{Date | Day 29 of 31}

Ready? Go.

Some days you never forget. The date is etched in your heart and mind long after it has passed. The memories attached are sometimes sweet, sometimes not. Yeah, I have a catalog of those kinds of dates.  It's good to remember. I've found over time, as God works things out in me, those dates that represented pain come to mean something more than that. He does turn mourning to joy, after all. Yesterday, I added a new date to my catalog.

Julia, my four-year-old, was playing in her room. I was using the restroom, her big sister was in the shower, her big brother visiting a friend, and her dad was working at his desk. I heard her running down the hallway, and before I knew it, the bathroom door flew open. She was standing there, tears streaming down her face, looking utterly terrified. “I swallowed a penny,” she stammered and then she started getting sick. She turned around and ran offto find her Dad. Besides being indisposed, I must have looked a bit afraid. I gathered myself and headed down to find her. I’m not going to tell you that I wasn’t a bit of a mess. The tears filled my eyes and about the same time, my stomach started doing somersaults. I couldn’t find my words, but managed to squeak out a one-word plea toward heaven. My mind has a nasty habit of immediately taking me to the worst-case scenario when something like this happens. 

I made it downstairs and saw my little one standing on a towel, bent over, heaving and vomiting. Here dad was with her. I turned right back around, more tears, and lost my breakfast in the stairway. On my hands and knees, I had to remind myself to keep it together. The conversation in my head went something like this: Come on, Valerie. Don't you know who you belong to. Stop it. Ask for His help. I managed to squeak out another prayer. “God, please help her.”

About that time, I heard Julia. “There it is, I got it out.” She was pointing at a quarter lying in the mess on the towel. A quarter. That’s quite a bit bigger than a penny. I found a seat on the steps and she hopped into my lap. We were both covered in stuff I’d rather not discuss. Thank. You. God. I said it over and over again. 

This morning, Julia climbed up beside me in bed and we had a chat. She was feeling fine; she explained that her throat wasn’t hurting today. I asked her if she understood that God helped her when she swallowed that quarter. She shook her head and told me, “I was talking to Him in my head. I couldn’t talk out loud because I was throwing up.” I reminded her that we needed to thank God for keeping her safe and helping her.

A few minutes later she was chatting with her Dad. She was holding up a quarter. She thought it was THE quarter. (I don’t know how in the world she had another quarter.) “Daddy, this is the quarter. I swallowed it and God reached down and pulled it out of my tummy.” “I was asking Him in my head, and He did.” 

Yes. He absolutely did. 

STOP.

{Five Minute Friday | Eat}

It's Five Minute Friday. That means unplanned, unedited, straight-from-the-heart-to-the-paper writing. Yep, you just write whatever comes out based on a word you're given. If you have five minutes, you should give it a try!  Find out how here.

This week the prompt is {EAT}. This is also Day 28 of the 31 Day Writing Challenge! WOO!

Ready? GO.

"You give them something to eat." -Jesus

I like to imagine their mouths hanging wide open in astonishment when He gave them this answer. Can you imagine it? Thousands of people followed them to a remote place. They had come there with Jesus for a rest. It was hot. It was late. They hadn't even had a chance to eat themselves. "Send the crowd away so that they can go. . .and find food," they said. And this was His reply! No. Way. Never mind feeding all these people would cost eight months' wages. Impossible? By their estimation, yes; but, Jesus has a way of taking an impossible situation and doing something amazing. That's what He did here. He used five loaves and two fish to feed 5000 people. And, they didn't just have a nibble. Scripture says they all ate and were satisfied. And, Jesus didn't offer just enough. He provided more than was needed. There were twelve baskets of food left after everyone had eaten. Wow.

I love the truths we can uncover in this scene.

1. Rest is important. Jesus had taken this twelve disciples away to a remote place to do just that.
2. Interruptions can provide an opportunity for a God-moment. People followed them. They didn't get to rest much if at all. Instead, they witnessed a miracle.
3. We often measure what's in front of us by taking account of what's missing, what we don't have. Our lack of resource limits our vision. But, Jesus sees what we do have and loads of potential in even the smallest things.
4. Jesus cares about our physical needs and our spiritual needs. He spent the day teaching the crowd, feeding them spiritually. And when they grew hungry, He met that need as well. His compassion was on display.
5. The disciples were invited to participate in the miracle. They did what they could, and then God did what only He could do.

Yes. I love it when God does something that only He can. In those moments, His infinite power and goodness are undeniable.

What seemingly impossible thing has God asked of you? Have no doubt, if He's asked it of you, then He's fully prepared to take what you have in hand and blow impossible right out of the water. Ask Him. Then, watch Him go to work.

Stop.

{Bouquet | Day 27 of 31}

Ready? Go.

One of my favorite things is a bouquet of wildflowers. I love that I live in a city where there are fields of them in a few local parks. Julia and I love to stroll down the gravel path counting butterflies. It winds back through the field, and there are wildflowers as far as the eye can see. On a breezy day, the flowers rustle in the wind, bending this way and swaying that way. It makes me smile. Sometimes, I stare, captivated by the beauty.

It reminds me of Matthew 6. This entire chapter of Scripture is beautiful and straight from the mouth of Jesus. I would love to leave the whole of it here for you to read, but I will let you grab your scriptures and read it there. Let's just settle on this:

"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met." (Matthew 6:30-33, The Message)

We don't have to worry. We don't have to fuss. We don't have to strive. God is making beautiful things out of us and doing wonderful things for us. Perhaps, we can take our cue from the wildflowers, bending this way and swaying that way as He sings over us with His perfect love and never-ending grace.

Stop.

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{Confront | Day 26 of 31}

Ready? Go.

"I don't like confrontation," she said. I don't like it either! The word by definition implies hostility.  But, what about conflict? Conflict (or disagreement)  is an expected part of human relationships. We can't all agree on everything one hundred percent of the time. That's fair, right? It's certainly not something we should stir up (see Proverbs 6:14, 19; 10:12; 15:18; 16:28; 29:22). When it comes, though, we ought to address it.

Disagreement doesn't have to disintegrate into a confrontation. Conflict can be handled well through honest, gracious conversation. But, I don't know if we've done that well in the church. Here are a few things I try to remember in the midst of conflict.

Words matter. Use them wisely. Carefully. Perhaps, even sparingly. Listen first. Then respond. If there is a gap to be filled in, ask a question before making an unfair assumption. Always, always extend grace and mercy. 1 Corinthians 13. Always.

Stop.

{Sign | Day 25 of 31}

Ready? Go.

Last summer, my family and I had a big decision to make. It was a big deal to us -- we were deciding whether to stay at our church or not. We'd been invited to join a leadership team at a 2-year-old church plant. We toiled over the decision. There were prayers, fasting, conversations. I asked God to make it undeniably clear if this was a yes. I needed a sign. Have you ever been there? In hindsight, I wonder if perhaps I shouldn't have been more precise in my prayers. You know, like Gideon in Judges 6.

We truly thought we got it right. But after only a few months in, it seemed painfully clear that we didn't. Or, at least, it wasn't the best yes. My family is still sorting through the fragmented pieces and jagged edges left from that season trying to make sense of it. We're trusting God to fill in the gaps and smooth the rough edges. And, He will.

But, I can't help but wonder how I missed it?  Why did I miss it? Nevermind that. I suppose the important thing is that I am confident I am never beyond His reach. And, I am never out of His sight. And nothing is beyond being used for His purpose and His glory.  And so, it's been a Psalm 139 kind of season. He goes before. He comes behind. He hems me in. I'm grateful He works all things for good.

Stop.