Space Invaded

It was a picture perfect, end of summer day.

Not a cloud in the sky.

No humidity - so rare for August in New Jersey.

Normally, I would be working four hours on a Friday morning. But with an event that evening, I opted to go in mid-afternoon and spend the earlier hours being still. Nothing re-centers me like some quality time with God by the lake.

I grabbed my phone (to keep an eye on the time), my Bible, and my camera. You never know what you might see in this pristine setting, so I always have my camera with me.

I focused in on Psalm 46:10. "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth."

Be still. I closed my eyes and soaked up the sounds. Crickets. Cicadas. The low-throated, elongated honk of a heron. The multiple songs of the mocking bird. Water lapping on the shore line.

The sound of millions of bees headed in my direction!!

My eyes flew open and I searched the sky for the source of the sound, half-wincing in anticipation of a sting.

But there were no bees.

At first, I saw nothing. Then I spotted a tiny dot in the sky that came closer and closer.

I sat there with my mouth open, feeling a little like someone in a horror or disaster movie who stands watching destruction coming straight at them, but they never turn tail and run.

It was a drone.

I had seen them on TV. Had heard about them and the controversy over them - like when they invade air space and create problems for planes.

But I had never seen one.

And now, this noisy thing was invading my sacred space.

It hovered over me for more than a few seconds. What was it doing? Taking pictures of me? I felt violated by this over-sized electronic insect.

I whipped out my camera and took a few pictures and it suddenly decided to move on in a different direction.

Now my mind was on this...thing. Where had it come from? What was it doing?

The stillness had been broken.

The drone had invaded my space uninvited. But I think of all the times I allow technology into my quiet time. How often am I distracted by the buzzes, beeps, and ringtones of messages that can surely wait until God and I are done, but in that moment I give them precedence?

Maybe that's not a problem for you. But I confess, it can be for me.

I saw War Room last weekend, and it made me long to get down on my knees in a place with no distractions. To seek God's face, one on one, no technology around. In the tiny little apartment I share with my grown son, that can be a tall order. In fact, it's one of the reasons I tend to go to the lake early in the morning.

I crave His presence and He desires mine - with no interruption.

I would encourage you to look for a place to spend some alone time with God each day where nothing can distract. Put down the phone, close the lid on your laptop, shut off the TV.

Just talk. Be still. Know He is God. Refocus, recenter, reground. You'll be better equipped to go through your day.

Where do you go to meet God without distraction? What tips might you have for avoiding "space invaded?" I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Goodbye Forever?

Today I'm still a jumble of emotions and tears.

Yesterday, I attended a funeral for the father of one of my dearest friends. I'd only met him twice. Once at the funeral of his sister-in-law, and once at the wedding of his granddaughter. I'm sure he would never have remembered that if we had been introduced a third time.

But that doesn't matter much because I will never forget him.

For years, I prayed for this man. For his health. For his well-being. For his family. His health has been borderline for a long time and each time there was a scare, I would pray anew for healing. But my constant prayer was that my friend would have the assurance of  his father's salvation before God called him home. I knew there was uncertainty, and I knew it weighed heavy on my friend's heart.

The past few months have been a roller coaster ride. Major surgery. A dire prediction for recovery. An all out miracle as the man who wasn't supposed to make it through the next 5 minutes, made it to the next morning, the next day, the next week. After a short time in rehab, he was sent home. We praised God for all He had done.

Then not long ago, a new problem surfaced and the complications began to roll in wave upon wave. I'm sure the questions I asked of God  were being echoed by his loved ones. Why did God perform such a miracle of healing, only to have him back in dire straights?

A week or so ago, my friend sat by his father's bedside. He asked the hard questions. "Dad, do you know Christ as your Savior?" "Will you go to heaven when you die?" My friend opened his Bible and went through the steps to ensure his father understood. His dad responded that yes, he understood and Christ was his Savior. Other family members received similar assurances as they too broached the subject of eternity during those last days.

When I learned of those encounters I wept at the answer to prayer. It had been the desire of my heart for a long time that my friend would know with certainty he would see his father again.

God chose ultimate healing for this man. On August 6th, he was called home. The celebration of his life was filled with stories...some funny, some touching. But the most important stories were the ones where he affirmed his belief in the Savior and his assurance that he would spend eternity with Him.

So why am I still crying?

Not because I knew this man well, I didn't.

In part because I love my friend and when he hurts, my heart hurts for him.

In part because I know and care about many of his family members and I understand the difficulty of losing a loved one - even though we who know Christ don't grieve as the world does because of our assurance of heaven.

But in large part, my tears come because of my own family members and the uncertainty of their eternal future.

Funerals cause reflection. We think of our own mortality. We wonder when we might be in the same position of saying goodbye to a loved one who is older or is in poor health.

But even in that reflection, we don't necessarily consider the fact that this life is but a vapor and we are not given assurance of tomorrow or even the rest of today. Sadly, we can say goodbye to a healthy person or someone in the prime of life just as easily as our elders and the sick.

We may not be given the extra time to sit by a bedside and outline God's gift of salvation as my friend did for his father.Therefore, we need to live each moment to its fullest. We need to take each opportunity we're given to share John 10:10 which states Christ came for that very reason - so we might live life to the full because of John 3:16.

So share Christ when you can, but always pray. For those you love. For your neighbors. For your co-workers. For those who would do you harm. For those you've never met...or maybe, only met twice.

I don't ever want to know the pain of losing someone I cherish without the certainty that I will see them again, but with all the troubles in this life, it's often easy to pray for immediate needs and bypass the eternal one.

If days like yesterday remind me to pray for the salvation of my family and others, then the tears are welcome and not without purpose.

Adventures in Community Outreach - Support Your Local Food Pantry

Earlier this month I wrote about growing a donation garden to feed the hungry in your community. You may have read that and thought "great idea, but I've got no _______ fill in the blank (land, time, ability, etc.)

This time out at Circlesoffaith.org, I share some of what I've learned about the needs of food pantries. If you're looking for a simple way to serve, especially as a family, this is something to consider...

Deuteronomy 15:11 “For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you,
saying, you shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.”

Every day I work with people who are forced to make choices.

Pay their rent, or buy food.

Put gas in the car, or buy food.

Keep the lights on, or buy food.

They are students, retired, disabled, divorced, married, unemployed, and underemployed people.

They are your neighbors, co-workers, friends, fellow church members, and maybe even family members.

With 1.2 million food insecure people in New Jersey alone, you very likely know someone
making these types of tough decisions.

So what can one person do in the face of such an overwhelming problem? Find out here.

Adventures in Community Outreach: Seeds of Love

In my Adventures in Community Outreach posts I've shared some of my experiences with single day outreaches or short-term, large scale projects broken down into small group activities.

Today's offering is a little different. How We Can Sow Seeds of Love, a guest post on Circlesoffaith.org, is about a longer term commitment. It's also about trusting God's leading when you feel the prompting of His Spirit - even if you don't think you have the needed gifts to complete the task

"I'm not a gardener. Over the years I've put the occasional tomato plant in the ground with mixed results. I have a black thumb when it comes to house plants. But despite my lack of expertise, the idea took hold in my heart - I knew it was from God."

Join me here for the rest of the story about the little donation garden that grew...

Turbulent Waters

I stood and watched the waters of the Delaware River move slowly up stream.

Then little white caps in the middle of the flow caught my eye.

Something was causing a disturbance.

There! The water nearest the shore I was standing on was moving in the opposite direction of the water by the far shore.

Surprisingly, the water was moving up stream and down stream.

At the same time!

The result was an area of turbulence.

"It's called an eddy" the property owner explained.

A river eddy is a current of water that moves contrary to the direction of the main current and can, at times, be churning and violent.

As the weekend progressed, I found myself drawn to watching the swirling waters, pondering the co-existence of opposing currents, not sure how it was possible.

A little research shed light on the mystery. Eddy's are generally caused by an obstruction under the surface such as a boulder-sized rock. It can also occur when the floor of the river bed experiences a chasm created by a steep drop.

The obstacle blocks the forward flow of the water and causes it to change its course around the area of  the object. In the same way, the drop in the river bed can cause water to swirl and change direction. The result is obvious turbulence above the surface.

When we move in the direction God's Spirit leads us, the current of our faith runs strong and sure within the banks of His love.

But sometimes, unforeseen things catch us off guard. 

A problem.

    A hardship.

        A loss.

            A life circumstance.

And suddenly we feel as though we've been knocked off our feet and sucked into deep waters.

We feel threatened by the hard, jagged, immovable circumstance just under the surface that we never saw coming.

We are tempted, like the river, to change course. To rush in the opposite direction.

But when we fight God's flow in our lives, the result is an eddy. Swirling waters ultimately going nowhere.

God's Word tells us that He never changes.

Malachi 3:6a says "I the Lord do not change."

Hebrews 13:8 states "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

So we know that the banks of love remain steadfast. And we know that the guidance of His Spirit doesn't switch mid-stream.

He. does. not. change.

An eddy is created because we have chosen to go another way.

Here me correctly. Those under the surface obstacles and chasms...those trials in life...they will happen regardless. Jesus warned "In this world you will have trouble". But He also encouraged "Take heart! I have overcome the world."  However, our reaction to those potential flow-changers is totally our choice.

Are you caught in an eddy today?

There is a way out. John 15:4 says "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."

Let go of the temptation to let circumstances guide where you go. Abide in His will and He will carry you over the rocks, past the chasms, all in the flow of His love.