Page 291 was the end of a short work week and the beginning of a family fall break getaway.  The day began early with the usual prayer, cleaning, and building prep tasks.  As I took the trash out, Venus was shining brightly above the tree line in the eastern horizon.  It wasn’t long before it was followed by a small sliver of the moon being chased by the rising sun.  The rest of the morning was spent taking care of some maintenance tasks and correspondence details before heading home to get ready for our adventure.  

After firing up the pellet grill and making some bacon cheeseburgers for lunch, we hit the road for a long afternoon of driving.  Probably not the best planning to end up going through a major city at 5 PM, but we managed.  As evening was approaching I could see the sun rapidly falling toward the horizon in my rear view mirror.  We weren’t quite going to make it to our destination by sunset, so we made a quick search for a nearby park overlooking the lake so we could get some sunset photos.  While not the best, we found a partial view just as the sun was setting.  We managed a few photos, but it was beautiful to see and watch even with a partiall blocked view.  

As with many of our family adventure pages, I think I’m going to let the photos do most of the speaking for the day and do without the bulletted “lessons and observations” section.

Lake Erie Sunset

Lake Erie Sunset

Lake Erie Sunset

Moon and Venus in the same photo . . . If you look closely enough.

Almost a New Moon

Venus and a “random” star.

Venus Close-Up

Page 290 began with the usual early morning prayer, cleaning, and building prep tasks.  As I went about my morning work, I found myself praying about communication styles and how they influence the manner in which we relate to God.  The sky was filled with stars when I left the house early this morning, but the moon didn’t rise until sometime while I was going about my early tasks.  Today was an interesting day on the solar and lunar schedules as the moon rose in the eastern horizon about an hour before the sunrise and set in the west about an hour before the sunset.  With the new moon fast approaching, there was just a sliver of moon visible when it finally made it up over the horizon.  The moon was present in the sky overhead all day, but there wasn’t enough of it reflecting the light of the sun for it to actually be visible in the bright daylight.  As I took the trash out, it was an interesting sunrise as there was more color in the sky to the south and west than there was to the east.  Today’s photo was taken at sunrise this morning looking to the south and a little west.  Not only did the sky light up with color, but the trees are finally starting to show some of the color change of fall as well.

As I went about my early morning tasks, a poem showed up in my mind again today.  As I look back over the past few years, it seems like these flare-ups of the PTSD symptoms I’ve been diagnosed with, probably along with the seasonal effects of SAD, somehow crack open a wall to the poem storage in my mind as it is when I am dealing with these symptoms that most of my poems have shown up.  While not pleasant to live with, it is good to know that God doesn’t waste anything as I’ve watched Him use some of these poems in incredible ways.  If you follow my blog writing, you’ve probably already seen the poem, “Just a Moment“, that I posted earlier today.

As I worked on some prayer ministry correspondence, I got word of some maintenance issues that needed taken care of.  After evaluating the situation, I put on my plumbers hat and went to work taking care of a couple water issues.  Most days I have an idea of what I hope to accomplish, but many of them include a surprise or two that is just part of the nature of my job.  When the surprises come, I can either address them cheerfully knowing they are a part of my work, or I can become irritated that my plans are being disrupted.  It is kind of that way in our spiritual life, right?  Or is it just mine?  We have a plan or idea of how things should go but as much as we want it to be, it isn’t always identical to God’s plan.  When God “surprises” us with something that is a disruption to our plans, do we do His work cheerfully as we ought to or do we become irritated that something got in the way of what we wanted?

By mid-afternoon my mind was fading fast and it was time to call it a day.  I stopped for a late lunch on the way home then took my meds and a nap to finish out the afternoon.  There are issues that I feel I ought to write about, but with little clarity of mind and no clear direction from God to do so, I think it is best to leave those topics until He makes it clear there is something He wants me to say.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Not everyone communicates most effectively in the same manner.
• It’s one thing for me to understand my preferred means of communication.  It is a different, and better, thing for me to work at understanding the preferred communication styles of others.
• Realizing that people communicate differently helps me to see how people relate to God differently, and then work with them to help them use their communication preferences in their conversations with God.
• I find the interaction between the sun, moon, and stars fascinating and they always leave me in awe of a wonderfully creative God.
• The sun provides light, but the varying degrees of moisture and density of the clouds turn the light into the beautiful colors of a sunrise or sunset.
• God provides His light within us, but it is the personal characteristics of each of us that turn His light in us into a beautiful tapestry of humanity.
• Sometimes the things which cause discomfort or pain in our lives are the things God wants to use to minister to others through us.
• God’s plans are never disruptions no matter how much they may feel like it.  His plans ought to be the purpose of our life.
• When my plans become more important than God’s re-directions, I am headed for trouble.
• Sometimes emotions lead us down paths that aren’t ours to take.  It is always best to walk the paths God leads us on rather than the ones our fear or anger direct us to.

After a very late night going through Sunday evening photos, the Monday morning alarm seemed to go off extra early.  I am starting to sleep a little better when I do get to sleep, so it wasn’t too bad waking up and heading into work.  The air had a crisp fall feel to it and the crispness made the stars and small sliver of moon seem that much brighter.  It was so beautiful that I pulled my camera out of my bag and shot a few photos before heading into the building once I arrived at work.  As I started on my workday, I began with the usual prayer, cleaning, and building prep routine as I prayed for the students who would be arriving in a couple hours to begin their school week.  I also spent time praying about the Growing Strong retreat concept as I seek God for a further refinement in what they will look like now and into the future.  I believe He is calling me to remain both faithful and flexible as these retreats come about, so I trust and expect Him to further reveal what that means as the dates for the first retreat quickly approach.

As I worked, I noticed movement outside one of the windows as a couple deer made their way along the backside of the building.  As I tried to figure out if there was any way to get enough lighting for a photo, they noticed my movement and disappeared into the woods.  As I gathered up the trash and got ready to take it out, I noticed a different movement by the back door and looked to see a pair of raccoons washing their hands in a water puddle that had accumulated by one of the downspouts.  There is an exterior light over the door, so I managed a few photos that at least made the raccoons recognizable even though there was a lot of glare visible from the glass door.

Once the building was ready for the day, I settled into my Monday morning prayer guide writing routine.  I suppose because of my time spent as I worked praying about the upcoming retreat, the instruction of Jesus to watch and pray was firmly in my mind as I set about listening for a topic for the new weekly prayer guide.  As I spent time in scripture and prayer the focused changed a little bit, or was refined to an extent, to be more specific about our need to watch out!  The rest of the morning was spent fleshing out the prayer guide as it will address a number of things that God challenges us to watch out for.  Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that are not beneficial to our spiritual growth simply because we have not paid attention to the path we are on.

As I worked on the prayer guide, I was watching out my window and noticed the sun sparkling off the dew-clad leaves.  I took a quick walk outside with my camera and snapped today’s photo.  It really doesn’t do it full justice, but I still liked the capture of the fall colors and droplets of water from the heavy dew.  Back inside, I finished writing the prayer guide then took care of some maintenance issues that had been brought to my attention.  When I returned to my office, I spent the early part of the afternoon formatting and scheduling the prayer guide for Sunday’s publication through my email newsletter and on my website.  

Once the workday was over, it was time to run some errands before relaxing at home — including a little nap time.  I can typically feel when my mind has reached its limit for the day, and right now that usable time span in most days doesn’t cover very much other than my work hours.  The nap did help some, so I sat down to write today’s page.  As I did so, I got caught up in looking at some possible location stops for an upcoming delayed anniversary trip.  One of the advantages in planning family trips is our shared love of capturing and sharing photos of the beauty of creation wherever we go.  The difficulty lies in the fact that there are so many beautiful places that we have not yet been to and most regions of the country we would visit have so much more to see that we could fit into any available time.  Anyhow, it is fun to look and fill my mind with ideas so that when the trip actually takes place there is plenty of options and flexibility.  The downside of getting sidetracked with looking at trip options is that I can feel the buzzing in my head starting to return as I try to finish writing today’s page.  I guess that is a good cue to go to the closing. 🙂

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• I have a difficult time stopping in the middle of something and finishing it later.
• When taking photos at a lake, I find that I pay so much attention to the detail of what I’m trying to capture that I rarely end up with the horizon level in the photo.
• Taking 600+ photos on a short photo trip adds up to a lot of hours editing when I have to manually straighten almost every one.
• When I’m paying attention, God often stops me in my tracks with varied displays of His creativity.
• For me, God rarely gives me all the details that I want.  He usually calls me to a task one step at a time and asks that I trust Him for the steps I can’t yet see.
• Being observant is important.  Knowing what you’re observing can help keep you headed in a proper direction.
• Satan is the enemy of every person.  While it is easy to see him as the enemy of the Christian, his goal of destruction is the same whether a person believes in Jesus or not.
• It is far easier to walk down the wrong path than most of us imagine.  That is why it is important to constantly watch out for anything, and anyone, who would lead us astray.
• When my internal chemical balances are out of whack, it is even more important than usual to pay attention to the signs my body gives me that enough is enough.
• Rather than be overwhelmed at all the incredible beauty of this country that I’ve not yet seen, I get excited at all the options that exist should something not work out at a location I’ve considered.