Page 215 was another conference day, which being a college student conference means that the schedule wasn’t designed for a person of my age. 🙂  I went to bed last night, or technically early this morning, thinking that I would have a somewhat relaxing day today as I wasn’t scheduled to teach until 4 PM.  So when the alarm went off, I decided to skip breakfast and get a little extra sleep.  When I did get up, I decided to check the schedule to see when the first session started after breakfast.  In doing so, I noticed that my workshop today was actually at 9:30 AM and not 4:00 PM!  Fortunately, I was ready  for it and still had an hour to get up and over to the workshop room.  Today’s teaching was on developing a lifestyle of prayer in the real world.  While not as large of a group as my first session, there were still more people in attendance than I had anticipated.  God allowed me to teach and minister to a lot of people during this conference and I consider it an honor for Him to entrust me with such a task.  After the workshop, I spent time talking with some students and campus ministry staff until it was time for lunch.  When lunch was over, it was finally time for a nap.  I slept for an hour or so, and then finished out the afternoon free time with a walk under a very overcast sky.  

I had decided it wasn’t going to be the full six mile trail that I took yesterday so my plan was to walk the trail to the two-mile mark and then turn around and come back for a total of four.  About a mile and a half into the walk, a light rain began to fall and when I made the turn at the two-mile mark, I began to hear thunder.  As most of the trail is through a wooded area, the rain didn’t make it through the tree canopy enough to drench me or my camera equipment so it didn’t turn out to be too bad.  Today’s picture is looking out through the mist at the continuation of the trail as I approached my turn around point.  After the walk, it was time for a shower and then head to dinner for some more conversations about the prayer ministry.  After dinner I was asked to take a group photo of the entire conference, or at least all who came for this evening’s session.  So I climbed a ladder on stage and put my photography skills and equipment to work.  When the session was over, it was time for some more conversations before coming back to the room to write today’s page and wrap up the day.

As I thought about the day, my mind reflected on how often we get our mind set on things being a certain way and sometimes have no real basis for our beliefs.  I don’t know why I thought my workshop was at four, but I’m glad I found the truth before it was too late.  In some of my conversations today about prayer, it is apparent that many of us hold on to beliefs about our relationship with God and what is fitting to talk with Him about and what isn’t, that have no basis in the truth of His desire for us.  I thought about how often we become convicted by God’s Spirit to grow in our relationship with Him through prayer or another of the spiritual disciplines, only to give up before we even begin because we’re afraid our attempt won’t be finished or will leave us “soaked”.  Even if life “drizzles” on us, there is something refreshing about finishing our commitments to spend time with God pursuing a growth in our relationship with Him.

I pray that you and I would always seek God’s truth above what we believe to be true.  I pray that we would make our pursuit of God a priority that nothing would deter us from.  I pray that we would be an encouragement to others as they journey through life.  I pray that we would spend the time necessary to figure out how God would have us to serve others, but that we wouldn’t wait to serve until we have it all figured out. 

Ahhhh . . . what a day!  Once again I am writing today’s page as the day quickly slips away and will soon turn into tomorrow. 🙂  There was nothing specific on my schedule of responsibilities for today at the conference, so it looked to be a day of rest between teaching times.  Breakfast was at 7:30 again this morning followed by a morning worship time.  After the worship gathering, I thought I would come back to the room and take a nap.  Once I got back here and laid down for a moment I realized it was Monday morning.  So, I decided to skip the nap and spend time with God in my normal Monday morning routine of preparing the prayer guide for next week.  The teaching of Jesus which says, “Blessed are those who mourn” has been heavy on my heart the past few weeks and I was drawn to the topic of blessings redefined.  As I looked through my files, I found that I had done a two-week prayer guide on the Beatitudes previously but it has been over 3 years ago.  As I thought about other topics, God kept bringing me back to this so I redid the topic with a new two-week series focused on seeing blessings from God’s perspective.

After the prayer guide was written for next week, it was time for lunch.  I usually try to get to meal times early to get my food and then find a random place to sit by myself and see who God brings to me.  Today was a couple campus ministers and a few students that sat with me and we had some good conversations about campus life, missions, and prayer.  This went on for so long that the kitchen and clean-up workers came and took our trays and empty dishes so they could finish their jobs.  Once lunch conversations were done, the entire afternoon was blocked out by the conference as “free time”.  As I came back to the room, I had a huge debate with myself about whether I should take a nap or take a walk.  The idea of a walk won out, so I grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and set off on a 6 mile round-trip hike on a trail between the campus and a city park.  Last year I had seen some deer along this trail but today was mostly butterflies and birds.  It was a good walk but I was completely drenched from the 90 degree temperature and what felt like 90 percent humidity by the time I was done.  Tonight was dinner on our own, so after a shower I headed to town and had ice cream with a bacon cheeseburger as my side dish. 🙂

The evening worship session was good and as I was restocking my display before coming back to the room, I ended up having great conversations about prayer and developing a lifestyle of prayer with several different groups of students.  The were so excited about what I had shared in the workshop yesterday and simply wanted to connect further with the story of God working in my life.  Eventually, the building emptied out and I made it back to the room but the unplanned conversations were so much fun.  One of the pictures I took during my walk this afternoon was of a fountain in the middle of a pond on the edge of campus.  As the day went along, this photo reminds me of the springs of refreshing that God continues to provide to me and through me.  Today feels like I am at least nearing full circle in this journey of prayer with this location being a turning point of sorts.  It was eight years ago at this conference on this campus that it became apparent that my prayer ministry role with Impact Ministries International was coming to an end as the organization was in the beginning stages of some major restructuring.  It was after leaving this conference in 2008 that I began to seek what was next and ended up in camp ministry which led to a maintenance director role which led back to Deer Run which led to a renewed focus on the prayer ministry which led me back to this conference which leads me to a greater pursuit of, and listening to, God.

I pray that you and I would pay attention to the people and circumstances that God brings into our lives.  I pray that we would make the most of every opportunity that God gives us.  I pray that we would notice the nudges of God’s Spirit within us and respond to them with full obedience.  

Page 213 has been a wonderful day at the National Student Conference but I’ve discovered that they plan the schedule for people much younger than I am. 🙂  Breakfast was at 7:30 this morning and here I am writing today’s page as the day slips away.  Following a great breakfast, we had a time of morning worship before I was scheduled to teach my first workshop of the day.  With a limited number of students and multiple workshops for them to choose from, I had planned what I thought was optimistically for 30 people for each of my workshop sessions.  With teaching today’s session on Developing a Lifestyle of Prayer Through Listening twice, I had brought 60 copies of the handout to split between the two times.  God had other plans.  My first session was a packed room with people sitting on the floor around the perimeter of the room so they could get in.  All 60 of my handouts were distributed with a number of people sharing and/or giving theirs up to those that wanted one.  I was overwhelmed, in a good way, to say the least.  I decided with that many showing up for the first of the two sessions, there probably wouldn’t be much interest in it the second time it was offered this afternoon.  Nonetheless, I wanted to be prepared so I headed to Office Depot right after lunch and had another 60 copies printed and 30 more copies of the handout for my other workshop so I would also start with 60 of those.  When I got back, I went to my workshop room to spend some time praying about what God would want me to learn from the earlier workshop and listen for if there was anything He wanted me to do differently.  The afternoon workshop was following a break in the schedule so I reasoned that was part of why so many came in the morning — they were planning on extending their break into the first afternoon workshop time slot.  And so, as I was praying and preparing, people began drifting in.  A few here, and then a few more, and slowly a couple rows filled up.  With about five minutes before the scheduled start, there were only a handful of seats left.  By the time all the seats were taken I thought I ought to let them know that this was a repeated workshop from the morning and if they thought it was part two they may want to find another workshop.  No one left and a few more came in and, as in the morning session, sat on the floor!

All I could do as I began the workshop was to silently pray, “Yeah God!!”, for His work in developing a desire in so many students to learn about developing a lifestyle of prayer.  And all day since, God has encouraged me through the words of so many who would stop me in the hallways, meal lines, outside, or wherever I would be just to thank me for sharing what God had given me about prayer.  After the workshop, I got ready for dinner and after I had eaten I took a walk around part of the campus to spend time thanking God and worshiping Him.  As I walked, I went by what the campus labels their “Reflection Pond” and it was living up to its name as the sun began to sink toward the horizon.  While the sun was up enough that it was still very bright, it also presented itself with a “sun dog” on either side.  The one to my right was most visible and I didn’t really notice the one on the left until I had downloaded today’s photo onto my computer.  As I “reflected” on the day and on this photo, I thought about how often I see God at work doing something in and/or through me that is fairly noticeable yet realize later that He was doing much more than I first thought.  As I shared with the conference last night, God tends to work “multi-dimensionally”, in that there is often a part of His work we recognize and a part of His working in the same circumstances that we don’t notice right away and may  never notice.  Tomorrow’s another early day and today is nearly slipping into tomorrow so I guess I’ve written enough words for now.

I pray that you and I would leave room in our plans for God to surprise us in good ways.  I pray that we would learn to listen, both to God and to other people, with our whole being.  I pray that we would not confine the work of God to what we can see with our own eyes.  I pray that we would allow for the mystery of God to both be present in our lives and to be revealed in us when He chooses. 

Today has been a long day, but a good day.  After another restless night, I slept in a bit this morning and then took a one mile rugged hike before rewarding myself with a Klondike bar for breakfast. 🙂  I decided to continue the scenic route to the conference, so after my hike and breakfast I headed to Spring Mill State Park and then the combo of Lincoln State Park and the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial sites.  I eventually made it to the conference site and got my display set up and the conference books set out in time to take a shower and relax a bit before supper.  After supper, the conference officially began with on opening session and I had the privilege of introducing my book, “Almost Heaven”, immediately after the welcome and opening announcements!  It was fun to be able to share how God used the conference theme, “Not Home Yet”, as a seed for me to write a 31-day devotional journal for those in attendance.  I also shared how God takes our obedience to doing what He calls us to do, and uses it in more ways that we could possibly realize.

As I’m downloading pictures from today off my camera, it’s hard to believe it says there are 210 of them — thankful for digital photography! 🙂  The picture I’ve included on today’s page is what remains of Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood home.  While there is now a wall around this small remnant to protect it, I think more surprising to me than the fact that this is all that remains is how small it is for a family dwelling.  In a time where many of our society try to portray this country as being founded by, and governed by, rich privileged white folks who never understood the plight of the poor and underrepresented, it doesn’t take a very close look at actual history to realize such a blanket statement is absolutely not true.  Yes, there are those who downplay Lincoln’s leadership, but to have someone rise to leadership from simple beginnings who longed for all men to be treated equally is very difficult to even imagine in today’s political climate.  So many of our leaders of years gone by lived by the motto made famous by Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”  Unfortunately, it appears we have become a nation not just asking, but demanding, that our country do something for us rather than seeking how we can serve our country by serving our fellow man.  I think Jesus would have liked Kennedy’s statement and the example of Lincoln and so many of our founding fathers.  It’s as if they put into practice His teaching that whoever wants to become greatest must become servant of all.  When people wonder out loud, “Where have all the great leaders gone?”, the answer often has a lot to do with answering the question, “Where are those who will serve, expecting nothing in return?”.

I pray that you and I would follow the example and teaching of Jesus and seek to serve others rather than ourselves.  I pray that we would honor leaders who become great by serving and not let their memory be tarnished.  I pray that we would ask ourselves often what we can do for our country and the people around us.  After we ask, I pray that we would do it without grumbling.

Today began my trip to the National Student Conference as I’m stopping along the way to spend time with God in the beauty of His creation in order to reset and prepare my mind and spirit for the conference.  I was still tired when I got up this morning to get ready for the trip so I decided I would bypass the Friday traffic around Indianapolis and not have to worry about that craziness.  My stop tonight is at McCormick’s Creek State Park so I mapped out a route that would take me to the west of Indy before heading south.  Because I needed to get to State Road 231, my route had me joining up with that at Lafayette and then heading south through Crawfordsville.  When I saw that, I new I needed to add pit stops at Shades State Park and Turkey Run State Park as they would not be far out of the way.  

Once I knew my route, I finished packing and then stopped by the office to load books and display material for the conference.  The first half of today’s trip was uneventful other than a heaviness of heart as I was more aware of a lot of small crosses along the road.  I know I see them often, but they just never meant as much as they do now.  As each cross became a reminder to pray for my brother and his family, God was arranging another pit stop of sorts that I hadn’t planned on.  As my GPS was taking me along the edge of West Lafayette, I entered a good deal of road construction and then finally a detour as the road I wanted was completely closed.  As I followed the detour, I realized it was taking me right through the Purdue campus.  As I was stopped in traffic, I looked around and noticed that most of the buildings along one side of the street were various fraternity and sorority houses.  I didn’t notice the one my niece had belonged to, but while I was stuck there in the detoured traffic I spent the time praying that God would raise up someone to be His light in the sorority like Bre was.  I prayed that the students would continue to reflect on her life and give careful consideration to the faith she displayed.  I prayed that a new or existing student would pray for the rest of the sisters the way Bre did.  As traffic began to move, I began to wonder if perhaps my last minute desire to avoid Indy was God’s way of putting me where He wanted me to be for a few moments of my day.  I am so glad I listened and had the reminder to pray.

Once I was through the Purdue campus and back on my planned route, it was off to the parks to do some hiking and listening.  At my first stop, I found a spot in the middle of my hike where I simply sat for a while as it was so peaceful and a great listening spot.  The sounds of the water running over the rocks and the birds singing throughout the woods was accompanied by numerous butterflies fluttering about.  It was a good start to the refreshing that I need before leading some workshops on developing a lifestyle of prayer.  Sometimes the most difficult thing to do in life is to simply be still enough to identify and listen to the direction God gives through His Spirit.

I pray that you and I would continually grow in our desire to be in relationship with God.  I pray that we would look for His direction in the times our plans don’t work like we thought they should.  I pray that we would seek out times and places where we can be still before God simply to be in His presence.

Page 210 has been a busy day trying to get things done following a short night’s rest.  After writing yesterday’s page, I ended up working until midnight doing the cleaning for the weekend then scrubbing and rinse mopping the hallway floor so it would be ready to start waxing first thing this morning.  That means it was very early this morning when I finally got home and tried to get some sleep following a day that wore me out.  After a night of tossing and turning as the aches from the day’s tasks didn’t want to let me sleep, it was up and back at it first thing this morning.  

With four coats of wax to go down on the hallway floors, my day was spent swinging a mop back and forth in large figure-8 patterns.  Between coats I would down some Propel water and Dr Pepper to refuel for the next round.  While doing so, I enjoyed the visits of a variety of bird and butterflies outside my office window.  There is a hummingbird that has been stopping by on a regular basis that will often hover just outside my window.  There were also a couple different types of butterflies that spent a lot of time on the thistle blossoms at the edge of the woods.  These, in addition to the cardinals, robins, and other regular wildlife visitors, refresh me in a way that the fitness water and pop can’t.

I finally finished the last coat of wax a little before 3 PM and after cleaning up I headed out for a late lunch.  After I made it home, it was time to relax a bit and then take a short nap.  As the evening progressed, a thunderstorm rolled through the area bringing some rain with it.  While I know a few people who enjoy thunderstorms, most of the time they seem to be responsible for disrupting plans more than providing any benefit  It was after the storm that I went outside with my camera and took some photos of the flowers still wet with rain.  Not only do the raindrops add beauty to the photos, it is the rain that refreshes the plants and assists in their growth and the beauty of the flowers they produce.

As I reflect on the day, I am reminded of the various ways that God refreshes me as I grow in relationship with Him.  When my mind, body, and spirit are tired, He calls me to Himself for a time of rest.  The time spent bringing my cares and worries to God and trusting Him to take care of them in ways often beyond my comprehension, allows me to rest even in the midst of life’s storms.  Just as the body needs water and nourishment to sustain and refresh it, my soul needs consistent time communing with my God to bring a lasting season of refreshing to it.  Sometimes the refreshing comes in the midst of great peace and joy, but often it is more noticeable when it rains down upon me in the stormy seasons of life.

I pray that you and I would know the refreshing that comes from God in both the good times and hard times.  I pray that we would pay attention to the people and things that God surrounds us with for the purpose of bringing refreshment and encouragement to our life.  I pray that we would always be available for God’s use in refreshing and encouraging the lives of the people around us.  

Page 209 looks to be a long day as I’m involved in a variety of projects.  In fact, I’m writing today’s page as I take a break between today’s projects and an evening project.  My workday began with some time spent on the material for some workshops on developing a lifestyle of prayer.  After a short time of study and prayer, the day’s projects began to stack up fast.  I had two different service techs arrive at the same time to work on different issues in the building.  One was a fairly quick inspection and service while the other was here all day and didn’t get finished.  In addition to working with them, I worked at getting floor finish put down in a series of rooms that was scrubbed and left unfinished yesterday.  Now that all my daytime projects are as done as they can be for now, I’ll start scrubbing the hallway floors when I’m done with today’s writing so they’ll be ready for their four coats of new finish.  🙂

As I’m taking a break before starting the evening project, I downloaded my photos from yesterday to my computer and went through them to do some basic editing.  The photo on today’s page is one from a series I took yesterday of a butterfly climbing over a small pebble in the roadway.  As I watched this butterfly struggle to make it up and over the pebble that is behind it in the photo, the phrase “making a mountain out of a molehill” came to mind.  It appeared to put a lot of work into getting over this pebble when it was fully equipped to simply fly over it with ease.  Shortly after I took this final photo in the series, the butterfly flew away so its ability to fly wasn’t a problem.  I don’t think like a butterfly, so I’m not sure what the reasoning was for climbing over this pebble instead of flying, but it did make me wonder how often we struggle with mountains of our own making because we fail to soar over the small things in life with the wings of God’s Spirit lifting us up.

I have a tendency at times to overthink things.  I know many people, from my perspective, who don’t think through things nearly enough but somewhere there is a balance where proper regard is given to a decision without making a mountain our of a molehill.  Sometimes it is a matter of evaluating what resources God has put at your disposal to use and then seeking the wisdom and courage to use those resources in the best way possible.  Other times the balance has more to do with spending proper time with God in prayer deciding if the task you’re considering needs to be done by you — if it even needs done at all.  As I read in the Bible about the life of Jesus, it is obvious that people had a lot of expectations about what He should be like and what He should do in any given situation.  Instead of basing His decisions on the expectations of people, He made it clear that His words and actions were all about doing the will of His Father.  Sometimes He pleased people with what He did and said and other times He didn’t — but He always pleased His Father.  We would do well to make that a priority in our life.  When our life goal is to live in relationship with God in a way that He finds pleasing, we soon discover that the molehills don’t have to become mountains.  We have enough trouble as we live in this world that it makes no sense to increase our trouble by attempting to live life without the help of the Spirit of God who lives in each of us who are His children.

I pray that you and I would evaluate the “mountains” in our life to see if they are really mountains or just molehills.  I pray that we would live in a vibrant relationship with God that seeks to live a life that is pleasing to Him.  I pray that we would understand the equipping of the Holy Spirit in our life as God’s presence in us to help us overcome the troubles we face.  I pray that we would live victoriously in Christ as we encourage those who become discouraged.