Page 112 began with my waking up in time to get breakfast at the hotel before heading into the convention for the day.  Many people say that breakfast is the most important meal for the day.  For many of the same reasons, and more, starting the day with some intentional time with God is the most important thing you can do.  It’s not that God’s presence isn’t always available to us, but if we don’t seek and acknowledge it, we can do a pretty good job of hiding from and ignoring it.

My morning was spent at the prayer ministry display as I talked with people about the ministry and shared with them about the work God does within a lifestyle of prayer.  During the lunch break, I had lunch with a young man who was a student in my first youth ministry.  We talked about ministry and family and how each of those change the other.  Sometimes one changes the other in ways that are harmful which ends up hurting both.  But wisdom teaches us how to embrace the changes that are beneficial to each and reject those that would cause harm.

After lunch it was back to the convention for an afternoon of talking with a few more people.  The traffic through the display area didn’t seem to be very good this year, so I pray even more that the conversations that did take place would bear much fruit for God’s glory.  As the convention concluded, it was time to pack up the display and load everything into the truck for the journey home.  The trip home would take me near Lake Michigan shortly before sunset, so I stopped by to spend some time with God and take some photos.  The water was a little bit choppy but the sun was shining brightly when I arrived at the lake.  The wind coming off the lake was filled with moisture and sand which added to the chill in the air.  Today’s photo is of a duck riding the waves.  There were several of these out bobbing on the water as they would rise and fall with each passing wave.  Occasionally they would disappear from view only to be seen a short while later on the back side of a big wave that had crashed over them.  

While most of us would prefer the smooth waters of life, that isn’t what we always experience.  Sometimes we live in the midst of choppy waters and sometimes the waves of life reach massive proportions as they are driven by the winds of this world.  While there are times when we have some choice in the waves we experience, other times we are left riding waves that are not of our choosing.  When we live in Christ, He helps us to stay afloat and endure the waves — perhaps even enjoy them at times.  But there are also those times when we call out to Him to save us and His voice calms the raging sea within us.

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

• A deliberate time with God to start the day helps you to be aware of His presence throughout the day.
• Sometimes God brings many people across our path that He wants us to interact with and sometimes that number is few.  
• God’s not as concerned about the total number of people we share with as He is about out being faithful in sharing with those He gives us opportunity with.
• God’s presence helps us to ride the waves of life with endurance and even enjoyment.
• God’s presence also has the power to calm the storms and the damaging waves which threaten to destroy us.
• Trusting God is the only way to live with peace.

While it has felt like a long day, page 111 will end up being a shorter workday than most Fridays are for me.  I slept in too late to get breakfast, but I did make it to the college in time to get my display set up before the start of the convention.  When I checked the schedule out last night, I noticed a name that was familiar so I wondered if it was the same person I knew.  Sure enough, as I was setting up the display an individual who had been a student in my first youth ministry stopped by to say hello.  He and his wife were leading the opening worship time to get the convention started.  It was good to see him and even better to see him honoring God with his life and abilities.

The day has been a combination of spending time with God, listening to teaching, and talking with people about prayer and the ministry God is doing through me.  In one of those times with God, I took advantage of a break in the schedule to take a short walk along a path that runs between the shopping mall and a housing development.  There were a variety of spring flowers blooming along the path and the birds were continuously singing their songs of praise as I walked.  I was trying to photograph some cardinals who were not being very cooperative, when I noticed movement in the underbrush that was more than just birds flitting around.  As I looked more closely, there were three deer grazing nearby with little concern that I was there.  A short time later, I found a raccoon peeking out of a hollow tree that seemed as interested in me as I was in him.  It made me think about how often I miss things because I’m not looking for anything.  More specifically,  how often do I miss the working of God simply because I’m not looking for Him to be doing anything in my life.  

After an evening spent talking to people about the prayer ministry, I stopped for dinner on the way back to my room.  Now I’m sitting here writing today’s page while eating butter brickle ice cream (technically frozen custard) from Culver’s as it was cheaper to buy a pint and bring back to the room with me than to have a two-scoop sundae while I was there. 🙂

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

• Priorities say that you do what is important to you even if it costs you something you enjoy.
• I get it when John writes that he has no greater joy than to hear that his children walk in the truth.
• Seeing people from a dark time period in my life who are honoring God today, not only reminds me of the pain from that time but also of the good God was doing in spite of the pain.
• There are days that my mind tells me, or at least the enemy whispers quite loudly in my mind, that I do so little good that my breathing is a waste of good air.
• On those days, God uses people, places, and/or things to remind me that He doesn’t love me because of what I do, He loves me because of who I am.
• Many times God’s love and presence seems to be highly elusive but when we seek Him with our whole heart we find He has been near all along.
• The enemy knows how to discourage.  God knows how to encourage.  Which one do you listen to most?

Page 110 was the rest day in between a long workday on Wednesday and long workdays coming on Friday and Saturday.  I was awake and enjoying my morning glass of grapefruit juice by 8 AM, which has become my new definition of sleeping in.  Susan slept in a little longer than I did, which gave me the opportunity to simply enjoy some quiet time with God as I prayed for my friend and coworker who would have knee replacement surgery today.  When Susan was finally ready to wake up, I helped her get ready for the day and then she enjoyed watching me play some Wii games for a while.  Eventually she went out and sat on the porch swing for a while and I fired up the pellet grill to have bacon cheeseburgers once again.  

After lunch I did some work on a few photos I had taken and then started putting things together for my trip to the Michigan Christian Convention.  On one trip up from the basement, we found Susan in an unresponsive seizure on the couch.  It went on for a while and required extra meds to bring her out of it which generally means a chaotic scene as her brain wiring fights to reconnect.  Sure enough, it wasn’t long after the additional medication that she fought her way out of the seizure — with fought being the key word.  The process requires some degree of restraint to keep her from seriously injuring herself, but it leaves all of us with bruises and scrapes that I’m sure is just a fraction of the discomfort she ends up enduring.

While it was good that I was there to help with the process of getting through the seizure, I did need to get my Friday morning work done tonight so I could hit the road before it got too late.  Susan was resting peacefully on the couch as I said goodbye and went in to do the cleaning and prep to have the building ready for tomorrow.  Once it was ready, I headed out for Lansing, Michigan where I will set up the prayer ministry display first thing tomorrow morning.  As I drove to the east, I could see the sun and clouds setting up behind me for what had the potential to be a decent looking sunset.  As I eventually turned to head north, the clouds had begun to build up to the point where I knew I would have a small window of opportunity to capture the scene that would present itself.  I took the first exit off the highway and stopped at the top of the interchange to shoot some photos as the sun streamed through the clouds with golden beams of light touching the earth.  As I continued my trip, it wasn’t long before the entire sky was overcast and the visible traces of the sunset were gone.  

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

• Each of us have work that is ours to do.  God’s desire is that we would do it as if we were working for Him — because we are.
• Sometimes God gives us times of quietness for the purpose of our spending time with Him.
• Planned quiet times are good and necessary, but unplanned ones usually have a reason that becomes obvious if we are still enough to listen.
• Praying for one another ought to be a joy and not a burden.
• Enjoy the times of peace God brings into your life because we often have no idea what is coming next.
• Keeping someone from seriously hurting themselves can be painful but we do it anyhow when we love someone.
• The scrapes and bruises of life really are “light and momentary afflictions” when compared to the surpassing greatness of God’s love.
• As in photos, some opportunities with people are open-ended while others only exist for a limited amount of time.  Since we rarely know which we currently face, it is best to make the most of every opportunity by doing good when it is within our means to do so.

It is a Wednesday which means there is a lot to be done before the day comes to an end.  Page 109 began with the early day cleaning as I made sure the building was ready for the school day.  Once the cleaning was done I finished up the writing of yesterday’s page and then headed out to mow as the sun was trying to make its way up over the eastern horizon.  By late morning I had mowed most of the back lawn and needed to get more fuel for the mower so Susan and I made a quick stop at the zoo while we were out.  When we got back, I refueled the mower and set out for round two to try to get the mowing done.  By mid-afternoon I was finishing up the next to last section of lawn and the mower quit.  As it seems is often the case, I was about as far away from the garage as possible.  After walking to the garage to get some tools and then back down to the mower, I got it started again just in time for the sky to open up and let loose with a steady rain.  I was still as far away from the garage as possible, and already wet, so I finished up the few passes in the section of lawn I was mowing before putting the mower away.

I had a dry shirt in the office so I was able to change shirts and start to dry out as I checked messages and finished putting together the things I will need for the prayer ministry display this weekend.  Once the after-school program was done I picked up trash and made sure the building was ready for Wednesday evening Bible studies before heading out to get a lunch/dinner combination.  When I got back to the office I posted some of the zoo pictures and began writing today’s page as I wait for the building to clear out so I can get it ready for tomorrow.  With long days coming up on Friday and Saturday as I represent the prayer ministry, my plan is to work late tonight so I can try to rest up tomorrow.  

Today’s photo is one that I took at the zoo this morning.  As we went past the alpaca enclosure, one of the alpacas had its face buried in the hay feeder.  I thought it was funny enough to take a picture but as I went through my photos later, I thought about the lesson this has for all of us.  How often are you and I so hungry for the Word of God that we bury our faces in it because we simply can’t get enough?  Yes, we can nibble around the edges and reach some degree of satisfaction, but it would be so much better to dive into the depth of scripture and consume the meat of the Word that can fully satisfy.  

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

• Finishing begins with starting.
• While there are things that I have started that I have not finished, there is nothing that I have finished that I have not first started.
• What opportunities would you have taken today if you knew that you would never get those same opportunities again?  How will that change the opportunities you take tomorrow?
• Problems are rarely convenient and often seem to happen in the most inconvenient ways possible.  
• Sometimes it is easier to finish a task, even in the midst of a mess, than to quit while knowing you still have to go back to it later.
• God’s desire is that we would hunger and thirst for righteousness to the extent that we would bury our face in Him as we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

Page 108 was another good day filled with a balance of work and family time.  I’m doing the writing of the page the next morning as I’m finding the longer amounts of daylight keep me busy later into the evening and I’m tired by the time I sit down.  Writing in the mornings may become a new “normal” for a time — at least when the day provides good weather to be outside with my family in the evening.  

The day began with the usual cleaning and building prep tasks with a break in the middle to catch some sunrise photos and some building photos for our social media presence.  My workday was filled with a combination of sermon prep, prayer ministry display prep, and minor maintenance tasks.  At one point as I worked in my office, I noticed a large bird gliding in circles overhead.  I have a pair of hawks that are frequent visitors, so I thought it may be one of them and I went outside to try to get a few pictures.  It ended up being a group of six of these birds gliding with ease on the rising air currents.  With that many of them together, I doubted they were hawks and after looking at the photos I discovered I was correct — they were vultures, buzzards, turkey vultures, or whatever the going name is for this large carnivorous bird that looks for dead things to eat.  While seeing them tear apart roadkill can be an unpleasant sight, watching them glide in circles high up in the sky was actually a beautiful thing.  It is God who made them with the ability, and desire, to clean up a dead carcass that would otherwise likely spread disease and it was God who gave them the ability to fly with such beauty.  It made me wonder about how often we judge a person by what they do rather than notice who they are and the purpose God has designed just for them.

After the workday, I had a late lunch and a little bit of rest before going to Potato Creek State Park for a walk with my family in the midst of a beautiful spring setting.  Early in our walk, we passed by the nesting pole for a pair of Osprey.  As has been the case much of the time, you could see the head of one of the osprey peeking out of the top of the nest while the other stood guard on a cross-member further down the pole.  Occasionally you will find them both in the nest, but more often one of them will be in a nearby tree or out where there is a more complete view of the surroundings.  Today’s photo is of that lookout osprey sounding the warning that a potential threat was nearby.  It made me think of God calling the watchmen of Israel, and us, to account.  The responsibility lies in sounding the warning when danger approaches.  There may be no control over how anyone responds to that warning, but if the warning isn’t given then the responsibility for loss lies directly on the watchman who failed to give warning.  That is an important lesson, at least for me, because I know I get tired of warning people about the consequences of their decisions or actions only to have them pay no attention to the warnings.  It is easy to think, “why bother?”, but God reminds me that my responsibility isn’t their response to the warning.  No, my responsibility is to speak up and be free from the guilt of the destruction that is to come.

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

• Just because something has always been done a certain way, it doesn’t mean that it necessarily always has to be done that way.
• I love routine and an illusion of “normalcy” but also realize that growth doesn’t happen without change.
• When something becomes a burden, it is wise to figure out why.  And, if it’s important, figure out if there are ways to make it less of a burden.
• Things, and people, aren’t always what they appear to be.
• Our job, or the tasks that we find ourselves doing, is not the full measure of who we are.
• There are a lot of unpleasant tasks in this world that are done by very pleasant people — and there are a lot of pleasant tasks that are being done by very unpleasant people.  Being pleasant or unpleasant is our choice — choose wisely.
• The task of a watchman is difficult, but even more so when his warnings are not heeded.
• The response of people, or the lack of response, shouldn’t change the content or urgency of our message even if it changes the style.

Page 107 was the official work start of what will be a long week.  Not that the week has more than the usual seven days, but I have a lot to get done through the first part of the week so I am ready for the upcoming weekend when I’ll have an Impact Prayer Ministry display at the Michigan Christian Convention.  My day began as a typical Monday often does, up early and headed into work to get the daily cleaning and building prep done before the start of the school day.  It was a busy morning as I not only did the necessary cleaning, I also finished the writing of yesterday’s page before settling into the Monday morning routine of spending time with God putting together the next weekly prayer guide.

As I was cleaning, the view out of a couple different windows made it look like the sunrise would be worth setting up my camera to time-lapse record it.  As I set my camera up, a deer was standing along the edge of the woods watching what I was doing.  It was still in the twilight time between dark and light and she kept an eye on me to see if I was one she could trust.  Today’s photo was taken as my deer friend watched me and before she moseyed down to the far end of the lawn where she continued to observe my movements.  Trust is a tough thing to build whether it is with animals or people.  It is even more difficult to regain it once something has been done that breaks that trust.

Once the building was ready for the day, it was time to see what God would put into my mind for next week’s prayer guide.  As I spent time in prayer, two things seemed to stick in my mind — the second primarily the result of the first.  I had been told last week that CJ would likely be preaching from the book of Daniel this next Sunday.  That information likely led to the old Sunday School song, “Dare To Be a Daniel”, being stuck in my head.  As I prayed with those two pieces of information rolling around in my head, the idea of a “Dare To Be a Daniel” focus began to form in my mind.  As I spent time in the word, I found that there are six characteristics that Nebuchadnezzar looked for in bringing back young Hebrew men to Babylon after he had laid siege against Jerusalem.  Given that I always encourage people to pray on Sundays for the preaching and teaching that takes place within the local church, the six characteristics fit well into the remaining days of the week for the prayer guide.

The morning was gone by the time I finished the prayer guide and had it formatted and scheduled to go out next Sunday.  My early afternoon hours were spent working on some things for the prayer ministry display and starting to get things put together for the convention.  By mid-afternoon it was time to head home and get some lunch before back-filling the trench I had dug on Saturday.  It seemed like filling the trench in was almost as much work as digging it was.  It was a beautiful afternoon to work on some outside projects at home as well as eventually fire up the pellet grill to fix some bacon cheeseburgers for dinner.  As I finish up the writing of today’s page, it will soon be time to call it a day and get some rest to prepare for another day tomorrow.

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

• While some days or weeks seem longer than others, they all have the same amount of time in them.  How we use that time determines how long, or short, it feels.
• Finishing a task makes the rest of the tasks on the “to-do” list seem more manageable.
• Careful, and even casual, observation goes a long way in helping us see the wonder that God creates and puts on display every day.
• Doing the right thing depends more on the commitment to do so than on the circumstances we find ourselves in.
• If you’re going to take a dare, why not make it a dare to represent God in all you do.
• Finishing a project can be as difficult as beginning and while both stages bring their own form of satisfaction, it is the satisfaction of finishing that lasts.
• Beginning a walk with God is a very satisfying thing but finishing life still walking with God will bring the greatest satisfaction imaginable.

Page 106 was a Sunday and after my ditch digging work of yesterday, it felt good to sleep in and get some extra rest.  I did make it up in time for the morning worship gathering with my family at Deer Run.  It was a great Easter Sunday spent with my family and by evening, my mind and body were both tired so the writing of the page was put off until the next morning.  

The church service was well attended and it was good to see so many out to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  David’s message centered around a narrative of the resurrection account that combined details from all four gospel writers.  For the Christian, our hope dwells in the fact that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and at work in us so that we too may be raised.  Because each gospel writer saw the events of the resurrection from their own point of view, they each tell different details of the same story.  There are some who claim that such differences have to mean the story isn’t true, it’s just something they made up.  Experience would say that just the opposite is true — if the stories were completely identical with no differences allowed for personal observation, then a rational person would say it was a well-rehearsed made-up story.  

David did a great job not only telling the story, but challenging us to consider its importance in our own life.  As he told of the apostles commitment to the facts of the resurrection — a commitment so great that they were willing to keep telling the same story even to the point of death.  It reminded me of the old story told of four teens who had not prepared for an exam so they skipped class.  The next day, after they had prepared, they told a story of having a flat tire on the way to class.  In fact, not only did they have a flat tire, when they got their spare tire out it too was flat so it took most of the day to get help and back on the road.  They begged their teacher to allow them to take the exam late, given the circumstances.  Finally the teacher agreed to give them a new exam that they would take with each student in a separate room by them self.  The new exam had one simple question, “Which tire?”.  The point is, is that it is difficult to keep track of the details of a story that is made up and sometimes you don’t even think of all the details you need to fabricate.  Not one of the eleven remaining disciples ever wavered from the story of the resurrection and its importance in their own life.   

The message also covered the authority of scripture, the empty tomb itself, the impossibility of the disciples to actually overcome the group of Roman soldiers that were guarding the tomb, the transformation power of the resurrection in many people including a man named Saul of Tarsus, and the fact that so many people in the first century were believing in Jesus that it was being said that the message of the gospel was “turning the whole world upside down”.  

Even with all the proof, the problem with believing is that it requires us to do something about it.  When I led the prayer time at the end of the service, I asked the congregation one question — “Do you believe?”.  As you would expect, there was an audible response from the vast majority of those present — “Yes!”.  But as I shared then, the real answer isn’t what we say with our words inside a church building, the real answer is how we respond with our life both inside and outside the building.

Following the worship gathering, we had lunch at home and eventually made it out to the river walk for an afternoon family stroll.  Today’s photo was taken during that walk as this great bird stood motionless along the riverbank as we stopped to photograph.  So much of the wildlife we photograph seem to begin with a protection mode of blending in to their surroundings.  If that doesn’t work and they feel that they have been noticed, they take to plan B which is to leave as quickly as possible.  I get it.  I often live life in one of those two modes.  But as Christians, we are called to “shine like stars in the universe” as we represent the One who was raised from the dead.  

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

• Hard work is good for both the mind and body but like most things, done to excess causes problems.
• It is just as easy, sometimes easier, to become enslaved to good things as it is to bad things.  I personally have to be very careful not to become enslaved to habit, tradition, or routine.
• If you’re going to tell a story that lasts, the truth is much easier to remember than all the details of a made-up story.
• Just because we each see things from a different vantage point doesn’t necessarily mean we are looking at different things.
• If the power of the resurrection “turned the whole world upside down” in the first century, what is it doing in your life today?
• What we believe will determine what we do.  If it doesn’t, then we really don’t believe.
• If you and I are to “let our light so shine”, then we will have to get beyond the blending in and running away responses when it comes to living our faith.

Page 105 was a Saturday with summer-like weather.  So much so that I even broke the shorts out by the end of the day for a family walk.  I managed to sleep in a little bit, but once I was up I began my day with my morning coffee and some time with my friends list on social media.  Even though there is so much trash that I have to sort through, staying connected online still works well for me.  

With the beautiful weather today, I didn’t stay inside very long.  After finishing my coffee, I put on my work boots and headed outside with my figurative ditch-digger hat on.  The ground where I live is heavy clay and therefore doesn’t absorb water well.  A few years ago, I had fashioned a dry well where my sump pump empties to help absorb the water it pumps out.  That had quit functioning so it was time to try something different.  I dug the gravel out of the dry well and then dug a fifty foot trench down the slope of the lawn.  By the time I had dug the trench, the morning was nearly gone so I fired up the pellet grill to begin to cook a turkey for dinner.  As the turkey cooked, I spent the afternoon getting supplies and lining the trench with gravel before laying in a four inch drainage tile to extend the drainage capacity of the restored dry well.  

By late afternoon the turkey was done and I was done for.  I pulled the turkey off the pellet grill and let it set before eventually slicing it for dinner.  It was a good bird and after we had eaten, we headed to the river for a family walk to finish out the day.  Today’s photo was taken on that walk as I admired the beauty God had dressed this flower with.  

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

• Sometimes it is easy, and often tempting, to throw out the baby with the bath water when it come to using technology.
• There is a lot of garbage online, but also a lot of good connection opportunities.  Which you spend your time with is your choice.
• Sometimes things that worked for a time no longer function the way they were meant to.  
• Redesigning a plan is often more productive than simply giving up.
• Sometimes redesigning isn’t enough and we have to replace what isn’t working.
• Some things only turn out well if you give them enough time to be completed at the proper pace.  Not everything can, nor should, be rushed.
• Even after a long day of hard work, it is relaxing to spend time out walking with my family.
• God’s care for His creation is so obvious to me that I am constantly reminded of His care for me.