On frogs and friends

                          A little food for weekend thought--

        "Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look at the stars." Henry Van Dyke
        Yesterday afternoon, I went out on our deck to sit down on a rocking chair and do some reading.  I glanced down and noticed a bright green leaf in the middle of the seat.  As I absent-mindedly looked down to brush it away, I was stunned to discover this little fellow--

 Holy cow!  Where did he come from?  I must say, I've always thought of frogs as not particularly lovely, but he was pretty stunning with his lime green color and yellow accents. 
        I decided to move to a different location and give him the opportunity to hop away.  After all, isn't that what frogs are supposed to do?  Aren't they jumpy, active little critters? 
        Apparently this little guy didn't get that memo, because I never saw him so much as move a muscle (uh, do frogs have muscles?  Well, he never moved a membrane.)  So I waited, and a good hour or two later, came back out, and he had moved...but just a teeny bit...to get out of the sun, I presume--

        I simply couldn't help but be amazed once more by God's creation.  What a Creator to craft such variety, such complexity, such stunning colors and shapes and textures!  Can you imagine the creativity involved in thinking up a frog?!  Seriously, who would do that? 
       Only the Sovereign of the Universe, that's who! 
       He's infinite and holy and glorious...but He's also joyous and creative and loving and fun.  Yes, fun--after all, HE created fun.  HE created laughter.  HE created neon colors and clown fish and giraffes and porpoises and frogs.  I mean, how can you not smile and chuckle when you look at some of His astounding handiwork? 
        Oh Father, keep us awake and alert to all You have made and all You are doing.  Don't let us miss it.  Don't allow us to slip into complacency, but instead instill in us an endless sense of wonder and gratitude.  And might our daily response then be to worship and thank You.  Worship of our awesome Creator and gratitude for His myriad gifts...and for the gift of life. 
        But I also have to add one more thing this little fellow reminded me of--my dear friend's Mama who recently went to heaven. Her mom apparently added the frog emoji to all her texts to her children and grandchildren. 
        Why, you might ask?  Because of the acronym for frog: Fully Rely On God.  Makes you feel a bit different about the lowly frog, doesn't it?!
        I'd heard that little acronym a while back and have always loved it, but now it means far more,   because it reminds me of the priceless gift of my friend and of her remarkable, godly Mama.  All gifts--friends, mamas, frogs, and most of all--Almighty God--upon whom we can always and forever fully rely!
        So today, open your eyes and see all that God has for you.  It's all around you, because He is a relentless gift-giver.  And sometimes, His gifts come in mighty small and surprising packages!  But I kinda think that's the kind He likes the best....'cause He loves to see us smile. 
        Thank You, Father, today for frogs and friends and fun. And thank You that no matter what we're facing or where we're going, we can always and forever Fully Rely On You. 
         To God be the glory. 

The Door

        It's a seemingly small, tiny moment I still remember vividly to this day.  Our daughter, Janie, was desperately sick in the ICU--unconscious, high fever, unresponsive.  My dear sister and husband insisted I go to a hotel room nearby for a few hours of sleep while they remained with Janie for the night.  Exhausted, I fell into bed...but felt jittery, tearful, frightened, alone.  Despite bone-deadening fatigue, I'd be able to fall asleep shackled by this fear and sorrow. 
         And then His still, small voice spoke to my heart.  I don't how else to describe it.  A gentle, peaceful whisper to a thirsty, terrified heart--"I am the Door."  Words I had read days earlier in the Gospel of John.  "I am the Door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture." (John 9:10) 
        His voice spoke Truth and peace into my very soul--I am the Door.  I am the Door in the midst of all this fear, uncertainty, sadness.  Walk through Me and find rest for your soul.  And I did...and for the first time in days, slept.  Knowing that my Savior had our girl and was holding her in His arms.  And no matter what happened, He would have us too.  For He was the Door in that wall of fear and sorrow.
         Why this sudden vivid recall of this particular memory?  I don't know--the Lord suddenly brought it to mind, but I have to believe our Good Shepherd knows someone out there needs to be reminded today that He is the Door.
        He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life...and He is the Way through your sorrow, your suffering, your terror, your depression, your pain, your uncertainty.  He was the Door, He is the Door, and He will be the Door forever and ever. 
         I just found these words I scribbled down weeks ago.  They are from Nabeel Qurershi, a brilliant Pakistani American physician, who was a former Muslim, dramatically converted to Christianity and who then became a powerful apologist for Christ.  Nabeel recently died from stomach cancer at the age of 34.  As he endured the horrors of his terminal cancer, Nabeel shared these words:
        "If you are going through something right now, if you are suffering and struggling, what I have learned is that there is some door that the suffering and struggling has opened for you that would not be open if you were not struggling or suffering.  Walk through that door.  Or dwell on that door and praise God for that door.  Take advantage of that door.  Don't waste your suffering." 
           Nabeel did that in the midst of his battle with cancer.  He walked through that door and has impacted untold thousands through his testimony.  And now, having walked through the ultimate Door, he rejoices in glory. 
           There is always a door.  No matter what sorrow, what terror, what perplexing hardship you are going through right now, there is always a door.  And that Door is Jesus.  He is the Doorway through the suffering.  He is the Doorway that will enable you to endure that suffering.  He is the Doorway to hope, joy, and peace in the midst of that suffering and on the other side of that suffering.  He is the Doorway that will ensure that your suffering--every painful shred of it--will somehow, someway, be used for your ultimate good and His glory.   And He is the Doorway to no-more-sorrow, no-more-separation, no-more-struggling, no-more-fearful-uncertainty, abundant, perfect, glorious eternal Life.
           Walk through that Door today. 
            To God--the Door, our Door--be the glory.   
           

Today--live!

        "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!  You have set Your glory above all the heavens.  Out of the mouth of babies and infants, You have established strength because of Your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.  When I look at the heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?  Yet You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor." (Ps.8:1-5)
        Just this morning, they ambled across the greenway right in front of us--a mama and her buddy along with a baby--

(That's the little fellow--the grownups had just passed into the woods ahead of him.)
         What gentle, graceful creatures deer are!  We see them fairly frequently on the greenway, but I never want to grow apathetic and not be amazed at God's astounding creation.  Aren't you thankful He made deer...and hawks...and hummingbirds...and butterflies...and dogs?  And how about changing leaves...sunlight splashed across the pavement...cool, crisp air...pumpkins and mums?  What a Creator!  What a Giver of innumerable good gifts!
          Here's how worked up  Bingley was when we glimpsed the deer--

 He'd found his usual big stick and languidly glanced back at me as if to say, "Deer again.  Ho hum."       
         It was one of those moments where you pause, sensing how precious, how lovely the gift of life is, and how grateful you are to be enjoying your moments on this planet.  This day is what He's given us--this day to laugh and love and see and savor and thank and encourage and feel.
      Oh don't let me slip into autopilot while walking our dog or cooking a meal or chatting with friends or running errands.  Help me to see--truly see--God as reflected in His creation all around me and in His priceless, irreplaceable gifts of the people He puts in my path.
         There are no "throw-away" moments.  There are most definitely no throw-away people.  It all matters.  He crafted every blade of grass and every star in the heavens--it's all His.   And they all matter--every single priceless person so lovingly created by their Heavenly Father. 
       Might we have eyes to see clearly, hearts to love boldly, and senses to experience fully each moment, each person the Lord has so extravagantly and generously placed in our lives.  And might every moment we savor, every person we cherish point us always straight to the Giver of every, every, every good and perfect gift. (James 1:17)
        While we are alive, let us live.  Live thankfully.  Live kindly.  Live forgivingly.   Live encouragingly.  Live joyfully.   Live fully and gratefully.  Live today!  
       And today--and every single day--might we live all by His grace and all for His glory.
       To the One who came and died that we might truly live, be all the glory. 

Slowing down...and savoring

         Well, it's been several weeks--a packed and busy couple of weeks--since I've last been here and written a post.  And it's been good things that have kept me away: things like working hard on lectures for Bible study--which is exactly where God has called me to be and what He's called me to do in this season of life; and watching our sons play in golf tournaments--a gift to be with them and to watch them in this brief season of life before they're all grown up and off on their own; not to mention life's daily necessities from laundry to carpooling to, well, you get the idea.
        It feels like life's been hustling by at a frantic pace...but finally, a moment of respite.  A Sabbath rest.  Ahh.  Breathe out stress and hurry.  Breathe in His Spirit's strength and hope.  Sit quietly with God's Word, not studying it to learn and prepare so I can try to give it out...but savoring it to hear His wise voice, admire His beauty, and enjoy His presence.
        We need both--the busyness and the stillness, the studying and the savoring--but oh how we suffer when it becomes all about the practical, the get-it-all-done, the fill in the blanks and check the boxes and move on to the next bit of urgent business.  Our souls must have time to breathe.  Time to worship Him, rest in Him, gaze at Him.
        I don't recall who wrote it, but I read many years ago--It's the glance that saves but it's the gaze that sanctifies.  Even a believing glance at Jesus can save...but the process of sanctification and holiness requires gazing at the Savior.  And with that gazing comes peace, perspective, deep-rooted joy, and wonder.  But gazing takes time and patience.  Gazing isn't hurried or frantic. 
        John Newton wrote, ""A Christian is not of hasty growth, like a mushroom, but rather like the oak, the progress of which is hardly perceptible, but in time becomes a great deep-rooted tree."
       Goodness, we know all this intellectually...but in the stress and busyness, haste and urgency of everyday life, we forget.  And so we push...rush...accomplish...toil...do...go...achieve...until we suddenly discover we're running on fumes with weary, worn hearts.
        That's when we  need--we must--crawl into our Abba Daddy's lap.  Come to Him with all our weariness and weakness, hand it all to Him and simply rest.  Listen.  Look.  Exchange our worry for worship.  Exchange our hurry for humble dependence.  Exchange our all our doing for desiring and loving Him.
        The really good news?  Our weakness makes room for His working and moving.  Our inadequacy makes room for His infinite ability.  Our emptiness makes room for His overflowing fullness.
         As Paul put it in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10: "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
        Spurgeon said "Your emptiness is but the preparation for your being filled, and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up."
        So right now if you are feeling weak and inadequate or weary and worn, take heart, because your Heavenly Father is ready and waiting to envelop you in His arms, to restore you with His love,  to forgive you by His grace, to encourage you in His Word, to empower you through His Spirit.  Our job is simply to come to the Father. Come to be forgiven. Come to be filled.  Come to be renewed.  Come to be restored.  Come to be redeemed.   
         "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Mt.11:28-29)
           Father, help us to come to You for the rest and rejuvenation that we all need and that only You can give.  As we gaze at You, restore to us the joy of our salvation.  Give us thankful, rejoicing hearts.  Renew our strength so that we can run and not be weary as we fix our eyes on You and run this race You have set before us.  You are infinitely worthy and able, Abba, and we place all our trust in You.
         Slow us down that we might savor You, Lord Jesus.
         To God be the glory.