Page 332 began early following a good night’s sleep.  As I got up and began my day I found myself singing the words, “There is joy in the camp, a sinner has come home!  There’s joy in the camp, rejoicing ’round the throne!”, as well as other lyrics I probably improvised as I couldn’t recall when I had last heard the song.  I continue to be amazed at how songs, or at least lines from songs, fill my mind as I go about my work.

After I had the building ready for the day, I headed out in search of my cell phone.  Last night’s adventure photographing the sunset had resulted in my phone being lost somewhere on the beach we were at.  We had spent time in the dark looking for it with a flashlight last night with no success.  Before replacing the phone, I wanted to spend at least some time looking for it in the daylight, so a quick trip back to the beach was on my morning agenda.  The sunrise was beautiful as I drove and by the time I arrived at the beach, it provided all the light I would need.  I walked from the truck to the water’s edge in the area I had spent most of my time last night but didn’t see anything.  As I made my first trip back toward the truck, I saw the top edge of the phone sticking out of the sand.  After pulling it out of the sand, I tried it out and it seems to have suffered no ill effects from its night outside. 🙂  While completely out of context with the original lyrics to my morning song, there truly was “joy in the camp” this morning!

After I got back to work, I spent some time with God as I looked at direction for the sermon I’ll share Sunday morning.  I made progress on a potential outline, so now we’ll let the ideas and outline simmer a bit so God can confirm, refine, or replace them over the next couple of days.  I had a lunch meeting scheduled, so I finished up my morning’s work before going out to encourage a friend.  After lunch I headed home and by late afternoon we decided to head out for another evening adventure.  Today’s photo was taken near the end of that adventure as our final stop before returning home was at Silver Beach in St Joseph, Michigan.  The clear sky of the morning had clouded over so there wasn’t much of a visible sunset tonight but we still managed to find elements of beauty to photograph.  Each of the lights seem to have its own pattern of off and on which makes it difficult to take a photo with all three lights lit.  It is always encouraging to me when I find I got one, to today’s photo was one of those surprise moments of the day.

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

• It is easier to get up in the morning if I sleep well at night.
• While it is not really the message of the song, I suspect the “joy in the camp” lyrics were in my mind because of the peace God gave me overnight even though my phone was missing.
• I haven’t always found everything that I’ve lost or misplaced, but God has returned things to me often enough that I do not ever doubt His ability to do so.
• I don’t know if the peace I had last night that allowed me to sleep was due to a confidence that the phone would be found, but I do know there was a confidence that God would see me through whatever I would need to do.
• For me, sermon prep is a lot of listening.
• Even with practice, I don’t always listen accurately so I must leave time for God to refine, replace, or even confirm the direction I head in.
• There isn’t a one size fits all schedule for life.  We are all on individual journeys that have an individual pace.
• Being unique doesn’t mean we can’t all shine at the same time — it just takes a little more effort to make that happen.

Page 331 began with a soundtrack before I even left home as I found myself singing, “I exalt Thee!  I exalt Thee!  I exalt Thee, oh, God!”  Sometimes I have an idea of what planted that day’s soundtrack in my mind and other days, like today, I just find myself singing a song of worship without knowing why that specific song came to mind other than to praise God — and that is reason enough.  I know my day goes better when I have a soundtrack of praise woven throughout it, so I ought to be more deliberate about making sure each day begins that way.

The song continued as I arrived at work and started in on the morning prayer, cleaning, and building prep tasks.  There were a few minor maintenance issues to take care of as I began my morning, but by the time the sun came up I was ready to settle in with God to figure out the prayer guide for next week.  After considering a variety of topics that I felt were good possibilities, I finally landed on living with hope as the one that brought peace to my mind and spirit.  Once I had direction, the rest of the morning was spent in prayer and study as I put together the daily scriptures and prayer points for the guide.  By the time the prayer guide was written and then formatted and scheduled to be published early Sunday, the morning had disappeared and I was well into the afternoon.  

My next task was putting together a #GivingTuesday Facebook fundraiser for Impact Prayer Ministry and then writing and scheduling a promo email to go out first thing tomorrow.  Giving to non-profits, such as Impact Prayer Ministry, that takes place tomorrow on Facebook is eligible to receive a matching grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; so while I rarely emphasize the financial needs of the prayer ministry, this opportunity is one I wanted to make people aware of.  It’s not too often you can each dollar given matched so that the gift goes twice as far, and the fun thing is that God has a way of multiplying that doubled gift so that it goes even further!

By mid-afternoon I made it home and had leftover turkey for lunch before sitting down to relax and unwind for a while.  Before the daylight completely disappeared, we decided to drive up to Lake Michigan to walk and take some sunset photos.  It was a beautiful evening on the beach considering it is late November.  The sunset was beautiful and there were plenty of gulls and shore birds enjoying the peaceful water.  Today’s photo made me marvel at the ability to these birds to fly so close to the water’s surface.  Sometimes it seem as if their wings will dip into the water and send them spiraling out of control, but I’ve never seen it happen.  We left the beach only to see the sky light up behind us after the sun finished setting beyond the horizon so we went back to capture round two of the sunset before heading home. 🙂

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

• Worship flows from the inside out.  If the inside is filled with praise, it can’t help but come out as worship.
• Worship sets the mood for the day because it reminds me of who is in charge.
• Sometimes it is tempting to settle for good ideas rather than seek God’s ideas.
• My ideas always take more time and work to make them usable than what it would take if I would just wait until the next step in God’s plan is clear.
• Asking for help is hard for me to do.
• Sometimes being faithful in trusting God means we ask people to help so that they can accomplish what God has equipped them to do.
• God provides.  How He chooses to do that is up to Him.
• It is fun to watch how God has equipped creation to accomplish things that look impossible.
• Sometimes we miss the best God wants to offer because we give up before it arrives.

Page 330 has been a good day filled with many reminders of God’s presence and love.  After taking advantage of some great weather and opportunities to spend time with my family over the Thanksgiving break, I was up early this morning to get some cleaning done and the building ready for the Sunday gathering.  As I cleaned, I continued to let the sermon for this morning simmer in my mind as I sought God’s refining Spirit to make it what He wanted.

With the building ready for the day, I went back through my sermon outline before driving to Dowagiac to worship with the church family there.  As we sang praises to God, different ones shared how thankful they are for the church family and for the work God has done through Jesus.  The message I shared this morning used 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 as its primary text — a text that, at least the first part, is often used in regard to financial giving.  Yet woven through that section of text is the concept of thankfulness that ought to be a part of all giving, whether it is giving that we do or giving that we receive.  With that in mind, the message this morning considered four qualities that ought to be present as we “GIVE Thanks”.  

• Generous Thanks:  While the teaching, “Whoever sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly”, definitely applies to how we use our money, I believe it also applies to our need to be generous with our thanks if we expect others to appreciate us.  When we look for opportunities to say, “Thank you”, we find that they abound almost everywhere.  If we don’t find ourselves giving thanks, and saying thanks, on a regular basis, it is not due to a lack of reasons.  It is far too easy to let pride creep into our life and steal our gratitude as we begin to believe we deserve whatever good that is done to, or for, us.  When we are generous with our thanks, we find that we no longer keep score as we reap even more than we sow.
• Intentional Thanks:  When it comes to financial giving, we often hear that “each one should give what he has decided in his heart.”  The idea is to be intentional about our giving so that it comes from a pure heart and not motivated by pressure from others, selfishness, or guilt.  I believe the same concept applies to being intentional about our giving thanks.  When we are intentional, not only do we look for the opportunities to give thanks, we have a plan to actually do so when those opportunities arise and even when they don’t.  It is easy to assume that people understand the thank you we ought to say but don’t.  Being intentional means that we go ahead and say it in order to remove all doubt about our gratitude.
• Vertical Thanks:  Because “every good and perfect gift comes from above”, it is imperative that our giving thanks always has a vertical element to it.  In fact, it is through living a life filled with vertical thanks to God that we begin to understand how thankful we ought to be.  It is our vertical thanks that helps us to maintain the perspective we need.  A life filled with horizontal thanks — the thanking of other people — is great, but it needs the vertical component to help us always remember the true source of all that is good.  Paul was constantly giving vertical thanks to God for the work He did through the people even as he was also thanking the people.
• Expressive Thanks:  In our mind we can be generous, intentional, and even vertical with our thanks but if we never express it, does it ever become real?  While the simple words, “Thank you”, can go a long way in making our thanks known, the ways in which we express those words can be nearly endless.  Notes, cards, phone calls, visits, gifts, and so much more can all express our thanks with an impact well beyond the size of effort.  While creativity is good, it is not a requirement.  Expressive thanks should not be a contest to “out-thank” others, rather it should be an outpouring of our heart as it reaches out in gratitude to God and to people.

After the church service I grabbed lunch on the go from a drive-thru as I made my way to visit a friend in the hospital.  While I’m not a fan of hospitals, or medical facilities of any kind, they serve a great purpose and there are times I have to overcome my tendency to pass out at such places in order to visit and encourage friends.  Fortunately I’ve learned that food ahead of time tends to help me, so I had a good visit and was able to avoid becoming a patient. 🙂 

By the time I finally made it home, I spent some time relaxing before going out to do some work outside and in the garage.  As I was outside late in the afternoon I noticed the moon in the sky overhead.  The overlapping schedules of the sun and moon fascinate me and I went inside to get my camera to take a few photos.  Today’s photo is of the late afternoon moon as the sun was shining brightly on its western face.  It made me think about my life’s journey.  While life may rise and set at times which seem random to me; it doesn’t matter where I am in my journey, if I keep my face toward God, His light will always shine upon me.

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

• God’s desire is to reveal Himself to all who seek Him.  “If you seek Me you will find me when you seek me with your whole heart.”
• Even early morning work hours were a reminder of how God has shared His goodness with me over the past few days.
• Sharing God’s Word is a privilege, an honor, and a great responsibility among other things and yet God calls each of us to share it with someone.
• Our heart of giving can probably be measured by how we give thanks.
• Generosity is not just about money and possessions — it’s about a way of life.
• Having good intentions is not the same as being intentional about what we do.
• Our relationships with others will never be what they ought to be until we take care of our vertical relationship with God.
• Having feelings of gratitude and thanksgiving may be a start, but those feelings don’t have a lot of value until we express them.
• Sometimes we must overcome our fears and weaknesses in order to be a blessing to others.
• God’s light is always shining.  The only way it doesn’t shine upon my face is if I turn away from it.

Page 329 had a slow start as I spent the first part of the morning relaxing and mulling over the sermon for tomorrow.  It was beautiful weather outside for late November, so before the morning got away from us we headed out for a family adventure.  With multiple stops filling the day, I arrived home this evening with over 450 photos  so today’s page will be more photo-based than most.  As I reflect on the day, I suppose the one thing that stands out is the importance and value of getting out and enjoying the beauty of creation with my family.

Our first stop was at Potato Creek State Park and while we didn’t catch sight of any of the eagles, there were still plenty of photo opportunities.

After spending some time at Potato Creek we made our way to Washington Park in Michigan City to spend some time photographing some scenes along Lake Michigan.

Our final stop for the day’s adventure was at the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area where thousands of Sandhill Cranes stop by each fall on their journey south.  It was an incredible sight to see and the sound of them calling was amazing.  While the cranes were the main attraction, they seemed willing to share their meadow with a number of deer.

Page 328 is the infamous “Black Friday” where stores are packed with people hoping to snag the best deal of the year on things they may or may not need.  I rather preferred the promotion being done by the Indiana State Parks to encourage people to “#optoutside”.  While I didn’t head out to do any shopping at any of the stores, I technically didn’t make it outside either — I did make it to the garage, but that was as far as I made it today.

After staying up late last night going through photos and watching TV, I was able to sleep in late this morning.  As I considered what the day would hold, I discovered the disadvantage of finding a garage door opener on sale and buying it — someone in the household didn’t think it should stay in the box very long. 🙂  So I headed out to the garage to switch out a non-functioning opener for the new one.  I’m not sure how long ago the previous one had been installed, but it was an old opener when we moved in 16 years ago.  Unfortunately, that meant nothing with the installation of the new opener matched up with the existing brackets and hangers of the old.  While there were no major issues caused by the differences; it took most of the day to make the changes, install the new safety sensors, and get the new opener operational.

I suspect that many people recognize changes they need to make in their life but don’t fully anticipate the work that will be required to make them.  Sometimes we think we can simply replace what isn’t working with something that does — like changing out a light bulb.  While there are things that are as easy to change as light bulbs, there are many other things that require significant work and effort.  Sometimes we try to put something new into old structures and support systems only to find out the differences between the old and new are too great.  It is at those time that we must set aside the old way of doing things and fully embrace that which is new.

After the new opener was up and running, I sat down to relax for a little while before dinner.  After eating, I went through yesterday’s photos to choose one for today’s page and then began the writing of the page.  The photo is a follow-up to yesterday’s heron.  It is one of the ones I took because I liked the way the trees and sunlight were reflecting in the wetland area.  It wasn’t until after I had taken a couple shots of this reflective scene that my wife told me there was a bald eagle out in one of the trees.  Sure enough, he’s there.  After zooming in and taking some close-ups of him, I noticed that he was visible in the earlier photos — both in the tree and in the reflection.  As I thought about this photo and everything reflected in it, I thought about how something has to exist in order for it to be reflected.  I can say that I want my life to reflect the love of God and the fruit of His Spirit, but in order for that to happen I must allow those qualities to be present in my life so that others can see Him reflected in me.

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

• Finding the things you need at the best price possible is wise.
• Buying things you don’t need simply because the price was “too good to pass up” may not be so wise.
• I like the “#optoutside” promotion.  It is always good to encourage people to get out and spend time in the beauty of God’s creation.
• I can stay up late and I can get up early; but it doesn’t work well for me to do them back-to-back in that order. 🙂
• Change comes in varying degrees of difficulty.
• When necessary change is difficult, it becomes tempting to downplay just how necessary it is.
• Jesus said, “You don’t put new wine in old wineskins.”  Replacing bad habits with good ones often requires that you dismantle the structures that support your bad habits so that your new ones can flourish.
• Change isn’t complete until it’s complete — keep at it all the way to the end.
• Your life will never reflect things that aren’t in it.
• To reflect Jesus to others, He must be present in your life.

Here in the United States page 327 was Thanksgiving Day, so it has been a quiet day spent with my family.  My first task when I woke up this morning was to fire up the pellet grill and get a turkey ready to put on for Thanksgiving lunch.  Once the turkey was on the grill, I spent time writing yesterday’s page as I hadn’t gotten to it last night.  As I spent the morning writing, I would take breaks to pour Dr Pepper over the turkey with the hope it would add flavor and keep it moist.

After the page was written, the rest of my morning was spent letting the outline for Sunday’s sermon simmer in my mind as I went through recently taken photos.  Shortly after noon, the pop-up timer on the turkey popped so I took it off the grill to let it set for a while before slicing.  As I began slicing it, I could tell that it had definitely not dried out and the Dr Pepper had added a sweetness to the meat that enhanced its flavor.  The slicing process also uncovered the giblet package that I had assumed wasn’t in the turkey because I couldn’t find it when I prepped it for cooking.

After lunch it was time to relax a while before we decided to make a family trip to Potato Creek in search of the eagles and some photo opportunities.  There were no eagles visible from the area where we often see them, so we took a few photos of the sun as it began to drop behind the tree line and then drove around the lake to see what else we could find.  Our first stop was for a heron that was perched high up in a tree along the road.  Unfortunately, when I opened my truck door to get the camera out, the heron flew off and I missed the photo opportunity.  While we were stopped I did get a few more shots of the sun setting across the lake, but I wasn’t real impressed with them.  As we made our way around the lake, we saw a heron standing on a downed tree in a wetland area.  This one stayed put long enough to get a few photos, including today’s photo.  As he flew off, I zoomed back out to take a photo of the trees and sunset colors reflecting in the water.  As I did so, MJ followed the flight of the heron and noticed one of the bald eagles perched in a tree that was in the center of my reflection photo.  It is interesting how easy it is to miss something, even when it is right in front of you, if you’re not expecting to see it.

After taking some photos of the eagle and then some more pictures of the setting sun, we made our way home.  At home I began the writing of this page so I could get it done tonight rather than tomorrow.  As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• A Thanksgiving holiday is a great idea but it works best if we live a thankful life both before and after the holiday.
• Once I plant a sermon text and outline in my mind, it seems like there is a constant refining and simmering that takes place even in the midst of doing other tasks — and that’s the way I like it.
• Some things are good for more than one purpose if we think beyond what we’re sure we know.
• Just because we don’t find something, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.  Sometimes we have to look more closely and sometimes we may need to step back and take a wider look.
• It can be difficult to build a connection with someone if our actions startle them.
• Working together helps to lessen the gaps in what we notice.

Page 326 was a slow-paced day and I still didn’t get around to writing the page before I went to bed.  The school and preschool were out for Thanksgiving break so I didn’t have to go in early to do the cleaning and prep for the day.  It was good to be able to sleep in and even better to let Susan sleep and catch up on her rest as the up and down weather seemed to have caught up with her.

Susan made it almost to noon by the time she was ready to get up, so while she slept I worked on the sermon for Sunday and took care of some details that will allow Impact Prayer Ministry to qualify for a matching grant to donations given next Tuesday through Facebook as part of their Giving Tuesday promotion in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  I don’t like gimmicks and fads all that much, but I do like the idea of maximizing the dollars that people are willing to give so that Impact Prayer Ministry can provide teaching and resources to people who desire to grow in their relationship with God through prayer.  So, on November 28 I will have a fundraiser open on Facebook for Impact Prayer Ministry with the potential for the first $1000 given to be matched by the foundation.

By late afternoon it was time for a change of scenery, so we headed up to Lake Michigan to photograph the sunset.  It was a bit brisk along the lakefront, but it ended up being a beautiful sunset so I’ll keep with the theme of rest and let a few of the photos add their “thousand words” to today’s page. 🙂

Page 325 had an early start as I drove to work under a beautiful star-filled sky.  I had a couple minor projects I wanted to get done while the building was empty so an early start was my best option.  As one who has lived most of my life as a non-morning person, that last sentence sounded very strange.  Yet here I am.  I have reached the point where I would normally rather get up early to take care of a project rather than having to stay up late.  I suppose it was the night sky, but today’s soundtrack was courtesy of Rich Mullins as I found myself singing the words, “Sometimes the night is beautiful” and “Oh, God, you are my God and I will ever praise you.”  Having a mental soundtrack of praise to God as the day is started is an incredible boost to a morning of prayer, cleaning, and building prep. 

Once the early morning work was complete, I turned my attention to seeking God regarding a sermon I will share Sunday morning.  A potential title came to mind last night as I went to bed, and amazingly it was still in my mind this morning.  There is a lot of time between now and Sunday morning so there will likely be much refining even if the outline stays, but I got a good start on what I believe God wants me to share to encourage people to “GIVE Thanks”.  As the morning came to an end, it was time for lunch with a friend and then a trip to pick up a few supplies.  While I was out I crossed paths with a couple I hadn’t seen for a while and had a good conversation catching up with them.

With another day of no new photos, today’s photo is one from my trip home from ICOM on Sunday.  This eagle had found a spot in the river where he could keep an eye on the water surface and watch for his next meal.  Sometimes in the midst of a fast-paced life it is important to find time to just sit and pay attention to what’s important and allow the unimportant to go on by.

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

• Change is a part of life.  
• Sometimes our preferences change as a part of growth and sometimes we find it practical to learn new preferences.
• God deserves my praise whether the night appears beautiful to me or not.
• If I prepare a sermon without seeking God throughout the entire process, I will likely only share my words.
• When I seek God and allow Him freedom to change and refine any and all aspects of the sermons I share, His Spirit has greater freedom to work through me.
• Giving thanks should not be a seasonal activity — it should be a daily way of life.
• Life goes by fast.  Sometimes you need to let the current carry you along and sometimes you need to find a spot where you can rest and watch it go by.