Page 345 was the start of the work week, but with needing to take care of snow over the weekend it really felt like today was just a continuation of last week.  Winter presents some last-minute demands on my time on a fairly regular basis and I am thankful for the flexibility to take rest time when the weather forces too many workdays in a row. 

Today began with a haze covering the moon as the sky was still full of moisture even after yesterday’s snow.  As I went about the morning prayer, cleaning and building prep I had lines from several old hymns playing in my mind as I worked.  In fact, while they ministered to me as I went about my morning tasks, the lines were so assorted from different hymns that I don’t really remember any specific titles or lines now that the day is nearly over.  

After the building was ready for the day I took care of a few general maintenance issues before settling in for a morning of writing.  First up, since I was too tired last night, was the writing of yesterday’s page.  Once it was written, I turned my attention to my Monday morning routine of time with God working on the prayer guide for next week.  With the words in my mind that were spoken to the shepherds by an angel, “I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all people.”, the topic of living with joy seemed fitting as a prayer focus.  Much like this week’s topic of peace, joy from God’s perspective is obtained as a product of God’s Spirit in our life rather than through specific circumstances that go our way.  As I worked, the brush outside my office window was filled with birds.  Most of the morning visitors were cardinals, but there were a few small songbirds that were present even though they remained mostly hidden from sight.  Today’s photo is of one of those as she sat in the brush enjoying a few berries.  

The writing took longer than usual, but by early afternoon I had the prayer guide written and ready to be formatted and scheduled for publication.  It was late enough though, that I set that aside and took care of some tasks in the building before heading out for a late lunch.  After lunch I made a quick trip to Potato Creek to shoot a few photos and take a short walk.  I didn’t find any of the eagles, but it was a refreshing walk as I looked for them.  When I got home, I spent some time relaxing and going through the photos from the day before writing today’s page.  The forecast calls for more snow overnight and throughout tomorrow, so I’ll wrap up this page and try to get some sleep in preparation for what tomorrow will bring.  

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

• Rest is important, but so is taking care of responsibilities.
• Some things need to be very structured and schedule-oriented to be successful, other things require the flexibility to address needs as they arise.
• One size fits all rarely works in clothing and it doesn’t often work in the way we approach life — God made us as unique people to do the things that He created in advance for us to do.
• Sometimes my mind is filled with things that stay with me as an encouragement all day long and other times they do their work in my mind and spirit and then they leave.
• Joy done God’s way is vastly different, and better, than any happiness we may pursue on our own.
• When God says to “consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds”, we must conclude that the joy He offers isn’t based on us getting what we want all the time.
• The joy that we should seek after, as it is an unquenchable joy, is a result of God’s Spirit dwelling within us.
• It is easy to feel unnoticed when we compare ourselves to those who seem to get all the attention — the good news, however, is that none of us go unnoticed by God.
• While I enjoy finding majestic wildlife and beautiful nature scenes to photograph, there is also great joy to be had in just enjoying the everyday beauty of creation.

Page 344 began early as more snow had fallen overnight and the walks needed cleared before Sunday School and Church.  As long as I’m dressed appropriately, I enjoy the snow and even clearing sidewalks — for a while.  The freshness that is brought by the snow and the clear lines of contrast between the snow-covered ground and the clean sidewalks is a thing of beauty to me.  As I worked early, the soundtrack in my mind was the words from the old hymn, “Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.  Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow!  Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”  I am thankful for Jesus who doesn’t just provide a layer of beauty to cover the ugliness of sin, but He cleanses me from all unrighteousness and makes me clean from the inside out.

Once the walks were clean and the building ready for the day, I headed home to change clothes and pick up my family for church.  During our worship gathering, David brought a message from the first 17 verses of Matthew (yes, the genealogy section!) that he titled, “The Truth About God”.  Here are some of the highlights and/or main points from my perspective. 🙂

• God Always Keeps His Word:  It is difficult for most people to think long term and even when we do, our idea of long term is usually much shorter than God’s.  Through the genealogy of Jesus we see that though mankind may have given up on God, God never gave up on mankind and never gave up on His promises.  God made a promise to Abraham that had to sound absolutely ridiculous considering the age of he and his wife, Sarah, but scripture says that “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  The promise to a childless Abraham was that through him a nation of innumerable people would be born and that all the nations of the world would be blessed.  The list of names recorded for us by Matthew shows a direct line from God’s promise to Abraham to the fulfillment of it in the birth of Jesus who came as a blessing to all people from every nation that would put their trust in Him.  Many times we know things that God has promised through His Word yet we find ourselves living in the slavery of Egypt or the captivity of Babylon and we start to wonder, or even question, if God meant what He said.  Though His timing is often vastly different than ours, something not happening when we think it should have doesn’t mean that God has forgotten — no, His perspective is eternal rather than temporal and completely right rather than “close enough”.
• God Empowers His People in Unexpected Ways:  Even a casual glance at this list of names by a person with some familiarity of Old Testament history should confirm the conclusion that Peter came to when he said, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.”  Not only does God empower His people in unexpected ways, He often chooses unexpected people to do the unexpected things!  From prostitutes to royalty, from young to old, and from the nation’s favorite sons to foreigners; the list in Matthew is full of names that have one thing in common — God doing His work through them.  The moment in which you think you are ready to give up because you just can’t do it is often the moment that God decides you are ready for Him to step in and do the unexpected.  It is a good lesson to keep in mind not only for yourself when you are ready to give up, but also when you start looking at others and mentally write them off — God doesn’t look at you, or them, in the same way that people do. 
• God Always Finishes What He Starts:  While they likely didn’t understand it, the plan to send Jesus was announced to Adam and Eve in the garden long before God called Abram and chose to feature him in the role of “father of many nations” — a name given while a 99 year old Abram was only the father of a child of the flesh (Ishmael) and the child of promise (Isaac) had not yet been born.  This promise continued throughout generations, including the promise to King David that his descendants would be enthroned over Israel forever.  Because our perspective of time is very limited, we often think God has given up when in fact He is working according to His own timing which is both good and perfect.  The Bible says that Jesus came “in the fullness of time” or “when the time was just right”.  While many who knew of the promised Messiah had given up their expectation that they would ever see such a thing, God completed that task at just the right time.  While the work Jesus came to do on earth was completed by His death, burial, and resurrection, God still has work for Jesus to do both in preparing a place for us and in returning for those who are His.  Even in the first century there were people questioning whether God would finish what was begun and send Jesus back for those who are His.  God’s response is that He is not slack in keeping His promises as some count slow, but rather He is patient (or long-suffering) not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.

After the church service, we went to lunch then decided to make use of the beautiful, sunny day to go out looking for snowy owls to photograph.  By the time we all got bundled up for the cold weather, the clouds had overtaken the blue sky but we went out looking anyhow.  While it felt every bit like winter, the sky and water had a tropical look to them as the sun gave a faint rose-colored glow to the clouds and the water sparkled in various shades of blue.  We never did see any owls, but had a great time as a family out driving around looking for them.  Our final stop was around sunset time at the lighthouses of St Joseph, Michigan.  Today’s photo from atop one of the dunes and ended up with a “wave” of grass blowing in front of the lens as I took the photo. 

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

• A fresh-fallen snow can cover up the ugliness of decay but the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus removes the death and decay of sin and replaces it with life.
• When we know what to expect, it is our choice to prepare or not — that is true with the weather and with eternity.
• God says all scripture is God-breathed and is profitable or useful, including the parts that we may be tempted to overlook.
• God always keeps His word . . . all the time.
• God’s work is often done in unexpected ways through the people we would least expect.
• He who began a good work in you (and me), is faithful to complete it.
• There can be joy in the search for something even if you don’t find what you’re looking for.  The secret is in who you are searching with.

After a Friday that leaked into Saturday, it was good to sleep in and have a restful day for page 343.  The snow that had been predicted arrived overnight and with it continuing to fall through the morning, I wasn’t too eager to go out and take a chance with all of the “first snow of the season” drivers that seem to forget how to drive on snow each year.  

The morning was spent writing yesterday’s page and then spending some time going through photos.  I received an offer to have photo calendars printed at half-price, so I decided to put together a lighthouse themed 2018 calendar.  There were far too many lighthouse photos to go through and most of them I liked — that’s why I took them — but by the time I chose some favorites and added some of Mary Jane’s favorites, I had about 50 photos for 13 spaces in the calendar format.  We eventually narrowed it down to 13 photos and one extra.

The selection process was barely done when I got a phone call from the security monitoring company that the alarm system at the building had been set off.  So I bundled up and headed out into the snow to see what was up.  The alarm ended up not being a big deal, but you never know until you check it out.  While I was there I started up the snowblower and cleared the walks.  They will probably need done again in the morning, but at least the first few inches will have already been cleared off.

After clearing the snow I came home and returned to work on the calendar project.  After seeing the photos laid out on the template, we ended up using the “extra” to replace one of the “chosen ones” — sometimes you just have to see things in their final settings to realize what works and what doesn’t.  Today’s photo is the one that made the initial selection but was then replaced by the “extra”.  It is definitely not a bad photo, but when laid out on the page beside the others, it was too similar to another chosen photo and wasn’t the right fit for this project.

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

• Changing conditions often require us to adjust how we do things.  
• If we fail to make proper adjustments, we often find ourselves involved in chaos.
• Even when we prepare for things the way they are, the actions of others can be unpredictable.
• It can be difficult to change the ways we do things even when we know we need to.
• Days of rest are best spent with family.
• I take photos to capture the scenes that get my attention.  
• I share photos with the hope and prayer that others will see the beauty and creativity that God surrounds us with.
• When tasks are expected to increase, such as accumulating snow, it can be helpful to tackle it in stages while it is more manageable rather than have to do it all at once.
• Thoughts and ideas can sound good, but sometimes they need to be seen in their in the context of their natural settings to know if they are right.
• Just because something doesn’t fit where you think it should have doesn’t mean it is bad — it might just need to be in a different setting to find where it belongs.

Page 342 ran overtime so I’m writing this the next morning.  The day was full of the usual Friday tasks, including the early morning cleaning and building prep as well as the late night version of the cleaning and prep to get the building ready for Sunday.  I started work at 6:00 AM and it was after 11:30 PM when I finally headed home, but in between those times I got  a lot of work done and even managed an extended break so the day never felt burdensome.  The amount of work I needed to get done wasn’t more than could be done in a typical day, it just needed done at both ends of the day.  So, by early afternoon I headed out for lunch then spent a few hours at Potato Creek State Park seeing what I could find to photograph.  Today’s page will primarily be some of those photos as they’ll speak a few thousand words more effectively than I can write. 🙂

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

• Be vigilant.  Keep watch like a hawk.  The Bible says our enemy “prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he my devour.”

• Watch what you post. 😉  Seriously though, people notice if what you are presenting to the world is a thing of beauty . . . or something else entirely.

• Find joy in life.  I don’t even know the words to the song beyond the upbeat “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay!  My, oh my, what a wonderful day!  . . . Mr Bluebird on my shouler . . . “, but it is enough to make me smile every time I see a bluebird.

• Stand up tall and be proud of who you are.  You are not yet fully who you will become, but you are also not who you once were.

• Relax.  “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised!”

Page 341 began early as the forecast had called for snow which would mean extra work in the morning routine.  There was no snow when I got up, but since I was up I headed into work anyhow.  I anticipated getting up early so I had gone to bed last night before writing yesterday’s page.  With no snow to take care of I began my day by writing.  However, as I was writing the snow began to fall.  I finished up my writing so I could take care of the normal morning prep tasks and by the time I took the trash out, the snow had covered everything.  This was a lake-effect snow event, which are usually my favorite as long as it isn’t dumping multiple feet of snow in a short amount of time.  This one wasn’t bad — maybe an inch and a half in about an hour — and it was the light, fluffy kind of snow which meant I could fire up the backpack leaf blower to clear the walks.  Even with the snow arriving late, I had the building ready for the day and the walks cleared by the time the students began to arrive. 

The morning was spent in a combination of research, study, and writing with an occasional break to photograph wildlife visitors.  One of those visitors was the deer that made today’s photo selection.  She was part of a group of 4 deer that wandered by out in the woods, but she was the only one who came out to the edge close enough to get some decent photos.  When they look right at me and keep on grazing on the underbrush, I have to believe they are aware of my presence and are okay with it, or they’re blind. 🙂  It made me think about how different things frighten different people, and about why certain things frighten me while others think the same things are no big deal.  Sometimes experience tells us certain things are safe while others are not, and other times we label things in certain ways with no idea why other than it’s what we’ve always done and what others around us have always done. 

My work continued until the middle of the afternoon when hunger got the best of me.  It was late enough that I skipped lunch and just went home and fixed a quick snack to get me through until dinner.  To celebrate surviving the first measurable snow of the season, I fired up the pellet grill and put some pork chops on to smoke for dinner.  While they cook, I’m writing today’s page so I can have everything finished early for the day.  After the early start, I’m hoping to have an early finish to the day as I look ahead to a long day tomorrow and more snow in the forecast for the weekend.

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

• It is better to be prepared and have what you prepared for not happen, than to not be prepared and have it take place.
• There is always something that can be done if what you have planned for doesn’t happen.
• Even though it adds to the workload, I enjoy the clean look of fresh snow.
• Sometimes we miss opportunities because we can’t see beyond what we’ve always known.
• We often judge things, or people, based on that which we believe to be similar — that judgment may not always be accurate.
• Relationship done right ought to overcome fear.
• When fear exists, trust has to be earned — and it is often earned more slowly than we anticipate or desire.
• It’s always grilling season.  Sometimes it just takes a little more effort to make it happen. 🙂

The cold wind continued to blow throughout the day as page 340 prepared to usher in some winter weather.  God brought a number of people to mind as I went about my morning prayer, cleaning, and building prep tasks with the song lyrics, “For you I am praying, for you I am praying . . .”, being part of the soundtrack that accompanied my morning as I worked.  

After the building was ready for the day, I turned my attention to some writing.  The first week of devotions in the new book I am working on will be about serving with compassion.  While there are a few people I know for whom this seems natural, I think most of us struggle with true compassion.  Oh, we may practice a form of it with people who are close to us; but for the casual acquaintance or stranger, compassion is often not the first response to their hurt and suffering.  It is far easier to point fingers, assign blame, or even try to fix the situation without ever joining them in their pain.  I’m not sure pointing fingers is ever helpful; but yes, there is a time to attempt to discover together the cause and come up with a solution but that comes after compassion sits with them and helps to carry their burden.

As I wrote, I received some follow-up from a prison chaplain regarding an offer I made to send some materials.  For some reason, I have received a number of requests for Bible reading calendars from inmates at a correctional facility in Florida the last couple of years.  The requests have been very specific, so I suspect someone must have picked up one of these calendars at a convention a few years ago and passed it along and then word has slowly spread as the calendar was seen by others or shared with them.  Anyhow, after receiving a handful of requests already this year, I sent an email to the prison to see if I could sent a packet of the calendars and perhaps the chaplain could get them to the individuals requesting one.  The response I got back was from the chaplain and said that I could send the calendars . . . and there were about 750 inmates who would love to have one!  Well, I didn’t even start with that many calendars printed and many of them have been given away, so I responded with a message of what I actually have available to see if that would be suitable without causing problems.

After my workday was over, I picked up some supplies for the next day and then made my way home.  The wind was still blowing so we decided to head to Lake Michigan for the evening to capture some sunset photos and see if the waves were worth photographing as well.  Today’s photo is one that I captured as a wind-driven wave crested the top of the lighthouse in St Joseph, Michigan.  As the temperature drops, waves such as this will eventually cover the lighthouse with ice.  While cold, it was a beautiful evening as the sunset lit up the sky as well as the waves that formed. 

One of the advantages of this season is that the sun sets so early in the day that it wasn’t all that late by the time we made it home.  I spent the rest of the evening going through the photos I had just taken.  With the potential of snow in the forecast, which would mean extra work in the morning, I decided I would write this page the next morning and I went to bed after I was finished with the photos.  As I finish up the writing, the snow has begun to fall . . . but that’s a part of the next page. 🙂

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

• A person may come to mind for a variety of reasons — praying for them is always a good start regardless of whether there are other reasons they came to mind.
• Many people around us each day are hurting for a variety of reasons.  Will we show them compassion or judgement . . . or something in between?
• At the heart of the matter, compassion is a key element in obeying the command to “bear one another’s burdens.”
• Helping people understand the cause, if there is one that can be known, of their problems is good — but only after you have shared in their hurt.
• Helping people find solutions to their problems is good also, but not if its being done to avoid actually caring.
• Sometimes we plant seeds and those seeds sprout and grow in the ground in which they were placed.
• Sometimes instead of planting, we need to scatter the seeds we have and allow the winds of God’s Spirit to carry them to the ground He has prepared for them.
• No matter the size of the waves in your life, Jesus can still them with His Word.