Shameful thoughts

September 15, 2025

Maria 2 Corinthians 4, Conviction, Holiness, Holy Spirit, Sin , , , , , 1 Comment

We reject all shameful deeds. . . 2 Corinthians 4:2 NLT

Do you occasionally find the Lord bringing a matter to your attention all at once, but from different sources? It’s been a few weeks since that last happened to me, but this morning God seemed eager to get my attention. He did that by elevating the issue of my holiness, or lack thereof. 

Over the last few weeks, Mike has been sharing what he is reading for his book study group at church.  The men are going through JC Ryle’s Holiness.  Then yesterday, the Lord emphasized the matter of my holiness through our new Sunday school class called, Respectable Sins which is based on a Jerry Bridges book. Some of the behaviors our class facilitator mentioned are anything but respectable.  They include discontentment, anxiety, grumpiness, anger and a whole host of others.

Then this morning, reading Oswald Chambers, the Father personally pinged me through the verse above together with what this British pastor wrote in My Utmost for His Highest.

“Is there a thought in your heart about anyone that you would not like to be brought into the light?”

Golly, several came to mind. Just being around my church family the day before provided some opportunities for judgmental thoughts I would not want aired. Finally later this morning, leaving Walmart, I spotted a gal, obviously an Instacart provider, who was loading her car with six different containers. My first thought was: “Look at how obese she is!  She’s wearing pajama bottoms with an obvious roll of fat hanging over.” 

I’d want to disappear if she heard my impression and turned to stare with shock and hurt as I walked to my car.

But thanks be to God! Because I had been mulling over the need to rid myself of shameful thoughts, the Holy Spirit supplied a lovely truth as a substitute. “This gal is an image bearer of the living God. Look at how she is blessing people by doing their grocery shopping for them. They are going to be so grateful.”

I can see that ridding myself of shameful thoughts will require me to pay close attention. But I’m not worried. I can count on the Spirit to remind me each time now. I just pray that I start making the switch to THINKING something true, beautiful and good about each person I encounter. 

Butterfly Development School

August 5, 2025

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I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. John 16:33 NLT

I dipped into Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest.  Today he addressed the normal hardships of life like this: “The strain of life is what builds our strength”.

Immediately, because it’s summer, I thought of butterflies.  Maybe we’re all in Butterfly School!  If the chrysalis doesn’t struggle to break out of its cocoon, she won’t live to delight the world. But maybe she feels as I do, “This is harder than I thought!”.

Oswald continued, “Are you asking God to give you life, liberty, and joy?  He cannot unless you are willing to accept the strain.” 

As I reflect on what I’m fighting, anxiety about some international travel in a few days, a new possibility appears.  Maybe today’s strain, this struggle to trust Jesus, is just part of Butterfly Development School. If that’s the case, then this adversity is making me beautiful!

And yes, I should know better.  There is no such thing as a life free from problems, hardships or adversity.  In my case, strain-free travel doesn’t exist, for I can’t control weather, mechanical issues or people. 

But what if I turned into the strain, as does a sailboat tacking into the headwind? I smile and relax as I picture a trip where I count on God’s strength. Instead of picturing my fears, I’ll turn around and head straight into God’s arms as He powers my trip. 

What do you do after you ask God for His wisdom?

July 28, 2025

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I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1:17 NIV

You know how people often advise “You better not pray for patience, for then the Lord will give you lots of opportunities to practice!”?  Similarly, I believe that asking for God’s wisdom brings on situations where we must turn away from trusting ourselves and instead look to Him for guidance. 

Mike’s brother and his wife find themselves in this situation as they search for a house. They’ve been house-hunting on and off for more than a year. They sold their last home some years ago. And ever since have been renting. Presently, they are living with Eve’s mom in Toronto, taking care of her.  But they have to find a new place to live soon and that back in the US, for Steve, Mike’s brother is not Canadian as is Eve. 

All along they have been praying for wisdom and a breakthrough in a tight real estate market in upstate New York. I don’t know their hearts, but if they are like me, I have often pleaded with the Lord for wisdom and then continued on doing what I thought was right. 

Recently, God dropped some guidance into Eve’s heart.  It actually was a reminder of something He had told her a while back, something she had ignored. The counsel was this: “First find the church. Then you’ll find the house.” She took Him seriously this time.

When Eve texted me her word from God, I grew excited. God’s direction to her resonated with me. It’s confirmation of Jesus’ commandment: Seek first and prioritize God’s kingdom and then all these things you need will fall into place. (paraphrase of Matthew 6:33) 

Paul, in his encouraging letter to the Ephesians,  links praying for wisdom with the purpose of knowing our God better.  Various other wise Christians agree. From my journal where I collect quotes, here are three such writers.

– Malcolm Muggeridge once wrote, “Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.”

–Oswald Chambers penned the same.  “In each event, we should say: Speak, Lord, for I am listening and ready to receive.”

–And Ken Boa has taught: “Events in our lives are not neutral; they are God-given opportunities to gain wisdom.”

Looking at the Hebrew term for wisdom, I’ve discovered that this practical or ethical knowledge for living life, hakmah, can also be a kinesthetic attribute. Like a motor skill, it’s something we do, a physical ability we grow in, like a craft. 

As I pray for my brother- and sister-in-law to keep seeking and receiving God’s guidance, I ask the same for myself, my family and friends. I trust Him to come through, but I believe He is asking more, that is to let go of depending on ourselves. In the end, as we walk by faith in God’s promise to provide, we will grow to know Him better. 
Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. Proverbs 9:10 NLT

Fellowship with one another

March 23, 2025

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But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 ESV

God really does communicate personally if I stay open to hearing Him, when my Bible is shut.  Two days ago I texted something to a family member. I thought I was communicating empathy.  She took it a different way. With clear words, she let me know that I had “rubbed her the wrong way”. That with a specific question, I had intruded in an area quite personal to her. 

She was both direct and gracious as she communicated a boundary. I immediately thanked her for promptly letting me know and apologized, promising not to bring it up again. 

Did this encounter hurt? Yes, but I’m thankful she trusts me enough to be honest. She values our friendship.

This morning, as I was reading Oswald Chambers, (23 March My Utmost for His Highest) I knew Jesus was speaking to me about this incident.  Oswald wrote to the effect that if God pinpoints something in us, highlighting a sin, He isn’t asking us to change. “He only asks you to accept the light of truth, and then He will make it right”. 

The wrong response to any criticism would be to try to justify or explain ‘it’ away.  As is with our God, so it is in our human relationships.  Had I made excuses to this dear one like, “Well, I was only trying to reach out to you….” that would not have brought the two of us back into fellowship, removing the distance. On the contrary, it could have enlarged the discomfort she felt and created a chill in our relationship. 

Agreeing with how I had hurt her was moving ‘into the light’. Just as He promised, Jesus washed away the sin and restored our fellowship. My response and her acceptance of it, removed potential compostable material for Satan to take advantage of.

Definitely worth it.

New Year, New Goals, New Format

January 12, 2025

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I’ve switched to writing short devotional-sized reflections. Occasionally, I’ll post two of them here on this blog. Happy New Year!

….let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him …..Hebrews 10:22 NLT

After Joe’s sermon on Sunday about how to abide in Jesus, I read John Piper’s Solid Joys reflection on this verse.  He called it a ‘command’! That startled me, for sure.  I never have viewed it as a command. But I can’t tell you why not, given that I know enough about other language grammar structure to recognize it.

Had the writer meant to exclude himself, he would have said it this way:  Go straight into the presence of God!  But he includes himself, ‘let us go’.

Why did this grab my attention?  Because Joe had mentioned that when we obey God, we are abiding in Jesus. Usually, I picture obedience as doing something difficult.  But this command is like:  let us eat our chocolate after dinner, something altogether enjoyable.

Could it be that I could view other commands as delightful?  How about:

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6 NLT.

More to ponder and try out, for sure.

****

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So, I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 NLT

Oswald Chambers always gets me thinking. As I read his devotion, I picked up my pen and started writing to figure out what was packed into this one verse.

Here goes my version of Galatians 2:20. According to God, my illusions of who I am died on that cross with Jesus.  That Maria no longer exists. (Although at times I forget and start thinking like her.) A new Maria lives because of Jesus.

When did that happen? At the point when God opened her eyes to see Jesus for who he is, Holy God, and to see that Maria, selfish sinner, headed for eternity separated from God.

Since then, the new Maria is to by faith, depending on the Son of God who loved her by yielding himself to unrighteous, evil authorities in obedience to his Father. Jesus died on the cross instead of Maria.

The cross remains a picture of the judgment that would be awaiting me were it not for Christ taking my place. In the cross, I see what I deserve as well as the love of God for me.

I’m trying to keep one eye forward to follow Jesus and the other eye back on the cross to remember what would have been my destiny. 

Turning ‘events’ into adventures

July 11, 2024

Maria Fear, Humility, John 17, Knowing Jesus, Prayer, Service , , , 4 Comments

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,

The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break

In blessings on your head.

Stanza 3, William Cowper, Light Shining out of Darkness

All week long, with intentionality, I have fought back old patterns of imagining the worst. Daily I have sought a different truth with which to fight fear. 

Anne had pointed me to Cowper’s poem more than 2 years ago when I was worried about what another family member might ask me to do to help my mother-in-law.  I had been traveling a lot already and did not want to add another air trip.  Besides sharing the Cowper verses, she had me actually articulate the worst that could happen: “I’ll have to fly out to Seattle and escort her to Asheville. And I don’t want to.” Anne then responded: ‘Do you think you’ll survive that short hardship?”

Well, put that way, what could I do but nod ‘yes’?

This morning reading Oswald Chambers devotion for July 11, I saw a healthier and saner way to approach ‘worst case scenarios’.

Oswald describes just how to think about all of life. It’s to keep reminding myself that the purpose of life, of every occurrence I face is to know Jesus.

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3 NIV

And we ‘learn him’ better through every experience, from menial tasks to scary events. That is, IF we remember to view events from that perspective.

Using Jesus’ example of washing his disciples’ feet, Oswald writes that Jesus was willing to humble himself since he knew two fundamental truths: that he had come from God and was returning to God.

Continuing with Oswald, I should not approach a commitment, a volunteer responsibility or household chore with the attitude: ‘There’s work to be done, I must do it’. Instead, I should bring an attitude of wonder to the work at hand.  ‘I wonder what I will learn about Jesus in this?’

Just now sitting in the dental hygienist’s chair, the Holy Spirit reminded me, “This is an ‘event’.  (No, I don’t dread the dentist’s office!) Be on the alert from what you can learn about Jesus.”

I’ve been praying for ‘Karina’ since my last appointment, that she would come to know Jesus. With the Spirit’s prompt, as she removed tools from my mouth I asked her if her mom and dad were believers. That’s when I found out she grew up with Hispanic parents who never went to church.  I broke into Spanish and chatted with her some and created a point in common.  Now I understand more why she has no spiritual point of reference.

This is actually fun! Every part of my day is a new adventure if I seek to see more of Jesus.

And when it comes to those events I dread or worry about, I will continue to work on changing old patterns of fearful imagining of future problems. To that end, I’m copying Jesus, by applying and personalizing John 17:3 –  Since I know the Father loves me, I will do/face what is at hand, eager to know Jesus in a new way.  For this is what true life is.

“What a cacophony of negative thoughts! Just how many of YOU ALL are there running through my head?”

June 6, 2024

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Something I read in Oswald Chambers the other morning (4 June) struck a chord.  “Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear him and then to respond after I have heard what he says.”  What the Holy Spirit did with his words is pull back the curtain to show me how many fleeting, but negative notions circulate daily in my mind.  His revelation to me doesn’t directly connect with Oswald’s quote, but it’s what Jesus directed me to examine.

Holy cow!  I really do look at or evaluate my life as a glass half empty. You wouldn’t pick that up about me, for I present as an upbeat, positive encouraging gal. Even my husband registered surprise when I told him. 

Two of these running, disparaging and negative ‘tapes’ that I choose to play over and over are: 

  • We don’t have as many friends as most people…. or

We should do more with friends…. or Are we engaging enough with friends?

  • We don’t grandparent as well as others…. or What can we do to stay more in touch with our grandkids…. or What plans can we make right now to be with our grandkids?

With that God-directed realization of bad thinking, I asked Jesus’ forgiveness for declaring (even if just in my mind) and meditating on what is false, what is not true.

In reality, if I’m being objective, Mike and I actually DO have lots of friends and stay in contact with them. In fact we are traveling to England this summer specifically to see and be with friends.  And as far as our 6 grandchildren who don’t live near us, we DO see them when we can.  We DO keep in touch with them. We DO pray for them and let them know that.

What do you do when you find yourself consistently ruminating on negative and probably false thoughts? How do you escape? Because if we don’t do anything, we simply live in that dark place.

As I reflected on Oswald’s words, especially the second half “… am I learning to truly hear him and then to respond after I have heard what he says?”, the idea to thank Jesus for the friends and grandkids he has given us struck me.

Sitting out on our back patio, with the crowded birdfeeder busy with God’s hungry creation, birds and squirrels, I started a stream of thanksgiving. It was easy.  Immediately I felt lighter and my mood lifted.

That was a lightbulb moment, for sure.  All I had to do was switch the perspective. Actually, say the opposite. I found it easy to add on numerous other gifts the Lord has offered me.  

Here’s another example. Sometimes I feel squeezed and downhearted thinking about all the tasks I have self-assigned. So, I started thanking God for the time he has given me as well as other blessings:

I’m retired. I have the freedom to plan my days. I GET to grocery shop weekday mornings.  I GET to clean house with Mike on a weekday, instead of weekends. I GET to maintain contact with the many friends I have.  I GET to practice my languages and meet new people.

Over the past 3 days, I have turned my resolution to ‘take every thought captive’ into a prayer. “Father, help me to NOTICE persistent negative thought patterns so I can declare the exact opposite and turn them into thanksgivings.”

So far, this is working.  At the gym this morning, I caught myself stewing about ‘grandkids’.  And by grace, I was able to immediately turn that around and thank God FOR these precious children.

I know it’s going to take some time and much practice to create new grooves in my brain. But it’s never too late. And the immediate relief I get from thanking our good Father is reward enough for now.

Do you believe in what is invisible?

April 18, 2024

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Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” John 20:29 NLT

Saturday, while walking along the greenway trail behind our house, I stopped to chat with a couple who own the breed of dog I would choose, were I ever to be a dog owner. (We are cat lovers!) This husband and wife exercise their pair of miniature Australian sheepdogs every day, throwing frisbees wide and far for them to chase. 

To control one of her dogs, the ‘mom’ carries a whistle that only dogs and other animals can pick up. It emits a soundwave at a frequency that humans can’t detect. Her disobedient dog doesn’t like it and immediately stops chasing the squirrel or other critter that tempt him to bound away.

I have to take this woman’s word that the whistle really produces a sound. I can’t hear it, but apparently it is reality.  Just like I can’t see other phenomena that truly exist. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t real.  I searched for another example to share with you.  

Apparently, photographers have found a way to capture the fluorescent radiance of flowers using a technique called UVIVF (ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence) photography. The naked eye can’t catch this intrinsic quality, but the photos I saw on line showed a beautiful glow around blossom.

Logically, if we take as a given the things in nature that we can’t detect with our human senses, then would it not follow that a God who is invisible to us could also exist? Especially, since there are eye-witness accounts?

I, as a believer, trust God and accept the scriptures as true. Yet, I still functionally act as an unbeliever in one major way.  Even though Jesus told his disciples that he would be with them always, I go about the majority of my day not talking to Jesus as though he were present. Which he is.

I’m like many of the clients I meet at our local choose life pregnancy center. A fair number identify themselves Christians. But they don’t accept that Jesus IS alive and present. Since they don’t feel him, or see him, it’s as though he isn’t here. And that makes it easy to ignore him.

I don’t want ever to ignore Jesus.  So, I make a point of talking out loud to him during my quiet time. I sit at the dining room table and address the Lord sitting across from me.  I chat with him, thanking him, praising him and committing my cares and those of others to him for the day. I also ask his opinion about things that are bothering me.

But sometimes that is the only time of day, I talk to him. I’m trying to change. But Satan seems to interpose little obstacles that hinder my engaging with the living Son of God. This morning, during my quiet time, I found myself putting off talking to him.

After reading and meditating on the passages for today, I wanted to move on and read a couple of devotionals, instead of praying first.  I said to myself, ‘I’ll read Oswald Chambers and John Piper to see what they have to say this morning. Then I’ll talk to Jesus.”  Clearly, I preferred reading what some men had to say about Jesus rather than hearing from the living Lord right there in my dining room.

By grace, I realized that I was stalling, and with the Lord present!  That felt embarrassing. What could be more important than being together, face to face with our Father, our Brother and the Holy Spirit, the triune almighty and holy God?

If you’re like me, then we need to accept as fact that we’ll encounter some kind of resistance, maybe even every day.  Proof positive, that Satan doesn’t want us relying on the presence of God, of talking to him and hearing from him.   Much ‘safer’ if we just discuss the Lord, as someone from the past. Even as we pay lip service to the reality of the living Jesus.

What can we do? Wearing a rubber band or bracelet on your wrist might be a tool, or setting a timer to ping every 30 minutes as a reminder. What I’m choosing to do is use my little old-school 4×6 spiral notebook. I look at it frequently throughout my day.  This morning I added another ‘to do’:

“Talk to you, Jesus, throughout the day.” 

Changing up how I pray

February 6, 2024

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And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Matthew 6:5 ESV

When you pray, don’t babble on and on…….. Matthew 6:7 NLT

Do you find it hard to pray?  Do you struggle to know if God will accept the words you use, that they will be pleasing to him, or   ‘enough’? Do you even know what to say?

Sometimes I wonder, ‘Do I have to pray earnestly with feeling or can I pray in an ordinary tone?’  Wes, who was our mischievous, manipulative, incorrigible son (although irresistibly cute!) used to implore me, begging with a long drawn-out , “PLEEEEEEEEZE, Mom. PLEEZE, PLEEZE, PLEEZE….” until I caved. 

Is that how I view God, the Father? 

Some books I’ve been reading have gently redirected my manner of praying as well as the content. And they have added a preliminary, ongoing preparation in order to pray.

Oswald Chambers, a British pastor at the turn of the 20th century, taught his students how to pray simply and if I can say so, matter of factly.  Not a ho-hum approach as though we don’t care about the outcome, but a matter-of-factness that comes from trusting God’s knowledge, wisdom and timing.  In all but one occasion, and that in the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing what awaited him, Jesus simply talked to his Father using normal words and without any begging. 

I wrote in my journal: Huh, I guess I DON’T have to convince God with earnest feelings, but pray with confidence as Jesus did. 

I’m not saying that heart-felt, emotion-laden praying is wrong. I’m just not someone who traffics in deep emotions on a daily basis. I process rationally, following my thoughts to figure out my heart motives.

In one of his short reflections from his book, If Ye Would Ask, Oswald explains what it means to pray in the Holy Spirit.  Since the Holy Spirit inhabits us, that makes our bodies a house of prayer. Our job is to clean our temple on a daily basis, taking care of our thoughts and practices.  Then we simply communicate to the Spirit what we personally need or intercessions on behalf of someone else.

Chambers models how we are to present with simple details, the person and the situation to the Spirit of God in us. That is praying ‘in the Spirit’ or in the place where the Spirit is. Afterwards, we leave the matter in his hands to intercede with inexpressible groans on behalf of our petitions.  He does the emoting.

I recently read a biography of Mrs. Oswald Chambers who, with the ability to use shorthand at the rate of 250 words a minute, transcribed all of Oswald’s talks and teachings.  The biographer Michelle Ule provides abundant examples of both Oswald and his wife’s (Biddy) prayers. For example:

Father, we lift up Steve who is caring for our mom. Give him the wisdom he needs today. Amen.

The Holy Spirit will do the rest, according to the GOOD will of the Father. And isn’t that what we want?

But then maybe we don’t.  Maybe we’re afraid of God’s will. Maybe what we REALLY want is OUR will to be done.

That is what provides me anxiety in my life.  I know what I think is best. But what if God’s will doesn’t line up with my desires? I don’t know God’s thoughts, his plans. But scripture says otherwise.

I am finding that the only and actually the most liberating answer to that dilemma of my will vs God’s will is the fact that, as Christians, we actually have been given the ‘mind of Christ’.  Yes, it’s true.

“Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16 NLT

So….is it that simple…whatever I think, that’s what Jesus thinks?  Yes and no.  This is my take, but it’s what scripture teaches us. The more we soak in God’s word and let his supernatural holy, ‘ex’-pired or God-breathed words shape our thoughts, the more we develop a mind that thinks like Jesus and is receptive to the Father’s communications as was the Son when he walked among us. That’s what growing in holiness is. Growing like God. Learning to think like God.

My job is to keep directing my thoughts back to God. You and I DO have that power, that ability to think about what we choose.  Dallas Willard refers to that freedom as the only liberty we truly have, to focus and aim our thoughts toward a particular end.

For you and me to be able to say without fear, “Your will be done,” we have to trust God. And to trust him, we have to KNOW him. If I’m focusing on problems, circumstances, or suffering, I’m not thinking ‘in the Spirit’.  But the more I think biblically, the more I will know and recognize Christ’s thoughts and they become mine.  Not totally but more and more.

This is my daily goal.

When did you lose your sense of wonder?

January 19, 2024

Maria Colossians 4, Holy Wonder, Matthew 18, Matthew 26, Prayer, Psalm 18 , , 2 Comments

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 NIV

What are little children like?  I picture little ones between the ages of 4 and 7, wide-eyed with anticipation, totally trusting the one they’re with. Sadly, it seems kids age out of that wonder stage. But do they have to?

I remember my last spontaneous, wonder-filled summer morning.  I was actually seven, or about to turn seven in July.  I lived with my mom and grandmother in an apartment in Devon, Pennsylvania. Mom and I shared a bedroom. That morning, she woke me up with a smile, saying ‘Get dressed! This is the day.’ 

We were off to Europe for a good chunk of the summer. That memory is painted in turquoise. For having had a bath the night before, I pulled on a turquoise top I loved and was ready for ADVENTURE in lickety-split.  I don’t remember the details, just those first 5 minutes of that day. Somehow, we travelled up to the port of New York to catch a trans-Atlantic ship bound for Southampton, England.

Most of us, as we move through childhood and adolescence into adulthood, lose our sense of wonder, our excited anticipation about a possible adventure. When we don’t feed that innate child-like ability and receptivity to being astonished, we grow dry, practical, no longer able to respond with spontaneity, having lost our taste, desire or expectation for new adventures and invigorating surprises.

I’ve been reading Oswald’s book, If Ye Will Ask. He poses four child-like questions we can personalize:

-“I wonder how God will answer this prayer?

-I wonder how God will answer the prayer the Spirit is praying in me?

I wonder what glory God will bring to Himself out of the strange perplexities I am in?

I wonder what new turn His providence will take in manifesting Himself in my ways?”

The first time I customized these questions to fit the needs of my day, I immediately relaxed. Psalm 18:9 came to mind – He brought me out into a broad place; (ESV).

This ‘wonder’ perspective shifts the focus off of my immediate needs onto the Lord’s purposes. It makes me curious. It lifts my gaze, my focus off of me and what I want to loop up and out.  That brings to mind two commands: one from Matthew 26:31 ‘Watch and pray!’ and the other from Colossians 4:2 ‘Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.’

Here are two fresh examples of how I’m applying these wonder questions to my needs.

My recent round-trip to Tampa to care for my granddaughters took place during terrible winter storms. Both travel days included delays with the high potential for cancelled flights.

Having read Oswald during my week in Tampa, the day I returned home, I felt totally calm with an excited curiosity of what God was going to do.

I realistically faced the fact that if I couldn’t make my connection, that I might have to spend the night near the airport. But that would be a new adventure, for sure. And I find adventures to be energizing, breaks from routine. The Lord obviously decided it was more important for me to arrive home in only one travel day. Mike was VERY grateful to have me back with him that night.

The bigger blessing was the calmness this approach brought to my day. At the airport and on the two flights, I was able to point several people to God’s goodness and total control over all details in our lives.

That was a short-term practical exercise in wonder.  Here’s a long-term one that is front and center in our lives.  Mike’s mom at 95 is declining rapidly and is scared about all the changes and losses she is undergoing.  She now needs more money to pay for assisted living. Of course, our Father knows here needs, but instead of narrowly focusing on the details of these two situations, I am praying the ‘wonder prayers’.  Just how is God going to be glorified in his provision? What is the Holy Spirit actually praying IN Mom? What is he doing IN her?  I’m curious to witness the creative ways will God use in Mom’s life to show his love. Finally, what will we, her family, experience as we accompany her on her last earthly adventure?

I’m seeing in a new way, the reality of how God’s purposes are bigger than any of my situations. And that relaxes me, for I trust his goodness, his love and his wisdom. May his will be done in my life and the lives of those I pray for.

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