you will one day see it bloom in your life as well.

For flowers that bloom about our feet, for tender grass, so fresh and so sweet; for song of bird, and hum of bee, for all things fair we hear or see, Father in heaven, we thank Thee!  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Where Do Prayers Go?

“Always keep praying." ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:17 

Sonya planted cherry-pie kisses on the sweet, gentle child sitting on her lap.

Paige giggled like only a child can.  It was that infectious kind of laugh that lights up adults - like an echo of the children they once were.  When her expression took a more curious tone, grandma knew an important question was about to surface.

“Grammie,” she began.  “Where do prayers go?  How do my prayers find their way to God?”

Paige always asked lots of questions, but Sonya was completely unprepared for this one.  Three quick thoughts emerged.

First, she wanted to be consistent with what her parents had told the youngster.  Second, while Sonya had attended dozens of Bible studies and should be able to nail this question, she needed to answer the question at a level Paige could comprehend. Third, and most important, Sonya didn’t want to say anything that she’d have to ‘unsay’ later.

Sonya smiled and looked into the adoring eyes of her innocent grandchild.  “It depends on which prayer you say honey.  When you say a blessing for the food you eat, the blessing doesn’t go anywhere; it just stays with you in your mind and makes you feel thankful and blessed.  When you sing a song from the Bible, it goes to your heart and makes you feel happy and strong.  That’s what my grandmother told me.”

Satisfied momentarily, Paige asked “Will God answer all my prayers?”

“Oh yes, dear,” Sonya replied.  “He answers every single prayer with either yes, no, or not yet.”

Feeling liked she had nailed it, Sonya continued.  “Getting a “yes” is wonderful.  It’s exactly what you wished for.  But, you can’t always get what you want.

“No” is tougher to take and even harder to hear.  What’s good about “no,” though, is that God promises to help you deal with any situation.

Most of the time God says “not yet.”  He has a very special plan for you Paige, and you need to be patient and trust God to work in your life.  It’s hard sometimes, but you still have to try.”

Fearing the question were getting more challenging, Sonya decided to turn the table.  “Paige, do you know where God lives?”

The child thought for a moment, then said emphatically, “Grandma, you should know the answer to that one?”

Decide ahead of time as a parent that you won’t freak out when your child challenges you and questions God.  Or your teenager tells you that Christianity isn’t different than any other religion.

Thank them for the question.  Explore it with them.  Ask them questions.  And reach out to a wider circle of influence that can help them process what they’re going through.  Make your home a safe place where doubts can be expressed.  You just might foster belief as a result.

“Jesus, are you really there?  Do you hear and answer every child’s prayer?  Some say that heaven is far away, But I feel it close around me as I pray.”  ~ Janice Kapp Perry