When God Asks You to Go for a Walk

When the sunlight began to dance across the snowy dunes early one morning, I was like a little kid rushing to go sled riding as I threw on my coat over my pajamas, pulled on my boots, and grabbed my camera. I just knew God was asking me to go for a walk, and I couldn’t wait!

I crunched my way around our yard, taking shots of this amazing scene God had created. The shadows from the trees stretched like charcoal drawings across the ground that appeared like white marble.

These unusual forms from blowing wind and ice stood by our driveway, something to admire and ponder like sculptures in a museum.

And the ground itself resembled layers of waves on the ocean, the wind pushing them to some unseen shore.

I marveled at everything, thanking God and being especially grateful when the sun began to warm my gloves (and my camera battery!). Looking back, it really was like walking through an untouched museum, one I was allowed to capture with my camera.

I snapped shots of a weeping cherry with limbs coated in ice, its shadow resembling a dark dandelion going to seed.

I thought it was pretty when the light hit the icy coating and sparkled like glitter. I tried to capture that sparkle, but every time I took the shot, it seemed the glitter disappeared. So I grabbed one more photograph, a random shot of a chunk of ice hanging from the end of one of the branches before moving on.

It wasn’t until I went inside and downloaded the photographs on my computer that I realized there was more to that simple photograph than I’d noticed at a glance.

Tucked inside, preserved in ice, there appeared to be delicate snowflakes. I never would have noticed them if I hadn’t taken the time to look closer, had I dismissed the photo as being “too simple.”

Sometimes, my friends, we have to slow down and look closer. God may ask you to go for a walk, take a break from social media, or put down the phone. (It can be that simple!) And maybe when you do, you’ll find those hidden gems – that peace, those answers, and the direction you’ve been searching for all along, just waiting to be discovered in God’s amazing presence.

“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” (Psalm 16:11 NLT.)

A God-Given Label

I was lying in bed last night, wide awake and talking to God. Sometimes when things get busy, I find myself craving this time when my little corner of the world is tucked into bed and things are quiet.  When it’s just God and me.

I found myself asking Him, as I see new things on the horizon and I want to prepare and plan for them, who am I supposed to be in all of this?

Ugh. Why do I always want to label myself?  I mean, I’ve been asking God since I can remember, “Who am I exactly and what am I supposed to do with my life?” I want a name, or a title, or a clue!  I can look back over the years and see the self-made labels I stuck to my life:

A student in high school. Not athletic or super smart. What’s next? 

A dishwasher dreaming of writing, a waitress waiting to take off, a college student learning the ropes of life (ha! Maybe a tiny thread on one of the ropes), an assembler in a factory, a poet selling personalized poems. Now what?

A writer of short Christmas stories and newspaper articles, a press operator in the same factory, a renter of a small apartment, a momma to a fur baby. What now?

A wife and a stepmom, a daughter, granddaughter, sister, and aunt. Thank you, Lord.

Moving right along…a stay-at-home mom, a grandma, a blogger, and a writer who has finally finished a novel. A gluten-free, dairy-free girl. But now what? I see more coming, Lord. What should I call myself? Will I fit into one of those neat categories?  Some of those are kind of scary, You know.

It’s like I’m trying to peek into the back door of God’s plan, trying to figure out what’s inside the house before He will let me in. Or maybe I’m just the little girl standing on tippy-toes, elbowing my way up to the open window and sniffing chocolate chip cookies in the air, whining about how long I have to wait to have some.

Maybe I’m always begging God for a label because I find comfort in having one, so I will have a neat and tidy answer when someone asks me about me. Perhaps I find stability in an easy explanation instead of (-gulp-) finding my security and worth in the One who created me and is still molding me and forming me like clay in His mighty hands. Forgive me, Lord.

Are you here with me, peeking through the back door or wiggling up to the window to see what’s next and whimpering about the wait? Do you have a need to label yourself, to fit in somewhere, to find purpose in having a clear-cut direction?

My friend, I learned a great truth last night while the house was still: You and I already have a label. A God-given label.  We don’t need to hunt and search for it.  We don’t have to ask our family or friends or trusted mentor what we should call ourselves.  We don’t need to take comfort or find security in a worldly label, in a position of power or pride with a title to match.  We have a label God placed on our hearts the day we accepted His Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior.  It’s the label our Heavenly Father carefully, lovingly, and jealously placed there that will stick forever:

Mine.

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!” (Isaiah 43:1b NASB.)

 

A New Year and a New Road

I’ve got a problem. I live in the past too much.

There’s nothing wrong with turning around and looking back.  It’s like using the rearview mirror when you’re driving.  You need to look back to see what’s going on for safety reasons, just like it’s important to look back at your past to learn from your mistakes, to protect yourself from making the same blunders.

But what if you’re actually staring back, your eyes fixed or glued on all you’ve done wrong and you keep reliving your mistakes over and over again?  It can be just as detrimental as driving while fixating on the view behind you.  You’d miss your turn, swerve into a ditch, or possibly rear-end the vehicle ahead of you.  Having your eyes glued to the rearview mirror is like living in the past.  It’s a dangerous way to live.

Are you reliving some of your relationships from your past, how great they were and how things have drifted so far?   But the sad truth is those people you remember so fondly don’t even know who you are anymore.  And really, you don’t know them either.  The whole thing can leave your heart aching for the past or harden it because the drifting has made you angry and you refuse to let something like that happen again.

Eventually, you start to drive faster to escape it all but you still keep looking back and you miss what’s right there in front of you, some wonderful blessing God has for you.

I went to God with all of this.  Like I said, I’ve got a problem with living in the past.  I remember things, people, and I ache for the way things used to be sometimes.  Do you know what God told me? Look for Me back there.

Really?  Why didn’t I think of that?  I started looking back specifically to search for God.  And He was there.  He was there when I was so depressed during junior high school, when I would sit on the top of this huge hill in our back yard and cry.  He had His arm around me.

He was there when I went off to college and thought drinking was a huge part of being there.  He was there protecting me, leading me back to my dorm room every time.

He was there when I was smiling at graduation, the sun skimming the top of the building and landing on my face.   His hands were warm on my cheeks as He kissed me on the forehead, only I didn’t know it was Him at that moment.  But I know now.

God was there when I met my husband, making my heart swell, and He was there in the hospital room when our daughter was born and she cried, strong and loud.  And again, He was with me in a hospital room years later when my Mom had a massive stroke, and again when my Dad had complications after quadruple bypass. He held me tighter than ever on those days, listening to my prayers, my tears, as I begged Him to help them.  And He did.  And He held me so gently, warmly when I stood at my Grandpa’s funeral in December years ago, and again in the warmer Missouri air at my Grandma’s gravesite in April.

So all the moments in my past when I really needed someone, God was there.  And yet, I see Him there by my side the countless times I’ve washed dishes or folded laundry, when I got up in the middle of the night all those times to give our daughter medicine, and every morning when I fixed coffee.  He’s always there when I look back, at every memory.

But I can’t live back there because the bad finds a way of mixing in with the good, and that’s where the pain can take hold and sprout into something ugly and harmful.  It’s time to take hold of those memories I have of God and all the good, the lasting relationships He’s brought into my life, and bring them with me as I look forward; like snapshots I can tape to the dashboard.

A new year is coming and I love the idea of new; a clean slate, endless possibilities on the horizon as I drive forward on this new road.  I can still glance back and remember the lessons I’ve learned from my mistakes, but it’s time to let my failures go, leave them in the dust, let them fade.

I’ve asked God to forgive me for all those things I’ve messed up and He has.  So now it’s time to drive, to put the windows down and feel the freedom rush over me.  No more regrets.  No more guilt.  No more shame.  Now it’s just the touch of God on my heart as He tells me which way to go.

And with His direction, my friends, we won’t miss our turn.

“But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 3:13b-14 NIV.)

 

 

 

Choices

My Grandma used to say, “Life is about choices.”  I smile when I remember her wisdom, the tone of her voice, and the smell of good, strong coffee on her breath.

But how are we supposed to make good choices?  I mean, it’s not THAT big of a deal if we have to decide between the burger or fish sandwich for lunch today.  But what if you and I are facing a serious decision, one that looks awfully close to an answer to the heartfelt prayer for direction in our lives?

How do you choose?  How do you know if you’re to go or stay away?  How do you know if you’re to say “yes” or “no?”  How do you know if this is IT and you should start doing your happy dance to that song in your heart or that the sound is more of a ticking, a warning to run before the whole thing backfires and blows up in your face?

Pray.

Maybe you think you don’t have time to pray.  My friend, you don’t have the time NOT to pray.

God can answer a prayer while you’re in the middle of a conversation with someone.  He can whisper to your heart what you need to hear.  Don’t let your idea of time hold you back from God.

God sees those choices you’re flipping through in your mind, like those index cards for the old card catalog system at the library.  He knows what “book” he has for you.  He knows what’s best for you, and He also knows what will keep you spinning, lost in the library.

You may grow impatient and pull open a drawer, grab the first card you see, and go where it leads you.  Don’t be tempted to hurry up God’s plan.  You may be so close to something He’s been planning for you, some wonderful surprise and an answer to that desire in your heart.  But if you leave God behind and rush after it because you think you’ve figured it all out, it may lead you in the wrong direction.  Perhaps it may take you outside the library altogether, leaving you frustrated, lost, and discouraged.

Wait for God.  Wait with God.  Talk to Him.  Tell Him your frustrations and your eagerness.  He will give you peace while you’re waiting for His answer.

Of course, you don’t have to do that.  You can always flip a coin, ask everyone you know, or make a list of pros and cons to make the decision, to make the choice.

Or you can simply choose God.

“Who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose.”  (Psalm 25:12 NLT.)

A Spiritual Intersection

Have you come to a spiritual intersection in your life and you’re waiting at a red light?

This is different than a fork in the road where there are two similar paths and you have to choose between the two. And it’s not a bend in the road either where the destination ahead is shrouded in mystery.

This is an intersection. There is commotion and movement.  There is also stopping and waiting.  But not for long.

If you’ve arrived here, change must be happening for you. Perhaps you’ve prayed for it or perhaps this intersection comes as a surprise.  Whatever the reason, you have to make a decision.

Should you continue on this road you’ve been on or should you turn right or left?

As you sit here and wait with your mind scurrying, your sweaty hands gripping the steering wheel, maybe you’re wondering where those who have the green light are going with such confidence and certainty. Perhaps the longer you sit here you begin to doubt your own direction.  It would be so much easier to follow everyone else, but that’s not what God calls any of us to do.  You’re to follow God’s direction for your life, to follow the calling of your Savior, and never settle.  Settling would be if you choose to follow someone other than God on a road that, for you, would lead to the dead-end town of Disobedience where the mayor, Misery, would welcome you with open arms and offer you immediate residency in a prison cell where the walls of those who’ve come before you reek from the breath of their discouragement.

So let me ask you this: Are you trying to lead your own life or are you allowing God to lead the way?

If you’re still trying to figure it all out, trying to glance over at the map you brought along so you wouldn’t get lost, don’t panic. If you’re allowing God to lead the way, He won’t concern Himself with your narrow-focused map or the surge of rush-hour traffic that’s about to swarm.  He knows what lane you need to be in, and He knows how hard this turn is going to be for you.

He will help you if you ask.

So pray and ask God to lead you right where He wants you. And when the light turns green, hit the gas and go.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”  (Romans 12:2 NLT.)

Breadcrumbs

Are you trying to figure out where to go from here?  Maybe you just went through a rough patch and you’re excited to run from it, to get out of there as fast as you can.  Or maybe you sense something wonderful in your spirit, something thrilling and spectacular is just beyond the bend in the road and you want to run to it.

Here’s the word I write so often: Wait.

Such a sense of pain can come from that tiny word.

Anticipation.  Longing.  Desperation.  A you’re-about-to-burst-out-of-your-skin kind of feeling.

But there is something to do while you’re waiting:  be on the lookout for breadcrumbs.

What in the world?  Has this just become a cooking blog?

No, my friends, it has not.

Breadcrumbs are those tiny little indicators, gentle specks of God’s guidance.  Confirmations to help you along the way that nourish your spirit, letting you know God cares, that He is leading you and you’re on the right path, and that you’re not alone even in the darkest of forests.

You see, God doesn’t want you wandering around, lost and frantic in the woods, nor does He want you to continue waiting when He tells you to move.

This is the essence of the breadcrumb.

You move along in the direction God leads, you find the breadcrumb and you pick it up, talk to God about it (remember He’s right there with you), and you listen to Him as He teaches you.  This can be a painful lesson, something you needed to learn the hard way or a blessing all on its own.  But it can be awfully tiny so you need to watch for it, watch for Him and what He’s doing in your life.  And remember He is always doing something even when you can’t see it.

Breadcrumbs can be His protection, to stop you from going in the wrong direction or those He wants you to stay clear from.  Breadcrumbs involve His timing.  Breadcrumbs involve obedience that lead to blessings.  So you feed on the one He has given while you wait on the next one.

That’s right.  You wait until you see another breadcrumb before you.  You don’t run ahead because you think you know the way or you have all the answers or because you think this waiting stuff is going to kill you.  You wait on God.  This can be any length of time.  But don’t panic.  You’re traveling with the One who created time and can stretch it like you’ve never imagined.

And while you’re waiting, just think:  you have the privilege, the high honor of spending time with Almighty God and resting in His presence.  Sit down.  Read His Word.  Talk to Him.  Listen to Him.  And then look around.  You may see more of Him in your surroundings.  You may feel the warmth of the sun on your head.  That’s His touch.  You may feel a breeze brush your cheek.  That’s His breath.  Perhaps you may even hear His voice speaking your name.  Can you imagine?

He may even lead you to a small pond where the wind forms ripples and the sun ignites them.  And when you look up, you see the very face of Jesus Christ; His eyes shining brighter than the reflection of the sun on the water’s surface and His presence warming your face.  It can be the image that you keep close to your heart, the one that tucks you in each night.

You never know what you’ll see while you’re waiting with God, waiting on His breadcrumbs, His gentle direction for the next step in your life.

Just know that waiting on Him and with Him is never a waste of time.  It’s His way of nourishing you for the road ahead.

“The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.’” (Psalm 32:8 NLT.)

A Pebble in the Trench

When I was a little girl, I loved playing in mud puddles after a hard rain.  There was nothing like the squishy, oozing feeling between my fingers and against the palm of my hand, the way the cold mud would encase my hand like a glove when I pressed it down as far as it would go, and the sucking sound when I pulled it free.  And I loved making a little trench between two mud puddles, watching the water flow and then adding pebbles to steer it where I wanted it to go.

God steers us in a similar way.  He’s not a puppet master, forcing us to do this and that, nor is He waiting with a lightning bolt to zap us when we make a mistake; thank goodness for that or I’d be so electrified I could light up the night sky for miles around.  But God loves us enough to steer us away from danger and to the life He has waiting for us.

So if you’re sailing along from one mud puddle in the hopes of reaching the next and you see a big fat obstacle blocking your dream or goal, maybe God set up that pebble in the trench so you’ll wait on Him to make another way to get there.  Perhaps He’s protecting you from danger or maybe the timing isn’t right.  Or maybe He has something different, something better for you altogether.

So what do you do when you’re face to face with the pebble blocking your way?

You wait.  And while you’re waiting, God is working.  (You may not see what He’s up to, but He’s always working.)

But maybe you don’t want to wait.  Maybe you think waiting is a waste of time.  Well, you can always abandon ship and walk around to get where you want to go.  Just don’t be too surprised if your feet get stuck in the mud. Really stuck.  Then you’ll be cold, wet, and tired from trying to pull your feet out.  Only you won’t be able to so you’ll be forced to stand there in the mud that is now up to your knees as you wait on God.

Or maybe you like the idea of moving that pebble.  Ha!  Did I mention that in God’s hands it IS a pebble, but in yours, it’s more like a boulder or the moon?  Good luck.  Hope you don’t throw out your back.  But if you do, you can just rest your hand on that boulder and wait until you can stand upright.

Again, the waiting!

So it seems instead of getting stuck and wearing yourself out by hoofing it in your impatience, or instead of hurting yourself by trying to do the impossible, you can trust God when He uses a pebble (or in your case, a boulder) to block your path.  He knows what He’s doing.

Then finally after all of your waiting (which could be mere hours or many years), God shows you another way.  He’s been busy making a new trench, a new stream that flows easily down and into this amazing pool of fresh water; no more dirty water!  And here, the sun reflects off of the water like a thousand sparkling diamonds and there are enough cool breezes to help you catch your breath.  You close your eyes and thank God for putting a pebble in your trench and forming a new stream that led you to this place where you know you are about to do what you were created to do alongside the One who created you for such a time and place.

“Trust God from the bottom of our heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.  Don’t assume that you know it all.” (Proverbs 3:5-7a The Message.)

A New Year and a New Road

I’ve got a problem. I live in the past too much.

There’s nothing wrong with turning around and looking back.  It’s like using the rearview mirror when you’re driving.  You need to look back to see what’s going on for safety reasons, just like it’s important to look back at your past to learn from your mistakes, to protect yourself from making the same blunders.

But what if you’re actually staring back, your eyes fixed or glued on all you’ve done wrong and you keep reliving your mistakes over and over again?  It can be just as detrimental as driving while fixating on the view behind you.  You’d miss your turn, swerve into a ditch, or possibly rear-end the vehicle ahead of you.  Having your eyes glued to the rearview mirror is like living in the past.  It’s a dangerous way to live.

Are you reliving some of your relationships from your past, how great they were and how things have drifted so far?   But the sad truth is those people you remember so fondly don’t even know who you are anymore.  And really, you don’t know them either.  The whole thing can leave your heart aching for the past or harden it because the drifting has made you angry and you refuse to let something like that happen again.

Eventually, you start to drive faster to escape it all but you still keep looking back and you miss what’s right there in front of you, some wonderful blessing God has for you.

I went to God with all of this.  Like I said, I’ve got a problem with living in the past.  I remember things, people, and I ache for the way things used to be sometimes.  Do you know what God told me? Look for Me back there.

Really?  Why didn’t I think of that?  I started looking back specifically to search for God.  And He was there.  He was there when I was so depressed during junior high school, when I would sit on the top of this huge hill in our back yard and cry.  He had His arm around me.

He was there when I went off to college and thought drinking was a huge part of being there.  He was there protecting me, leading me back to my dorm room every time.

He was there when I was smiling at graduation, the sun skimming the top of the building and landing on my face.   His hands were warm on my cheeks as He kissed me on the forehead, only I didn’t know it was Him at that moment.  But I know now.

God was there when I met my husband, making my heart swell, and He was there in the hospital room when our daughter was born and she cried, strong and loud.  And again, He was with me in a hospital room years later when my Mom had a massive stroke, and again when my Dad had complications after quadruple bypass. He held me tighter than ever on those days, listening to my prayers, my tears, as I begged Him to help them.  And He did.  And He held me so gently, warmly when I stood at my Grandpa’s funeral in December years ago, and again in the warmer Missouri air at my Grandma’s gravesite in April.

So all the moments in my past when I really needed someone, God was there.  And yet, I see Him there by my side the countless times I’ve washed dishes or folded laundry, when I got up in the middle of the night all those times to give our daughter medicine, and every morning when I fixed coffee.  He’s always there when I look back, at every memory.

But I can’t live back there because the bad finds a way of mixing in with the good, and that’s where the pain can take hold and sprout into something ugly and harmful.  It’s time to take hold of those memories I have of God and all the good, the lasting relationships He’s brought into my life, and bring them with me as I look forward; like snapshots I can tape to the dashboard.

A new year is coming and I love the idea of new; a clean slate, endless possibilities on the horizon as I drive forward on this new road.  I can still glance back and remember the lessons I’ve learned from my mistakes, but it’s time to let my failures go, leave them in the dust, let them fade.

I’ve asked God to forgive me for all those things I’ve messed up and He has.  So now it’s time to drive, to put the windows down and feel the freedom rush over me.  No more regrets.  No more guilt.  No more shame.  Now it’s just the touch of God on my heart as He tells me which way to go.

And with His direction, my friends, we won’t miss our turn.

“But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 3:13b-14 NIV.)