Some thoughts, lessons, and/or reflections from the day:

• While time would have allowed me to sleep in after a late night, habit would not.
• It is very rare that I am not awake shortly before my alarm would typically go off.  Call it an internal clock, ingrained habit, or whatever you wish but it happens automatically day in and day out.  Yes, I still have to decide if I’m going to get out of bed and make the day meaningful but routine brings me to that decision every day.
• In a way, that’s the heart of what I teach about in regard to developing a lifestyle of prayer — it’s about developing the habits and routines that consistently bring you to the point of having to decide if you are going to pray in a way that makes it meaningful in your life.
• The morning was spent getting to and attending the funeral of a man who was a part of the church I preach at once a month.  His kind spirit and loving heart will be greatly missed.
• The service made me think about whether we ever spend time considering the life we live and how much we would be missed.  It also made me think about how we view others and how some people are missed when they are no longer part of a group for whatever reason, and some people . . . well, some people aren’t so missed.
• When we got home, I had an email from the DNR about a snowy owl sighting and a caravan being set up to go see him.  So, we grabbed our cameras and headed to the Indiana Dunes where this trip would begin.
• Not only were we able to see and photograph the snowy owl that was a part of this program, the leader talked about some others that were in northwest Indiana.  So, after getting some photos we headed out in search of another owl to photograph.
• The second owl was right where the group had been told it had been sitting for the past several evenings, so we were able to get some more photos of these beautiful visitors from the Arctic.
• The snowy owls are only here for a season and will soon be heading back north so it is always possible that each opportunity to see one could be the last for the season.
• I suppose that thought combined with the funeral in the morning made me wonder how eager we are to make the most of every opportunity in building relationships with people as we never know when it will be our last chance with them.
• Today’s photo will be several photos of the owls we were able to photograph.

Some thoughts, lessons, and/or reflections from the day:

• It’s 9:55 PM and I’ve finally finished my work for the day so I sit in my office writing today’s page to unwind before heading home.
• It was another beautiful night sky as I headed into work this morning but still no moon visible.  I eventually discovered why when I saw it crest the eastern tree line early in the afternoon — it’s just on a more daytime cycle at the moment.
• The soundtrack in my mind has been pretty consistent all day, though it keeps getting louder. 🙂  “Precious Lord, take my hand. Lead me on, help me stand. I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.”
• After the usual prayer, cleaning, and building prep it was back to trying to get answers from a service company.  I did finally get a call back, but all they could tell me was that they would have to research the issue further and would get back to me . . . sometime.
• In between the calls and messages related to that, I finished another week’s daily devotions for the next prayer-based devotional book.  This chapter was focused on serving with honesty.
• Being a Friday, I anticipated a late day so by mid-afternoon I took a late lunch and spent some time with God along the river.
• While sitting there, I had a poem show up in my mind and surprisingly it stayed there until I got back to the office and could type it out.  If you’ve not seen it on this blog site already, you can find it here: “Words“.
• After the extended lunch hour, it was time to head back to the building and type out the poem before starting the evening cleaning and building prep for the weekend.
• I think one of the most difficult things in life is knowing I don’t measure up, but one of the best things in life is knowing that God doesn’t measure me by any human’s standard . . . including my own.
• I guess today’s photo is part of the “reflections” from the day. 🙂  While I was at the river, I noticed the wood ducks were back for the spring so I shot this photo of one of them as he swam through some partially submerged brush.

Some thoughts, lesson, and/or reflections from the day:

• Another beautiful morning with clear skies and a solid layer of frost covering the truck to start the day.
• Some days end with a feeling that everything went as it should have and other days end with the feeling that nothing went as it should have.  The reality of most days is somewhere in between.
• I began the day working on some maintenance issues that I wasn’t able to resolve yet and then turned my attention to getting the building ready for the day.
• Often when I get stuck on a project, I find it most effective if I take a break from it and come back later when I can look at it with fresh eyes and perhaps a new perspective.
• Once I had the cleaning and prep done to start the day, I spent some time finishing up the financial record-keeping that I had begun yesterday for the prayer ministry.
• Most of my morning and early afternoon was spent on the phone being kicked back and forth between various people as I tried to get answers regarding service work we had done.  It seems the people that can pull up our account on their computers can’t access the information I need and the people they transfer me to that are supposed to have access to the information tells me we don’t exist in their computer system.
• By mid-afternoon, this task had become so frustrating that it was put on pause so I could get lunch and rest my mind from the insanity.
• While it would be easy to focus on the tasks that couldn’t be accomplished yet, writing this page as a type of journal helps me to see there were numerous things that did go as they should have gone.
• It also helps as I go back through previous pages to see that just because something wasn’t finished today, it doesn’t mean it won’t be completed.
• After lunch I headed home to unwind a bit and then headed out for another family walk at Potato Creek this evening.  Still no eagle sighting, but we had a good short walk and were able to watch a couple osprey put on a show for us.
• Today’s photo was taken one of the many times I was on hold today waiting for the person on the other end of the telephone line to tell me they couldn’t help me.  This squirrel reminded me of the joy that can be found in the simple things of life.

Some thoughts, lessons, and/or reflections from the day:

• As it was dark when I headed to work, I found it fascinating that my morning began with song lyrics running through my mind that included the words “There is sunshine in my soul today.  More glorious and bright . . . For Jesus is my Light!”
• Darkness comes in many forms and the darkness that is not caused by a lack of sunlight is often where the light of Jesus is most needed.
• In the darkest hour, even a small amount of light can illuminate a path to its source.
• The morning cleaning and building prep was fairly routine and went smoothly.  Once it was done, I turned my attention to taking care of the accounting and record-keeping for the missions ministry of the church.
• By early afternoon I was ready to set aside my accounting  hat and get some lunch.  While I’m not sure I would want to do accounting work everyday, it is a good change of pace from the usual daily tasks I find myself involved in.
• It can be good to every once in a while “spread our wings” and do something that requires us to use gifts or abilities God has given us that don’t get used as often as other ones.
• When the workday was done I headed home and by early evening we decided to head to Potato Creek for a family walk.  It is nice to have such a beautiful park close by where we can enjoy time and nature together.
• While we were hoping to see at least one of the bald eagles, they weren’t cooperative today.  We did see a lot of nature’s beauty and four different osprey in the park in addition to the great walk, so it was a good time even being different from what we had hoped.
• It is okay, and even good, to hope and plan for things that you would like.  The important part, however, is to be appreciative of what God provides even if it doesn’t look exactly like you wanted it to.
• Today’s photo is one that I took during our hike.  While yesterday was the first “official” day of spring, these buds say spring may not be here just yet but it is surely on its way!

Some thoughts, lessons, and/or reflections from the day:

• With a long day ahead of me, I was up early and headed to work under a beautiful star-filled sky.
• When a view like this morning shows up, I almost always find myself starting the day with the hymn lyrics, “O, Lord my God.  When I in awesome wonder . . . ” — today was no exception.
• It was a great song to fill my mind as I went about the morning cleaning and building prep tasks as it reminded me of the incredible God we have — “Then sings my soul!  My savior, God, to Thee!  How great Thou art! How great Thou art!”
• It is always good to be reminded, in the midst of any task, of how great our God is.
• Once the building was ready, I packed the prayer ministry display materials in the truck and was about ready to leave when some guys showed up to service a piece of equipment in the building.  So, back inside to let them into where they needed to be and keep track of their presence in the building.
• Once I was actually able to begin my trip to the camp conference where I would set up the prayer ministry display, I had very little “cushion” left for what I had planned to be a “stop with God” along the way.  I always like to be able to stop for in a quiet setting of nature for a time to help calm my spirit and align it with God’s Spirit before I begin a time of talking with people about the prayer ministry.
• After a quick look at the map, I changed my plans and my route and made a ten minute stop at Potato Creek as it was along a route that would keep me out of the high-traffic areas during morning rush hour.
• Even with such a limited time available, it was amazing to see the variety of wildlife that God allowed me to catch sight of to encourage and calm me.  One of my favorites was an eagle perched where I could see it from my truck and after I was able to get one photo of it where it sat, it rose up on the wings of an eagle and soared out over the lake.
• Ahhhh . . . to wait upon the Lord in order to rise up on wings like eagles.
• I did make it to the conference in time to get the display set up and jump right into an afternoon of great conversations with camp staff about prayer in both their person life and in their camp ministry.
• The wind had been howling fiercely all afternoon, so I decided to take the long way home and see if I could find any snowy owls and check out the waves on Lake Michigan.
• I found no snowy owls and was surprised that while the lake surface was rather “choppy”, the wind wasn’t as strong along the lake and the waves weren’t crashing over the lighthouse as I had anticipated.
• While I didn’t find what I had hoped to see and photograph, that doesn’t mean the trip was wasted.  God continues to supply beautiful scenes full of glimpses of His glory wherever I go if I’m willing to pay attention.
• It was late when I finally arrived home, so after going through the photos from the day I headed to bed and left the day’s page to be written the next morning.
• Today’s photo section of the page will contain two photos.  The first is of the eagle I saw in the morning.  I had zoomed in to get a close-up shot and just as I pressed the shutter release, the eagle took off.  The second photo was taken after dark so I could get the lights on the light houses.  I shot it on a 10 second exposure and it’s amazing at how a longer perspective smooths out the rough waters of the lake.  Perhaps if I would learn to look at life with a longer perspective, the rough areas wouldn’t seem so rough.

Some thoughts, lessons, and/or reflections from the day:

• There are many days when I sit down to write and start to think that the day was just like all the other days so there is really nothing new to write about.  Today is one of those days.
• It is a different story, however, after I actually get started and the writing helps me to see at least a glimpse of some of the lessons God is teaching me.
• The morning began as usual for a workday and I found myself singing the words, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O, what a foretaste of glory divine!”, as I went about the early cleaning and building prep tasks.
• I don’t believe there could possibly be a more reassuring way to begin a day than with a reminder of the assurance I have that not only is Jesus mine, but I am His.
• As I went about my work, I glanced out a window and noticed the eastern sky turning a brilliant red so I paused my work to take a few photos and set up a camera to time-lapse record the sunrise again.
• After the building was ready for the day I turned my attention to working on the prayer guide for next week.  The first step was to calm my spirit as I’m in a season where a number of my social media “memories” are reminders of rather unpleasant and difficult times.
• When I can’t change the past and can’t forget the past, it is time to draw deeper into the presence of God and trust Him fully for both the present and the future.
• As I prayed, I considered a number of different topics for the prayer guide and finally settled on the subject of practice.
• While the old saying, “Practice makes perfect”, may be a bit of an exaggeration, consistent good practice does have a tendency to bring about consistent improvement.  Unfortunately, a practice of things which are evil will also make us “better” at doing those things.
• Like it or not, we are going to be “practicing” something at all times so we would do well to make our practices be what God would want them to be.
• By early afternoon, the prayer guide was written and I headed out to have lunch with a friend to discuss interest in his church hosting an Impact Prayer Ministry seminar or conference.
• It had been too long since we had spent time together, so the afternoon melted away in the midst of catching up and discussing ministry.
• Today’s photo is the sight that drew me out of the building this morning to set up a camera to record while I finished working.  This was the first shot I took as I went out to inspect the red glow in the sky. 🙂

Some thoughts, lessons, and/or reflections from the day:

• I was able to sleep in a little while before getting up and writing yesterday’s page.
• I was able to make it to Sunday School this morning where our Bible study class is preparing to begin a study through Hebrews.  This morning we began by looking at some scriptures from throughout the Bible that talk about the supremacy of Jesus in all things.
• After the Bible study time we had a great worship gathering where David finished up his series through the book of Acts with a message he titled, “Bound and Determined”.  The message highlighted Paul’s determination to preach the gospel in spite of being bound as a prisoner of Rome.
• Some of the highlights of my take on the message are as follows:
  • Preach the gospel even when you can’t go to the places you would like:  Paul’s imprisonment at the end of the book of Acts greatly limited where he could go to share the gospel.  In fact, while the imprisonment took place in a home it also included a Roman guard at all times.  Paul’s normal practice of going to the synagogues, public places, and anywhere he could find people willing to listen to the gospel was no longer allowed.  Rather than giving up and deciding he had done the best he could, Paul sent for people to come to him so that he could continue to share the gospel even when he couldn’t go to the places he would like.  There are many things that can limit our ability to be where we want to be, but that should never stop us from sharing the gospel wherever we are!
  • Preach the gospel even when your freedom seems limited:  While I’m not aware of many of my readers actually being in prison, most of us experience circumstances that often dictate how we do life in ways that seem to limit our freedom.  Some of those circumstances are of our own doing and others are a result of activities beyond our control.  The book of Acts has numerous examples of people whose freedom to share about Jesus seemed limited — in fact, at times they were commanded by the authorities to not speak of Jesus at all!  But that didn’t stop them any more than Paul’s lack of freedom kept him from preaching the gospel.  Typically hardship has a way of testing us to see what’s inside and what will come out.  When our freedom seems limited in any way, we must choose to continue to share the gospel no matter what!
  • Preach the gospel regardless of what people say about you:  Paul had many issues of reputation stacked against him.  From being a prisoner of Rome for two years to questions of his spiritual practices to his acceptance of Gentiles, the people he needed to share the gospel with had plenty of reason to question just what kind of man this was.  In fact, while little of the accusations of the Jewish leaders back in Jerusalem had followed him, he was still trying to present a message that “everyone was talking against”.  Whether in prison or not, Paul’s defense of the gospel was always about the message of Christ and never about his own reputation.  We can’t control what people say about us and we can’t even control what they say about Christ but we can keep sharing truth!
• After lunch with my family, I spent some more time going through the snowy owl photos I took yesterday.  Each photo served to remind me of the incredible beauty that God has given us throughout creation.
• With bright sunshine abounding outside, we headed to Potato Creek for a family walk and to see what we could photograph.
• While the spring growth within the plant life required a careful search to find any signs of it, the approach of spring was obvious throughout the park.
• Each spring the osprey return to the park to set up their nests and stay for the summer.  I had seen one osprey fly over a couple days ago, but today was the first that there was an osprey at each nesting pole.  Between the return of the osprey, the sounds of the frogs, and the turtles sunning themselves on every available log; the signs of spring were everywhere.
• Today’s photo is of a lake scene full of the signs of spring.  While most are not visible in a casual glance at this photo, it contains an osprey on a pole, frogs on logs, a variety of geese and ducks, and sprouts of green beneath the sea of brown.