Tom’s Book of 2016

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2016: Page 7

I was thankful for no frost to scrape off the windshield as I headed to work early.  When I arrived at work there were no water puddles on the floor.  While that is good in most ways, it still means I haven’t discovered the source of the earlier leak.  With the arrival of snow, and students playing outside during the day, the floors require more attention in my morning routine.  With each round I made through the hallways, the amount of floor with shine began to overtake the dull-looking tiles.  When I am finished, the floors look nice and shiny but I know they won’t  have the same appearance by the next morning.

Most days I am a lot like those floor tiles and I suspect that so are you.  The traffic of life wears me down and takes off some of the shine that God’s Spirit has put within me.  It’s not that the surface is ruined, nor has it lost its usefulness.  No, it just needs a little time spent being refreshed and restored to its original beauty.  I find that the more often I take care of that, the easier it is to end up with the look that it’s supposed to have.  That is true about the floor and about your life and mine.  The more frequently we spend time with God in prayer and His Word, the less the “dirtiness” of the world has a chance to settle into our being making it much more difficult to remove.  I pray that each of us on a daily basis can say along with David the psalmist, “He restores my soul”.

Much of the rest of the work day was spent up and down ladders, trying to figure out some glitches in the building’s heating systems.  I’m not sure I accomplished a whole lot short term, but I continue to learn more about a complex and finicky system.  We all know some complex and finicky people, right?  How much time do you spend simply trying to get to know them?  Perhaps if you have a better understanding of who they are and how they work, you would have a greater opportunity to be an agent of change in their life.  And perhaps your understanding of them will be the method of bringing change to your life.

Each day seems to bring both challenge and opportunity.  I’m discovering that life works best when I go to God for wisdom in using both of these elements together.  It seems that opportunity with no challenge leads to complacency and challenge with no opportunity leads to frustration.  However, with God’s help, facing the challenge within you opportunity leads to fruitfulness.

The clouds may come and seem to overtake your life but often the recipe for beauty requires both sun and clouds.

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2016: Page 6

I keep thinking that I’m going to write these pages at the end of each day instead of waiting until the next morning.  I mean, what can happen in the few hours between when I go to bed and midnight?  Sleep!  Sleep is what can happen in those few  hours.   By the time I think about writing a recap of the day, I’m already tired and the idea of paying attention to what I’m writing is not appealing.  Plus, the night’s sleep often helps me to see the events of the previous day from a better perspective.

Another winter morning, anther heavy frost to scrape off the windshield.  The day began spending some time centering on the day’s prayer focus of being, and giving, an acceptable sacrifice to God.  Once that was set in my mind, I could begin the daily cleaning that needs done at the building.  I like days with no surprises — unless they are good surprises.  Today’s surprise was a puddle of water on the floor with a wet ceiling tile above it.  After examining the piping in the ceiling above the wet area, I could find nothing that was currently leaking or even wet.  I put a metal tray above the ceiling at the spot with the hope that I will be able to hear the dripping if, and when, it decides to leak again.

Once the building was ready for the school day, it was time to address some of the other tasks of the day.  But first a few quick  photos of another glorious sunrise coming up to greet the day.  It seemed to be a day to do, or arrange for, some of the building’s inspections and testing.  Being a building that is open to the public, there are a variety of systems that require recurring inspections and safety testings in order to do due diligence in keeping those who would enter the building safe.

It made me wonder about myself and about people in general.  What are some of the inspections that I should be doing in my own life?  Are they being done on a regular basis?  In Psalm 139, David writes of a need for a searching and testing in our life.  A search and test that we open ourselves up for God to do.  I need to daily ask God to inspect my heart because it is out of the overflow of the heart that I speak.  I need God to continually test my thoughts so that he can expose the anxiety (which at the moment is huge) so that it is identified and can be cast upon Him.  He must examine each part to reveal any offensive ways so they can be dealt with in order to walk in the way that leads to everlasting life.

The day also saw its share of deer coming by the office window to visit as well as a variety of birds.  I was able to photograph some birds that were familiar visitors and one that I had not seen before which people tell me was an Eastern Bluebird.  The blue caught my eye while I was on the phone and it was gracious enough to wait for me to take its picture before flying off.

Are you overdue for a spiritual tune-up?  When was the last time you payed attention to God’s inspection of your life?  What did you do about it?

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2016: Page 5

The day began with a heavy frost on the windshield and a crispness to the air that made the moon and stars appear especially bright.  As I cleaned the building for the day, I could see some deer outside along the edge of the woods grazing in the underbrush.  They didn’t seem to mind my working inside the building as long as they were free to enjoy their breakfast.  As the night turned into a bright sunrise crawling over the tree line on the back edge of the property, the deer made their way deeper into the woods and out of sight.

Part of the morning was spent catching up on missions correspondence and bookkeeping for the church missions and for Impact Prayer Ministry.  It was good to see how God has provided and to seek Him for what the next step should look like.  As last year came to a close, I had added up the quantity of books I had ordered and was amazed that God had given me opportunities to give away nearly 2000 total copies of the books I have written.  Even knowing that, for some reason the numbers on the financial report for the year caught me by surprise.  It shouldn’t have because I know the printing costs for my books range from $2.30 – $2.90 each.  But there it was in black and white, nearly fifty-five hundred dollars in printing costs all covered by the financial support God has provided for Impact Prayer Ministry!

There were other tasks throughout the day that kept me at work longer than I had planned.  As I got in my truck late in the afternoon to leave work, directly in front of my along the edge of the woods were two deer laying out in the bright afternoon sun!  The deer on the property are my friends and they will often show up outside my office window and not seem too frightened by me.  They often serve as a reminder to me from God to not let fear dominate my thoughts and life.  I pray each day that I would fear no evil because God is with me.

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2016: Page 4

The snow arrived overnight as predicted so it was an early start to the day as there were walks to be cleared and a building to get ready for the school day.  I’ve never been much of a morning person but the routine of being at work by six, or earlier on snow days, has grown on me.  There is something special that takes place as I go about my tasks during the stillness of the day.  The morning quietness helps me to quiet my spirit and listen more closely to God’s Spirit within me.  Even the lake effect snow that fell throughout the morning brought a fresh appearance to everything it touched.

Eventually the snow gave way to clear skies and bright sunshine!  As I finished up some office work, a wide variety of birds gathered in the trees and brush outside my window.  They were each laying claim to the berries and seed heads that stood out through the snow covered branches.  There were even a couple squirrels that joined in the party to see how much of the food supply they could claim as theirs.  It reminded me of the teaching of Jesus not to worry about tomorrow and the things the world chases after.  God provides for the birds and He not only has the ability to provide what I need, He knows exactly what that is even when I don’t.

One of the advantages I have learned about the early morning start to the work day is an early finish to the work day.  I took advantage of the first snow of 2016 to take a quiet nature walk at Potato Creek State Park late in the afternoon.  As I was taking photos across the lake and looking for one of the eagles that live there, I heard the whooshing sound of air movement as an eagle took off from behind me and flew over my head, disappearing into the distance before I could get my camera set and focused.  I left the lake side and took hike of about 3 miles, enjoying the blanket of snow and the sounds of the forest.  When I returned to my starting point, the eagle had also returned to his starting point but his location was surrounded on three sides by brush and one side by the lake so the few pictures I took were not the best.  That is okay because the pictures are really a bonus that allows me to share my experience with others.  The experience of being that close and feeling the wind from the wings of such a majestic bird is incredible.

I pray that God continues to keep me in tune with Him as I allow the quiet times of the day to refresh my spirit.

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2016: Page 3

Another day, another page.  Page three could best be described as restful.  Even with snow in the forecast and preaching a sermon in the morning, most things that I could have worked on got set aside so I could relax.  On the first Sunday of each month, I typically preach at the North Wayne Mennonite Church in the morning.  I had chosen to share a message, “A Gift that is WISE”, based out of Matthew 2.  The concept was to look at the wise gift of the Magi, the wise gift of God to us, and consider what a wise gift to God from us would look like.  As the service began, I noticed in the bulletin that the church would be spending time the rest of the month focused on learning about spiritual gifts with an emphasis on everyone using God’s gifting in their life to serve the body.  As this was highlighted during the announcement time, I marveled at how appropriate the message God had given me to share — not just for that morning, but to help prepare a thought process regarding God’s gifting to us and our appropriate response.

For several years now, my sermon style is based around using a word from the title as an acrostic that becomes the sermon’s outline.  For this one, the word was “WISE”.  We spent time considering a gift that is Wanted, a gift that is Intentional, a gift that is Sacrificial, and a gift that is Enough.  Each of these elements were a part of what the Magi gave when they encountered Christ.  The are at the core of the gift that God has given to us through His Son, Jesus.  How do I make these things central to the gifts I give to God, and to others, is the question that we should continually ask of ourselves.

While preaching probably doesn’t sound like the most restful thing to most people, and would have been completely stressful to me not that many years ago, I tend to draw energy from God when I have opportunities to preach.  Even in the midst of great weariness, this energy brings a spirit of refreshment to my body and soul.  The hours put into planning, leading, and overseeing the 30 Hours of Prayer focus at Deer Run had left me tired and in need of a refreshing that could only come from God.  Being able to preach helped begin that process.  Then a quiet afternoon of rest prepared me for an early bedtime so I would be able to start the workweek early the next morning and face whatever snow and work might come.

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2016: Page 2

Page two in my page-a-day book of 2016 began by covering 5 of the last 6 hours of the 30 Hours of Prayer I led for my church.  From midnight until 5 AM I prayed, listened for God’s direction and insight, and even napped a bit.  As I walked the path through the prayer rooms, I took the time to read what others had written during the previous 24 hours.  I joined in praising God with them and praying for their concerns.  My anger and discouragement from having such a long time period with no participants began to melt away to be replaced by a satisfaction that my work was making a difference in the lives of some.  How many times has God created the perfect atmosphere and called me to spend time with Him only to see me choose other things?  I was reminded of Samuel’s discouragement and feelings of rejection when the people of Israel wanted a king.  God’s response to Samuel was that he was not the primary one being rejected rather the people were rejecting God as their king.  I don’t know if the failure of people to show up and pray was a rejection of God by them or not, but God did remind me that it wasn’t a rejection of me.

The 30 Hours of Prayer ran overtime a bit as the person in the last time slot spent more than their hour with God.  Their appreciation for the work that went in to putting the prayer focus together and the helpfulness that it was to them was a reminder that I had indeed done what I was supposed to do and that the empty slots in the schedule were not my problem.  This encouragement filled me as I spent several hours putting things away and returning the building and rooms to their normal setup so everything was ready for the weekend and the return of the schools from break.  The rest of the day’s “page” was a mix of napping and relaxing with a trip to Sam’s Club thrown in so I could be ready for the potential of coming snow by replacing the snow blower that had been stolen from the church.

All in all, I would say page two was a reminder of the confidence I should have in Christ.  I have so many examples of my not being enough or good enough for people that I sometimes begin to believe them.  Page two says that my value and acceptance come from Christ and are not based on how pleasing I am to others.

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2016: Page 1

The first page of this year’s story has been lived and it was a full one!  Technically, each day on our calendar begins at midnight and lasts until the next midnight comes around but rarely am I awake to experience both ends of the calendar day.  It is interesting that page one of my 2016 story begins with an exam — a test that experience says I will see again and again.  The setting was not a typical exam setting.  In fact, I suspect many of the tests of life come in times and places that are not what we would expect.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, my day began in a prayer circle with six of my friends as we closed out a New Year’s Eve prayer service and launched a 30 Hours of Prayer event to start the new year.  As we joined hands in that circle, I had a choice to make.  A choice between being encouraged or discouraged.  I know, some of you are probably thinking, “You’re in a prayer circle, how can you be discouraged?”.  Yet that was my initial reaction.  See, I was leading the prayer service and the 30 hours of prayer that would follow.  Faced with a 30 hour schedule with 8 unfilled time slots and only six people to join me for the prayer service kicking off the event, the expectations I had created in my mind were not being met.  Unfortunately, my mind immediately went to all the people who weren’t there and hadn’t signed up.  As the day progressed and the clocked rolled around to the start of the next, I realized that to pass this exam I must take captive this thought of discouragement.  My mind needed to shift directions and see the six who began this year’s story with me as we prayed together.  I needed to see the 22 hours that were filled with people praying at the building.  I needed to see the desire and excitement expressed by those who chose to participate.  Most of all, I think I needed to see God’s Word calling me to be faithful and not holding me responsible for the decisions of others.

Yes, I would have loved to see the building full of people for the prayer service because they wanted to come together and pray.  Yes, it would have been nice to see all 30 hours of the schedule filled with names of people to the extent that each hour had multiple people in the building praying.  But neither of those results were my responsibility!  In prayer, I put together the best resources and environment that I could to help people find an atmosphere conducive to growth in their prayer life.  That is what I believe God had called me to do for page one of my 2016 story.  And as the writing of page one came to an end with my covering one of the empty time slots, instead of being discouraged I believe I could hear that gentle whisper of encouragement from the One who matters most — “Well done, good and faithful servant.  Well done.”

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365 Pages

I have seen several social media postings lately that refer to the new year being a new opportunity to write your story.  As the calendar moves from 2015 to 2016, people are writing about a “clean slate”, a “fresh start”, and an “unwritten chapter”, among other phrases describing a new beginning.  As an author, probably the wording I like best is some variation of the idea that each day of the year to come is a blank page in the story of your life.  At the end of each year you have a 365 page book — what will your book say about you in the coming year?

As I contemplated that idea, my mind began to work overtime.  What if I did write a page every day?  Would my book at the end of the year be a work worth sharing?  Would it be a story of encouragement and help?  Would it be filled with excitement and passion?  Would there be elements of adventure and risk?  Would the story-line woven throughout the book reveal to the reader a person of complete faith and absolute trust in God?  My prayer is that all of these elements would be contained in such a book but I realize that these things are only present in the story of my life if I choose to live them and share them.

So, today I write the introduction and live the first page!  Far too often I think there is always tomorrow to make a difference and I find myself in procrastination mode.  Perhaps if I spend time each day actually writing the page from the day before, I would be more deliberate in making the choices that lead to the type of page I would want others to read.  I know today has already had its ups and downs in my mind and I have to choose my reaction both in my thoughts and in my actions.  Far too often I have let the circumstances of life write my story each day rather than let God’s story in my life define my circumstances.  My mind is wired in a way that makes it easy to dwell on the negative events and discouraging moments while completely missing the way God is continually using such things to mold and shape me into the image of His Son, Jesus.

I pray that at the end of the year, “Tom’s Book of 2016” will be a captivating read that reveals the power of God to work miraculously in ordinary people who trust Him completely.  I pray that your book of 2016 would reveal the same power of God at work in  your life.

In prayer,
Tom Lemler