After a good night’s sleep I felt a little more rested when I went to work to start page 131 with cleaning and building prep.  It was another rainy day so there wasn’t any outside work getting done and no Waist Management walk taking place.  After the building was ready for the day and the students began arriving I spent most of the morning working in my role as the missions’ treasurer for the church.  Doing so is always a fun time for me as I go through recent correspondence from missionaries and pray for them and the work God is doing through them.  As I finished up my work and prayer time with the missions focus, it was time for a weekly mentoring/discipleship lunch with a friend.

When I returned from lunch it was still raining steadily so I settled in my office chair to work on some writing in the daily devotions series that I have in process.  Today’s devotional writing was about various aspects of serving with integrity.  While it can be a very complex topic, one of the simplest approaches to laying a foundation for a lifestyle of integrity is to follow the teaching of Jesus to let your yes be yes and your no be no.  Many times we struggle with being a person of our word because we are too quick to speak and too slow to listen.  We commit to things only to change our mind when we have more information.  We want to sound confident so we agree, or disagree, before we even know what doing so will cost us.  We are so accustomed to a lack of commitment in our culture that we think nothing of “changing our mind” when it comes to broken promises and disregarded vows.  Not that there isn’t a time and place for changing our mind — that’s the very heart of repentance.  

James says that everyone should be quick to listen, slow to become angry, and slow to speak.  That instruction makes for great building material to go with the foundation of keeping our word.  Our integrity is strengthened when we make an effort to listen — both to God and to the people around us.  Sometimes we destroy our reputation, and our integrity, by not being quick to listen so our response is more of a quick to become angry that does much harm to our witness for Christ.  For most people, when they are easily angered they are also quick to speak.  That combination gets people in trouble faster than almost anything else.  To be a person of integrity means that we keep our word and that we listen to others so when appropriate to respond, we sound like Jesus.

As I worked at writing the devotional pages, a woodpecker flew by my window and landed in a tree nearby.  As he made his way up and down and around the tree, he kept pecking away at the bark in search of his “daily bread”.  Integrity in his life could be defined by being, and doing, what God created woodpeckers to be and do.  In a culture that is so rapidly trying to redefine everything according to our own wishes and desires, perhaps the greatest representation of integrity in our life would be for us to simply be and do what God has created us to be and do.

I pray that you and I would be involved in the work of global missions with our prayers, our resources, and our life.  I pray that we would seek to live a life of integrity.  I pray that we would grow to be people of our word in all circumstances.  I pray that we would learn to listen first to avoid speaking in haste or becoming unnecessarily angry.  I pray that we would be content with being who God created us to be.

I’m getting a little earlier start than usual in writing out today’s page.  While the cool, drizzly day doesn’t seem to be helping any, I don’t think the weekend fully caught me up from the extra long day last Friday.  If I get this written early then perhaps I will head to bed early and get some extra sleep.  Anyhow, page 130 began early with the Monday morning cleaning and the prep to get the building ready for the school week.  Once the building was ready, I settled in to my Monday morning writing routine.  A big part of the morning was spent with God writing next week’s prayer guide as it just didn’t seem to come together as quickly or smoothly as most weeks.  I suppose it is fitting that it took more time than usual as I eventually settled with the topic of waiting.  🙂  Waiting can be a difficult thing for most of us — particularly when the time of waiting goes beyond an acceptable length of time that seems to vary greatly from person to person.  Whether we measure our time of waiting in minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, or lifetimes, we all reach a point when we are tempted to say, “That’s long enough!  I’m done waiting!”

I have people ask me from time to time about my process of writing.  I’m not sure that I have a process but I do have some routines that I like to follow once God has put a book concept in my mind for me to write.  To begin with, all of the ideas for the books I have written and published came out of my prayer time.  Many times the seeds were planted by an individual or group and as I would pray about a conversation or topic, the idea to write about it would fill my mind.  One of my current projects is a good example of that.  I connected with the Association of College Ministries last year and provided one of my devotional journals to each person attending their National Student Conference.  As I worked with them to plan of this years conference, I found out that the theme for the student conference this year is “Not Home Yet”.  As I prayed about the conference and the potential for my leading a workshop, this theme began to resonate in my mind.  As I prayed the words of Jesus in the model prayer came to mind, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  Then the title, “Almost Heaven: Devotions For The Journey Home”, filled my mind.  From there, I spent time searching the scripture for characteristics that the Bible uses to describe heaven and/or the kingdom of God.  From that list I narrowed down 32 topics to use for the daily devotional thoughts in the book.  After the outline was complete I began to work on the cover.  As I went through my photos, one of the shots I took in the mountains of Virginia last fall jumped out at me and seemed to beg to be the cover photo.  Once I have the cover designed and the interior outline laid out I order a couple printed copies that I call layout proofs.  This gives me a physical book so I can make sure the look and feel is what I want.  After that come the actual writing.  With this devotional journal style that I am currently working on, I look up the scripture reference from the outline and spend time with God praying about what that verse says within the context it is written.  As I pray, I jot down questions that come to my mind and then write out some corresponding devotional thoughts and prayer points.

Anyhow, the way that all fits into today’s page is that the layout proofs for the “Almost Heaven” project arrived over the weekend and I was able to see and feel what it will be like when completed.  As I looked over it and started with a reminder overview of the daily topics, I was reminded of how God wants us to live as kingdom citizens on this earth to prepare ourselves, and those around us, for the heavenly home we are headed toward.

I pray that you and I would learn to trust God fully in the times when He calls for us to wait.  I also pray that we would respond with appropriate actions when He says the waiting is over.  I pray that we would listen to God for direction and timing in all we do.  I pray that our listening would produce complete obedience.

Page 129 was a beautiful Sunday to spend time with the church family in worship of God.  It was also Mother’s Day here in the U.S. as we celebrate the people in our lives that we call Mom.  After the morning at church, we headed to Subway for lunch and then headed down to spend some time with my mom and dad and eventually my sister and her family as they also came to wish mom a happy Mother’s Day.  After an afternoon at the farm, we came home and I put some pork chops on the pellet grill to smoke while we headed to the river for a quick late evening walk while supper cooked.  Throughout the walk we would cross paths with different families of geese.  Geese aren’t the friendliest creatures to begin with but when they have young ones with them they become an incredible force to be reckoned with.  It is always fascinating to watch various “moms” in what we call the wildlife world watch over and protect their “children”.  Even when the young ones are curious, the mama goose will only let them investigate to a certain point of safety before she steps in and puts an end to the curiosity.

I had a mom that both gave freedom and set boundaries.  My mom wanted me to learn new things and grow but she also wanted me to learn to be aware of dangerous situations and know how to avoid them and/or handle them.  God calls all parents to “train up” their children but before you start thinking that lets you off the hook because you don’t have children or they are already “trained”, He also calls every Christian to make disciples — “train up” the next generation of believers.  The lessons we learn from godly moms, and dads, can be applied in our obedience to God’s command to “make disciples of all nations”.  

As I finish up the written part of today’s “page”, I conclude with a Mother’s Day poem I wrote two years ago.

Today is a day,
     we honor our mother.
But how is that different,
     from any other?
While it is nice
     to set aside a day.
Honoring our parents
     is really God’s way!

You may not be one,
but surely you’ve had.
Your very own mom,
I pray good and not bad.
The lessons we learn
from a mom who is good.
Are things we should hear,
to do what we should.

To Plead for her children,
this mom always will.
She lifts them to God,
praying that He will fill.
She Respects those around her,
even God when she prays.
She wants Him to guide her,
each of her days.

When things take a wrong turn,
she Adapts with the best.
She still has a focus
that her children can rest.
As she talks with God,
her spirit does Yield.
She may not understand
but she trusts in His shield.

These are some lessons,
a godly mom can teach.
They’re also the same ones
that I plan to preach!
I pray that you listen,
to God’s Spirit in me.
And He shows you clearly,
what He wants you to see.

© 2014 by Tom Lemler

I didn’t end up getting to bed until after page 128 had technically begun.  My work hours on  page 127 kept me at the church until nearly midnight, so page 128 began with BBQ chips and a Klondike bar for dinner before heading to bed.  🙂  What it did mean was that I was able to sleep in a bit this morning.  Once I was up, I spent time going through the photos I took yesterday at Potato Creek and of the sunset at work.  The photo on this page is one that caught my eye.  It reminded me of the song which says, “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens.  Your faithfulness stretches to the sky.”  There were several times during yesterday’s hike that I found myself looking up through the treetops to the cloud dotted sky.

After going through photos my family and I headed to Bass Pro Shops and then stopped along Lake Michigan to do some walking and take pictures.  The wind was blowing steadily and the waves were rolling in against the shoreline with great force and beauty.  One of our stops was at Washington Park in Michigan City where we photographed the lighthouse and Chicago skyline.  It was such a beautiful afternoon so it wasn’t too surprising to discover when I got home that I had taken over 300 pictures.  It was fun to realize that whether it was a long, busy day like yesterday or a relaxed, restful day like today, God found ways to remind me of his love and faithfulness.  Perhaps the song only has it partially right — God’s love also reaches from the heavens and His faithfulness stretches forth from the sky!  

I pray that you and I would pay attention to the presence of God with us at all times.  I pray that we would recognize His love reaching toward us and filling us with a love that is able to reach back to Him.  I pray that we would know His great faithfulness in a way that empowers us to live faithfully for Him.  I pray that we would enjoy the beauty that God surrounds us with as we acknowledge Him as the source of creativity and wonder.

Another day, another page.  And another Friday finding me writing the day’s page at work as I take a break from the cleaning, mopping, and floor scrubbing.  🙂  As I took the trash out earlier, the sun was beginning to  drop behind the tree line to the west.  It was starting to light up the sky with such beautiful colors that I went inside and grabbed my camera to take some sunset pictures.  When I went out the front of the building, there at the top of the drive with the sunset behind her was a deer grazing on the lawn.  But that was this evening, I’m getting way ahead of myself.

The day began early as I needed to do the usual cleaning and then some extra prep to get the cafeteria area ready to set up for a memorial service.  Once the inside of the building was ready for the day I headed out to start mowing around the building so I wouldn’t be doing that while the students were trying to have class.  As I moved toward the back of the property to mow, a vehicle parked out back and I stopped to see what they were doing.  The gentleman said he was going to go out in the woods for a while and hunt mushrooms.  I told him that there was a school on site and we could not have people wandering the property while we were in session.  Most of the time people understand that explanation and appreciate our desire to protect the children.  Not this guy.  He began to get a little belligerent and insisted that he wasn’t going to harm anything so it was okay for him to be here.  I restated that I was going to have to ask him to leave the property and his response was that he wasn’t going to take anything so he didn’t see why he had to leave.  (I don’t know if he didn’t plan on finding any mushrooms that he said he was hunting or if he was going to leave them with us.)  I explained it had nothing to do with whether he was taking anything or not, this is private property and he was being asked to leave.  As he continued to argue with me, I asked him if it would be okay for me to show up at his house at any given time, park in his driveway, and just wander around in his backyard looking for anything that I might want.  He insisted it wasn’t the same but he did finally decide to leave.

I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon mowing and working outside then headed down to Potato Creek for a Waist Management and Mental Health break.  The hike around the lake did me good as I spent time with God in the midst of the natural beauty of creation.  I thought about how often we insist on doing things our way even when God says it is not appropriate.  I’m afraid that far too often God’s Word brings about conviction and we spend an incredible amount of time convincing ourselves that we don’t really need to change.  Then we spend even more time trying to explain to God why following His instructions really doesn’t apply to us.  Sometimes I think we forget that the earth and everything within it, including us, belong to the Lord.  We become the piece of clay demanding a particular result from the potter.  From our view, our intents and motives are pure and harmless so we cannot understand why God would say no.  We’ve become so selfish that it is nearly impossible to grasp how our actions may affect someone else.  God’s view is so much wider and deeper and it is perfect.  His instructions, His plans, are not designed to harm us but to provide a nurturing environment in which not only us, but each person can grow into the image of  Christ.

I pray that you and I would stop and think about God’s ownership of everything when we are tempted to argue with Him about His instructions to us.  I pray that we would understand and trust that God’s care for us is absolute.  I pray that we would be more observant to the needs of others so that we would gain a better understanding of how God’s laws are meant for the good of all people.  I pray that we would appreciate the beauty that God surrounds us with.  I pray that we would grow in humility as we learn to practice submission to the Word of God.

Today’s page began a little later than usual as I spent a little extra time cleaning up myself before going in to clean the building so I would be ready for the National Day of Prayer service I had a part in.  As I worked at cleaning the building I also turned my computer on in my office and found out that a cousin’s (technically my wife’s cousin, but I claim her as well) battle with cancer had ended overnight.  God had given her so much strength to represent Him well throughout this battle and she was finally able to hear the words of her Savior, “Well done, good and faithful servant!  Come and share your Master’s happiness!”  While she leaves behind a husband, a family, and many friends who will miss her greatly, they can all grieve as those who have hope knowing that Kathy had lived her life with complete trust in God and in the work of His Son, Jesus, to present her to Himself spotless and pure.  If you would, please join me in praying for the Tison family in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

As I finished cleaning and taking care of things in the building, I spent time in prayer regarding my assignment for the National Day of Prayer service.  All of the publicity for the prayer service highlighted the first half of Isaiah 58:1.  The focus seemed to be on shouting aloud and raising our voice as a trumpet in prayer without holding back.  As I read through the rest of verse 1, and the rest of the chapter, it was obvious that this was God’s instruction to Isaiah to loudly declare to His people their rebellion and sin.  While the context deals specifically with the people fasting (with wrong motives) and wondering why God didn’t notice, I couldn’t help but compare it to the response of some people in this election year questioning why God isn’t hearing their repeated prayers and answering with just the right candidate.  My part in today’s prayer service was to pray for Christian liberty and the unborn.  As I spent time with God prior to the service and then prayed at the service, I felt convicted of a need to raise my voice like a trumpet in regard to our rebellion and sin in using our freedoms for selfish purposes and in not valuing the lives of the unborn, or life in general, as we ought to.

Our modern approach to Christian liberty isn’t new — the Bible warns us about those who had turned their freedom in Christ into a license to sin.  The American culture values freedom to such a degree that we bristle at any suggestion of our need to repent.  We redefine sin so that we can say it no longer applies to us.  We become convinced that when God says, “If the Son has set you free, you shall be free indeed.”, then we ought to really be free to do whatever we want with no regard to how it damages our witness and the lives of others.  The Christian liberty that God calls us to, and that I prayed about today, is a freedom to serve everyone in a way that makes Christ known.  It is a freedom that embraces the unborn generation AND the mothers who are carrying them.  It is a freedom that values all life in a way that gives of our self to serve those that our society would like to simply throw away.  

I pray that you and I would join together in lifting up and encouraging those who mourn.  I pray that we would raise our voice, with our self first, in a call of repentance for the rebellion and sin we commit.  I pray that we would use the freedom we have in Christ in ways that serve others and not ourselves.  I pray that we would value all life and find ways to promote life and hope to the unborn and the mothers carrying them.  I pray that this path we walk each day would be the path that draws us more fully to Christ and leads to His welcoming words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

The warm late-spring weather of page 124 disappeared by the time page 125 began and was replaced by a cold, rainy day of early spring.  It was raining as I left the house and headed to work in the early morning hours.  By the time the morning cleaning was completed, the rain had stopped but a cold dampness remained in its place.  The rest of the morning was spent catching up on some office work, doing some writing, and spending time with God in prayer about the opportunity I have to pray at a National Day of Prayer service tomorrow about our Christian liberties and the plight of the unborn.  In a culture that seems to value freedoms over responsibilities it is interesting to me that the organizers of tomorrow’s event combined these two particular prayer topics.  

By noon the crisp breeze had dried the lawn enough to start the mowing for the week.  As I sat on the mower it didn’t take long for the cold and dampness to settle into my body.  Once the mowing was done around the building, it was time to call it a day and head for a late lunch to warm up.  By the time I made it home, the couch was calling my name and I settled in for an unexpected nap.  As I woke up an hour later I was reminded of the alpaca I took a photo of at the zoo yesterday.  Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is to pay attention when our mind and body tries to tell us of a need that we have.  Sleep and rest were designed and commanded by God, yet many times the demands of our time seem more pressing than the need for rest.  And because I continue to learn about my need for rest, today’s written page will be somewhat shorter than most of them have been.  🙂  If you want more words from today, check out my blog article on The Power of Hope that I wrote this morning.

I pray that you and I would understand the value of rest and pay attention to both our need and God’s command to rest.  I pray that we would also respect the need for rest that exists in the lives of those around us.  

Page 124 was designed to provide some balance to an extra long page 123.  After a late end to page 123, it was up early to get the building ready for the day before heading out to vote in the primary election.  After voting, I headed home to keep an eye on Susan so MJ could go vote before work.  Susan and I each decided a nap would be a good morning activity so we rested a bit before getting ready to head to the zoo.  As we were getting ready to head out, I got a call about a fire alarm system inspection for the church (which was just done a month ago) so I headed into work to straighten that out.  Once the alarm inspection company and I were on the same page that the inspection had already been done, Susan and I headed to the zoo for a short visit before I needed to be back for a meeting.

We had a good visit to the zoo where we saw her favorite animals and rode the new carousel.  While I enjoy visiting zoos to see the animals, there is a greater pleasure in taking Susan and watching her expressions of joy.  After the zoo visit, it was back to work for a lunch meeting and then some office work.  By mid-afternoon, my work day was done and we headed down to Potato Creek for a family Waist Management hike.  It was a beautiful afternoon and evening as the temperature was pleasant and there was a nice mix of sun and clouds to add beauty to the photographs.  We managed a total walk of about 4 miles through the park as we photographed wildlife, flowers, and lake/sky scenes.  We even managed to catch sight of a bald eagle as it soared over our heads and off into the distance.  As we were ready to leave, the cloud cover had begun to build and the rays of sunshine were shining down through them onto the lake.  

The rays of sunshine, and the photo I’ve added to this page, reminded me of a song that I learned years ago when I was doing youth ministry.  The lyrics say, “Mercy is falling, is falling, is falling.  Mercy it falls like the sweet spring rain.”  (At least that’s the way I remember them. 🙂 )  While each of us may have a somewhat different view on what specific weather defines the perfect day for us, showers of God’s mercy should always be eagerly welcomed and received.  Just as this shower of beauty that was present at Potato Creek was available to all who would show up and receive it, God’s shower of mercy is extended to all who would choose to receive it.  God’s justice and judgment are not diminished at all by His mercy and forgiveness.  In fact, it is because of His justice and judgment that His mercy and forgiveness is filled with so much power.  If God was not just and His judgment was not right, we would have little reason to pursue His mercy and forgiveness.  If there is no judgment for sin, why seek forgiveness.  The beauty of God’s sun shining through the clouds is amplified by darkness that it cuts through.  When we recognize and repent of our sin, God’s mercy and forgiveness shines His light brightly into what was once a dark life.

I pray that you and I would pursue and receive God’s mercy and forgiveness.  I pray that we would understand the reality of God’s justice and judgment for those who choose to reject God’s mercy and forgiveness.  I pray that we would desire the light of God’s Son shining into our life as we repent of our sin.