Page 253 was a mostly restful day and being a Sunday I was able to sleep in a little to start it.  Once I was awake for the day, I got ready and headed to church where our Sunday School class spent some time looking at the second chapter of Philippians before beginning to go through the thirteenth chapter of John.  Both chapters begin with the same theme — Jesus humbling Himself and becoming a servant to all.  He also makes it clear that His serving was done as an example for us so that we would know the importance of humbling ourselves and serving others.

After out Bible study, it was time for our worship gathering where David continued a series on what we believe as a church congregation.  Today’s topic was about stewardship — a topic that often makes many people uncomfortable.  We like to think that our stuff is, well, our stuff and we become uncomfortable when anyone suggests that God might have a thing or two to say about how we use the stuff that we think is ours.  So, what do we believe the Bible teaches about stewardship?  The following are the three main points that David covered this morning:

• We believe everything belongs to God.  One of the first lessons of stewardship is understanding the difference between an owner and a steward, or manager.  The Bible teaches that the earth and everything in it, as well as the world and all its people, belong to God.  When we think of our “stuff” as ours, we don’t have a problem with the idea that the owner should have the control and final say in how things are used — or if they’re used.  The problem often comes when God wants us to use “our stuff” in ways that we don’t want to.  Those are the times that put our belief in who really owns everything to the test.  As a steward, we are required to use what has been entrusted to us according to the wishes and best interest of the actual owner.  Part of the good news in that is that the owner, God, loves us so much that He wants us to use what belongs to Him in ways that benefit us and others — which brings us to the second point.
• We believe that what we’ve been given, we’ve been given to share.  The Bible has a lot to say about God’s desire that we would look out for one another and use the possessions that God has entrusted to us in ways that benefit more than just ourselves.  God calls us to follow the example of Jesus, even to the point of emptying ourselves, to be a benefit to those around us who have need.  It is when we recognize God’s ownership of our resources, we then have a greater understanding of His instruction to freely give just as we have freely received.  Jesus said that the one who had two cloaks should give one to the person who had none.  I should point out that this act isn’t any form of forced redistribution of wealth — the sharing that Jesus requires from us is all voluntary and done out of love for Him and love for others.
• We believe true stewardship is a stewardship of our entire life, not just about money.  While money is a big part of stewardship, it isn’t the only part.  In fact, if we focus on managing our heart and mind in a way that shows God’s ownership over us, the money part will be easy.  God has given each of us talents, gifts, and abilities that become easy to think of as ours.  Yet when we surrender our life to Jesus, we affirm the fact that everything about us belongs to Him.  Biblical stewardship is about using our entire life in a way that honors God so that we become a reflection of His light in a very dark world.  Nothing gets left out in real stewardship.  Our time, our money, our work, our recreational interests, our talents, our everything is recognized as not being ours at all, but His to be used as He desires.  It is through our time in prayer, God’s Word, and Christian community that we learn how God would have us use the things He has entrusted to us.

After church we headed to lunch before spending the afternoon and evening in a combination of following hurricane Irma news and napping.  I had thought a time or two about getting up to go out and see what I could photograph, but rest seemed more useful today.  With no new photos, today’s photo is from Friday afternoon as I found a hummingbird bypassing the feeder for the natural nectar from a zinnia blossom.  To me, there is something special about capturing in a more natural setting like this than at a feeder put up to attract them.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy their beauty and photographing them whenever I can, but this is still special to me.

Much of the day the thoughts of people in Florida, or those who have temporarily fled Florida, have been heavy on my heart and mind.  I continue to pray as the storm makes its way up the coast and as I pray I try to listen to how God would have me respond in addition to the praying.  

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

• Living like Jesus isn’t possible until we learn to serve like Jesus.
• Being uncomfortable with what is in God’s Word shouldn’t keep us from learning it, teaching it, or doing it.
• Once you settle the ownership issue, stewardship becomes a lot easier.
• Sharing done God’s way is always meant to benefit the body of Christ.
• God cares about what we do with money, but more importantly He cares about what we do with the life He’s given us — which includes money.
• Stewardship for the Christian should be as natural as a hummingbird drinking nectar from a flower.
• Prayer ought to express our heart to God, but it also ought to open our heart to understanding His heart for hurting people.

The first hour of page 252 was spent unwinding from day 251 before heading to bed at 1 AM.  Being a Saturday, I was able to sleep in and catch up on some rest before starting my day.  My first task once I was awake, was to write yesterday’s page.  A good part of it included some of the things I am praying in regard to hurricane Irma.  Once the page was written and published, I took those prayer points and compiled them into a prayer guide that I posted online and sent out to the Impact Prayer Ministry email list.

The rest of the morning was spent relaxing with some computer and Wii games before getting Susan up and then firing up the pellet grill to work on lunch.  As I let the grill heat up, I saw once of the hummingbirds at the feeder so I grabbed my camera and shot some photos around the front yard.  Today’s photo is one I took as a butterfly was working its way across the surface of a zinnia blossom.  I enjoyed watching it as it seemed to leave no pollen unturned in its quest.  After taking some late-morning photos, I finished up the bacon cheeseburgers so they were ready for lunch when Mary Jane got home.  After lunch I ended up taking a nap before doing some more research on a family fall break getaway.  

As evening came, I went outside to watch for the Air Force flyover for the football game in town and was able to get one photo of the planes as they went by.  Part of the evening relaxing was spent working on some photo and scheduling some social media posts before sitting down to write today’s page.  

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

• It’s difficult to really start one day until you finish the previous one.
• Flexible schedules keep long days from becoming too burdensome.
• Much of what God gives each of us is meant to be shared.
• Even when I find great value in what I do, it can be difficult to believe it has value to others — but it won’t have any value to them if I don’t share it.
• Living with open eyes helps me to see things that I can’t seem to help but photograph.
• How often do I leave no stone unturned in my quest to know God?
• There is an incredible amount of wonder and beauty to be seen in this country — more than I’ll probably ever get to, but that doesn’t stop me from seeing what I can.
• There is great value in finding ways to have restful days from time to time.

Page 251 was a late workday so I’m doing the writing of the page the next morning.  The day began with more rain on what the forecast said would be a sunny day.  My morning prayers as I went about the cleaning and building prep tasks, were filled with requests for those who are still trying to figure out what recovery from hurricane Harvey looks like and for those who have been, and continue to be, in the path of hurricane Irma.  People are hurting as their lives have been devastated, and more people will likely join them in experiencing great loss over the next few days.  Sometimes it is difficult to know how to pray in times such as these.  Many are praying that God would cause the hurricane to turn out into open water or simply dissipate altogether.  While God has the ability to spare Florida from this storm just as He has the ability to spare each of us from any impending storm that comes our way, that is not the way He usually works.  He can, and does, calm storms but more often in my life it is His presence that calms me as I go through the storm.  If God removes the storm, how often do I think about what I’ve been spared from?  When God goes with me and calms me through the storm, even through the storm of the valley of the shadow of death, I come out stronger in faith because I have experienced His power within me.

So as I pray, I do pray that the storm would weaken and/or change course so that the people in its path would be spared.  But I spend more time praying that God would be with those who go through the storm and that they would seek out His presence to be their stronghold.  I pray that God would be made known through His children to those who become battered and bruised and face devastation that only He can heal.  I pray for a spirit of compassion to replace the one of judgment that seems so prevalent in today’s culture.  I pray that the storms that seem to be battering this country would serve to ignite a spirit of love that will overcome the spirit of darkness and hatred that gets so much air time in the media.  I pray that a heart of compassion would be awakened within God’s people in such a way that He is made visible to all who suffer.  I pray that my eyes, ears, heart, and mind would be open to how He would have me respond in an individual way.  And I pray for a revival to ignite within the people of God so that Jesus would be lifted up and even more people would come to Him in repentance and find salvation in Him.

The rain took the idea of mowing off of my list for the day, so by late afternoon I headed out for lunch then went home to take a nap before finishing up my day with the Friday night cleaning and building prep to get things ready for Sunday.  At home, the sunflowers were filled with birds who were enjoying an all you can eat buffet.  Today’s photo is of one of the finches as she had plucked a sunflower seed from the plant and was about to crack it open as part of her meal.  Since Mary Jane planted those sunflowers there, some would say she is the one who has provided for the needs of these birds; yet the Bible is clear it is God who provides for them — just as it is clear that He is the one who provides for you and I.  Too often we become so focused on the mechanism that He uses to provide for us that we miss recognizing His hand at work; but whether through the work He gives us to do, through the help of others, or through a means we can’t comprehend, God’s hand is the hand behind every good and perfect gift.

After my nap, I headed back to work around 8:30 in the evening and spent a few hours praying, cleaning, and getting the building ready for Sunday.  As I took the trash out late at night, the moon was just coming over the trees on the edge of the property and once again I was reminded of how much light the world could see if each of God’s children would fully make themselves available to reflect the light of the Son at all times.  

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

• Mankind can study, plan, and calculate with great accuracy but our predictions will still sometimes miss the mark.
• “Mercy triumphs over judgment.”  Good words of God from the book of James, but unfortunately judgment often seems easier.
• God can remove the storm but, at least in my life, He has more often walked with me through it instead.
• Faith trusts God in the midst of the storms we don’t understand.  Fear blames Him for them.
• God has all the resources necessary to fully care for His children.  Sometimes it may appear to others that He doesn’t care simply because too many of His children have kept resources in their pockets that He first gave with the intention they would be shared.
• The more fully the moon reflects the sun, the more the light shines through the darkness.  While many would say, “Well, duh!”, why does it seem so hard for many of us to live the application — the more fully you and I reflect the Son, the more His light shines through the darkness.

Page 250 was another day filled with lake effect weather as a cold front passed over the relatively warm waters of Lake Michigan and brought bands of rain with it into the Michiana area.  Fortunately, it is a fall cold front and not a winter one, so the precipitation is rain and not snow.  But it also means it can be raining steady one minute and clear skies with bright sunshine the next.  It was raining when I woke up but by the time I was dressed and out the door the nearly full moon was shining brightly and I was able to get some photos of it.

The morning began with prayer and cleaning — first in the building at work and then at the dentist’s office as I had an appointment to get my teeth cleaned.  As one who is not fond of going to the dentist, that trip may have included even more prayer than my usual morning prayer time connected with the building cleaning and prep.  Speaking of cleaning, I needed supplies so after I left the dentist’s office it was time to do a little supply shopping.  As I was out, I went through several rounds of the heavy rain followed by sunshine routine and it seemed like I was somewhat out of sync as the rain would come as I walked between the stores and my truck and the sunshine would show up as I drove.  

After picking up the things I needed, I took them to the building and spent the rest of the workday continuing the work on the Growing Strong retreats and a couple sermons.  After work I stopped for a late lunch then headed down to Potato Creek to see if it would stay dry outside long enough to capture some cloud photos.  Today’s photo is one of those captures as the clouds hung low over the lake.  Since the eagles weren’t in their usual location, I decided to find a place to set up my tripod to get some time-lapse video of the clouds moving across the lake.  I had just set the camera up to record when I noticed the pair of bald eagles perched in a tree across the lake in a location that I had been unable to see where I had first been.  Sometimes looking at things from a different direction or point of view can be helpful in seeing what would otherwise be missed.

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

• The weather you experience where you are at is often influenced by things far away from you.  That principle applies to much more than rain and snow.
• When you experience a break in the storm, you should do what’s necessary to make good use of the time of calm.
• Prayer goes well with everything — especially those things you’re not real fond of.
• Sometimes it seems as if your spirit is rained upon in everything you do — keep pressing on to experience the Son shining upon you.
• When your current perspective doesn’t yield a godly view, maybe it is time to look from a new direction.

Page 249 has been a beautiful fall day with the sky changing from mostly sunny to dark gray clouds, and everything in between, multiple times throughout the day.  It was a quiet day as I started with the typical prayer, cleaning, and building prep routine.  I had a few maintenance issues to take care of before turning my attention to some writing and work on promotional banners and material for the Growing Strong retreats.

As I worked, I thought about some of the issues which seem to be dividing the nation I live in as well as the things which seem to bring people together.  I try very hard to keep my posts and my blog from taking political sides because I’ve seen far too many divisions within the body of Christ created by political posturing.  The issue which seems to be the most current division brought into the political spotlight caught my attention not because of the issue itself, although I believe it is a serious issue that every Christian should prayerfully consider and seek out truth in how Jesus would have them treat others, but it was the wording in the title that caught my ear — Deferred Action.  

While people are yelling about whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, I thought about a God who chose to defer action in response to the sin of mankind.  When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, the punishment of death became obvious as God made garments of animal skin to cover mankind’s nakedness.  Later, when God called the people of Israel to Himself, it would be the sacrifice of an animal — a perfect lamb — that would defer the penalty of sin for another year.  God chose to defer action because He had a plan, announced to Adam and Eve in the garden, that would restore mankind to Himself and make a deferral of action no longer necessary.  It was in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus that the penalty for sin was paid in full and the action of God against sin was carried out.  God deferred His action until the time was right and through His action all people could come into a right relationship with Him.

Even today, I am thankful for God’s deferred action as I do not immediately receive the punishment my sin deserves.  Instead, God allows me to come to Him in repentance to find forgiveness, mercy, and grace.  Perhaps if all people would focus more on our need for forgiveness, mercy, and grace than on our need for action, we would find ourselves surrounded with far less anger, hatred, and conflict in our nation and in our world.

By mid-afternoon, I had finished the Growing Strong banner files and placed an order for them.  The day had begun early, so it was time for a late lunch on my way home.  At home I spent some time relaxing and looking at some ideas for a late anniversary trip.  Our wedding anniversary is later this month, but the September schedule is pretty full so we’ll make use of the fall break in October to do something . . . i.e. go somewhere and take lots of photos. 🙂  As the sky cleared early in the evening, I went outside to wander around the front yard looking for a photo for today’s page.  These happy sunflowers were willing to pose for me, so they became today’s photo.

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

• Changing seasons can bring turmoil and/or beauty . . . sometimes you just have to choose which you will focus on.
• If you take care of small maintenance needs, sometimes you can avoid large maintenance needs.  This is true of life as well as buildings.
• Faith is difficult, at least for me.  It is hard to move forward when there are still unknown details to work out.
• Politics will not change the hearts of people — at least not for the better.  Only Jesus can do that.
• Grace and mercy triumphs over anger and hatred . . . but only when they are put into daily life practice.
• Celebrating life is best done together.
• I wonder how often I post yellow flowers as my day’s photo?  Today’s photo makes me want to sing “If you’re happy and you know it . . .”.  

While page 248 was a Tuesday, the holiday weekend made it feel more like a Monday as I began the workweek with the usual Monday tasks.  Following the usual early morning prayer, cleaning and building prep tasks, I turned my attention to the writing of yesterday’s page.  Once it was written, it was time to settle in with God to work on the prayer guide for next week.  As I thought about several possibilities for the topic, my mind kept thinking about how quickly people helping people in times of disaster can change the conversation of a nation hateful, angry words to kind, encouraging words — and how quickly the conversation changes back after the disaster no longer gets top billing in the news.  Out of those thoughts came the idea that turned into the topic for the next prayer guide.  I started out the prayer guide with the statement that “not only is helping others a good idea, it is a God idea!”  Jesus said that the world will know we are His disciples by the love we have for one another.  He also said that there is no greater love than for a person to lay down his life for a friend.  Helping others is a way to put our love into action and, at least in a small and tangible way, lay down our life to help someone else.  

Laying down our life may involve the giving of our life, but I believe that helping others often requires a laying down of our life, or at least a part of our life, in order to benefit them according to their need.  The rest of the morning was spent putting together the daily prayer points about helping others.  I believe prayer should always be the first step as we seek to replace our thoughts and ideas of appropriate help with God’s thoughts and ideas of what we ought to be doing.  When we begin to understand the example God has given us by helping us in our time of great need, we have a glimpse of how He wants us to help others.  After the prayer guide was written, it was time to format and schedule it for my website and email list.  Every Sunday morning the prayer guide gets emailed out t my mailing list and is then posted on the Impact Prayer Ministry website around noon.  If you are not receiving these weekly prayer guides and would like to, you can sign up at the following link:  Email List Signup.

After doing some more work on the prayer retreat plans, I called it a day and stopped for a late lunch on my way home.  The late afternoon and evening have been spent going through photos from the weekend — I try to keep them as natural as possible, but do some minor editing to correct exposure settings and straighten the horizon in the pictures. 🙂  Today’s photo is one from yesterday that I took during our walk back down the trail from Pyramid Point in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.  The brush was full of songbirds darting back and forth as they sung their joyous songs.  It was difficult to catch one still long enough to get a photo, but I eventually got this one after several shots with no bird in them.  While it’s difficult to capture photos of a moving target, with a little practice it is possible to follow the movements to some extent. 

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

• Holiday weekends are great time to be with family doing what we enjoy.
• For me, getting back to a usual routine is good also.
• Helping others should be a way of life for God’s children.
• Natural disasters have a way of placing people who need help in the headlines and spotlight but those needs don’t go away when the headlines stop and the lights diminish.
• If you keep your eyes open, finding people who need help of some kind is not difficult.
• We have the ability to help others only in proportion to the help we receive from God.  If we accept His help we have much to offer, if we reject His help we have little to offer others.
• God’s a better designer than anyone else and I try to capture what I see with my photographs.
• While God and the movement of His Spirit is beyond comprehension, studying God and His Word makes it easier to anticipate how He might move in our life.

Labor Day meant an extra day to the weekend, so I spent it with my family out photographing some of the beauty of God’s creation.  The weather forecast was for a cloudy day with good chances of rain but that didn’t stop us from exploring some of the shoreline of Lake Michigan on our way home from Traverse City.  It was “vacation”, so we slept in a little bit before getting breakfast to start our day.  After leaving Traverse City, we began our day’s journey at the northern end of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  The clouds were heavy and we encountered a few random sprinkles at our first stop, but we took our rain jackets along and made the half-mile hike up the wooded dune to get an incredible view of Lake Michigan.  Susan was able to ride in her wheelchair most of the way up, but there was a section that was too steep for me to push her so she had to walk some of it.  She was then able to ride the whole way down back to the truck — which was more just me having to hold the wheelchair back than my doing any pushing.

From there, we did some exploring and found some great lake level views of the approaching storm.  The rain eventually came but the views of the lake were still amazing.  After leaving the National Lakeshore, we started making lighthouse stops the rest of the way home.  Today’s photo was at one of those stops — this one while it was still raining.  Even with, and perhaps because of, the raindrops on the camera lens, I loved the beauty of the colors in this shot.  The sky was looking dark and stormy while the water was looking warm and tropical.  The waves were coming in hard against the seawall and the raindrops were collecting on my camera lens.  I suppose it helps that I was there, but this is one of those photos that makes me feel like I’m right back there again.

Our final stop of the day, before home, came as the sun was rapidly approaching the horizon.  The rain had moved through and was replaced by the clear skies you can get a glimpse of in the distance of today’s photo.  But even with clear skies, there was a haze in the sky that would overtake the sun well before the official sunset.  Some of it was clouds moving back in, but much of it was smoke that was in the atmosphere from the wild fires out west.  It was a beautiful end to the day, and to our little adventure, even though there was still an hour drive left before we made it home.  While it is great to be able to see and photograph the beauty that surrounds us, it is always good to be home.

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

• Have I mentioned recently how much I enjoy having times when my family and I can get away from usual routines and photograph?
• It is always interesting to see what each of us photograph — both to see how we capture similar scenes and to see what one noticed that the other didn’t.
• When I have the opportunity to go out and photograph and the weather forecast isn’t ideal, I always remember that when I worked on a commercial roofing crew my boss would often say, “If we stayed  home every time the forecast wasn’t favorable, we wouldn’t get much work done.”
• Ideal means different things to different people.  The “ideal” that really matters is how God would define it when it comes to my life and actions.
• Some of the greatest rewards in life come after a great amount of work, yet sometimes God rewards us greatly “just because”.
• While we may think it would be nice to have a life where we could just take it easy and coast, it is actually much more difficult to stay on track when momentum wants to carry you places you shouldn’t go.
• Sometimes beauty is more difficult to see than at other times — that doesn’t mean that it isn’t there.
• As we travel this earth on our journey of life, it is always good to remember that there is no place like home.

Page 246 was a full day so the written part may be shorter than usual.  I had the privilege of preaching at the North Wayne Mennonite Church in the morning, then my family and I headed north for a quick Labor Day getaway.  It was a beautiful afternoon for a drive and we made it to the lakefront in time to take in some incredible views and a beautiful sunset.

Today’s thoughts and lessons are the main points of my sermon, “LABOR That Is Not In Vain”.  Such a labor has the following characteristics:

• A Love that is not in vain.
• An Action that is not in vain.
• A Belief that is not in vain.
• An Obedience that is not in vain.
• A Rejoicing that is not in vain.