Page 169 was the up side of the roller coaster temperatures we have been experiencing.  Yesterday the high temperature didn’t make it out of the 60’s and today we were well into the 80’s.  Going from a cool cloudy day to a hot sunny day seems to confuse the building’s A/C system.  A few adjustments here and there seems to keep most of the building somewhat comfortable as I continue to learn the “quirks” of our HVAC system.  The morning was spent taking care of some maintenance and cleaning tasks then heading out to pick up some needed janitorial supplies.  I was also able to work on some of the banking paperwork for the prayer ministry on my way back to the building.  After unloading the supplies and catching up on mail and messages from while I was away, it was time for a late lunch before calling it at day.

By late afternoon, my family and I headed to a nature preserve to get some walking in and take some pictures.  As we walked the boardwalk trail, the swamp water beneath us was constantly being stirred by the activity of a multitude of frogs.  As we would stop at various places along the walk and look for the frogs, it would take a lot of careful observation to see them as they blended in so well with their surroundings.  As I thought about my day, and particularly about these frogs, I wondered how often the Christian community is a lot like these frogs.  We gather together each week with a flurry of activity and some joyful noise as we scurry about trying to be unnoticed by everyone except those like us.  When we leave our church gatherings, we are quick to adapt to our surroundings as we do whatever it takes to blend in.  We don’t mind being a Christian in the day-to-day world, we just don’t want anyone to notice.  When we do something, or say something, that causes people to take notice, our first response often has to do with being still and hoping that no one notices that we were the source of what they heard or saw.  

What would life be like in our communities if the noise we made as Christians was a good noise and we were proud to present Jesus as the source of our joyful noise?  Is our life being lived “out loud” in such a way that people would even want to experience what we have through Jesus?  While the “disappearing frog” approach is one ineffective way to live our Christian life, the red-wind black bird “dive bombing” approach is typically just as ineffective — but that will need to be a page for a different day. 🙂

I pray that you and I would let our light shine in such a way that the people around us glorify God.  I pray that we would always be ready to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ.  I pray that we would be careful not only in how we live, but also in how we answer those who question our beliefs and faith.  I pray that we would find practical ways each day to represent Jesus well in every situation we find ourselves in.  

It seems that many times when God’s Spirit propels me into a growth spurt in my spiritual walk, the enemy is quick to push the right buttons in my life to try to derail the good that God is doing.  While I am often now able to recognize the attacks when they are happening, I’m not yet very good at seeing it coming until I’m in the midst of it.  God is continuing His work of restoring my connection with the camp I once served at and yesterday was a significant step forward in that process.  So it should not have been as much of a surprise as it was that I walked into a situation at work today that frustrated me even before I found out the details of what had actually taken place.  For all of us, this process of growth is a series of ups and downs which should increase our trust of God.  

While the down side of the morning had my mind in a turmoil that made the writing process come to a halt, I headed outside to clear my mind.  As I spent time with God clearing my mind, I got the ladder out and also spent time cleaning the gutters on the building.  While they weren’t really in bad shape overall, several of the downspout openings were blocked so the water had no where to go but over the top.  With just a little work and attention, the gutter system should be in good shape for the next rain.  I suspect that most of us who are actively pursuing a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, have times where our condition is similar to the gutters on the building.  Our daily walk, our time in prayer and God’s Word, the cleansing of the blood of Christ in our lives, has set us free from the build-up of filth that the enemy tries to bury us with but there are still times when we need to seek God’s help in clearing the “downspouts” of our mind so the flood of negative thoughts can be released and washed away.  The more diligent we are about keeping our mind clear and focused on Christ, the shorter the time that the entanglements of the world can cling to our thoughts.  

After taking care of the outside work that needed done, and clearing both my mind and the gutters, I was able to get a little more writing done on my current book project before calling it a day and heading home.  At home, I mowed the lawn and then grabbed my camera to take some photos of some of the beautiful flowers growing outside.  One of my favorite it the purple ball alium.  Each ball contains hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of tiny blossoms that continue to expand the size of the ball as they open over a 3 – 4 week time period.  By itself a single blossom out of this ball would hardly be noticeable but when joined together in the manner God designed them to be, these giant purple balls are a real eye-catcher!  Many times we, or at least I, start to feel small and insignificant.  We wonder what good one person can accomplish.  We may even ask ourselves, “Who would even notice if I was present in this life or not?”.  Sometimes we even deliberately withdraw from the ball — from the body of Christ that God has placed us in, thinking I don’t need them and they don’t need me.  The body becomes divided and pulled apart until we begin wondering why no one seems to notice Christ in us and through us.  It is when we find value in simply being the blossom God created us to be and remain in contact not just with the vine but with other blossoms that God has created for us to be with, we shine forth the beauty and light of Christ for all the world to see.  When we join together without any part being concerned about drawing attention to themselves, our witness for Christ becomes and eye-catching thing to those who are watching.

I pray that you and I would seek to honor God not only on our successful mountaintops, but also in our disappointing valleys.  I pray that we would live as those who are cleansed.  I pray that we would examine not only what we allow into out mind, but also what it is we hold onto in our thoughts.  I pray that we would understand the visible presence of Christ that would be seen if we joined together with the simple purpose of being who we were created to be.

It was a busy day for page 166 of this year’s journey.  I thought I would get some more writing done on my current book project, but that didn’t happen.  I started the day taking care of some record-keeping and correspondence related to the missions ministry.  While working on that, I got involved in some floor cleaning/scrubbing in preparation for refinishing.  When the floor scrubbing was complete, I finished up the missions work I was doing and then began putting down floor finish in the rooms we had prepped.  Four coats of finish later, with some drying time in between, I was quickly approaching a 12 hour workday so it was time to close up my work for the day and head home.

As I swung a mop back and forth putting down floor finish over a 4+ hour time span, I thought about how life parallels these floors we’re working on.  Time has a way of dulling our finish as the wear and tear of life grinds down the shiny polish we once displayed.  Occasionally an event happens that causes immediate damage to the surface of our life and our ability to reflect Christ is diminished.  Most of the time though, it is just a little wear here and a little dirt there and our lack of shine gradually disappears without us even noticing.  The good news is that God is an expert at refinishing and restoring the beauty we once possessed in our relationship with Him.  When we allow Christ to cleanse us, the filth of our sins are washed completely away and the dirt that has clung to us is completely removed.  The time we spend in prayer and God’s Word applies layers of finish that build a shine in our life that allows us to grow in our ability to reflect Christ accurately.

But it is important to remember that this is not a “once and done” process.  Just as the floors we are working on need refinished on a regular basis, our spiritual life needs a regular refreshing as we go through life.  We are bombarded on a daily basis by words and images that dull who we are in Christ.  Our minds are influenced constantly by thoughts that do not honor Christ.  When God says His mercies are new every morning, it would be a good idea for us to make use of those new mercies and apply them to our lives daily to restore the shine of Jesus in our life.  

I also thought about the incredible beauty of simplicity.  I’ve had two occasions in the past week where a hummingbird has briefly hovered outside my office window.  There is nothing there for them, so they don’t stay around long enough for me to get a camera out, let alone make any serious attempt to photograph them.  As beautiful, and busy, as they are, I am still just as fascinated by a single flower blossom and the beauty they display.  Today’s photo to go with page 166 is one I took a couple weeks ago on the first day of our Florida vacation.  While I greatly enjoyed the big scenes of sunrises, sunsets, and gulf coast beauty, a single flower blossom would often draw me to a stop to take a close-up photograph.  

I pray that you and I would evaluate the condition of our “finish” and take the necessary steps to restore the “shine” of Jesus in our lives.  I pray that we would guard our minds from the pollution that is so prevalent in our world.  I pray that we would daily apply the cleansing power of the blood of Christ to the filth and sin that so easily entangles us.  I pray that we would continually add the layers of shine to our life through our time in prayer and God’s Word.  I pray that we would take the time to notice, and praise God for, the beauty of the simple things God surrounds us with.

Page 165 began well enough and I made it through the work day feeling pretty good but it wasn’t long after I got home that the up-all-night of work Saturday caught up with me.  Since I didn’t take any pictures today, I started back through my vacation photos and found that one of the first ones taken was of a dish of ice cream I was about to enjoy. 🙂  As the day began, I spent time with God considering the prayer guide topic for next week.  The deciding part was probably a little longer than usual because it seemed as if the direction I was supposed to go was a topic I’ve already used.  While I have rewritten prayer guides on previously used topics, that is not something I do often.  As I looked at the topic and considered that summer is VBS season, I finally decided to update one of my earlier prayer guides that is focused on praying for children.  But the prayer guide isn’t simply a focus on praying for the young people that typically come to mind when we use the word children.  It also serves as a reminder that Jesus said we must become like children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And so, as we spend time praying next week for children, we will also be praying about the qualities that God desires for all of His children to have.

Once the prayer guide was ready for next week, I spent some time with my devotional journal writing.  One of the topics I wrote about today was heaven being a home of right judgment.  God’s judgment is not only accurate and right, it is always based on complete truth.  If this is the way it is in God’s home, shouldn’t we as His children seek to live up to that example in our homes?  We are part of a culture that tends to rush to judgment with little regard for how much information we have nor how accurate the judgment is.  As I continue to catch pieces of the news today, the “talking heads” from politicians to news media “experts” to the general public continue to be quick in announcing their verdict of who/what is to blame in the horrendous shooting in Orlando.  Everyone has to be first to share “breaking news” regarding every little detail that the stories quickly become contradictory.  In our home here on earth, our judgments typically are made based on incomplete information and are designed to make us feel safer or more confident in our beliefs.  Truth becomes one of the first casualties when we fail to seek God and the right judgments that only He can make.  Speaking of right judgments, that chocolate chip coffee mocha and black raspberry combination of ice cream was definitely one of them! 🙂

I pray that you and I would understand how to become like little children without becoming childish.  I pray that we would share the love of Jesus with children everywhere.  I pray that we would express love and truth while leaving judgment to God.

As I sit down to write page 164 in this year’s story of life, a lot is on my mind.  Some days are more difficult than others to let the mind be still and experience the peace that is found in Christ.  The written part of page 163 concluded with my heading in to work to freshen up bathrooms and make sure everything in the building was ready for Sunday.  I discovered the water in the baptistry was extremely low so I began filling it, then decided to get some things out of my truck while it filled — only to completely forget I had the water running until more time had passed than should have.  Oops!  That made today’s page start much earlier than I had planned.  Instead of a quick clean and then home to bed, the rest of the night was spent working at vacuuming water out of carpet and drying areas that were wet.  By 6:30 in the morning, I had done all I could and the shop vac was no longer pulling water out of the carpet, so I headed home for a few hours of sleep before returning for the morning worship gathering.

As I would take breaks throughout the night, short snippets of breaking news began to form the story of a deadly mass shooting in Orlando.  As suspected, it wasn’t long before the blame game began.  Some blamed the guns, some blamed the victims, some blamed the hatred in our society, some blamed the Republicans, some blamed the Democrats, and in the midst of what seems to be a never-ending list some even blamed the shooter!  As I thought about some of the many responses to the shooting that I have seen throughout the day, my mind went to my favorite verse of scripture — I know I have a lot of them, but this one is at least near the top.  In John 10:10 Jesus says, “The thief comes to steal and to kill and to destroy but I have come that you may have life and life to the full.”  When I led camp weeks, I would tell the campers and faculty multiple times each day, “No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, where you’ve been, what you or others think about your life and actions; God loves you very much!”  While Jesus wants to give us life and life abundantly; Satan not only wants to destroy life, he wants to convince us that not all life has value.  When we begin to believe that lie, it is an easy step to a selfish and self-centered lifestyle.  When we accept that all life matters because God is the creator of life, we are grieved and we mourn any and all life that is taken by the hand of another — whether the hand is that of an abortion “doctor”, a criminal element of society, an angry hate-filled person, a person committed to terrorist activities, or one who “assists” others in ending life — among other types of hands that bring an end to life that God created and loves.  If we are accurately representing Jesus, then we will love all people and seek for them a life that is abundant and full.  

After the morning worship gathering, I had lunch then had a restful afternoon trying to allow my mind and body to catch up from the lack of sleep.  By early evening I headed to Potato Creek with my family for a walk on the trails to unwind and enjoy the presence of God among some of His beautiful creation.  

I pray that you and I would value all life as individuals created by, and loved by, God.  I pray that we would understand that we face an enemy that seeks to destroy life in whatever ways he can.  I pray that we would not fall in to the trap of believing there are some people whose life doesn’t matter.  I pray that we would repent of any attitudes that fail to value the created life of all people.  I pray that we would weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn — period.  

Page 163 seemed to have all the signs of summer built into it.  The temperature outside made it well into the mid-90’s with a blazing hot sun all day long.  MJ returned to helping my mom on Saturday mornings so Susan and I resumed our summertime Saturday morning zoo visits.  When we first arrived, there was a gentle breeze and it hadn’t gotten unbearably hot yet so most of the animals were visible and fairly active.  By the time we left, many of them were looking for cool places out of sight or had resorted to stretching out to take nap.  While playful at the beginning of our visit, three of the four tigers had disappeared into their home while the fourth one was stretched out in the enclosure snoozing away.

After our dad and daughter zoo trip we came home and I fired up the pellet the next step of our summer Saturday routine — bacon mushroom cheeseburgers hot off the pellet grill for lunch!  After lunch, we all decided to follow the good example of the tiger and snoozed a while.  Eventually we got up and headed to Sam’s Club to get some groceries and replace a dehumidifier that was no longer working.  I’ll soon finish writing today’s page and then go live a little more of it as I’ll go in to work tonight to do a final refreshing of the building before the Sunday worship gathering tomorrow.

As I type, I realize that my arms are sore from my kayak outing yesterday.  It had been a long time since I had taken it on the river and my arms wasn’t used to the nearly constant paddling.  I started downstream but was headed against the wind so I wasn’t getting very far unless I paddled.  Coming back to my truck I had the wind behind me to help but I was still paddling against the current.  Yesterday’s workout may have contributed to my need for a restful afternoon.  I think sometimes we expect the Christian journey to be easier than what it is.  We anticipate it is all downstream and once we are in Christ we can just coast to our destination.  It doesn’t take long until we realize coasting isn’t getting us anywhere.  As a matter of fact, coasting may be causing us to lose ground at times.  God calls for us to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”, not because we can actually do any work to make it happen but because it is work to resist temptation and stand firm against the evil one.  Yes, there are times when it will at least feel like less work than at other times but it is important that we are always ready to be involved in the good work that God created in advance for us to do.  The more we align ourselves with the work God has created and called us to do, the more enjoyable the work becomes.  

As we go about the work God has for us to do, it is also important to understand how facing the heat of temptation can wear us down more quickly than at times when temptations are not so aggressive.  Just as the heat of summer can quickly wear down our bodies, the heat of spiritual warfare creates in us a need to be refreshed through times of rest and communion with God.  One of my favorite verses, and I have many, says, “Be still and know that I am God!”  With life running a hundred miles an hour around us, it is often a difficult thing to find times of stillness and solitude.  Scripture tells us that Jesus would often go to “lonely places” in order to escape the crowds and spend time with His Father.  Perhaps we would do well to define, and find, “lonely places” where we could do the same.

I pray that you and I would understand the work involved on a daily basis as we seek to stay on the path that leads to eternal life.  I pray that we would not grow weary in doing the good work God has called us to.  I pray that we would make times of stillness and solitude a priority in our lives.

Page 162 has been a busy, productive day.  I started mowing at work early in the day while it was still cool.  The sky was very overcast when I began and I was praying that I could get all the lawn mowed and also stay dry.  I had tried to convince myself yesterday that the lawn needed mowed and with the forecast of rain, I should probably mow instead of going to camp.  But I knew then that it was just an excuse to try to keep me from doing what God wanted done.  Because there is so much to mow, I normally try to spread it out over two days but this week today was the day.  While it took most of the work day, I did manage to get it all mowed and it stayed dry all day.  I did take a couple breaks during the mowing and did some cleaning in the building and worked on some of the A/C settings.

After work was done, I stopped by the house and loaded up my kayak then ate a very late lunch at Arby’s before heading to the river for some late afternoon paddling.  Normally when I put in the river I begin by paddling upstream the distance I want to go, then float back down with the current to where I parked.  Today I wanted to take some photos in the downtown South Bend area so I began the trip going downstream and then had to finish with the work going upstream to the truck.  It had gotten very hot by the time I finished mowing at work and I thought it would be cooler on the water — it was very relaxing, but definitely didn’t feel cooler. 🙂

While on the river, I paddled under 4 traffic bridges, 1 pedestrian bridge, and one railroad bridge — then back under each of them on the return trip.  On a calm day like today, I enjoy the beauty of these multi-span bridges reflected in the water.  Today’s reflection included a beautiful cloud-filled sky with patches of blue.  As I thought about the day, my mind focused for a time on the mowing — more specifically God allowing me to get it finished today after choosing a more important task yesterday.  So many times we are tempted to neglect the things we are confident God wants us to do because we are so busy doing the things we feel are important.  When listening to God takes time out of a schedule that we have already overfilled, our trust of Him to take care of the things of lesser importance is put to the test.  

As I work on my fourth 32 ounce glass of water since coming home tonight, I also think about the thirst that is created by living in the heat of the day.  Without the proper liquid intake the heat can quickly dehydrate a person, causing them to become sick or even die.  When we live life in the heat of the day, it is critical that we continually refresh our spirit with the Living Water of Jesus.  Many are spiritually sick and some perhaps are even dying as they journey through this dry and weary land without the refreshing presence of Jesus in their lives.

I pray that you and I would learn to listen to God and obediently follow His direction rather than our own.  I pray that we would drink our fill of the Living Water that God offers through His Son.  I pray that we would take the Living Water of Jesus to the people around us who are sick and dying, in need of the refreshing that only God can give.