Drummer Boy

Sometimes I feel like the little drummer boy....the one who has no gift to bring. I don't sing (well, yes, I do sing....a LOT....but nobody would be lining up to hear ME sing! LOL!!), and I don't play the clarinet anymore (not a large market for a clarinet-playing adult unless you're REALLY good and in an orchestra or something....and, yeah, I'm definitely not that good!). I'm too old to twirl baton (but I do twirl my pencil at times...and the handle of the handbasket at the grocery store every once in a while!). I can't do stand-up comedy (though I can make my friends laugh on occasion). I don't speak in a lecture series. I don't act on stage (though I can fake people out pretty well when I'm joking around about something). I can't really sew or cook...though I can sew on a button when needed and I use a microwave as well as the next person!....yeah...not really anything to give it sometimes seems. The little drummer boy....he and I....we're two peas in a pod. I know there are things I do to help others...things I do that make a difference in the world....but a gift? Something to give back to God? Sometimes it seems the only thing I have to give are words. I don't write eloquently, though I wish I did....there are so many people who do. But in God's hands....He can multiply what I do give...the things I do write...little and lacking though it all is. He can multiply it like the fish and the loaves....if He chooses....maybe let it feed hungry hearts just as the fish and loaves fed hungry people. I pray He does that. I pray He somehow uses the words I write to touch the hearts of others.

And maybe....maybe Jesus would even smile at me and at what I've written....just like He smiled at the little drummer boy and his drum in the song so many of us have sung.


At least I hope He does....

Cause words are what I bring.
It's the gift I lay before the King.


Pa rum pum pum pum.

Sunsets

There's nothing like a great sunset!! Sometimes I drive west just to see the colors of the sunset swirled around in the sky. Purples, reds, blues....so many colors painting beauty in the sky. And I'm thankful that God has made the world so lovely for us to see.

One day I was thinking about sunsets...and one thing I noticed about them is that often the most beautiful ones are made when there are clouds in the sky. If there are no clouds, the sunset is pretty but not nearly as rich and colorful as when there are some clouds for the sun to shine its light through. And so it is with our lives....no one goes through life without any "clouds" overhead.....so often, when our lives have been clouded with trials and hurts, heartaches and difficulties, those are the times that the grace and mercy of God are most evident in our lives. The Son shining down on us....causing all things to work together for good....even the clouds in our lives....swirling events and people, days and years all together and making something beautiful out of it all in ways that I will never understand ....just as He swirls together the colors of a magnificent sunset.

But we have to look for it...we have to take the time to look back at our lives to see the way that God has brought us through the difficulties we've faced...He is faithful...He has worked things out in the past....we have to trust Him to do the same in the future.

We're all so busy. We often miss looking at sunsets. And we often miss looking at the way that God has worked in our lives....the way that He has worked things out for good. Take time now to look....today watch the sun as it sinks low on the horizon....and as you see the beauty of the sun shining through the clouds in a peaceful sunset, remember that the Son is able to shine through the clouds in your life and somehow make something beautiful as well.

Yes, God will work all things together for good.

You can count on it....

....cause He said He would.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Rom. 8:28

Still Waters

A few months ago, I was so busy that I almost felt like I was drowning....(not drowning at that moment, but almost, and it wasn't even the busiest time of the year for me.)....so much to do....stuff going on, etc....then later that week at church, the pastor spoke about Peter when he was walking on the water...he talked about situations when you feel like you're drowning. It was exactly what I needed to hear. I hadn't been to the beach for awhile so after church I went there to do some paperwork and to write. As I stood looking at the ocean, I thought it was kind of funny that I finally made it to the beach with all that water in front of me when just a few days before I had felt kind of like I was drowning. Then the ocean became quiet....no waves....calm water....and it made me think of the part in Psalm 23 where it says, "He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul." That's exactly what God did for me that day....he restored my soul. But then doubt began to creep in and I wondered, "What if I go to work tomorrow and I start feeling like I'm drowning again?".....I remembered (well, I think God had me remember) the part in Matthew that says, "Don't worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own." I knew that things would get hectic again and there would be times in the future when I felt like I was drowning, but that day God helped me be ready for the week ahead and reminded me to just take one day at a time. It's something I need to be reminded of constantly....you, too?

If you're busy and things are hectic...you have so much to do you think you'll never get finished....remember that God loves you. He cares about everything that happens to you and about how you feel.. Spend some time with Him and let Him restore your soul.

He will be with you always and He will help you through everything you're going through....one day at a time.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matt. 6:34

Friendship

I have a dear friend that I met at work. Our rooms were right beside one another....she was in Room X and I was in Room Y. We could often be found in one another's rooms talking and laughing. We joked about tearing out part of the wall and putting a door between our rooms. Over the years, we had some room changes....ended up being completely across campus from each other. Then we changed schools...and though we were both at the same school, our rooms were not next door to one another.

A couple of years ago, my friend changed schools again....I didn't. We were on the same road...miles apart. I said the road was just a long hallway between us. (Smile.) Then, because of certain circumstances I, too, decided to change schools. I prayed and God seemed to be leading me to the same school she was at....I prayed some more and He answered my prayers in ways that confirmed to me that this was a change I should make and that was the place I should go. So....I changed schools.

And I have to say, God does care about friendships and dreams...light-hearted joking that expresses honest feelings. It is many years later (trust me on the MANY years...I'm old enough that I don't want to say!) from the time we first met and taught side by side in Rooms X and Y. We've taught in several different rooms at several different schools. And now?

Now, we're at the same school....teaching right next door to one another.

She is in Room X and I'm in Room Y.

....And there's a door in between!

Isn't God good?!!

Never Know

Several years ago, I walked into the house and said quietly to my roommate, "I think I just saw someone get killed." The news reports later confirmed what I thought I had seen.

I was driving home after checking on a house for a friend who was out of town. I was driving safely in the flow of traffic, but I felt impressed by God to slow down...so I did. The wind was blowing and suddenly I could see dirt flying across the freeway ahead of me. Then...it was surreal....an electronic message sign on the freeway started falling over, as if in slow motion, right onto the lanes of the freeway....blown over by the wind. I prayed for the people ahead of me...that everyone would be able to get out of the way. I thought everyone had cleared the sign and I got over in the next lane to go around it. As I was changing lanes, a car drove right in front of me and I slowed down so as not to hit it. The car kept going slowly across all the lanes of the freeway and then stopped at the side of the road as if someone had intended for it to be parked there. I pulled in front of the car, jumped out, and headed back to see if the person was ok...but a gentleman who had pulled in behind the car got there before I did. He looked into the driver's side window, and then looked at me with a pained expression on his face, put his hands up in a way that told me not to come any closer, and shook his head. I'm a pretty determined person, at times, and I don't always do what others think I should do, but something in his face made me stop where I was. The man and I exchanged a few words and then I got back in my car and drove away. There was nothing I could do and I didn't want to hinder the emergency vehicles that would soon be there.

I drove home in shock. The line between life and death has always been somewhat difficult for me to comprehend. One second someone's alive, the next they aren't.

If I hadn't slowed down earlier when I felt impressed to, would I have been under that sign at the time it fell? And the car of the man who died in the accident....it looked like it was being driven across the lanes and intentionally parked at the side of the freeway...did God make sure it happened that way so others weren't injured by a car that had no driver?

I don't know the answer to those questions...but I do know that we don't know when our last day on earth will be. That man didn't know that his life would come to an end that day. He got into his car and headed out for his destination just as we all do.

Maybe you happened upon my blog on the internet while surfing....maybe you're one of my friends and you clicked on my blog intentionally.....no matter who you are...however you came to be reading this...God loves you very much! He wants you to know Him. If you haven't checked out the Bible, please do that. Ask God to make Himself real to you and He will.

He made Himself real to me.

Anticipation

I'm excited! I get to spend the 4th of July with my friends in a small town! I know that probably sounds strange, but I grew up in a small town....we had the whole 4th of July celebration thing going on with little booths and book sales...good food....fireworks at the end of the day. We kind of have that where I live now, but it's not the same as the feeling you get when you're in a small town. So I'm happy. It will be a little bit like being home for the 4th. And my friends....they make me feel so loved! (as do all my friends) I talked to ____ on the phone yesterday morning....we talked about my flying up to see them. I have to be back at a certain time and the inexpensive flights aren't always the most convenient so it makes things a little tricky trying to figure out flight times and times that are convenient for them to pick me up and drop me off at the airport.....and then there is the question of which airport would be the best to fly into. Last night, I was gone...I came home to two messages from her on my answering machine...."Let us know when you're coming!" "We'll pick you up; it doesn't matter what time." "Just tell us when and where." I could hear her husband in the background say, "Any airport." (Smile.) God has given me such great friends! So I booked my flights and I'm excited to see my friends and celebrate the 4th....in a small town like home!

The Airport

Her eyes looked tired but kind. She walked with a limp and leaned awkwardly over to speak to the person checking bags. She was in uniform. I looked at her with empathy and in awe that one so young and innocent could have lived through and seen the atrocities of war. I watched her as she walked toward me and when she was beside me, our eyes met. She gave a slight smile and I returned one. I hesitated a second, not wanting to bother her, but then I had to say, "Thank you for serving." She smiled slightly as she had done before and gave a little nod. Then she limped on.

....and my eyes filled with tears at the encounter.