I guess the time spent late last week doing inventory and ordering books for ICOM caught up with me overnight as page 305 began with a realistic feeling dream that I arrived at the conference and for some reason had not taken any display material with me.  Panic was starting to set in as my dream found me arriving outside the conference hall without having packed anything — no display, no resources, and no suitcase with clothes for the week.  With that kind of start to the day, once I woke up I figured the day had to get better, right?  And it did.  The real day began with the Monday morning cleaning as I got the building ready for the day.  Once the building was ready for the start of the school day, I settled in to spend time with God as we put together the prayer guide for next week.  I eventually settled on the topic of power as I considered the “all-surpassing power” that God has chosen to place into these “jars of clay”.  So often, we try to do things in our own power and eventually wonder why we consistently come up short.  The power of God’s Spirit within us is designed to be revealed through our weaknesses.  It is when we recognize we can’t and allow God to do, His power comes through to display His incredible glory.  The Bible tells us of a variety of things that we have been given power for.  Each day in the upcoming prayer guide will focus on a different purpose behind the power God has made available to us.

The prayer guide development took most of the morning.  After it was done I turned my attention to my Wednesday evening first through third grade class and then spent time working on sermon development for a message I’ll share at the North Wayne Mennonite Church this coming Sunday.  The last time I was there, I began a character study series on “Living as the Lord’s Servant” that will look at various Bible characters that are specifically referred to as the Lord’s servant.  The first message looked at the example of Abraham with the focus being the Lord’s servant obeys.  The message I’m working on for this weekend is “Living as a HUMBLE Servant” as we will consider the life of Moses.  Humility is a characteristic that we generally don’t pursue naturally.  To live a humble life usually requires intentional effort to overcome and get rid of pride.  If we desire to be the Lord’s servant in the manner He would desire, we must make a deliberate effort to remove pride from our lives and seek to live in complete humility.  As the afternoon slipped away, I put the sermon work on simmer and headed home for the day.  

I pray that you and I would live lives that are prepared for the work God has called us to.  I pray that we would take inventory of the resources God has put in our lives for the benefit of others.  I pray that we would recognize the incredible power that is available to us through the Spirit of God which lives within us.  I pray that we would live with the knowledge of God’s desire to work with great power through our weaknesses.  I pray that empty ourselves of all pride and seek to live with humility in complete service to God.

Page 304 began with rain, which brought with it temperatures that were much cooler than yesterday.  Today not only looked like fall, it felt like fall.  The day included time at church for much of the morning, followed by lunch, some rest, and taking some fun photos at the request of my niece.  I have said numerous times that I don’t like photographing people, that doing so feels very awkward to me.  After a couple fun photo shoots yesterday and today, I may have to modify that statement to I don’t like to photograph people without their intentional invitation to invade what, to me, is their personal space.  It is not that I am physically in space that most people would consider private, but rather it feels to me like I have stepped even beyond that physical closeness as I peer through my camera viewfinder.  After the photo shoot was done, I spent some time sorting through the shots that were taken and then it was time to sit down and work at the writing of today’s page.

As I’ve sat here for the past hour thinking about what to write and what not to write, I’ve been reflecting on the sermon David shared this morning as part of a series from Nehemiah.  One point of the sermon focused on the reminder of Nehemiah to the people of Jerusalem, and to us, to remember our commitments.  In an era when a person’s word seems to mean less and less with each passing day, it is still disheartening when our commitments to God and one another are not given the respect they ought to have.  Often we make promises and commitments, but our willingness to set them aside for the sake of accomplishing our own agenda makes it appear they were hollow from the very beginning.  Sometimes we are simply hasty in making commitments and then we find ourselves so deep into actions of our own doing that we feel there is no way to go back and honor the word we had given.  

As I thought about this issue, my mind reflected on the piano music played by a young lady during the communion time this morning.   There were a few spots in the music that seemed to cause difficulty in the flow of the song being played.  I suppose while some may have found it distracting during the communion time, I found her approach to these “rough spots” rather refreshing and appropriate for the time at hand.  It seems that as we age and become proficient at life, we also become good at “glossing over” our mistakes in ways that make the casual observer believe they don’t even exist.  We become so good at it that we may even convince ourselves that those lapses of commitment don’t exist.  But that isn’t what a seventh grade piano student does.  No, instead of pretending the mistake didn’t happen, she went back to point where she knew she was on the right notes and proceeded from there to find the right notes that had been missed the first time through.  In a way, that is part of what the communion time is as each week we remember the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection.  It is a time when we are able to acknowledge the mistakes, the sin, that is present in our life, and choose to go back to the cross where we find the correct beginning point to start fresh in living the appropriate notes of life.  God’s desire is that we would return to Him when we discover we have failed in the keeping of our word when it comes to our relationship with Him and with one another.  He is the beginning point for right living and is constantly calling for us to remember our commitment to Him.  

I pray that you and I would learn to swallow our pride and return to God when we find ourselves distant from the commitments we have made.  I pray that we would reject the temptation to “gloss over” our failures to keep our word.  I pray that we would not only promise to honor God with our words, but that our follow-through to that commitment would honor Him as well.

Page 303 was a good day to spend with family and enjoy some unseasonably warm temperatures.  It was good to sleep in a bit and get the day started slowly.  Once we were all up and around, our first stop was at Potato Creek State Park where we took some photos and hiked almost 3 miles as we enjoyed the time together taking in the beauty of creation.  After our hike, it was time for lunch and then a stop at the house to transfer the morning photos to the computer and recharge cameras.  After that, a good part of the afternoon was spent taking engagement photos for my niece and her fiance.  It was a fun afternoon being reminded of young love and attempting to capture that in photos.  It was great to see them laughing and enjoying life together.  The last part of the photo shoot was on my parents’ farm where I grew up, so I stuck around and shot some scene photos there.  When we were done shooting photos, we headed out to dinner with my mom and dad to wrap up our day before making our way home to go through the afternoon’s photos.

Today’s photo is from the farm pond that was our family’s swimming pool, fishing hole, and ice skating rink for all of my childhood years.  There have also been a lot of family picnics that have taken place around this pond over the years.  In multiple ways, today seemed to have a theme of family.  From the family hike with my wife and daughter to the family photo session of my niece to the family dinner with my parents, God used multiple opportunities to show the importance of having, and being, family.  I realize that I am fortunate as not everyone has a family that they are proud of and not everyone has a family that is proud of them.  Sometimes that is because of the choices of our family and sometimes it is because of our choices and sometimes it is caused by circumstances beyond the control of any of us.  The good news is that regardless of what our family on earth looks like, God has called us to be a part of His family — a family that we can be proud of and a family that is proud to have us as a part.  God has adopted us, not only as sons and daughters, but as heirs to the promise of an eternal dwelling with Him.  It’s not that we are simply allowed to “tag along” for family events, we become actual family members with all of the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of every other family member.  We usually like the first two of those parts of being a family but the third part we’re often not that fond of.  Yet it is the responsibilities that identify us as a legitimate part of a family, often even more so than any rights and privileges could.

I pray that you and I would understand how the families we are a part of, and have been a part of during our life, have influenced how we see God’s family.  I pray that we would live as legitimate children of God as we take hold of the rights, privileges, and responsibilities He has given us. 

Page 302 has been a good day so far as I’ve packed a lot of variety into it.  The day began early with the morning cleaning and I’ve begun the writing of the page in the midst of the evening cleaning as I get the building ready for Sunday, so I anticipate it will be a long day before I’m done.  I’ve finished one end of the building and decided to sit down for a snack break before moving on to the other end.  I suspect that as I snack I will finish today’s written page and then go finish the cleaning and the actual doing of the page. 🙂

When I pulled into work this morning, their was a sliver of moon and a bright planet just above the tree line to the east of the building.  So, on my first trip out with trash I took my camera and attempted to catch a few photos of the nighttime beauty before the sun came up and chased it away.  By the time I finished the building prep for the day, the sun was crawling over the eastern horizon and there were half a dozen deer grazing in the morning mist at the back of the property.  The sun wasn’t up enough to get the best photos of them, but I did manage a few that I thought were okay.  My first task once the cleaning was done was to send my latest book files to CreateSpace to begin the process of making the book available on Amazon.  After that, much of my morning was spent doing inventory — counting and repacking books in preparation for the International Conference on Missions (ICOM) next month.  I had one title, out of what is now eight, in sufficient quantity for the conference so it was time to order books again.

By late afternoon, it was time for a lunch break so I headed down to Potato Creek to spend a little time before coming back for the evening.  It had been a long time since I had seen an eagle at the park so I was thrilled when I found a pair of them perched in a tree even though they were somewhat distant.  With a combination of zoom and cropping, I ended up with a few photos that I was pleased with even though they don’t have the clarity of some I have taken before when they were perched much closer.  In the United States, if there is one word that is most associated with the bald eagle, I would say it is freedom.  We love freedom.  We place great value on freedom.  Perhaps we even worship freedom to the point that we gloss over, or redefine, the teaching of Jesus regarding our need to serve others.  For the past day, there has been what I believe to be the opening of a poem that has taken up residence in my mind.  I keep thinking that more will come, but so far it is just a pair of rhyming lines.  As I saw the eagles and thought about our desire for freedom — often a freedom to exalt self — these lines returned to my mind:

“What do I want?”,
is a question we ask.
When we begin
almost any task.
But there is a problem,
I hope you would see.
When all of our actions
are focused on me.

The one person who has walked this earth and had every right to make it all about Him not only said, but set the example, that He did not come to be served but to serve.  We are never more like Christ than when we are serving those we would say don’t deserve it.  When we experience true freedom in Christ, it is not a freedom to do what we want but rather a freedom to serve others out of love rather than obligation.

I pray that you and I would experience the freedom that only Christ can give.  I  pray that we would use that freedom for the benefit of others above our own desires.  I pray that we would seek to be more like Christ each day that we live.

After a workday yesterday that began at 6:30 AM and didn’t finish until 10:30 PM, and another one like it expected tomorrow, page 301 has been a day of rest.  After posting yesterday’s page, I noticed that the “Tom’s Book of 2016” category on my blog only indicated there were 298 posts in that category.  Given that yesterday was page 300 and I knew I had written a bonus page or two, I decided I had either lost track of what day I was on as I numbered each page or I had failed to tag a few posts with the proper category designation.  I began by checking the numbering as that was the easiest to pull up  a list of post titles and see if they were in consecutive order.  I guess the good news is that the titles were all correct with no gap in the numbering so I didn’t have to go back and make corrections to what could have been a lot of titles.  Checking the titles also showed me that I had written an introduction page and one bonus page so the post count for this category should have been 302 instead of 298.  That meant that somewhere scattered through those 302 posts were four of them that I had not tagged with the proper category when I posted them.  

So, what began as checking the category listing on each post turned into starting at the beginning and reading the daily pages up until this point.  It was fun to go back and be reminded of the lessons of each day that ended up on the pages.  While I didn’t begin with the plan to include a photo each day, it was very early in the year when I realized how much the photos add to each page.  As I went through the pages, it was interesting to see how many of the things that were significant to write about were eventually used in ways that never crossed my mind on the day I wrote the page.  I also found the four untagged posts and was able to add them to the book of 2016 category.  I’m not sure what God will do with these daily posts in the future but, at least to me, it was an interesting read this morning.  

While I call the collection of these daily posts my “Book of 2016”, today found me needing to purchase additional ISBN numbers so I can finish the publishing of my next book that is not my “Book of 2016”.  These numbers identify each specific book and are needed by most sales channels, including Amazon, to be able to list the book.  It is the official identification number that is found on essentially every book that is published for any sales distribution channel.  When my first book was coming together early in 2014, I purchased a block of ten numbers because the cost was the same as buying two number individually.  I really didn’t think I would ever use all ten of them but my first book was published in both regular and large print editions so I needed two numbers.  Here I am, a little over two years later and all ten of those original numbers are in use on books I’ve written and I have another book ready to go which needs a number.  So, today I had another decision to make.  I could purchase another block of ten numbers, but with works currently in process, three of them already have “homes”.  The next step up is a block of one hundred ISBN numbers, which sounds like a ridiculous number to me.  Yet, with a special offer I received yesterday, the block of one hundred could be purchased for a little less than the costs of two blocks of ten numbers.  I can’t imagine using one hundred ISBN numbers but not that long ago I couldn’t imagine using ten of them.  But I do imagine using more than ten additional numbers so I went ahead and purchased the block of one hundred.  Now the fun part — seeing what God will give me to write and discovering how many of these numbers will end up being used. 🙂

Today’s photo is one I took a couple mornings ago and I include it today because it reminds me of the creativity and majesty of God.  I see His creativity in the beauty of nature and I see it in the work He has given me to do.  Our God is a God of both the big picture scenes and the smallest of details that are often overlooked.  Nothing escapes His notice and nothing is beyond His ability to use for His purposes and glory.  I write, not because I see myself as a writer, but because I am convinced God gives me the inspiration for words that He wants me to put into print.  The writing becomes more of an act of obedience than anything else and I attempt to share them as freely as possible because the words have been God’s gift to me.  

I pray that you and I would experience times of rest when we can draw into God’s presence and be reminded of how He has been working, and continues to work, in our lives.  I pray that we would recognize the goodness of God in doing far more than we can think or imagine when we put our trust in Him.  I pray that we would see no limits other than whatever limits God Himself would establish in our lives.  I pray that we would recognize the gifts God has given us and understand His desire that we would share as freely as we have received.

It is hard to believe I’m already at page 300 in this photo-and-page-a-day adventure I’ve been on this year!  In just two months time, Christmas will be over and we’ll be looking at the end of one year and the beginning of the next.  Today has been a rainy day with an extra chill in the air because of the dampness.  It has made me glad I began the cool to heat changeover yesterday in the building.  My day began with the usual early morning cleaning and building prep.  Once everything in the building was ready for the day, I checked on the boilers and continued the system changeover from cooling mode to heat.  This time of year is a delicate balance as it become very easy to confuse the system and make things either way too hot or way too cold.  After I was satisfied with the settings for today, the rest of the morning and into the afternoon was spent wearing my accounting hat as I worked on the church missions account as well as the Impact Prayer Ministry account.  By mid-afternoon I realized I was out of address labels, so a quick trip to the store remedied that so I could finish up a mailing.  I eventually made it to a very late lunch and then back to the building to finish up the final details for the lesson I taught tonight.  I’m starting to write today’s page as the building clears out after tonight’s classes and will then spend a couple hours or so cleaning and getting the building ready for tomorrow.

In the first through third grade class I’m teaching on Wednesday evenings, we are taking a journey through the Bible and tonight’s lesson used the story of Abraham to teach that God keeps His promises.  No matter how impossible the promise may seem from our perspective, no matter how limited our sight may be, no matter how stormy the night, no matter how perilous the waves; God always keeps His promises.  I wonder how often along the journey Abram asked of God, “Are we there yet?”.  I wonder what caused Abram to have a faith that stood out in a way that God chose him.  I wonder if I have a faith that not only gets God’s attention but that is following Him fully.  The writer of Hebrews commends Abraham for his faith by saying, “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  The same writer, inspired by the same Spirit, tells us to “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”  Abraham had his eyes fixed on an eternal dwelling whose architect and builder was God Himself.  Are our eyes fixed on that same destination?

As I was finishing up the cleaning tonight, I thought about this lighthouse photo I took Sunday evening.  As I’ve been photographing lighthouses, I’ve learned that all of them have the same purpose but not all of them have the same function.  All of them are designed to help guide those on the water to safety.  Some do so simply as a warning device, letting navigators know of dangerous rocks or shallow waters that must be avoided.  Others serve as navigational aids, guiding ship traffic safely into harbor.  Because God always keeps His promises, His Word serves as both a warning device and a navigational aid.  It warns us of dangerous life choices and it also guides us into the safety of God’s family.  When I am tempted, I can gaze into the beacon of God’s Word and be warned of the dangers that lurk below the surface of the temptation.  When I find myself in the midst of a storm, I can always go to the lighthouse of God’s Word and know that it will guide me through the darkest of nights.  When I am lost, I can fix my eyes on Jesus and know that He will lead me safely into the fold of His love.

I pray that you and I would pay attention to the changing spiritual climate in our nation and our world.  I pray that we would remain faithful to God no matter what.  I pray that our faith would direct us in following Jesus with each step we take.  I pray that we would keep our eyes fixed on Jesus as He leads us heavenward on this journey of life.  I pray that God’s Word would not only be “a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path”, but that it would be the source of our comfort and strength.

Page 299 followed a restless night in which I didn’t seem to be able to stay asleep for some reason.  I almost got dressed and headed into work at 5 AM since I seemed to be wide awake, yet by 5:30 it was a struggle to wake up and get ready for the day.  But get up I did, as the building needed cleaned and prepped for the day.  As I went about the morning cleaning, I found myself silently singing a variety of songs and hymns in worship of a great God.  Intentional worship has a way of centering my spirit and finding rest for my soul as I become deliberate about communicating to God , as best I can, the incredible worth He has.  There are times when I know specific things that have triggered a skirmish in my mind.  And other times, like now, when the battle ensues and I have no real knowledge of the cause — although if I’m not too overwhelmed by the war, I always know the source of the conflict is not flesh and blood.  While I know there are times when my physical body seems to fight against itself, the real fight is always a spiritual one that would like nothing more than to find a way to destroy me.  That’s where the intentional prayer and worship reminds me of who’s in charge and who has already won the victory as He paid the price to redeem me from the enemy.

As I finished up the cleaning and took the trash out, the sun was causing a glow in the clouds on the eastern horizon while the sliver of moon was visible just above the cloud line.  I went back in and got my camera then continued to worship God as the sun slowly made its way over the horizon with an ever-increasing illumination of the clouds.  It’s as if the worship I had been doing all morning was now being amplified and God was giving another glimpse of His incredible majesty.

With an eye on the weather forecasts which call for continued cool temperatures, I spent time this morning beginning the process of bringing the boilers online so the building will have heat when needed.  While I worked on that process, I also did some follow-up to some messages I received while I was out of the office the last few days.  One of the emails I responded to was from a lady who does mission work in several African countries.  She was thanking me for the prayer guides I send out each week and letting me know that she often forwards them to the pastors in Africa as an encouragement to them.  Her email reminded me of how God has gifted each person in unique ways that, when working together, completes an entire healthy body — His body.   I thanked her for encouraging me by letting me know how much my work encourages others.  I suspect we all want to know that what we do makes a difference and rarely will someone know the difference they make in our life unless we tell them.

When I finished what I could do today with the heat system, I sat down to do what I hope and plan is the final proofreading of my book, “Serving God”, before I get copies printed to have available for the International Conference on Missions.  I only found four or five needed corrections this time through so I think its about ready to go to print.  As I worked on the proofreading I had a couple blue jays and cardinals stop by for a visit outside my office window.  They had discovered a feast of berries and sumac heads in the underbrush at the edge of the woods.  While many people claim these two birds don’t get along, the cardinals were helping themselves to the berries and the blue jays were right beside them eating seeds out of the sumac.  Today’s photo is of one of the blue jays after he pulled a bit of fluff out of the sumac head.  I suspect there is a seed attached to that fluff that the blue jay is enjoying as a morning snack.  Watching them reminded me of how God provides food for the birds of the air and promises to care for His children who He loves even more than the birds.

I pray that you and I would be intentional in our worship of God at all times.  I pray that each day we would fully cloth ourselves with the full armor of God as we recognize the battle that takes place in the spiritual realms.  I pray that we would encourage others at every opportunity we have.  I pray that we would know just how deep God’s love is for us.  I pray that we would trust God to care for us at all times.  

Page 298 was back to work — sort of.  While the preschool was back in session today, the school was still on fall break so I didn’t need to go in early to do the morning cleaning.  In fact, with Monday being my typical writing day, I worked from home so Susan could sleep in and hopefully catch up on some rest following our trip.  After making sure MJ could get the pest control guy access to everywhere he needed to be, I settled into my prayer and listening mode to see what God would have me put together for next week’s prayer guide.  Other than the morning cleaning that I usually do early, I typically try to protect my Monday mornings as it is always unknown how much time it will take to come up with the topic God wants me to write about and then the time to write it also varies greatly.  Today was one of those times when each part seemed to take longer than usual.  I always figure that is a reflection on my listening more than anything else as I anticipate God desires to communicate what He wants me to write about.

Because I try to practice the lifestyle of prayer that I teach about, there are weeks that I have a good idea what the next topic will be before I begin my Monday morning routine.  Even then, I spend time praying and listening as I want to make sure that the topic in my mind is really what God wants and not just something I want to write about.  There are also other weeks when it seems like the topic doesn’t want to come to mind and my time with God becomes more focused on listening to what His Spirit is saying through His Word.  With each of the prayer guides being scripture-based, it is important that I’m listening to God with His Word in my heart, mind, and hand.  Then there are days like today when the topic comes rather quickly but I spend time trying to see if there is something else — anything else.  Fairly early in my prayer time this morning, God directed me to the promises He makes to those who overcome.  It was not so much that the topic is one I wanted to avoid, but the scriptures that God filled my mind with were from the messages in the book of Revelation from God to the churches.  Because I believe some people tend to misuse Revelation to further their own agenda and others misunderstand it because of its misuse, I try to steer clear of passages that may cause further confusion and conflict rather than increased prayer.  And so I went back to God in my prayer time until I was confident about the topic of overcome and the corresponding verses from Revelation.

To me it is sad that there has been so much conflict over a book I believe God shared with us in order to help us remain faithful no matter what.  While so much attention is focused on the severe trials that take place and arguments arise as to when they will happen and where the Christians will be when it happens, the message woven throughout the entire book is that the crown of life will be given to all who overcome and remain faithful.  If life wasn’t difficult, if hardships didn’t come our way, if bad things didn’t happen, and if the wrath of God against unrighteousness wasn’t real, there would be nothing that needed to be overcome.  Each of the messages that God asks John to write down and share with the corresponding churches contains both a critique of how they’ve been doing when it comes to faithfully following God and a promised result that awaits those that overcome.  

So, with a topic in mind and the scripture texts to use for each day’s prayer focus, I spent most of the morning digesting those seven letters and writing the prayer points to be used next week.  Once the prayer guide was complete I turned my attention to writing the monthly Impact Prayer Ministry newsletter for October.  God continues to use the prayer ministry, and the resources He gives me to write and share, in places and ways that are often amazing and likely even more often in ways that are unknown to me.  Eventually I had put in a full day and finally sat down to go through all of my photos from our recent trip.  Today’s photo is from underneath an interstate road bridge.  It stands in stark contrast to the old covered bridges we had been photographing just days before.  In at least one way, it is also similar to those old covered bridges.  Some would say that this is a bridge that was built to last.  I’m guessing that something similar was said about many, if not all, of those old covered bridges when they were built.  The truth is that all of this stuff that  is “built to last” will eventually be gone.  Proper maintenance and good care will prolong its days of usefulness, but a day is coming when this earth and everything in/on it will give way to the coming of a “new heaven and a new earth”.  I pray that you and I will be found faithful and ready for that day as we are found among those who have overcome.