"Time Passages"

 “Make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good." ~ Ephesians 5:16

As if her VCR was pressed in rewind mode, images of Nevaeh’s childhood flashed before her eyes.  Youthful memories are a photo album that can be edited.  She kept the best ones - those that brought joy and let the others fade away.

There she was, age three, building a sand sculpture on the beach ... feeling the warmth of bright sunlight shining down on her cute, angelic face.  Nevaeh imagined a birthday cake fashioned of sweet caramel sand with candy grains of golden sugar and creamy frosting.

Time flew as those tiny hands morphed into stronger ones building a castle from Lego bricks.  Bold colors, dancing unicorns and Princess Nevaeh holding court. 

Holding one hand and one foot, Daddy would spin her around faster and faster, calling it an "airplane" ride.  She felt giddy with pleasure ‘flying’ above the tall grass and meadow wildflowers.

Hopscotch, with colorful chalk amid the beating sun was how she and her grade school friends spent the last of each Indian summer.  Without computers or iPhones, they drew squares on crumbling sidewalks; cheapest entertainment money could buy.

Moving still faster now.  Those same hands grasped a pencil tightly they while taking her first math test.  Later yet, only slightly more relaxed, they held onto a steering wheel, driving along with family and friends.

Their wedding was perfect – a simple ceremony that celebrated the purity of their love just as a simple frame accentuates the beauty of a photograph.  It was like basic air and water rather than fireworks; unpretentious with one another, their commitment was forever.

Tearful cries interrupted Nevaeh’s dreamlike serenity as her husband burst into tears.  His glossy eyes turned to Nevaeh.  In an almost-broken voice he spoke gratefully of their beautiful daughter.

Through her exhaustion she smiled, letting her eyes leave his face to take in the newborn she brought to chest.  Her eyes were more brilliant than she could’ve dreamed they’d be, her hands more delicate.  She felt so light, looked so perfect, smelled so divine.  Only minutes old and her tiny girl began to root, content smile, instincts strong.

Hers had been a childhood of innocence, wonder, security, and of love.  Nevaeh (Heaven spelled backward) now understood that children hold the future in their delicate hands.  Perhaps God had given her a second chance ... a chance to relive her childhood again; maybe even better this time! 

She must enable this infant child to shape that future, to inspire her to dream of hope, peace and love; to empower her with the values and skills to make those dreams come true. 

As parents, it’s ultimately our responsibility to instill those foundational principles purposefully if we want a peaceful, thriving world.

Almighty Father, our time on earth goes by so fast.  Help me make it count by contributing to Your Kingdom.  Inspire more leaders to step forward and teach the next generation how to lead and love others in Your name.”  Amen

God Choices

 “If you need wisdom, ask God.  He’ll never rebuke you for asking." ~ James 1:5

For Westerners, coming of age brings to mind quinceañeras, sweet sixteens and bar mitzvahs.  In China, Zhuazhou is held before a child even takes its first step.

For centuries, a Chinese baby’s’ first year passed cautiously due to the country’s high infant mortality.   Reaching its first birthday was cause for celebration.  

But, Zhuazhou isn’t an occasion for grand feasts and elaborate gifts.  No invitations are sent out; relatives and friends arrive spontaneously with modest gifts: food, coins, simple toys.  The custom dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) as a means for expressing good wishes and reflects how the elders will encourage the child’s future.

There’s an old Chinese saying: "You can know a child's future when he is very young."  Feng Zikai chose a Chinese brush pen at his Zhuazhou (or “birthday grab”) ceremony.  His family encouraged him to study literature and he became a famously influential writer. 

For baby Wang Li, his big day had arrived with much anticipation.

Zhang, his father, placed several objects carefully on the floor while guests gathered to watch.  Whatever item Li picks up and gives to his parents might signal the child's future career or personality types.

A book, calculator, pen, currency, stamp and ball of yarn were carefully arranged so that no item was unfairly attractive to the boy.  After several adjustments, Li was finally allowed to peruse each object while his anxious parents waited patiently.

He touched the calculator and skimmed over the book cover.  Grabbing the pen next, he examined it thoroughly.  Seemly content with its weight and shape, he unexpectedly dropped it also.  Neither the cash or stamp received any consideration. 

He’d already rejected writer, financier, business executive, entrepreneur and party official.

The last item had been selected for its blue color which represented immortality and optimism.  He drooled on it briefly before turning abruptly and crawling back into his father’s arms without any object.

Tears flooded Zhang’s eyes - tears of profound joy.  He hadn’t realized that he was one of the choices.  Everyone in the room began clapping for Li's choice.  

According to Chinese tradition, he was destined to become a humanitarian - one who cares about others and the alleviation of suffering; a man gentle and compassionate.

As the most critical part of the celebration was over, Li’s uncle brought out a birthday cake.  Amid a chorus of the Chinese version of "Happy Birthday," the little birthday boy passed another hurdle in his life's journey.

Did you ever wonder if your "good" choices are "God's" choices?  That they’re the ones we do from a sense of love and duty for others rather than for self?  God’s will for our lives is more obvious than we may think.

Merciful God, give us the courage and fortitude to accept Your will in our lives – even when doing so will demand much of us.  Help us to cling ever more tightly to Your Son, that we may have no doubt about Your plans for us.  Amen

"Don't Stop Believin"

 "Happy are those who believe that the Lord's message will come true!" ~ Luke 1:45

Jon, like so many other struggling musicians in the late 70’s was ready to quit the Sunset Strip and move back home to Chicago.  Everything had been going wrong: he had no rock band prospects and had recently split with a girlfriend.  Worst of all, his beloved dog had been nearly killed by a car.  Unpaid vet bills were climbing faster than inflation.

Nearly out of cash, he called his Dad for another loan.  It was Jon’s father who’d gotten him into music at an early age.  By his teens, he played piano, bass, and harmonica.  Jon’s Dad encouraged him to pursue a music career.

As a child, Jon survived a horrific fire at the Catholic school he attended that killed 92 of his classmates and 3 nuns.  That experience formed a resilience that would carry him through both tragedy and success.

“Don’t come home son,” Dad urged.  “God gifted you many talents.  Stick to your guns!  Don’t stop believin’.  Jon scribbled the phrase in a notebook he kept for song ideas and took the advice to heart.  Dad sent the money and things started to happen – not all good things.

“There were many broken promises and rejections,” he’d later recall.  “The Lord kept saying ‘Not yet!’  “It wasn’t until I surrendered; emptied out.  Lord, please lead me!”

He never abandoned his vision, eventually getting his big break with Journey, a San Francisco rock band, writing songs that became the soundtrack of a generation. 

The band needed one final song for its 7^th album, “Escape.”  Lead vocalist Steve Perry asked Jon if he had any lyrics or melodies that might work.  He went home, paged through his spiral notebook, and found his father’s quote from their long-distance call years before: “Don’t stop believin.’” 

“I wrote the chorus, and we all finished the song together,” he confided.  “It was magical!”

The song’s inspirational message became a megahit, helping propel Escape to multi-platinum status worldwide.  While it never topped the charts, Don’t Stop Believin’ captured our culture in countless ways: the “Sopranos” series finale and that memorable “Glee” pilot.  Rarely a wedding or party happens without it. 

While he gives credit to his father, Jonathon’s Cain’s aha moment came when he realized that his Dad was a conduit for the Lord’s message.  “It was always God talking,” he admitted humbly, feeling the need to pay his blessings forward today by writing and singing Christian music that he hopes will one day be as "timeless" as Journey's 1981 hit single.

Cain has released eight solo Christian albums since 2016.   Additionally, he serves as the Worship Leader at the City of Destiny megachurch, where his wife Paula White serves as Senior Pastor and Spiritual Advisor to President Donald Trump.   

Father God, thank You for loving, forgiving, and showing me my worthiness.  I’m in awe of You Lord and submit my heart to You.  May Your Holy Spirit transform me and make me like You.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Stolen Girls

“How wonderful when we all live together in harmony!" ~ Psalm 133:1

Smiles often reflect a universal language of happiness.  Their message can be misleading though.  People also smile when they’re frightened, embarrassed, or intimidated.  Such was the case in this photo capturing the “Stolen Girls’” expressions.  More on this photo later.

Inspired by Dr. King’s peaceful protests, more than 200 people marched from Friendship Baptist Church in Americus, GA to the Martin Theatre in July 1963 to protest its segregative practices.  Police responded with brute force: water hoses, cattle prods, and nightsticks.

Protesters were arrested.  Some were adults, but the vast majority of those taken into custody were teenagers.  When the city jail filled, dozens of young girls were housed at the Leesburg Stockade, an unremarkable, concrete structure at the end of a lonely country road.

The building was a relic from the 1940’s.  Rusted bars covered its windows giving mosquitos and roaches free rein.  The only water came from a dripping shower head; the lone toilet didn’t flush.  They ‘dined’ on egg sandwiches or rare hamburgers and slept on cement floors.

Many had joined the march without their parent’s knowledge.  Their families had no idea where they were for more than a week, when the local dogcatcher eventually broke the silence.

They spent 60 days imprisoned for defying segregation.

Word spread.  A 21-year-old volunteer, Danny Lyon, snuck into the stockade, and shot about 20 photographs including the one above.  A Chicago newspaper ran the images under the headline, “Kids Sleep on Jail Floor: Americus Hellhole”

Shirley Green-Reese, one of those jailed and now an Americus city councilwoman is often asked why she was smiling in the photo.  “I wasn’t smiling because of the situation,” she later admitted, “but because at 13 years old, I was happy to see anyone.”

The girls were finally released in mid-September.  They were never charged with any crime, but their parents each had to pay a two-dollar boarding fee.

Today, they’re speaking out about their experiences after more than 50 years in hope of getting closure and the recognition for the injustice.  They speak as one voice, telling the long overdue and hidden story of their illegal, abusive and degrading treatment.

It goes to show that the prettiest smile can hide the deepest secrets.  If you read stories written by the suicidal, some have been saved by a stranger’s kind word or a phone call to a suicide hotline.  Sometimes it can make all the difference.  Keep your eyes open.

Don’t disregard friends that smile all the time or ignore the ones who never talk about their problems.  They may need you the most.  So, how do you know if they don’t say anything.  I just like to assume everyone needs a friend and be available as often as possible.

Thank You Lord for my friends; those who walk alongside me, encouraging me, and loving me.  Help me to be more gracious to them, appreciating them and accepting their help.  Bless those who I call friends, that You may ever be in our midst.  Amen

Fix My Eyes on Him

“See what God has done!” ~ Numbers 23:23

Born the eldest son of a well-known clergyman, young Sam had a passion for exploring things he didn’t understand – photography, electricity, human interaction.  But his real passion was for sketching, which consumed much of his idle time.

Educated at a Christian boarding school, and later at Yale College, he took a job working for a printer and bookseller.  And hated it. 

Despite his belief that being an artist was not a suitable occupation, his father agreed to send Sam abroad to hone his painting skills.  As his talents matured he gained notoriety for a few works while in Europe.

Upon returning to America, Sam earned money painting portraits of subjects including President James Monroe and French General Lafayette.  One large painting called ‘Representative Hall’, which displayed the House of Representatives in session, gained widespread attention.

Though his income was irregular, he generously supported missionaries and institutions training clergy.  He even established one of the country’s first Sunday Schools in his home church.

His work often took him away from his wife and children.  In 1825, while 300 miles away in Washington D.C., his young wife died suddenly in Connecticut.  He wasn’t able to attend her funeral as it took 10 days for the news to reach him by mail.

The tragedy of her passing fueled a passion to develop a faster method of communicating.  With some assistance from a university science professor, he spent the next 11 years developing a working prototype employing electro-magnets and a series of relays through a network of stations.  It used a simple code of dots and dashes for the letters of the alphabet which were transmitted as short and long electrical impulses with gaps in between.

He laid insulated wire across New York harbor in order to promote his invention publicly.  But when a ship’s anchor cut the wire, he unfortunately received more ridicule than support.

Penniless and frequently hungry, Sam never took his eyes off God.  In 1843, the federal government agreed to finance his ‘telegraph.’  Despite a number of technical difficulties, he successfully built the first telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore.

Early the morning of May 24, 1844, onlookers gathered in the Supreme Court’s chambers to receive the fateful transmission from Baltimore.  Sam had promised the daughter of a lifelong Christian friend the honor of choosing what would be said.  

Electricity raced through the lines with the message “What hath God wrought!”  She chose the words from the Bible (Numbers 23:23) because she recognized that it was God who had inspired and sustained Samuel Morse throughout.

Morse remained a humble Christian to the end of his days, describing his life’s work by saying that it was God’s work.  “Not unto us, but to Thy Name, O Lord, be all the praise.”

Father God, when we pridefully boast regarding our talents and accomplishments, we fail to appreciate Your role in all we do.  Remind us that none of us can succeed on our own strength or wisdom.  We need You!”  Amen

Flip Flops in the Rain

 “Rainbows remind us of the covenant between God and all living creatures." ~ Genesis 9:16

Victoria gazed out her window to dark, maniacal clouds.  The pitter-patter against her window meant only one thing.  Rain stirred something deep within her; sharing its bountiful life force and cleansing her soul.

She jumped into Ferrosi capris, a light jacket and flip flops (a rain-washed path seems to invite playful feet).  She ran from her building sans cash, cellphone or even an umbrella.

The rain came steady and soft, falling from a sky of white velvet.  Suddenly the rocks became more brilliant, the flowers more vibrant, the hillside more lovely.

There was something magical about walking on a rainy day.  Because fewer people go out in the rain it gave her a better sense of space for her thoughts and emotions to run wild.  She’d have the woods, the beach, or the sidewalk to herself.  Alone with her thoughts, raindrops became her meditation; peaceful, present, and maybe slightly rebellious.  Rainy days were the best!

She often wondered if fresh raindrops really had such divine power . . . or was it just in her mind?  Perhaps a little of both.

Taking a walk in the rain helped ease her mind to give up control and go about life, no matter what the weather, or anything else, tossed her way.  Just like with a rain shower, everything has its moment and will eventually pass.

It also helped Victoria see things from a different perspective: whether it was the dimmer light, the gloomy mood, or the reflection of streetlights in puddles, almost everything looked different on rainy days.

Scientific studies indicate that the fresh smell after the rain comes from the oils of plants mixing with the ozone and the good bacteria from the soil.  It calms and relaxes the mind, which is why she felt so refreshed after breathing in the clean air that followed a good rain.  Plus, rain water is alkaline, and contains no minerals making it ideal for Victoria’s hair and skin.

She stopped to enjoy the sheer joy of some street children soaked to the skin, playing in the rain.  They stomped, danced and giggled as if the normal pressures of life were absent for the moment.  Anyone who says you can’t bottle love has never experienced the intoxicating laughter of an excited child splashing in muddy puddles.

Everything seemed right with the world. 

Victoria returned home but not before a rainbow arced across the sky in colors that sparked a glow that stayed within.  She took a warm shower, donned flannel pajamas, prepared a cup of hot tea and cozied up with a good book.  The perfect day indeed, one for which she was eternally grateful to the amazing One who provided it.

“I pray that whatever storm you’re facing, you will be reminded today that God always keeps His promises.  I pray that He will give you the courage to stare at the rain that’s clouding your vision and thank God, for the rain”. ~ Victoria