Courage For Today

family

The Three Cord Rope

Strength

A while back, I was working outside in my backyard moving some boxes and furniture inside my storage shed. There was an old Cedar Chest that I had in storage which belonged to my mom.  It was not in good shape but I had wanted to save it since it belonged to her.  The lid of the chest was coming loose from the hinges so I had tied some rope around the lid of the chest to keep it secure.  I didn’t realize how well I had secured it with the rope because even though a couple of strands of the rope had snapped, the lid was still held securely by the one remaining strand of the rope.  Without all 3 strands of the rope, the lid would have been damaged further.

Recently, I have been reminded of the strength of family and friends. While each of us has our own strengths and weaknesses, it’s comforting to know that we can all lean on each other during times of need.  As Family, we all learn to help each other and provide support to others that may need uplifting at a particular time or during a particular situation.

The same is true with our Christian brothers and sisters.  We’re all part of the body of Christ and, just like with our earthly families, we should all remember that when one of us is hurt, we’re all hurt.  When one of us is down, we’re all down.  But, as family and as Christians, each of us is witness to God’s majesty in blending each of our talents; personalities; abilities; and gifts into an unbreakable bond, a three cord rope that can’t easily be broken.

And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him.  A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.  Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NIV)

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Singing in the Rain

Encouragement

 “It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.” Isaiah 4:6

Some of my favorite memories as a child were when our family went on Camping Trips.  Camping was an inexpensive way for all of us to pack up and visit places we normally would not have been able to afford to visit.  We camped near beaches, on mountaintops and everything in between.  There is just something about the camping experience that makes wonderful memories.  Maybe it is the chance to get away from your normal routine.  Or, perhaps its the smell of bacon cooking in the morning.  It might be that your camping neighbors just always seemed to be friendlier than your normal neighbors.  Whatever it was about camping certainly made a lasting impression on me.

I remember one particular trip we took to a local State Park.  We went through the normal routine of packing the car full with our coolers and our tent and clothes and barely leaving enough room for all of us to fit in the car.  Somehow we managed to make it to our destination and start the unpacking and tent set-up.  I have to admit that we weren’t much help to my Mom and Dad.  He pretty much had to set-up the tent and unpack all of our “stuff” while my Mom kept an eye on us as we gathered wood for the eventual fire and had sword fights with the fallen tree limbs we found.

As nightfall approached, we finished our dinner of hot dogs over the open fire finished off with roasted marshmallows.  We slowly made our way to our tent and started coloring in our coloring books and just having fun as a family.  Suddenly, without warning, a huge storm approached.  It rained and rained and rained some more.  My brothers and I were fairly young and, of course, we were scared as the rain pounded our tent and the ground rumbled with the sound of thunder.  Just when we thought the storm was slowing down, some of our tent poles collapsed and the center of the tent fell upon us.  We kids panicked thinking the world was coming to an end while my Dad climbed out of the tent and reset the pole in the driving rain storm.  He managed to re-sturdy the tent and climbed back inside, soaked to the bone, dripping water over all of us.  Despite all of the drama, we could see the calm face of our Dad and somehow that calmed our nerves and made us feel safe and secure.  It wasn’t very long until we were back working on our coloring masterpieces.  The weather finally calmed down and we managed to all snuggle in our sleeping bags for a comfortable night’s sleep—our tent and our Dad protecting us from the storm’s fury.

This story reminds me of the many trials I have been through in my own life.  Trials that many of you are going through as we speak.  There have been times when I honestly didn’t know what to do next.  Times when I thought all was lost.  Times when I felt hopeless.  During those rainstorms in my own life, it always comforted me to know my Heavenly Father was there protecting me and repairing the damage of the storms.  Over time, I learned that the driving rainstorms of life didn’t have to be depressing and defeating.  Instead, I let the storms remind me of His Heavenly protection and shine as an example of His many miracles.

Are you experiencing your own rainstorm in life right now?  Instead of feeling defeated by the trial and the storm, let the rain be a gentle reminder to stay focused on God’s presence in your life while providing you with encouragement that the warm sunshine is not far behind.

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Sailing Away in Faith

Encouragement

My wife and I are just returning from a short holiday at the beach.  We decided to get in one last Summer trip during the Labor Day Holiday before the cooler weather sets in.  It was a wonderful trip.  The weather was perfect in the mid-80’s and no rain or clouds to be found.  It was simply breathtaking, even for only a couple of days.

During this trip, I had the pleasure of sitting comfortably on the beach while observing several boats navigating the seas.  They were all gorgeous with a wonderful spectrum of colors from reds and blues and yellows and greens, as well as all sizes from a small one-man boat to a larger multi-person vessel. It was amazing to watch the passengers load the boats into the water, climb aboard, fight the waves, and then out to sea.  Watching all of the sailing made me want to rent a sailboat and try it myself, but I decided my lounge chair was much more comfortable.  I decided to simply watch and I’m glad I did.

There was one particular sailboat that caught my eye.  It was an average sized boat with what looked to be 4 or 5 passengers.  I could tell they weren’t experienced seamen because they all seemed to be fumbling around on the deck and trying to get the sails expanded to catch the wind.  It seemed to be a little more work than they probably imagined.  Eventually, they opened the sails to catch the strong winds and off they went, maybe not in the direction they intended, but off nonetheless.  I followed them through their entire journey until they returned to shore about an hour later.  Once they touched ground, I could see the Mom and Dad and children now that they were much closer.  The parents looked exhausted, but excited that they had conquered the seven seas in their sailboat.  I even heard one of the children say “we didn’t make it as far as we thought, but it sure was fun Daddy.”

As I was laying there, between naps, I was reminded of what an awesome picture of Faith I had just observed.   I’m sure that the family in the sailboat never thought that they would be such a strong example of Faith in our lives:

  1. They believed what they couldn’t see.  Even though they couldn’t see the wind blowing, they felt the mighty power of the wind in the sails once their sails were opened.  I was reminded that just because I can’t see what God may be doing in my life, I can always see the results and power of His Majesty.
  2. The children obeyed even when they didn’t understand.  As I mentioned earlier, it was fairly obvious that the family had not been sailing before.  The children on board had absolutely no clue what to do but they had blind faith in their parents to guide them across every wave.  If only I could obey blindly even when I don’t understand.  How much better off would I be?
  3. They persisted even when they didn’t feel like it.  Even though the family was exhausted once they reached land, the excitement of the finish was stronger than the agony of the journey.
  4. They thanked the parents even when the result wasn’t what they wanted.  I’m sure that when they entered the boat, the children had visions of traveling far off shore to see whales and sharks.  Even though their trip was short, they focused on the positive.

Where are you in your Walk of Faith?   Are you praying and hoping against hope?  Just remember the example of the sailboat and you’ll complete your journey just fine.

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Countdown to Your Victory at Sunrise

Strength

I’m convinced that I could live at the beach without too much persuasion if I could only afford it. There’s just something peaceful and relaxing about the ocean waves and the beach and just sitting in a lounge chair all day soaking up the rays.  In fact, I enjoy just walking on the beach along the water’s edge.  I can walk for miles, it seems, and not get tired, just watching the children building sand-castle masterpieces.

I remember one trip to Daytona Beach, years ago, with my family, when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old.  This was a family trip to the beach.  My parents went, of course, but so did my grand-parents and my great Aunt.  We all rented vacation cottages and were just having a blast.  My Great-Aunt loved the beach.  I mean, she loved the beach.  Sun-up to sun-down, she was on the beach.  This particular vacation, she decided it would be fun if I got up early one morning, along with her, so that we could walk down to the beach and watch the sun rising over the horizon.  For some reason, this seemed rather exciting to me.  I had never really gotten up at the crack of dawn just to see a sunrise, so I thought this would fun and something different.  My great-Aunt kept talking everything up and telling my how beautiful the sunrise was, so my curiosity was peaked.

The great event was scheduled.  My great-Aunt and I were to wake up at 5:00 AM the next morning, put on our swimsuits, and head to the beach.  I couldn’t wait.  I went off to bed and was so looking forward to waking up early the next morning.  Unfortunately, I was so excited I couldn’t sleep.  I tossed and turned all night long.  To make matters worse, I didn’t have a clock in the room and I didn’t wear a watch, so I had no idea what time it really was as I was tossing and turning during the night.  It seemed like an eternity.  Everyone else was sound asleep, but all I could do was lay in bed and wait until my great-Aunt woke me up at 5:00 AM.  I had no earthly idea how much longer that would be.  Without a time-piece, I couldn’t tell if the time was 2:00 AM; 3:00 AM, or perhaps closing in on 5:00 AM.  I don’t know if you’ve ever been in such a situation, but there is nothing more miserable than waiting in the bed for hours upon hours, knowing something exciting is just around the corner, but not knowing how much longer until the magic moment arrives.

Finally, 5:00 AM came and my great-Aunt woke me up right on schedule.  We both got dressed and walked the short distance to the beach and waited.  About 45 minutes later, we both witnessed the most beautiful sunrise I had ever seen or, in my case, probably the first sunrise I had ever witnessed.  It was gorgeous.  The wonderful yellows and oranges piercing the darkness and reflecting off the water was something I have never forgotten.  The agony and misery I had experienced waiting the night before didn’t matter any more.  It was all worth it.

I’ve learned over the years that our Christian Walk is very similar, especially when we go through trials and struggles.  I think most of us, as Christians, believe that God will answer our prayers and work in our situations, we just don’t know when.  It’s almost as if life itself is like the long night I experienced that time at the beach, without my timepiece.  I knew the sunrise was coming.  I just didn’t know how much longer during the night I had to wait for the time to arrive.

No matter what you may be experiencing now in life, you can have confidence that your “sunrise” is coming.  It won’t be on your timing. It will be on God’s timing.  You may be impatient and you may want God to act now; that is only natural.  Just sit back, wait for the beauty of the sunrise and you’ll discover that there’s nothing as beautiful as God’s timing in your life.

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Presents or Presence

Self-Worth

I can understand why the Holidays are sometimes depressing for many folks.  We start weeks before Christmas buying our gifts for friends, family, and loved ones.  Everywhere we go, we hear Christmas music on the radio and in the malls.  We see the excitement (and sometimes fear) in children’s faces when they have that all important chat with Santa.  We are busy planning Christmas get-togethers with co-workers, friends, and family. There is the tremendous build-up before Christmas, then the Big Day comes, and it’s over.  Just like that; it’s over.

Of course, there are many that dread the Holidays because they don’t get to experience any of the things and events I mentioned above so it can be depressing for them not because of the let-down, but because there “never was” to begin with.

For most of us, the few days after Christmas, before New Years, is dedicated to taking down Christmas Trees and ornaments and packing them in the attic until next year.   Or, we might be spending our Gift Cards from our favorite Department Store, or perhaps returning that Sweater that only your great-grandmother would have loved in the 1930’s.  We all spend too much money buying gifts and presents, with good intentions, but most of the time it ends up being more gifts than any of us could possible use or need and, then, its back to life as normal—just with more stuff than when we started.

I have to remind myself on occasion, as a Christian, that there is really nothing I can buy, wrap-up and give to God as a Present.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve certainly tried.  I’ve tried to dress better when attending church.  I’ve tried to give to worthy causes (sometimes just to eliminate my guilt).  I’ve tried to educate myself in certain church classes and doctrines to make others think I was more intellectual.  I have tried to impress others with my Outside Appearance instead of any Inside Gifts I may have.  Before you judge me, you’ve done the same things.  I’m just being honest.  We all try to “wrap ourselves up” with some beautiful wrapping paper so we can give God ourselves in some form of a Present that is as worthless to God as my great-grandmother’s 1930’s Sweater.

What God wants from us is NOT our Presents, but He wants our Presence.  HE created YOU and YOU alone with special gifts and talents to be used in HIS service.  He wants your presence in speaking to others when the opportunity arises.  He wants your presence in touching the life of a young person.  He wants your presence in restoring the relationship with your spouse.  He wants your presence in setting a better example at work.  He wants your presence in reaching others for HIM in only ways that you can do it with the gifts and abilities that God has uniquely blessed you with.

As you look at your Christian Life, are you guilty of giving God your Presents or your Presence?

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Like the Ocean Waves

Grace

My wife and I love going to the beach.  Not so much to swim, but simply to lay out in the sun and take long walks on the beach.  We’ve been fortunate to see some of the World’s beautiful beaches from Key West to Daytona to Destin to Savannah and even Mexico, the Bahamas, and Grand Cayman all the way to Taiwan.  Its very relaxing and peaceful to lay in the sun and listen to the waves roll in and out.  There’s also always good food to be found somewhere and always time to people watch.  We get a kick out of watching the children on the beach and the unfortunate souls wearing swimsuits a couple of sizes too small.

On one of our more recent beach vacations, we were all cozy and comfortable in our reclining chairs under our beach umbrella.  The breeze was wonderful and the sun was just right.  Our IPOD’s were playing and we were just enjoying the peace and quiet.  Life just couldn’t get any better than this!!

After a few minutes of peace, our solitude was disturbed by a family on the beach near us.  As best as I could tell, the family consisted of a grandmother; an adult daughter who was pregnant; her husband (I assumed); and their 2 small children.  There was something eye-catching (not in a good way) of the daughter who was at least 7 months pregnant wearing a two-piece bathing suit.  Not to be outdone, the grandmother, who also looked at least 7 months pregnant, had her own 2 piece swimsuit.  Not very flattering in my opinion.  The husband was already seemingly drunk and was back for another beer.  I could tell this was going to be interesting to watch, so I had to turn my lounge chair around to watch this family.  My afternoon’s entertainment was now set.

I can’t tell you how funny it was to watch the husband try to show his 2 children how to fly a kite in the ocean winds, while drunk.  He was staggering all over the beach, dodging other people’s coolers and chairs.  How in the world he wasn’t totally tangled up in kite string is beyond me.  I don’t think the Kite ever got off the ground but it wasn’t without his trying.  When all was said and done, the dad asked the child to go get him another cold beer.  Of course, the child was only 7 or 8 years old, but he acted like it was perfectly normal for him to be the beer fetcher for dad.

After a long morning of attempted kite flying, staggering, and beer drinking, it was time for lunch on the beach.  Out of the blue, I heard the grandmother yell to everyone out on the beach, “time for lunch, come and eat!!”  Like ants to an ant bed, the family came rushing to grandma.  I was getting hungry myself.  As fast as everyone ran, I figured it must be something really good.  Just as the kids were all sitting there waiting for food like baby birds in the nest waiting for the mother bird, the grandmother gives them the days meal choices, “boys, do you want Vienna Sausages, or Chocolate Chip Cookies?”  The lunch of champions.  Now, I wasn’t very hungry anymore, but they didn’t seem to mind.  Of course, for the Dad, there had to be a couple of more beers to top off this gourmet meal.

After their “lunch,” the children started doing what most children do on the beach which was digging holes in the sand.  They actually had a pretty good hole dug when dad decided they needed his engineering knowledge.  After all, he had already had at least a 6 pack, by my count, within an hour and who knows how much more that I didn’t count.  It was obvious that he felt he could contribute some much needed guidance to his children’s hole digging enterprise.

They dug and they dug and they dug.  I would guess the hole was knee deep or so before dad got the brilliant idea that they should fill the hole with ocean water.  He didn’t seem daunted by the task, even though they had only a couple of buckets and were at least 200 feet from the water.  I told my wife that this was about to get really interesting.

They ran to the water; filled the buckets; and returned to the hole.  Time after time after time.  First the kids would go until they were tired.  Then the drunk dad would fill his bucket and slosh it all the way back until by the time he got back to the hole, there was nothing left in his bucket.  Needless to say, it didn’t matter how many trips to the water they made, they couldn’t fill up the hole.  The sand in the hold just absorbed the water and they never made any real progress.  After about 30 minutes of extreme effort, they gave up the battle and the dad had another beer.  In his mind, he had earned it this time around.

I started thinking about this wonderful thing called God’s Grace.  It’s one of those terms that sounds goods and we hear it often, but don’t really understand it , or at least I didn’t.  The true definition of Grace centers around God giving us something that we don’t deserve, like Salvation.  We didn’t ask for it.  We can’t buy it. We can’t do anything to earn it.  God’s Grace is available to all of us, even though we don’t deserve it.  The other beautiful thing about God’s Grace is that there is a never ending source.  Like the Ocean Waves that day on the beach, His Grace is ever flowing and never ending.

Our lives are full of sin, whether we admit it or not.  The good news is that no matter what we may have done, God’s forgiveness of those sins and the Grace He shows us is from a never ending source.  There is no sin greater than what Grace can forgive. If we sometimes feel that our sin has sometimes “dug such a deep hole” that we can’t dig our way out, it’s comforting to know that God’s Grace will ALWAYS be sufficient to fill that hole with His Love from the never ending Ocean of God’s Grace.

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