Courage For Today

morning

Our Satisfying Daily Addiction

Encouragement

There’s nothing more satisfying that a hot cup of coffee each morning.  I can remember in my young adult life that I wasn’t a huge coffee fan.  I would have a cup every once in a while but I could never make myself drink coffee on a regular basis.  I just didn’t think it really tasted all that good for some reason.

As I got older, I found myself drinking coffee on a more regular basis.  I’m not sure exactly what caused the change, if it was just the fact I was getting older or, perhaps, more stress in my life.  Nonetheless, I became a huge fan of coffee and began to eagerly look forward to a cup each and every morning.  Today my morning is not complete until I have my nice warm morning cup of coffee.  My day isn’t the same and I just don’t really feel satisfied until I’ve downed that morning cup of brew.

I was reading Psalms 90:14 this morning which reads in part, “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love…..”  What a wonderful verse to remind us that God’s love should satisfy us to the point that we should be glad for all our days.  Despite the ups and downs of life, we can always be satisfied in the fact that God loves us.

As I start each day with my wonderful cup of coffee, I pray that I’ll also take just a few moments to ponder my many life’s blessings and recognize the joy that only HIS unfailing love can bring.  That is true satisfaction.

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Mixing Biscuit Dough and Flour

Self-Worth

One of the fondest memories I have of my grandmother was what a wonderful cook she was.  Every time I visited her house, it was filled with wonderful aromas of every type of food imaginable.  It was a dream come true for me and my brothers.  She had an old kitchen range that wouldn’t impress anyone, but it was like a paintbrush in Picasso’s hand.  There was always something delicious in the works.  There were deserts on the chest freezer she had outside her kitchen.  It was better than any modern day buffet that you could visit.

For some reason, I never remember seeing my grandmother cook anything on outdoor grills.  No, you would never find charcoal in that house.  It was indoor cooking the old-fashioned way.  Despite her lack of modern day efficiencies, the meals were always memorable.  My favorite was always breakfast.  There was just something about getting up early in the morning and being awakened by the smell of freshly cooked bacon or sausage with toast and grits and soft, fluffy biscuits.  My grandmothers biscuits were the best.  To this day, I haven’t found any that I like better.

I remember one particular visit when I was very young.  I begged and begged my grandmother to let me help her make the biscuits one morning.  Of course, it didn’t take much begging on my part to convince her to let me help, but I’m sure it wasn’t long before she regretted her decision.  She started out by showing me how to take the flour and make the dough and roll it out on a big pan.  She then allowed me to make some dough of my own and roll it out, but somehow it didn’t look as smooth as hers.  My dough had cracks and holes in it.  Hers was smooth and flat.  It was a lot like molding Play-Doh, but I wasn’t very good at it.  She cut out her biscuits from the sheet of dough into nice, neat little circles ready to put in the oven.  I cut out my biscuits into small blobs that didn’t look at all like biscuits.  After about 15 minutes, my hands and face were covered with flour and I decided to let the expert take control and finish the biscuits.   I should have done that all along.

I was thinking how many times in my life that I’ve tried to take control of a particular situation and end up making a bigger mess than before I started.  I failed to realize that the Lord who stretched out the Heavens and the Earth all by himself certainly didn’t need any help from me in my everyday problems.   Just like that morning with my grandmother, as soon as I got myself out of the way and let the expert take control, the result was much better than I could have ever done on my own.

Who’s in control of your actions and decisions?

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Playing Hide and Seek With God

Encouragement

When our children were pre-schoolers, they loved to play “hide and seek.” I’m not sure why they loved the game so much.  I guess it was the thrill of hiding somewhere and, then, having Dad become frustrated trying to find them hiding in some obscure place.  My daughter, especially, took the game to its most extreme level. She took hiding serious.  So serious, in fact, she was disappointed if she was found.

I remember one particular occasion we were playing hide and seek indoors and she hid in some small space between two dressers in our bedroom.  A space so small, I wouldn’t have even thought she would fit.  I searched and searched and searched.  In closets; under beds; everywhere.  She was as quiet as a mouse.  I was actually beginning to think she may have gone outside or gotten hurt.  I searched continuously for several minutes until, finally, I saw her wedged into this small place that no one would have thought to hide.  As soon as I found her, she burst out laughing knowing that she had “won” this particular battle.

This morning, I was reading Colossians Chapter 3, Verse 1.  It says: ” Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ” Of course, the logical question is, what are the things above we should keep seeking?  I continued reading through versus 12-17 in the same Chapter and it was there I found the answers.  The Lord lists such things as putting on a heart of compassion; kindness; gentleness; humility; and patience.  But beyond all these things is love.  It was a true blessing this morning to be reminded of these “things above” and my responsibility in finding these “things above.”

Speaking from experience, I sometimes just expect the Lord to pour these “things above” on me in a mighty way, without any effort on my part.  I lose sight of the fact that it is I that should be seeking those things.  And, I should be seeking those things continually.  Not just once or twice, but continually.  Seeking these things in Christ is a Goal, not a destination.  I’m always working toward the goal, but I’ll never fully reach it.

I never stopped searching for my daughter all those years ago until I found her.  In Christ, I am reminded to never stop seeking those things above.

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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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