Author: [email protected]

He knew it was time to act. Exodus 2:25

One of my all time favorite movies is Sweet Home Alabama. I can identify with the characters, the southern small town atmosphere, the family, the friends, the love, and even the gossip. There was however, one line from the movie that I had never heard before. Melanie is defending her actions from high school, and she says, “Like I could tip a cow by myself!” I began to wonder exactly what that might mean!

In researching the phrase, there is actually such a thing. Tipping a cow refers to the purported activity of sneaking up on any unsuspecting or sleeping upright cow and pushing it over for entertainment. The practice is generally considered an urban legend and feats are thought of as tall tales.

The idea of a tipping over a cow for entertainment seems excessively mean spirited, but right now, it seems like that is exactly what is happening in our world and especially in the Middle Eastern countries. The world has been blissfully enjoying a semblance of peace, and suddenly terrorists have tipped us over while inflicting pain, trauma, and death on unsuspecting people.

In the midst of it all, we find ourselves much like the Israelites who continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.

Just like the Israelites who thought life couldn’t get worse and then, Pharoah withdrew their straw and ordered them to produce the same daily quota of brick, we can’t believe the news which gets worse every day!! They reached their tipping point, and we are feeling much the same. We feel helpless and powerless to control things just as they did.

When we reach that tipping point, sometimes there are things that might help. First, if we are in a small group of friends or church members, it might help to share our feelings It can be therapeutic and healing to openly discuss the sense of helplessness and disbelief we are feeling. A member of our small group recently shared with me a pocket cross that he had made out of wood from an olive tree from the Holy Land. I carry it with me now everywhere, and it is comforting just to have a tangible symbol to remind us that God is still there!

Next, there comes a time when we just cry out to God. Just like He saw the Israelites struggling just to get through another day, He sees the people in the Middle East who are doing the same. Sometimes we talk to everybody except God. Prayer should be our first option not our last resort. David said in Psalms 118:5, I called on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. David’s prayers got him out of a tight spot and into God’s spot.

Finally, God will always keep His promise. God works according to His plan, not ours. He has not forgotten the people or their struggles. Our prayers will be answered in His time, so our job is just to keep praying and believing in Him.

When we reach our tipping point, we must make a decision to give up on our own strength and wisdom to solve our worldly problems or deliver us from them. We need instead to declare our reliance on Him and expresss our faith in His capabilities to step in and effectuate a turn for the better.

As we continue to watch and pray, we need to remember that God is there to catch us when we have reached our tipping point.

Great peace have those who love thy law, and nothing shall hurt them! Psalm 119:165

When I think back on the early days of parenting, and the early days of teaching Kindergarten, I remember using the words, where does it hurt? countless times. Children have a habit of exaggerating physical hurts, and it is always important in order to assess the situation to find out exactly where they are hurting in order to help.

Last week I had an unexpected conversation with a lady who exercises in the pool sometimes when I am there. This lady came to America years ago as the friend of a Persian princess whose family fled the country before it became Iran. I don’t know her well, but what I do know from my own observation and experience is that she always appears very self sufficient, she is extremely opinionated, and very out spoken. I have since learned that my assessment was a bit skewed.

Our conversation began the other day when just the two of us were in the pool, and she suddenly asked,
“Diana, where do you hurt?” I was confused at first, but then I realized that she was asking what part of my body hurts since I’m always in the pool. I explained that my back bothers me, and then asked her, “Where do you hurt?” She told me that her knee hurts, and that she has upcoming knee replacement surgery. We bonded immediately as Dr. Hanna is also her doctor and Randy and I know him well!

As we talked, I asked her who would care for her during her recovery, as I knew her husband had died several years ago. She teared up, touched her chest symbolizing her heart, and said, “I am not sure. My daughters both live around here, but neither one care about me.” The realization hit me that her hurt didn’t lie in her physical pain alone, but rather in her emotional one. I put my hand on her shoulder, hugged her, and said that I would pray for her. She blew me a kiss, put both hands together as if praying and bowed slightly as is the custom in her country. My initial assessment of her just took a huge turn!

Sometimes it’s not the physical hurt in our lives that pains us, but the emotional hurts we all bear. The atrocities of the last week have left us all hurting in different ways. We hurt for the families of the hostages, we hurt for the senseless loss of life, we hurt as we face helplessness and utter bewilderment. We hurt when we see others worn down by poverty and never seeming to find relief. We hurt when we see ourselves or others shackled by an incurable physical disability. We hurt when we find ourselves completely alone and separated from those we love forcing us to face the trauma of life alone.

This world during times of adversity tends to dethrone God who is the living, guiding, sovereign of the universe and relegate Him to a lesser role of an inanimate dead abstraction. We forget that He is present and working in all the hurts of this life. The hurts could be removed from many of our agonizing trials if we could look upon them as Job learned to do “seeing God in everything”.

Many of us have experienced hurts in our lives. We have lost people who were close to us, we have experienced hurt from some person or situation, or we’ve been hurt in some other way. When Paul became a Christian, he was ostracized by his peers because he was once a persecutor of the church, and now, as a Christian, he was looked upon as the enemy. He experienced hurt, but he was never totally alone, he had Jesus and his new Christian friends.

Everyone has different hurts, but it can help to focus on the positive things that are still in our lives. For example, we might not be able to do all the things we once did physically, but spiritually, on the inside we are stronger and able to do more for others than we once did. There might be a physical decline, but because of Christ we are on a spiritual incline. If we switch our game plan, the new focus can provide relief from the hurt.

Wherever we hurt, don’t lose heart, don’t give into despair, and don’t give up! The hurts that come our way in life don’t define who we are. God and others will be there to help us through them. When life hurts, Jesus can make it all better!

This week let’s keep in our thoughts and prayers all those who are hurting whether close or far away.

Brothers and sisters I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. Philippians 3:3

People across the world have celebrated Columbus’s voyage since the colonial period when he historically set sail in August of 1492. Columbus intended to chart a course to China, India, and the renowned gold and spice islands of Asia, but instead he landed in the Bahamas. This landing made him the first European to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up new colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland in the 10th century. In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed this discovery a federal holiday.

Columbus and his three ships made the non stop voyage on the high seas of the Atlantic and sailed between 2800-3100 nautical miles. When one considers that there were no emergency radios, no radar, no weather forecast, and no communication other than person to person available, it’s hard to imagine the endless days and nights out on the ocean having no idea what might await. I have trouble sailing in the Gulf of Mexico for a couple of hours, so I can only imagine how long the days and nights became for these sailors as they lived through the wind and waves they must have faced.!

There is an interesting account of the journey in a work entitled, Diary of Christopher Columbus’ First Voyage to America written by Bartolome de la Casas. The frst entry was posted on August 3, 1492, the day of his departure from Spain. It reads, “We departed Friday the third of August in the year of 1492 from the Bar of Saltes at the eighth hour. We went south with a strong sea breeze 60 miles, which is 15 leagues, until sunset; afterward by the southwest and south by west which was the route for the Canaries. and on this day we sailed on. As the journal continues, the most intriguing thing is that at the end of almost every day, the final words are, And on this day, we sailed on.

Some days nothing happened except the monotony of bobbing up and down on the seas. Some days the storms came, and the ship took on water. Some days the crew turned on each other and fought. Some days one of the ships had mechanical issues. Some days the sea was calm and peaceful, and there was rest. Through it all, they sailed on. Columbus had a vision, and he and his crew persevered through hardships, danger, difficulty, boredom, and disappointments.

Some days, we, as Christians feel a lot like Columbus and his crew because we seem to face a lot of fighting and struggling along our way. The scripture above reminds us that no matter what we face, we can’t give up, but rather we must sail on!

God is looking for committment, perseverance, and faithfulness as we sail on in this life. We will encounter persecution, but we sail on. We will encounter ciriticism, but we sail on. We will be bored, but we sail on. We will encounter danger on our way, but we sail on. We will face betrayal, but we sail on. We will frequently feel like the devil is winning, but we sail on.

I can’t think of anyone in the Bible apart from Jesus who lived a life of more gratitude than Paul the Apostle. He sailed on when he was imprisoned, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, robbed, abandoned, and the list goes on. However, when he was about to die, he wrote the young preacher Timothy, these words: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, and I have kept the faith.”

Some days when we are beaten down and we write in our spiritual journal, the only thing we can say is, today,we sailed on. We didn’t discover any new land, we didn’t get rich, we were scick, we had a flat tire, the house flooded, we heard that someone talked about us, someone blamed us, someone betlittled us, someone lied to us, but we sailed on.

It is during these times when God is using our circumstances to build character in us. He wants us to be faithful and sail on during the times when He is silent. During those days when we feel like God has shut down heaven and there’s not enough money to buy an answer to a prayer, just sail on one more day!

Mary Ann Baxter experienced some of the bad times that all Christians go through and it caused her to ask, “What have I done to deserve this?” Through the time where she sailed on and waited on God to answer her, she felt the storms that had been raging start to subside, and she felt a peace. She was able to write three stanzas and a chorus for the beloved hymn Peace Be Still.

The winds and the waves shall obey My will, Peace Be Still. Whether the wrath of the storm tossed sea, or demons or men or whatever it be, No water can swallow the shp where lies, the Master of ocean and earth and skies. They all shall sweetly obey thy will, Peace Be Still.

In the words of Christopher Columbus, And on this day – we sail on!

He never lost sight of where he has headed. Hebrews 12:2 The Message

Most of us know someone in our lives, maybe even ourselves, who have had cataract surgery. The one comment I hear without fail from these folks is, “I can’t believe how well I can see the details and color of the leaves! I had forgotten how beautiful they are!” What a miracle to be able to see the world as God made it again!

When we let our vision go uncorrected we find ourselves with a skewed outlook on so many things in this life from the beauty of nature to the beauty of life in general. The story is told of a man who was getting his windshield washed at a filling station (so we know this story is old). When the attendant finished, the man complained that he had done a terrible job and wanted it done again. The attendant obliged, but still the frustrated man complained that the windshield was not clean. The man’s wife who was sitting next to him, reached over, took his glasses, wiped them, and gave them back to him. The attendant had been doing his job all along, it was the man who had the vision problem. He had uncorrected vision.

Spiritually speaking, our vision determines what we see and how we see it. When our vision is uncorrected we can see jealousy and envy and become resentful of the blessings of others. When we see only fear and unbelief, and we limit God and what He can do for us. When we see only selfishness, we tend to put ourselves first and others suffer. When we see only negativity and cynicism, people avoid us because of our attitude.

The Bible says that “Because Jesus never lost sight of where he was headed, He could put up with anything along the way.” He had a vision and a passion. It is that vision which fuels our passion. When we are dealing with an uncorrected vision, we sometimes find our passion waning. Passion is spiritual energy, and without it we can become limp and bland.

Before God called the prophet Isaiah to a position of leadership, He corrected his vision. Israel’s constant rebellion was putting them in jeopardy with God, and they needed a leader with a clear vision. First, God allowed Isaiah to see clearly His glory and power. The same thing applies to us in this life. We will need a vision of this glory and limitless power in order to complete the job that God has called us to do. It will take a lot more than a job description and some basic skills. It will take corrected vision!

The second thing God did was to correct Isaiah’s vision of himself. God wanted Isaiah to know, and he wants us to know that we are no better than the people we are called to reach. Until we can see ourselves realistically, honestly, and humbly in relation to God and others, our mission, whatever it may be, won’t succeed.

Finally, God responded to Isaiah’s humility by sending an angel to touch his lips with purifying fire and say, “Your sin is taken away.” God doesn’t call us to be perfect, but when we have corrected vision, He rewards our efforts with success regardless of the odds! Our sins are taken away!

Just like the man needed to have his glasses cleaned in order to correct his vision, sometimes we all need to wipe away the contamination all around us which can cloud our heart and mind. We all need to renew our passion. Once we line up our passion with God’s plan, there will be no stopping us!

According to mythology, when St. Patrick was a missionary in Ireland in the fifth century, King Logaire of Tara decreed that no one was allowed to light any fires until a pagan festival was begun by the lighting of a fire on Slane Hill. In a move of defiance against this pagan ritual, St. Patrick did light a fire, and rather than execute him, the king was so impressed with his devotion that he let Patrick continue his missionary work. Three centuries later a monk named Dallien Forgall wrote the poem which we know as Be Thou My Vision. Mary Elizabeth Byrne and Eleanor Hull comiserated to write the text and music of our well known hymn. It is a hymn and prayer that in every moment of our lives, God would be our vision above all else.

Be Thou My Vision O Lord of my heart; naught be all else to me save that thou art – thou my best thought by day or by night; waking or sleeping, they presence my light.

Every one of us shall give account of himself. Romans 14:12 Take responsibility for your own life. Every one shall carry their own loads. Galatians 6: 5

This household loves college football, and we love Saturdays duirng the fall when we can gather on the deck and cheer on our favorite (Bulldogs) team. The University of Georgia has been fortunate to have some long time winning coaches such as Vince Dooley, Mark Richt, and now Kirby Smart! I’ve no idea how their styles of coaching compare, but I know that each of them has taken the guys on their respective teams and helped bring out the best in each of them.

A couple of weeks ago when UGA was playing South Carolina, we were taken aback that South Carolina was leading 14-3 at halftime. I mean, UGA is #1 in the country! We all know that halftime is just that, and we know that the game is far from over, but it was totally unexpected.

The next week, I saw some pictures and a write up about the frustration of the coaches on the Georgia sideline. It was obvious that there was a lot of frustration and the blame for the sub par performance seemed to be passing from one coach to the other. As the team left the field for the locker room, someone asked Coach Smart, “What will you say in the locker room since the team is performing so poorly?” In other words, “Who gets the blame?”

Fortunately, it went on to say that on the way to the locker room, the team psychologist (who knew a team has a psychologist?) pulled Coach Smart aside and said, “Remember the only way you get 14 points back is to take it play by play.” I translate this into, “Let’s not play the blame game, but rather get the team back to basics.”

Obviously that is great advice not just for football but for life as well. While parenting and teaching kindergarten I learned that kids instinctively play the blame game. Anytime we had an incident and I asked the question, “OK, who started it?” The answer was always the same, “The other one did!”

It’s easy in this life to shift the blame when things don’t go according to plan. Instead of taking responsibility for our decisions and actions, we begin to shift the blame to others. For example, My business would have succeeded if the bank had loaned me more money..I wanted to give more to the church, but my spouse wouldn’t let me..I would be doing great if the doctor hadn’t botched the operation..This team would be winning if we had better assistant coaches! We tend to blame our circumstances for our character deficiences on others.

The problem with blame game shifting is that it stops us from taking constructive action and moving on with our lives. Psychologist Dr. Brenda Shoshanna observes: “Each person you blame is holding on to a piece of your personal power and self respect. Taking responsibility for what’s happening in your life is one of the most empowering things you can do. New choices become availabe…your anger is redirected..you see people and events with new eyes. Remember, responsibility can also be read as response-ability, the ability to respond instead of reacting.”

We will probably never know what happened in that Georgia locker room at halftime, but I have to believe the blame game was probably not a method. When I was growing up, we had a saying, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” meaning it is much more effective to be positive and affirming than negative and demanding. What I do know is that the second half Georgia put 21 points on the board and held South Carolina on defense to win the game.

When we constantly blame others for the things that don’t turn out as we had planned, it makes us appear weaker rather than stronger. It takes strength to admit that everyone involved played a part, and the blame should be shared. Otherwise, we begin to think we are the strong one and everyone else is flawed. When we stop blaming others, we develop compassion, and we begin to realize that mistakes are natural and inevitable. They can always be corrected.

It can be really intimidating to take charge of our life, but when it comes to God there’s no wiggle room as far as his word is concerned. In Romans we find these words, “Every one of us shall give an account of himself.” God would have us step out in faith, take responsibility, and with His help, take the next step toward eliminating the blame game in our lives.

For it is written, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

Sometimes in this life questions are posed to us that cause us to stop and take a long look at our lives, past, present, and future. The realization that we have more days behind us than ahead of us is sobering, but it is a reality for many of us. Someone recently started a discussion and asked, “What is your best day so far? What is your worst day so far?” The only rule was that your best day couldn’t the birth of a child, and the worst day couldn’t be losing a loved one.

I posed this question to Randy, and he said, “My best day was our wedding day, isn’t that right?” It’s better to err on the side of caution when answering questions some time. After stating the obvious, he could come up with many “best days” and almost as many “worst days.”

I am not as quick, and my mind immediately went to movie City Slickers! This movie is the saga of three friends who are experiencing a mid life crisis. In order to get away from it all, they decide to go off together to “get their smiles back,” so the guys head off to a cattle ranch in New Mexico for two weeks to take part in a real cattle drive along with others who are there for the same experience. The movie is a comedy, but there are some moments where the three friends, Mitch, Phil, and Ed, make one think about life by asking questions and revealing such emotional truth that it sticks with you forever.

The three guys are long time friends, but they are as different as can be. Mitch is a pessimist who dwells on everything that he hates about every aspect of his life. Phil is going through a messy divorce. Ed is an adventurer who is constantly testing his limits. They each tell about their best day and their worst day, and each one tells a differenet story.

In their conversation, MItch begins by telling the story of his best day. His Dad took him to see Yankee Stadium and watch a game. Mitch describes in detail the green grass, the brown dirt, and the green copper roof. It was marvelous he says, because their family had a black and white tv, and he had no idea how colorful a stadium could be. He says that he spent the entire day sitting next to his dad learning how to keep score, and Mickey Mantle hit a homer. He still has the program. Mitch’s worst day was when his wife thought she had breast cancer. It turned out to be fine, but that time was his worst. Sometimes our worst days turn out to be our best days!

Phil says his best day was his wedding day when he felt like he had made it. He wasn’t a goof ball anymore, but a man. He remembers that it was outside, his bride was beautiful, all the groomsmen were smiling at him, and his Dad (who wasn’t the warmest of men) winked at him. He follows it up by saying his worst day has been every day since that day!

Ed’s best day is the day he told his abusive father to leave. He told him that they didin’t love him anymore, and that he would take care of his mother and his sister. His father raised his hand to hit Ed, but he stood his ground, and his father left. Ed did take care of his Mom and help raise his sister. His worst day was that same day!

The best days for me are those days spent making memories and making every day count. A friend from the Ukraine asked me the other day, “Why do some of you Americans say, “Well, I’m here” when they are asked “how are you?” He continued, “They should be grateful for this day, but they sound like they are wondering why they are still here?” I have to agree. God isn’t only interested in our final destination. He wants to work in us and through us on the journey.

First, a Christian’s best day should be one where we are clear about our assignment. So, the best days should be when we feel like Nehemiah when he said, “I am doing a great work, so..I cannot come down.”

Next, we should prioritize tasks in the order of importance. When tasks take on an urgency rather than an importance, we miss great opportunities to have our best day.

Finally, we need a definitive timetable. One of the biggest excuses that prevents us from having our best day is, “I’ll do it later.” Tomorrow isn’t promised, so make every day count!

God has promised us that our best days are still ahead of us, and that none of us can begin to imagine what He has prepared for those who love Him.

Keep listening, Job. Don’t interrupt, I‘m not finished yet! Job 33:31

In this high paced world of today, it seems that interruptions are the norm instead of the exception. I can remember my mother instructing us girls to “never interrupt adults when they are talking, never interrupt when she was on the phone, and never interrupt our teachers.” We tried our best to obey these rules, and so we spent much of our childhood standing and waiting to be recognized.

There are so many interruptions today. It is common to have someone who is talking to you on the phone receive another call and say, “I am sorry, but I have to take this now. I will call you later.” Newscasters contiually interrupt their guests while they are speaking in an effort to get another word or argument inserted in the conversation.

One of the two biggest interruptions in my life occurred in 1960 when John F Kennedy was assasinated and twenty two years ago today when our world, country, and life was interrupted by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the hijacking of United Flight 93. We can all remember vividly where we were (if you are old enough) when we heard of the assasination and when we heard the twin towers had been attacked.

Everyone has a story of that fateful day on September 11, 2001. I was at school and had just taken the class to specials when I noticed a group of teachers surrounding the televsion in the hall. I walked up just as the plane hit the tower. Everyone went completely quiet as we tried to figure out exactly what just happened! Almost immediately, parents began calling or just coming to pick up their chidren. My thoughts went immediately to my own children who were in Montgomery and Oxford at the time. It is amazing the relief that comes over a parent when you hear your child’s voice and know they are okay.

Randy immediately called for a prayer service at the church, and the staff and volunteers swumg into action to make it happen. The community poured into the sanctuary to pray for our country that evening. There were tears, disbelief, and a general sense of confusion and helplessness among us all.

How do you contain the sense of anger, the bitterness, the sense of revenge or retailiation, or even the sense of betrayal by God? The future of our country was so uncertain and the grief so intense, but in the midst of all the emotions, God interrupts our doubts and calls us to forgive and move forward.

The story is told of a photographer named Joel Meyerowitz who spent nine months photographing and documenting the recovery and wreckage of the south tower inside the World Trade Center. On March 30, 2002, Joel was taking photos inside the area of the south tower when a fireman called to him and handed him the remains of a Bible he had found in the debris. The front of the Bible was obliterated, but the remaining fragments sat open faced and melted into a piece of heart shaped steel.

While most of the Bible was destroyed, the little more than half a page on top was miraculously preserved. The melted King James version was open to Matthew 5. The first thing Joel noticed was the word “Retaliation” in Matthew 5:38-39 where Jesus says, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; but I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but whoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, you turn the other to him also.”

Joel was stunned. How remarkable that of all the fragile pages that had survived, it was this passage in the midst of such an unspeakable act of evil.

Many things in our lives were interrupted that day, but God continues to show us that evil should never interrupt the doing of good. Jesus’ message of forgivness endures even on this day twenty two years later. No matter what we’ve been through or what’s been done to us, it still applies to our situation.

It is the church’s responsibility to not only remember that day and to work hard every day in praying that this sort of thing might never happen again, but also to be ambassadors of forgiveness in the midst of our interruptions.

As we remember the souls who lost their lives on that fateful day, may we be comforted in knowing that Christ still calls us to forgive just as he has forgiven us. One thing is for sure, interruptions happen, but God is with us through it all. God Bless America!

(The picture above is of American flag found in New York in the rubble of September 11, 2001.)

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immoveable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the work of the Lord, your labor is not in vain. Corinthians 15:58

Today we celebrate Labor Day which, besides being a holiday, is the unofficial kick off to the college football season. The holiday was begun in the late nineteenth century when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well being.

American labor has raised the natiion’s standard of living and contributed to the greatest production the world has ever known. When I think of all those among us who labor every day to bring us closer to the realization of traditional ideals of economic progress, it is certainly worthy of a day of celebration.

There are so many whose hands are a part of all this! The “greatest generation” who served in WWII and were products of the Great Depression, “Baby Boomers”, “Generation Xers”, “Millennials”, “Generation Z”, and on down the line have benefited from the hands of those who worked and came before them.

It matters how we use what is in our hands to preserve this country and its ideals. I read somewhere of just how much our hands can matter in this world. The piece related how different hands can enhance the worth of ordinary objects. For example, in our hands, a basketball is worth about fifteen dollars, but give to LeBron James and it’s worth millions. In our hands a football holds little value, but put it in Peyton Manning’s hand and the worth increases exponentially. In our hands, a golf club can be worth little, but Tiger Woods can change the worth. copied

Jesus taught His disciples to use their hands to be distributors of His blessings and “first responders” to those in need. In the miracle of feeding the five thousand, the miracle of multiplication did not take place when the food left Christ’s hands, but rather when it left the disciple’s hands. Christ blessed the five loaves and two fish, gave it to them, and they set out to do what seemed ridiculous; feeding a multitude with a boy’s lunch!! As they watched what was in their hands multiply to feed the five thousand, they experienced the miraculous!

This parable proves that when the Lord blesses what is in our hands we will succeed despite the challenges and obstacles that confront us. Sometimes, we don’t recognize the gift that is in our hands or we even doubt its worth. We might conclude that we don’t have the right thing or enough of it in our hands to do what it takes, but we do.

God has deposited different gifts in our hands that He wants us to recognize, nurture, and use for His glory. When we take the time to develop that underdeveloped gift we have been running around carrying, we will be amazed at the potential there.

The miracle began when a boy found an unmet need and decided, “Hey, these people are hungry and need to be fed.” That is also when the disciples discovered what Jesus could do with what they held in their hands. It might have looked hopelessly inadequate, but not with God.

On this Labor Day, we need to remember that our labor is not in vain. When we use our hands to do the work of the Lord for His purposes, the work is never in vain. Our labor no matter what it might be, is not meaningless or worthless because God gives it meaning and worth.

God has given us each something in our hand that others need. It is our job to use what He has put in our hands.

Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

This week marks the beginning of another season of football for colleges around the country, so it’s time to Huddle Up and get ready. Of course, this household will be “barking like Dawgs” while adding a few “Hotty Toddy” cheers in the mix to honor the majority of our family’s allegiance. Football has been a favorite sport of mine since high school days when my cousin played and subsequently taught me the rules so I could critique his performance in games!

There are many things about the game which remain a mystery, but nothing more so to me than the question, “why do players huddle and what goes on in there?” We all know what a huddle looks like on the field. Basically, it is a tightly formed circle of players in which the team strategizes, motivates, and celebrates. The center calls the huddle, and the players gather around him while the quarterback calls the next play, and the team uses that time to make adjustments. These days our grandson plays center and calls the huddle so our eyes are on him, but I still wonder what all happens in there??

The huddle began in the 1890’s when a deaf quarterback by the name of Paul D. Hubbard, who played at Gaudett University, developed the concept. He and his teammates would gather regularly during the game to discuss strategy, but they had to communicate using sign language. This method made it really easy for the opposing team to pick up on the signs and catch key information just by observing them. One day, Hubbard had an idea which changed sports forever! He asked the players to form a circle so that everyone could exchange information and put their strategy in place in absolute privacy, thus the huddle was born! Although the concept has been tweeked a little, the premise of close team communication and self organization for a common goal remains the same.

Huddling Up makes me think of different groups in my life who have used this same idea to work together. Groups such as team members in school, small groups of new Church friends, or our small group of long time friends. These groups huddle up to give other members a hand up when one of us is down because no one should have to face life alone. We would all be in real trouble if we had no one to pick us up when we fall. We huddle up and motivate.

We huddle up to talk through a situation, be objective, offer counsel, and exhibit love. We huddle up to strategize. Proverbs 27:9 says, “The sweetness of a friend gives delight by hearty counsel”. Sometimes family members are just too close and as much as they want to help, they can’t be objective. It’s easier to open up sometimes to somebody who has another perspective to help us strategize through our situation.

We huddle up to hold each other accountable. Sometimes we all act or move in a way that is contrary to God’s word. It’s easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we are on the right path when we are not. It takes a huddle to offer advice and point us in the right direction. The huddle is there for us.

We huddle up to celebrate and laugh. Someone once said, “If you have no wrinkles, you haven’t laughed enough.” There’s nothing like a huddle to help us find the humor in situations usually because many of us already been there. Hazel Lee said, “Laughing at ourselves as well as with each other brings a surprising sense of togetherness.”

One of the best things God does is provide Godly huddles along this game of life. These folks are the ones who are always willing to huddle up to strategize, motivate, hold us accountable, and celebrate! Thank God for those He has placed in our huddles to be encouragers and supporters! Let’s Huddle Up!

Be still and know that I am God. I am exalted in all the nations; I am exalted in all the earth. Psalm 46:10

Early one morning last week while daylight was just breaking, I went out on our deck to hang the hummingbird feeders. Everything was so still, and I was looking out over the back yard when a deer raised her head and looked back at me. She was sleeping in the grouping of hydrangas, and my presence woke her. I quietly said, “Good morning, beautiful!” She slowly got up, watching me all the time, and quietly walked out of the yard.

I began to marvel at all the things we miss if we don’t take the time to be still, watch, and listen. “A still pond reflects the sun perfectly. God is the sun. We are the lake. When your soul is still and clear, you reflect the truth, beauty, and goodness of God to everyone you encounter. As the day goes on, the wind will pick up, the lake will be full of ripples, and you will barely be able to see the sun’s reflection in the water.” copied This is a perfect illustration of the society in which we live.

In our culture, people don’t like to be still, be quiet, or be silent. It drives us crazy to be without noise of some kind because we’ve been accustomed to it. We have this philosophy that if we are not doing something, saying something, or planning something, we are not being productive and that is a waste of time.

It is true that God can speak to us anytime, anywhere, through anybody, by dropping a thought in our mind, but busyness can crowd out the thought. In stillness we can hear God more clearly.

There is an example of this in the “Be Still” necklace which one of our small group ladies introduced while we were discussing how hard it is to be still in this life. The necklace is made of two pieces which move independently of each other. Any time you are moving or busy, the pieces seem random, but if you take a moment and are still, the pieces come to the center and form a perfect cross. A simple reminder to slow down and re center your life.

There are a few reasons that being still and quiet is good for us. First, these days we don’t take enough time off to regain our strength, renew our spirt, and find ourselves in the busyness of life. If we take the time to be still, we can rejuvenate out soul.

Next, being still and quiet is good for our relationships with others. We often think that people around us need chatter, but sometimes the best thing we can do for others is just be there. There are those times when it’s best to be silent while we give them someone to lean on.

Finally, being still and quiet is good for our relationship with God. We rarely find God in the hectic moments of our life, but often we find him in the quiet moments. Mother Teresa said, “God rarely is found in the midst of noise and restlessness; instead, He is the friend of silence.”

We are easily distracted and upset by this busy world of today. God would have us just be still and quiet in His presence. Gail MacDonald writes, “The ancient desert fathers used to commit themselves to a disciplinary creed: silence, solitude, and inner peace. Only after adequate listening did they consider themselves ready to speak. Today there’s a strange logic that spiritual resource and renewal are found in constantly seeking new voices, attending more meetings to exchange half thought out opinions. We fall into the trap of believing that God is most pleased when we have maximized our information, our schedules, and our relationships. Disengagement means silence before God, a time of heavenly discussion during which we listen more than we speak.”

There is a story told of a father who was always short with his family and children. His daughter wanted to tell him a story, and she said, “I will hurry and tell it.” The father replied, “You don’t have to hurry. You can tell it slow.” The daughter replied, “If I tell it slow, will you listen slow?”

Being still and quiet is difficult, in fact, almost impossible for many of us. Once we take time to be still, we will discover that our minds and souls have been starving for stillness for a long time. Once we give our souls a taste of stillness, we won’t be satisfied unless it’s a major part of our day!

Only to sit and think of God, oh what a joy it is! Frederick W. Faber