Page 280 is a good example of why I actually like the long Wednesday and Friday workdays.  I was able to sleep in (which for me has now become anything past 8 AM) this morning, but more importantly, Susan was able to sleep in even longer.  Today was a nice summer day and tomorrow is supposed to be a fall-like day which keeps things interesting — especially in Susan’s seizure-producing brain, so it’s good to let her sleep when she can.  While not a workday, I spent a good part of the morning with God trying to come up with a poem that I’ve been asked to share.  The words that do come don’t seem appropriate, fitting, or polite and since I still have those filters working most of the time, I keep seeking God’s face for the right words.  Lunch was pork chops slow-cooked on the pellet grill and then I spent some time playing games and going through yesterday’s photo.  

The photo on today’s page is one I took during my lunch break yesterday as the sun broke through the clouds.  It was a peaceful scene that reminded me of God’s generosity in pouring out the light of His Spirit on His children.  It also made me wonder how much of that light is visible through us within the dark world we live in.  God says that He will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast in their trust of Him.  While that is easy to read, it is difficult to believe and even harder to put into practice.  It is so easy to let things and circumstances distract our mind from being steadfast on God’s Word and His love for us.  We think we have to “fix” things that are beyond our control and ability so our peace slowly slips away as we realize our attempts at control are not accomplishing what we hoped for.  When peace dissipates from our life, it is gradually replaced with fear which often turns to anger.  I know, I’ve been down that path more often than I would like to admit.  When fear and anger show up, a defensive posture and language soon follow.  And when our position is indefensible, we begin to attack anyone who holds a view that is different than ours.  When we’re in attack mode, there is no room in our life for the steadfast peace that God desires to give us.

So, how do we get this “perfect peace”?  For me, at this particular time, a beginning step is to “hide” all social media posts that come from pages that spew hatred and attacks — and it doesn’t matter which candidate for which office is being attacked, it automatically gets a “hide all posts from . . .” click.  When the hate-filled posts continue to show up, I then “unfollow” anyone who is consistently “liking”, “sharing”, or commenting on such posts so that these actions don’t show up on my social media timeline.  One thing I’ve noticed about doing this, is that I rarely see political posts — no one seems to be posting anything positive about the candidate they support, just hate-filled rhetoric about the opposition.  By removing those words and images from my view each day, it becomes easier to keep my mind steadfast on the things of God that it ought to dwell on.  It seems our enemy has done a good job of convincing us that our battle is against flesh and blood, so on we fight.  My constant prayer through all of this social media cleansing is that God’s people would recognize the real enemy, and it’s not one another — ti’s not even flesh and blood!

I pray that you and I would practice using the filters of reason, common sense, and God’s Word before we communicate in any form.  I pray that we would seek the perfect peace that God wants us to have.  I pray that we would understand the specific things that distract us from having a mind that is steadfast on the things of God.  I pray that we would do whatever it takes to remove the distractions that lead us to fear and anger.  I pray that we would put on the full armor of God as we find ourselves in a spiritual battle.  I pray that our battle lines would not be drawn against people, but against the forces of evil that operate in the heavenly realms.

Page 279 has been one of those days that kind of just go by in a blur and while they seem to last forever, before you know it, its gone.  Wednesdays have become one of my long workdays as I was at work before 6:30 this morning and came home around 10 this evening with about an hour lunch break thrown in for good measure.  On that lunch break, I stopped by the riverwalk and shot today’s photo as the slow shutter speed gives me the impression of this great bird standing still while life flows by it at warp speed.  

After doing the morning cleaning and prep, I headed out to mow before daylight so I could get the areas around the building done before the school day started.  I did have to take a short break in the mowing to grab a camera as the sun was coming up through the clouds in the eastern horizon.  It was a beautiful sight to behold and photograph.  Once I had taken a few photos, it was back to mowing and enjoying the peaceful prayer time that comes with it.  A good amount of my prayer time was focused on praying about the great divide that exists within the Christian community here in the United States.  I have no real way of knowing how widespread the divide really is, nor how the numbers fall on either side of the divide, but I do know by watching my social media feed that each side of the divide has great animosity toward the other.  I have friends that share writings from different great Christian leaders and theologians who write from complete opposite viewpoints why one political party’s candidate for president is the “more Christian” choice than the other and why a vote for the other candidate is the most  un-Christian thing you could do.  Mind you, I see these postings claiming to offer absolute proof why they’re right both for and against each candidate.  While these, and the spirit in which they come across, are bad enough, the tone and language in the disagreeing responses are even more unsettling.  It’s as if the “expert” writers feed the conclusion that voting in agreement with them is the determining factor of a person’s Christianity.  It appears that far to many people are willing to be helped along to that conclusion.

After I finished my prayer time from the mower seat, I laid out the lesson plan of my Wednesday evening class then headed out for a late lunch and a short walk.  When I returned to work, I went back through the material for the evening class.  The material I am using is designed to give an overview of the Bible in 52 weekly sessions.  Last week was the introduction to the series and tonight we dug into the creativity of God found in the creation account.  As I connected that in my mind to my earlier prayer time, I thought about how God has created each of us as unique and valuable beings in His image.  There isn’t any of us that has full knowledge and is right all the time, yet how often do we act like we have all knowledge and are always right in all things?  It is not until we begin to see the value of one another that we will even be willing to listen with ears that are actually open to hearing.  The picture that the church presents of Christ ought to be one of love one for another.  At least that is what I understand Jesus to say, that the world will know we are His disciples by our love for one another.  What does the world see about Jesus when they look at you and me?

I pray that you and I would spend time praying for, and seeking, peace for our nation.  I pray that we would be careful what we share, and how we respond to what others share, on social media and in person.  I pray that we would have a greater understanding of the value God sees in each person whether we fully agree with them or not.  I pray that we would grow in our listening skills.  I pray that our love for one another would be the predominant and identifying feature of the church today.

Page 278 was a good day with a decent balance of work and family time.  I did my early morning cleaning and as I stopped by my office for a cup of coffee, there were two deer standing outside my office window.  I got a camera out but it was too dark outside to get a usable picture through the window.  We watched each other for a moment then we each went our own way to finish our morning routines.  They went back to work trimming the brush along the edge of the woods and I went back to the cleaning and building prep work for the day.  Once the building was ready, I spent the rest of the workday on a variety of writing and lesson prep tasks.  

By mid-afternoon my workday was finished and I headed home.  It was a beautiful fall day so we threw our cameras in the truck and headed to Elkhart to do some walking and picture taking at a new location for us.  When I have time, I look for area locations that might have some good photo opportunities and one of the ones that came up in my search was the Wellfield Botanical Gardens in Elkhart, Indiana.  Tuesdays are free admission days at the gardens so it was a good day to check it out.  It turned out to be a beautiful location with work currently going on that should add even more beauty.  Even in a fall season where many of the flowering plants are done for the season and others are beyond their peak, there were plenty of good photos waiting to be taken.  The paths throughout the gardens were all hard-surface so it was easy to get through it with Susan in her wheelchair.  When we finished there, we headed over to Mishawaka primarily to walk the riverwalk but managed a few photos there as well. 🙂

Today’s photo comes from the botanical gardens where these wild flowers were blowing in the wind almost begging to be photographed.  They were moving around so much that it was quite a task to keep them in focus, and in the viewfinder, long enough to snap the photo.  It only took three or four tries but I did manage to get the picture I wanted.  I usually see a photo I want to take before I even think about shooting it.  Sometimes I get what I’m after on the first shot.  Other times, it takes numerous attempts to get the right angle, right lighting, right content, and right whatever else there is that could go wrong.  And then there are the times when I give up — I either miss the opportunity or I get tired of trying.  Life is a lot like that, isn’t it?  When we spend time with God we begin to see and visualize the good He has for us.  Sometimes it is so clear and so easy that it seem like we just walk into it and it is ours.  Other times it is a struggle where it feels like we are battling against everything that could go wrong but we keep at it until we are eventually rewarded with what we are pursuing.  Yet there are also those times when we give up.  We’ve attempted to reach the goodness God has for us for so long that we become weary and conclude it isn’t possible and wasn’t meant for us.  Sometimes we have a glimpse of the good God wants to share with us but we wait for so long that we miss the current opportunity and we wonder if another opportunity will ever come our way.

I pray that you and I would be diligent about the work God has called us to.  I pray that we would find the appropriate balance between providing for our family and being with our family.  I pray that we would be aware of the many reminders of His beauty that God surrounds us with on a daily basis.  I pray that we would spend time with God, watching and waiting for the good that He desires to share with us.  I pray that we would rejoice when the good things from God are easily obtainable.  I pray that we would persevere when those good things take multiple attempts and effort to bring them into our life.  I pray that we would seek refuge in God when an opportunity slips by us or we become to weary to continue pursuing it.

Page 276 was filled with the usual variety of Monday tasks as well as a few extras.  It was up early and in to work to get the building cleaned and ready for the school day.  Once the building was ready and the students began arriving, I took care of some messages and correspondence then settled in to spend time with God as we put together the prayer guide for next week.  After considering several options, I settled on the topic of prosperity.  As I wrote in the prayer guide introduction, I know Christians who believe God wants every believer to live in financial prosperity and the only reason we don’t is our lack of faith.  I also know Christians who basically take a vow of poverty and believe Christians should not accumulate any material possessions.  The fascinating part is that you can find examples on either end of the spectrum in the Bible among individuals who followed God.  So, the prayer guide will take a different approach to prosperity than what the world typically would.  Each day next week will focus on something the Bible says will lead us to prosper — but prosper according to God’s definition and eternal perspective, not necessarily our definition.

As I was working on the prayer guide, a box of booklets was delivered by UPS.  This was a collaborative effort as Mary Jane put some early childhood activities on each page of the booklet to go along with the animal alphabet poem I had written.  I had the completed booklet professionally printed in order to give the preschool students something special that they can enjoy as they learn.  While the work and purpose of this edition is “in house” to provide a resource for the preschool Mary Jane directs, I have considered finding an illustrator to make the booklet into an illustrated children’s book.  Today’s photo is of the front and back of two of the booklets showing the cover spread using a photo I took at the zoo.  I think it is a fun little poem and I pray that the students who use these booklets will be encouraged to have fun as they learn.  I’m not sure what, if anything more, God wants to do with this booklet but I am thankful that He continues to trust me with writing assignments even when I don’t understand why I am writing them.

Once the prayer guide was finally finished for next week and sent to the church office so they have it for the bulletin, I spent some time going through the lesson material for my 1st through 3rd grade Wednesday evening Bible class.  I like to go through it multiple times leading up to the class so I’m familiar with it and can be prepared with any extra resources that would help teach the lesson.  When I was in children’s and youth ministry, one of the most difficult things to do was to get my volunteer teachers to look through the provided material ahead of time.  Now I try to be the volunteer that I wanted others to be. 🙂

As the morning slipped away, I had some cleaning supplies that I needed to pick up before tomorrow so I put away my lesson material and prepared to go get the things I needed.  I asked Susan if she wanted to go with me and probably because it was nearing lunch time, she said yes.  We ran all of our errands and picked up the necessary supplies before stopping for lunch.  It is such a blessing that I have a job where I can spend time with my daughter and take her with me from time to time when I need to get supplies.  

After the workday was done, it was time to head home and work on setting a post to install a handrail along our front steps.  The outdoor temperature seemed rather cool until I began digging and all of a sudden the sweat began to roll.  Once the hole was dug, the post set, and concrete mixed and poured, it was time to fire up the pellet grill and get some chicken cooking for supper.  Now I’m enjoying a relaxing evening and thanking God for giving me kingdom work to do and a family to do it with.

I pray that you and I would be deliberate about spending time with God even in the routines of life.  I pray that we would seek to prosper in a way that has more meaning than financial and a longer impact than this life.  I pray that we would find joy in the tasks God sets before us, even when we think the tasks seem out of the ordinary.  I pray that we would look for ways to spend time with, and value, our families.  I pray that God would grant each of us the rest we need in order to accomplish the work He has for us to do.

My page-and-photo-a-day adventure continues with page 275 being a rather laid-back Saturday.  Much of the morning was spent relaxing and allowing tomorrow’s sermon to simmer in my mind as God continues to refine it to what He would have me share.  It is a Saturday so I eventually fired up the pellet grill and made bacon cheeseburgers for lunch.  After lunch it was time for some Wii game action, sermon work, and eventually a trip to Sam’s Club.  The evening included pizza and cinnamon bread sticks for supper followed by some writing, television viewing, and more writing.

The photo on today’s page is of bittersweet that was growing along the pier access at the Holland lighthouse.  When dried, the golden shells of these berries pop open to reveal a bright orange inside.  They are typically in high demand for fall decorating.  Every time I see it growing, I can’t help but think of the years early in our relationship that Mary Jane and I would drive the country roads looking for bittersweet growing wild that we cut down and take back to dry.  While the picture doesn’t show leaves, most of the time the vines would be fully leafed out when harvested and all the leaves would have to be picked off before we could sell the bittersweet vines.  One particular batch had what we called “two-headed caterpillars” because the fuzzy little creatures crawling all through the vines appeared to have a head on each end — and they would bite or sting!  For me, bittersweet is a reminder of those early years of life together when resources were so scarce yet we learned to work together to be able to provide a little income.  

I suppose it is fitting that the bittersweet vines take me back in time to our dating years and early years of marriage.   In the midst of some very difficult days — even bitter days — of life, the sweet part of life co-existed and even found a way to flourish.  Life is hard.  I’m pretty sure it is that way for most people and everyone has a somewhat unique version of what has made it particularly hard for them.  In our story, there have been many factors which have added to the difficulty of life and many of those same factors have found a way to add to the sweetness of life as well.  It seems that bitter and sweet are often two sides of the same coin in life.  Yes, the “two-headed” bugs were a nuisance and caused pain, but they also caused much laughter and many memories as we worked together to push through the difficulties in order to provide some income.  The sweet times we experience are more fully appreciated because of the bitter times we have been through.  Yes, the bitter times may feel fully bitter while we go through them, but it is in the process of going through them that we find the opening for the sweet times of life.

I pray that you and I would recognize the value God has placed in our life through the people around us.  I pray that we would hold fast to the sweet times of life to give us courage to carry on through the days that are hard.  I pray that God would give us insight into some of the ways He has used our difficult times for our good and the good of others.  I pray that we would not become discouraged when the bitter days take their bite, rather we would live with the knowledge that in Christ we can have victory over everything that attempts to destroy us.

Page 274 has been a dark and dreary day and it has been a battle to keep my mind from mirroring the conditions outside.  As I’ve worked throughout the day, various bits of poems have tried to show up in my mind but most of them have been as dark as the cloudy night sky so I keep pushing them out and replace them with worship songs and scripture.  One of the opening lines that keeps recurring — so maybe it will be used for real some day — is: “Most of these poems reveal what’s inside.  The dark hidden thoughts that I’d like to hide.”  On good days, the poems are a window into my soul and I suppose that may just be true on my bad days as well.

The day began early as I was up and at work by 6 AM, cleaning and prepping the building for the day.  And here I am at 8 PM still at work, writing today’s page before taking the floor scrubber for its laps around the hallways.  Once the morning cleaning was done, I took care of a few minor maintenance needs and then spent much of the day continuing work on the sermon for Sunday.  As with most days, there was the occasional interruption to take care of building related things, but overall it was a fairly quiet day.  I’m working on the first message in a series of stand-alone sermons based around the topic of “Living As the Lord’s Servant”.  I began work on this character study series almost a year ago but haven’t had anywhere to share it so the work kind of stalled out.  Since they do stand alone, I’ll work on them as needed for the Sunday’s I preach at the North Wayne Mennonite Church in Dowagiac, Michigan.  This first one will look at some lessons we can learn from Abraham about living as the Lord’s servant.

By mid-afternoon, I took a short lunch break then it was time to start the Friday evening cleaning to get the building ready for Sunday.  It feels like I’m getting back into the school year routine and the work flow seems to be a bit smoother as each week passes.  Sometimes we think of routines and habits as bad so we do what we can to keep from developing any.  In and of themselves, routines and habits are neutral — they can be good or bad depending on what they are.  That is an important lesson that I try to convey when I teach about prayer.  Developing habits and routines of prayer can be good if we use them to connect to God in deeper and greater ways.  Sometimes it is the habits and routines that keep us going to God in prayer even when we don’t feel like it but know we need to.  Most of us need to build a pattern of prayer in our life so it is simply a natural part of what we do in all circumstances.  If we face a situation where prayer feels awkward, it is probably a time when it is most needed but least likely to take  place.  

As I sat down to write today’s page and enjoy a quick “dinner” of Famous Amos cookies and Dr Pepper, I went through the photos from yesterday’s trip to the lake so I could choose one for this page.  The photo I chose is of the beachfront at Holland State Park looking across the channel from the lighthouse.  Even in the midst of all the clouds and dreariness of the day, beauty could be found.  Behind the clouds, and occasionally peeking through as a reminder, the sun still shone in all its brilliance.  It serves as a reminder for me that even in the midst of the dreary times I experience within my spirit, the Son still shines in all His glory and His Spirit still lives within me to encourage, comfort, and strengthen me in my weakness.

I pray that you and I would never forget God’s presence is with us through the power of His Son and the indwelling of His Spirit.  I pray that we would understand our role as a servant of the Lord and live accordingly.  I pray that we would build good habits and routines that draw us closer to God.  I pray that we would continually grow in our practice of praying without ceasing.  I pray that God’s light would always shine upon us and through us.