😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. Earlier this week Brian and I celebrated our 18th anniversary by spending a few days in the Traverse City, MI area. Wow!  I’m really in awe of the beauty God created in that area. Sure, being in the Dayton, OH area we see flat corn fields all of the time. But add some rolling hills and dimension to those corn fields as they have in the Traverse City area and you have a very different view and perspective.  It’s interesting how changing one element of a situation can change so much. It wasn’t too long ago that I was sitting in the back seat of my car writing a 😎🐫 message, while waiting for a friend. When she arrived, she asked why I was sitting in the back seat. My reply, “It’s a different perspective.”  Occasionally we all need that backseat perspective. Perspective and attitude will incredibly change a moment. The lakes in MI were so clear, blue, and warm. It’s been about 12 years since I actually spent some time in water other than a shower, but their beauty just drew me in.  

A few years back when a local bookstore went out of business, I purchased a book that I wasn’t looking for, but it was on clearance and its title intrigued me so I purchased it. You know, those planned “chance” moments can be the greatest guides in our lives if we open ourselves to them.  The book is “The Power of One on One” by Jim Stump.  One on one, that’s what we shared this weekend.  We left the campground early and stayed out late. In four days of camping, we never even started a fire. If you know me, you know that’s a big deal. Thinking about this just now, it’s interesting that I was pulled back from the fire and drawn to the water.  Hmmm, that’s something else to contemplate.  Anyway, I feel I’m all over the place this week, but just hang with me a bit longer. I grew up playing a different sport each season and I kind of had rotating, seasonal friendships.  Hanging out with a group of friends for me, became more about just having a good time and conversation that just scratched the surface of life, love, concerns, and growth.  And we all need that alone time to help center ourselves, quiet down our spirit, and have one on one moments with the Lord.  But I believe where I thrive is in one on one walks and talks. I believe that’s where you are most free go deep with others. Undistracted time, asking those challenging questions and opening your heart and soul without fear of judgment, knowing that matters discussed are held in confidence and love.  Being away from the distractions of everyday life is one of the reasons why I really enjoy road trips with Brian.  Spending hours in a car with only one other person will certainly initiate conversations that would have never otherwise happened.  I want to encourage you to tap into the power of one on one relationships. Allow them to be open, vulnerable, find joy, and go deep. Allow your cup to be filled ‘til it overflows. The blessings you discover will be beyond measure. Bless others and be blessed. 

#TobyMac – Overflow

#JimStump – The Power of One on One

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. I know we’ve all had those moments looking at a picture of ourselves when we start picking on ourselves. I don’t like this…  I don’t like that…  Delete!  I’ve come to a point in my life that I don’t worry so much about that stuff. I’m comfortable with who I am, so those physical images aren’t a major hang up for me.  It wasn’t always this way and I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced this or not, but when looking at pictures of myself it’s like I’m looking at a stranger. There’s no life, no spirit, and it seems very empty.  His Spirit is alive and is what gives me life. Is that what’s missing in the pictures?  How many times do we pass by people that have a blank, hollow, lifeless look about them. I imagine we’ve experienced that more than we would like to count. That blank, hollow, lifeless look is God’s invitation calling you to bring His Spirit to them, to bring them life filled with His presence.  That doesn’t mean Bible thumping them. It’s about loving them the way they need to be loved (although we don’t always know what we need or what’s best for us) and allow His presence to ooze and pour out of every action and word you speak.  Be His light to a longing heart and allow them to experience what true life in the Lord really is. This doesn’t mean you should run out and find a “project”, but be open when He sends you an invitation. You’re part of His plan. Bless others and be blessed. 

#TaurenWells – God’s Not Done with You

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Surrender?  Everything?  I’ve been working on a project recently and I’ve heard myself say out loud on multiple occasion regarding that project, “I want whatever God wants.”  But later I’ll try to control the situation and give it a “Not that.” or “I want it this way.”  This past weekend’s Women’s Emmaus Walk was an incredibly strong reminder of how an ordinary place + flawed individuals + surrender to the Holy Spirit = God’s overwhelming ability to change lives beyond measure. Yes, faith is believing in that which we cannot see, but we can see and experience God.    He leaves evidence of His presence everywhere, but without surrender, we are blind to that evidence.  I know in my heart that His will is so much greater than mine. I just need to keep telling that to my mind and give Him my full surrender. Bless others and be blessed. 

#AustinFrench – Holy Ground

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. I’ve been staring at my phone for over an hour trying to put into words what God is speaking to me, but all I’m hearing is “Be still.”  This past weekend we went on a camping trip with some of our kids and grandkids and at one point Brian ask me why I was standing off by myself, distancing myself from everyone else. I didn’t realize I was doing that and I wasn’t trying to be off by myself.  At times, I find there are moments in which I don’t want to be part of the action. I just want to sit back and take in the joy others are experiencing. Sometime I just need to step back to get the full effect of the experience going on around me. When we are so wrapped up in the daily grind and To Do lists, so much of this life passes us by in a blink.  The same can be true with our faith journey.  Are you just working through that spiritual To Do list and missing those moments of stillness and surrender?  It’s okay to take a few steps back from those lists, challenges, and battles, and allow yourself to just be still.  The end of this song allows you some time to experience stillness in God’s presence. I want to challenge you to allow that stillness and NOT turn the song off before it ends. Bless others and be blessed. 

#JeremyCamp – Be Still

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. This past week I’ve had a couple God realization moments.   First, there are many times in our lives that we get delayed for whatever reason and it can be frustrating. The majority of the time we have no idea why we were delayed or what that delay helped us to avoid. Traveling to MI on Friday, we stopped at a rest stop for a quick break. Standing at the car waiting for Brian to return I said this prayer. “Please keep us and all those around us safe, sober, undistracted, and focused.”  Brian returned to the car and told me about a conversation him and a guy had standing at the sink, about sensor style faucets. Apparently the one in the restroom didn’t want to work and it was slowing both of them down. We were back on the road I would guess not even 10 minutes when I noticed what appeared to be a cloud of dust or something maybe 3 miles down the road. Then all of the sudden everyone was hitting their breaks.  I don’t know what happened but there was a big dump truck that hit the center wall hard. The driver was out of the truck laying on the ground breathing hard and his truck was a few vehicle lengths ahead of him. Other than praying for those involved in that accident, I also thanked God for the sensor faucet that didn’t want to work and delayed us to the point of not being involved in the accident.  On Saturday we went for ice cream after dinner, before starting our journey back to OH, got a screw in our tire, and had to go to two tire shops in order to get it repaired.  A special thank you to Discount Tires for letting us in and taking care of us two minutes before closing.  Why were we delayed that time?  I don’t know, but once again I thanked God for the delay. 

Second, on Monday I had kind of a surreal moment, that I’d not experienced before, when God revealed this to me.  I imagine you’ve heard the parable of the talents, Matthew 25:14-30.  Essentially, if you’re faithful in small matters, God will entrust you with move. After another challenging day of work, sitting on my porch swing trying to relax, God brought this parable to mind and said, “I would trust you with more, not it’s going to be easy.”  I have to admit, that made me grin.  Life with Him is good, not a guarantee of easy.  But we are never in this alone.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#Switch – Symphony

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  I’ve known for many years that I very much enjoy serving others. It’s not just an opportunity to help someone, but also to teach and guide.  Something that I recently discovered about serving others at work is that I get rather frustrated when I don’t have the knowledge to properly serve them in a timely manner.  I guess we all have our breaking points and I kind of found mine in a meeting last Thursday. There was no excuse for my actions and over the next couple work days I apologized to everyone that was in the meeting.  As I reflect on this frustration I’m realizing as frustrated as I’ve been not being able to serve others, I can’t even imagine how frustrated God gets with us when we don’t allow Him into our lives to serve us.  He loves and cares for us so much that it probably breaks His heart when we turn down His advances and try to do things on our own. It’s not that He wants to do everything for us, but He wants to do things with us.  He doesn’t want our learning to have to be painful.  He just wants us to learn.  God can use all of our bad choices and turn them around for His glory, if we work through the aftermath with Him.  Since my blow up and apologies, I’ve seen and walked through doors of opportunity to engage and encourage some of my coworkers.  We’ve experienced opportunities to turn negative attitudes toward a more positive light. We’ve seen constant complaining turn into “Let’s work on some solutions.”  Yes, there is still some negativity in the ranks, but that new spark of hope is growing.  It’s like the spark of light in a new sunrise. At first there’s just a glow and before you know it the whole sky is lit up and shining gloriously for the Lord.

As some of you well know, it’s not a stretch for me to want to get up and dance with the kids in this video. Take a moment and just let loose.  You know it will feel good and put a smile on your face. Bless others and be blessed.

#DannyGokey – New Day

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. Looking through my calendar, it surprises me how quickly and often the days and evenings fill up. Where do the weeks go?  We’re almost half way through the year already.  The more I share moments with family and friends, the more I realize that’s where true treasures lie.  Yes, the chores still need to be done and it’s important to have alone time, but relationships are a blessing worth pursuing. That makes me think about 19 years ago, just after Brian and I met at the bank that I worked at. He had no idea how I was pursuing him and I even got the other bank employees involved in this high speed pursuit. Yes, we were only dating three months when he asked me to marry him. Actually, it wasn’t until years after we were married that I let him in on the secret that us bank employees would either slow down or work more quickly with our customers to ensure that Brian aka “Dimples” always ended up at my teller window.  Thinking about that makes me smile. How are you pursuing relationships that will draw you closer to the Lord?  Are you just letting things progress or are you actually pursuing them?  What about your relationship with God?  Are you pursuing Him or just letting it happen?  The pursuit is not always fun. There can be feelings of disappointment or hurt, but some relationships are worth the extra effort and fight. Even when others don’t quite get it or understand.  Relationships make me think of dancing. There is rhythm involved and steps that need to be taken. But as you’re facing each other taking those steps, you’re actually moving in opposite directions to create forward motion. Maybe that’s why relationships can be challenging and we occasionally get hurt when someone steps on our toes. But the more we practice, the quicker our steps actually turn into a beautifully flowing dance.  Let the rhythm of God’s song be in your heart and allow you to pursue Him so that you will dance your life away together. I enjoy this video because it actually gets me dancing, but also because of the relationships. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Bless others and be blessed. 

#MeganTrainor – Better When I’m Dancing

6/19/19

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Changing careers and learning something new is always a challenge, especially when you go from being on top of your game to feeling lost and awkward like a high school freshman.  According to my husband, this is really stressing me out and making me grumpy. To be honest, it makes me want to come home every night and have a drink. It may or may not be your job, but I’m sure there has been something that you’ve experienced that caused your attitude to shift, the smile to leave your face, your posture to slump, and a change in the words you speak. I don’t want to be like that anymore and I miss my happy self.  I miss being a smile to brighten someone else’s day. I especially dislike that whoa is me, pity party feeling. This past weekend God and I were talking and He reminded me that I’m in control of my attitude.  If it’s lack of knowledge that’s holding me back from serving others to the level of timely service I desire to provide, then make a plan. If I applied myself to learn only one new thing each workday, that would be like 250 knowledge nuggets that I would acquire in a year. I’m sure some days there will be more nuggets and there might be days without any, but it comes down to my attitude, choice to pursue, and commitment to wanting to serve others well and not just chasing a paycheck. So, in talking with the Lord, this is the commitment I made and will take one day at a time:

“Today I will seek wisdom and knowledge so that I may confidently serve those You have placed before me.”

For now, I have it printed on a piece of paper and taped to it the wall behind my computer screen where it’s always in view. Maybe eventually I’ll turn those words into something more permanent. Acknowledge whatever it is that draws the smile from your face and the happy from your day and speak with the Lord about it. Allow Him to help you make a plan, then proactively pursue it with Him. Bless others and be blessed.  

#ChrisMcClarney – I’m Listening

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. This past Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, concluded the Easter season with my favorite gift from the Lord…The Holy Spirit. This year our Gospel reading was John 20:19-23. Although the doors were lock, Jesus entered the presence of the disciples, showing them His hands and side, and the disciples rejoiced. John 20:21-23 “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.”  And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  Who’s sins you forgive are forgiven them, and who sins you retain are retained.”  

The Holy Spirit is a very special Presence in my life. God the Father, He’s the master mind with the plan. Jesus, He’s our greatest example. The Holy Spirit, He’s really like my buddy. He’s constantly there talking with me and guiding and encouraging me.  He’s the One that cheers me along and helps me to put The Father’s plan into action, by following Jesus’ example.  When Jesus gave us this precious gift of His Holy Spirit, He also gave us a huge responsibility. “Who’s sins you forgive are forgiven them, and who’s sins you retain are retained.”  That’s a crazy amount of life changing authority which affects your life as well as the other person’s. It can be freeing or a chain that binds you and others to past failings.  Each person and situation is different and you have a choice to make.  How will you utilize and share your gift?  Before you answer that and each time you are faced with this opportunity, first talk with the Holy Spirit. Share your concerns, thoughts, frustrations, and hurts, then listen.  Take in His thoughts, concerns, and how He desires to bless you in that moment.  When we withhold forgiveness, we actually hurt ourselves more.  Christ didn’t call us to like our neighbor. We are called to love our neighbor. Those two are very different and I pray that you and I, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit will continue to have open, honest conversations with the Him so that we are able to make wise choices.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#CastingCrowns – Start Right Here

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  If you’re like me, from time to time you’ve been so mad, frustrated, aggravated about a situation that you realize you need to walk away before you hurt somebody, whether that be by your actions or words.  As I’ve gotten old, I am fining it easier to walk away, but there have certainly been casualties along the way. God did make us in His own image and believe it or not this is something that our Lord has faced and dealt with. In Exodus 32-33 Moses is up on the mountain spending some incredible time with the Lord. (If I were Mosses, I would have stayed up there as long as the Lord would let me. Heck it’s not too often you get that kind of one on one time with Him.) God had just inscribed the law on tablets of stone with His own hand. Moses returns to his people to present them with this gift from God and finds that because of the amount of time he spent away from them, they totally gave up on God. First of all, that kind of tells me that they were more so putting their faith in Moses and not the Lord. Second, their actions and lack of faith and their impatience with God’s timing made God so mad. Every time they turned around God was proving Himself to them…brought them out of slavery, parting the sea, His presence in the pillar of cloud and fire, manna, water from a rock…He was everywhere, but yet, they weren’t quite “seeing” Him. Making the golden calf, singing praises, dancing, and worshiping it was God’s breaking point. God tells Moses…You know, I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give their descendants this land flowing with milk and honey, so I will honor my promise. Exodus 33:3 “…But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”  Like God, we need to know our breaking point and when to walk away, out of love, before someone gets hurt.  Just thinking upon my own life and how important it is to see, feel and acknowledge the Lord in my life, it would truly break my heart if He withheld His presence from me. As deeply as I think I love Him, it is but a fraction of the love He feels for me and you. I can’t help but think of how much it hurts Him when I keep my presence and friendship from Him. Don’t act surprised, you know we all do it.  Moses continues on to do some serious negotiating on our behalf.  Exodus 33:11 “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”  Speaking of God’s holy presence, Moses asks, 33:16 “…What else will distinguish me and Your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”  Don’t hold back from God. Pull Him close and wrap Him in your arms. Seek Him in EVERYTHING, allowing His penetrating light to shine in and through you, so that He may distinguish you from other people on the face of the earth. Bless others and be blessed.

#Mandisa – Shine