Page 267 was another restful day as I slept in past sunrise before waking up and getting ready for church.  The theme of the morning seemed to be on serving as our Sunday School class wrapped up a study of John 13, where we find the account of Jesus washing the disciples feet as an example that they too ought to serve others.  Serving was to become an identifying mark for all those who would seek to become great in the kingdom of God.  The “new command” to love one another really wasn’t all that new until Jesus added the qualifier that this new love for one another was to be in accordance to how He loves us.  Too often we adopt the world’s view of success where we reach it by climbing the ladder to the top, away from those we are called to love.  The success Jesus wants us to have in order to be considered great in His kingdom, is obtained by climbing down the ladder to be with those who we ought to serve in love.

After the Sunday School class, we had a great morning worship gathering where David shared a message about serving one another because we are all a part of the same body with Christ as the head.  The following are the main points from that sermon.

• We serve because everyone is part of one unique identity — Jesus Christ.  Separating ourselves from the body of Christ doesn’t make any more sense than a part of our physical body deciding to leave and do its own thing.  When we discover our identity in Christ, we also find that serving is who we are because it is who He is.  Just as the parts of our body work together with one identity centered in the head, the parts of the body of Christ can only function when they work together with one identity centered in the headship of Christ.  Because the Head is focused on serving, the rest of the parts of the body will serve — if indeed they are a part of the body.
• We serve because everyone in the church is important.  The physical body is made up of many parts and while we may not understand the purpose for each part, they all exist by the will and design of our creator — God.  Jesus calls the church His body and it too is made up of many parts — people.  While you and I may not always understand the purpose each part has, our lack of understanding doesn’t diminish their value.  Because everyone in the church is important, we cannot legitimately say that serving is not our job — we’re too important for that kind of work — because the person we expect to do the serving is just as important as we are.  But we also can’t use the excuse that we’re too small of a part, or unimportant, to serve because God says that we belong exactly where He has placed us and He has a purpose and plan for us to do the works of service He created in advance for us to do.
• We serve because everyone has a job to do, though not everyone has the same job.  If you’ve ever had a part of your body not work, even temporarily, you should understand the difficulty caused when even a seemingly small part doesn’t do its work for whatever reason.  We serve because there is good work God created in advance for us to do that helps complete the body.  One of the easiest ways to kill a desire to serve can be to look around with envy at the work others are doing.  However, we feed the desire to serve when we follow God’s instructions to encourage one another.  When we realize that we are all part of one body and that each part is important, we begin to find value in being the part that we were created to be instead of jealously longing to be who someone else was created to be.  Your works of service within the body of Christ are important because they represent a task that God designed just for you.

The church service was followed by lunch with my family and then some time spent relaxing at home.  Eventually, we headed out to the Bonneyville Mills County Park near Bristol, Indiana where the dahlia garden was still in bloom.  Today’s photo was taken as a this butterfly made its way around the flower garden sampling many of the flowers as it went.  It was tough to catch it with its wings opened up as most of the time it either had its wings folded together or was flying.  We spent some time at the park photographing the flowers, mill, and waterfall scenes before stopping by Sam’s Club on our way home.  

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

• I am thankful to be part of a Bible study class that actually uses the Bible as its text.
• While the above statement is my preference, I am also thankful that there are well-written study guides available for those who need help in learning to study and teach the Bible truths.
• Serving others willingly and with love ought to be a distinguishing mark of every Christian.
• From a kingdom of God perspective, we will never lift ourselves to greatness no matter how hard we try.
• If the head serves, the body serves.  If you are a part of the body of Christ, your head serves so you also ought to be serving.
• There are no unimportant parts in the body of Christ.  If you are a part of His body, you have just as much importance to Him as each of the other parts.
• Your work within the body of Christ is valuable because it was given to you by God.  That value doesn’t change based on what others do, or don’t do.
• Spending time with my family is both enjoyable and important.

Page 266 has been a quiet Saturday as I used the day to catch up on some rest.  Starting my workdays early so I have more evening time with my family results in “sleeping in” taking on a different meaning than it used to.  At this time of year, if the sun is already up when I wake up then I’ve slept in.  Anyhow, the sun was up when I made my morning coffee and settled in to spend some time with God.  Eventually my prayer time included the writing of yesterday’s page as I didn’t get it written last night.  

Throughout the morning I would check on Susan, who has perfected the task of sleeping in.  She was finally ready to get up around noon, so while she got dressed I fired up the pellet grill to get our Saturday bacon cheeseburgers started for lunch.  After lunch I spent some time going through photos from Thursday’s afternoon trip to Ludington.  Eventually it was time for a nap to continue the theme of rest for the day.  As evening rolled around I had no new photos for the day, so I headed outside to see what I could find that wanted photographed.  Tonight it was the roses.  As I thought about the old line, “A rose by any other name would be just as sweet”, I began to consider what makes a rose so desirable.  While we identify this flower by a particular name, it is not the name that has been the cause of attraction by people to the rose.  No, it is the qualities that exist in the flower that make people want to grow them, enjoy them, give them, and receive them.  It could have been called a thistle and if it possessed the same qualities, people would line up to admire them and give them to the people they love.  The opposite is true, I could call a dandelion a rose all I want but, other than a handful of school-aged children and their moms, they still won’t elicit the same response as a real rose.

As my mind thought about the flowers, it turned to the early followers of Jesus who were eventually called Christians — not because wearing the name all of a sudden made them a certain way, but because the people around them saw Christ in them.  It is far too easy today for any of us to slap on the name Christian to ourselves, to events, even to products and services without any concern about whether they represent Christ accurately or not.  There are a lot of problems with doing that, but one of the biggest is that it really doesn’t work.  Just as putting the name rose on a weed doesn’t fool anyone with knowledge and confuses those without understanding, putting the label of Christian on anything that isn’t Christ-like will never fool those who know better and only confuse those who don’t.  Just as a rose is made a rose by the characteristics that hold true to what it is, a Christian must be known by the characteristics that hold true to the name of Christ.  A true Christian by any other name — employee, boss, dad, mom, child, parent, coworker, stranger, neighbor, etc — will still look like a Christian regardless of the name.

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

• The changes we make in life often influence what we do in other parts of our life that weren’t a part of the original change.
• Routines of life need to be flexible so that they don’t break us.
• Rest can look different to each of us but it is important that we find what is restful to us as individuals and incorporate it into our lives.
• It is the qualities of a rose, more than its name, that make it attractive to people.
• It is the qualities of a Christian, more than our name, that ought to make Christ attractive to the world.
• How well do you represent the name you wear?  Would the people around you agree?  Would God agree?
• If you are following Christ, you ought to add beauty to the world no matter what anyone may call you.

Page 265 was a Friday which means my work responsibilities began early in the morning and ended late at night.  As I went about my usual early morning tasks, I thought about our anniversary trip the day before.  It reminded me of a truth that has been said by a number of people in a variety of ways — your real priorities are not reflected in what you say is important but rather in what you actually do.  Many times our priorities are put to the test because the important things that we want to do are not always easy and may require us to sacrifice something else — something that may also be good.  

I feel fortunate to have grown up in a family that did life together.  Mom and dad worked the farm together, which they continue to do, and everyone was not only part of the family, we were all a part of the work and enjoyment that filled the family.  Yes, I remember the hard work, but I also remember doing it together.  I also remember the trips.  Whether Christmas vacations to Florida, or even California one year, or simply day or afternoon trips to regional and local parks, the trips were always about being together and about exploring — at least that’s the way I remember it.  Looking back, I can see that a common denominator in the things we did was that they were either free or very inexpensive — but they were also the things I learned to enjoy.  

Anyhow, fast forward some forty to fifty years and I find myself applying a lot of those lessons I learned in my childhood.  Working together to provide for a family and finding time to discover the beauty of creation is not always an easy combination.  Add to the mix a daughter who, because of a variety of neurological conditions, is in many ways a perpetual eight year old with limited mobility, and the task of spending time together exploring natural settings becomes even more complicated.  But that’s the lesson of priority that I learned from my parents . . . and from God.  It isn’t always easy, in fact it rarely is, but we find ways to make it not only work, but to be enjoyable by all.  We adjust work schedules.  We take advantage of even small windows of opportunity — you can see a lot in just an hour or two if you find a local park and start walking and looking.  We stay and watch a sunset, knowing we still have a 3+ hour drive home with work in the morning.  We invest in a rugged wheelchair that I can push through many park trails.  When that doesn’t work, we spend more time either going at a much slower pace or taking turns exploring.  We do what it takes because these are things we can do, and enjoy doing, together as a family and that’s a priority to us!

Anyhow, sometimes I can be deep in thought before the day barely begins. 🙂  Once the building was ready, I took the time to write the previous day’s page as we had not gotten home until nearly midnight.  My morning was filled with typical tasks and by early afternoon I took a break for lunch.  After lunch I drove to the park, but it was too hot to spend much time outside so I headed back to work and began to clean and get the building ready for Sunday.  As I worked, I would take “mini-breaks” to share some of the photos from the previous day’s adventure.  It seems that about the time I begin to start thinking that I post too many photos that nobody but me even cares about, God will use a few people to remind me that they are also able to explore and discover the beauty of creation through the photos I take and share.  There are very few things, if any, that God gives us that are only for us — most, if not all thing, are meant to be shared.  During one of those little breaks, as the sun was beginning to set, this flicker on a tree outside my window caught my attention.  Every time I see them clinging to the side of a tree as they search for a meal within the tree’s bark, I am amazed at the handiwork of God.  

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

• We either intentionally set priorities or we allow them to occur by default.
• Intentional priorities are almost always more beneficial and productive.
• Most of what you wish you could do will likely not happen until you make it a true priority.
• Even the the things you know God wants you to do will often go undone until you choose to give them the importance they deserve.
• Making something a priority does not mean it will be easy.  Often priorities will require a tremendous amount of hard work and sacrifice — it is the priority status that keeps us pursuing it.
• God has created us to be people who share and who benefit from the sharing of others.
• Watching the things God has created helps me to see a God who specializes in uniqueness and in the equipping of everything, and everyone, for the work He created them to do. 

Page 264 was a long, busy, great day so I’m writing the page in the middle of the next morning after I’ve done my morning work and am ready for a break before the evening shift to get the building ready for the weekend.  As I drove to work, I thought back to 36 years ago when I woke up in the morning as a single guy and was married before the day was over.  As I look back, I hope I’ve learned some things over the years that have made our marriage stronger now than it has ever been.  But whether it is in marriage, our relationships with others, or even our relationship with God — the secret isn’t so much in what we learn, but in what we put into practice.

At work I was greeted by six deer who were waiting for me in the parking lot when I arrived.  It was too dark to get any photos, so after I said hello I went about my usual prayer, cleaning, and building prep tasks.  Once the building was ready for the day, I took care of some maintenance issues and followed up on some correspondence.  By the time the morning was over, I had arranged a date and location for a spring Growing Strong retreat — as soon as I get the contract filled out and sent in with the down payment to finalize the retreat center booking, I will share more details.  I’ll say this for now, the dates will be March 16-18, 2018 and the location is in southern Indiana.

Being our anniversary, I finished up my work at noon so I could spend the afternoon with my wife and daughter.  We headed north to Ludington, Michigan with the hope of getting there in time to climb the lighthouse in addition to taking photos in the area.  It was a beautiful afternoon for a drive and by the time we finished the nearly two mile walk from the parking area to the lighthouse, we had half an hour to go up the lighthouse before it closed.  Susan’s been having a lot of seizure activity lately, so MJ and I took turns going up while the other watched Susan so she didn’t have to climb the 118 foot tower.

After taking a lot of photos around the lighthouse area, we made our way back down the trail to the truck.  As we walked, a couple deer joined us just off the trail in the edge of the woods.  They were curious for a while and let us take some photos before they decided to move deeper into the woods where they couldn’t be seen.  A little further down the trail, Susan pointed out a deer ahead of us even before MJ or I had seen it.  I guess we are training our photography assistant well. 🙂  As we left Ludington State Park, where the Big Sable Point Lighthouse is, we stopped in Ludington to photograph the lighthouse on the pier there.  While we were there, God began to paint the sky in such an incredible way that we stayed until after the sun had set before beginning our journey home.

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

• Some things are worth celebrating — and having someone stay with me for 36 years is one of those things. 🙂
• Learning is a good thing.  Applying what you learn is what makes the learning valuable.
• Most people move a little more quickly with the right motivation.
• For as long as mankind has used boats and ships to transport people and goods, they have understood the importance of warning others of dangerous waters.
• Even with lighthouses and warning beacons, there are still shipwrecks and ships still run aground — not everyone pays attention to the warnings.
• God has provided the Light of the World to us, and through us, to warn of the dangerous waters in life.
• Even with adequate warning, there are times we still find ourselves shipwrecked and run aground simply because we failed to heed the warnings.
• God is the Master ____________ . . . tonight it was Master Painter in addition to everything else.

Too much goodness in the day for one photo, so here are a few from the day’s celebration.  Wow God!!

One of the advantages of pursuing a lifestyle of prayer is that you become more aware of the continual presence of God in the midst of any and all circumstances.  Page 263 was a reminder of that truth as I set about taking care of my usual early morning tasks.  While I believe God has confirmed within me a life calling to preach and teach a lifestyle of prayer through the work of Impact Prayer Ministry, for now He has chosen to supply the needs of my family and prayer ministry through a staff position of maintenance director at a church.  With a preschool and K-8 school in the building, my weekday mornings usually consist of cleaning and daily prep of the building.  I write that as an introduction to my prayer and worship time this morning — you see, as I was cleaning toilets this morning, I was talking to God as I usually do and found myself singing the song which has the line, “Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place.  I can feel His mighty power and His grace.”  In that moment, with toilet brush in hand, God quietly whispered, “You’re not alone.”  We talk, and I teach, a lot about God always being present, but I must admit that sometimes in the mundane tasks of life it is easy to forget that.  Because I practice a lifestyle of prayer, which includes praying as I clean, God was able to remind me of His presence in a time and place where it would be easy to not notice it.

As I took the trash out, a morning mist was rising off the grass and the sun was cresting the horizon and sparkling through the dew-covered trees.  I grabbed a camera and took a few photos as I rejoiced in the beauty of God’s presence.  Overall, it was a rather quiet day as I followed up on some maintenance issues and continued some work on the Growing Strong retreats and on a couple of sermons for October.  As I worked at my desk, out of the corner of my eye I noticed the movement of a bird.  By the time I got my camera out, I got one shot before she flew off to search for her meal in another location.  As I thought about the birds in the woodpecker family, I thought about all the times throughout my life when it’s felt like I’ve been banging my head against a wall — and here’s a family of birds that basically do just that as a way of God providing the food for them that they need.  I wonder if some of my “head banging” was God’s way of providing for me at the time.  I know that in the midst of those moments, I rarely have paid attention to what God was trying to do in the situation.

Before I headed home from work, another poem made its way out of my head and into my blog.  After wrapping up the workday I headed home for a late lunch, then spent some time relaxing and eventually took a short nap before sitting down to write today’s page.

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

• God’s presence isn’t dependent on our recognizing it.
• When we draw near to God, He draws near to us regardless of where we may be.
• When you are confident of what God has called and equipped you to do, you will find a way to allow Him to accomplish that work through you.
• If you find yourself someplace where you don’t feel you can worship, you may want to examine why.
• Just because you have not yet reached the place in life where you want to be, it doesn’t mean that you’re not where you are supposed to be.  Life’s a journey.
• God’s provision may not always look like you expect it to, but it is always for your good.
• God expects us to share what He gives us.  If you’re not sharing, you probably shouldn’t expect to receive much.

Page 262 began with thunder storms rolling through the area during the early morning hours.  With comfortable temperatures, there is a pleasant freshness that these summer rains bring with them.  While I thoroughly enjoy the dry, sunny days for outdoor activities, they do have a tendency to allow unseen dust and pollen to float through the air in addition to settling on any available surface.  A good rain from time to time helps to not only refresh the ground, but cleanse the air in the process.  So often, when we think about God showering us with blessings, we think about the good things we want and not necessarily about the cleansing we need.  Just as the rain provides both a nourishment and a cleansing, God wants to shower us with all that is needed to both sustain us and purify us.

One of the things about working in a metal building is that a moderate rain falling on the steel roof causes a sound that is peaceful to me.  As I went about my morning prayer, cleaning, and building prep process, the sound of the rain was a comforting mask to the normal sounds of an empty building.  The rain stuck around for most of my workday as I got caught up on some tasks in the office.  During that time, a poem began to solidify in my mind about the journey of life we all travel so I eventually typed it out and shared it earlier today.  By the time I finished up my work and headed to a late lunch, the rain had stopped but the sky was still filled with very dark clouds.

After lunch I spent some time at home relaxing and checking on some of the retreat option progress.  By early evening it looked like the clouds were beginning to break up, so we took a family trip down to Potato Creek State Park to see if we could find any of the eagles wanting photographed.  The eagles weren’t waiting for us at any of their usual spots, and never did show up, but the lake itself was smooth and reflecting the sun and sky like a well polished mirror.  Today’s photo is one of many I took this evening as I just kept clicking the shutter because the beauty was so great.  As my eyes took it all in, I wanted to capture as much of the detail and nuances of the moments as I could.  

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

• I’ve always enjoyed thunder storms even when they wake me up.
• Rain is rarely a welcomed event until we’ve gone so long without it that we recognize its necessity.
• The blessings that God chooses to shower us with may not always match our definition of blessings until we understand the necessity of what God gives.
• We all need times in our life when the showers of blessings from God serve to refresh our dry and thirsty soul.
• We also need times in our life when the showers of blessings from God serve to cleanse us from the residue of filth which has, perhaps unknowingly, covered us.
• Sometimes the showers that God sends our way serve to comfort us as they cover the sounds than can frighten us.
• When God puts words in my mind, particularly as poems, I must either type them out right away or risk losing them.
• My life’s journey has been greatly improved by the wife and daughter that God has blessed me with.
• Sometimes there is greater blessing to be had in what we find than in what we were looking for.