"Trey Tuesday" - October 25, 2016

Seasons

Most of us are feeling the chill in the air tonight....well, OK...let's call it like it is - it's freezing cold out there!!!  It was 85 degrees last week and now this!?!?  But...the fall season also ushers in memories of bonfires, apple cider, and overflowing Halloween candy bags!  :)

Despite the calendar, what other season(s) are you in?  Pregnancy, new job, divorce, college, moving, new team, caring for a loved one, busy-ness, loneliness, overwhelmed, underwhelmed, boiled, fried or well done....seasonal change is hard.  We want to stay comfortable right where we are, right where we know the routine...

Back in Old Testament days, after Moses rescued his people and led them away from slavery through the miraculously parted Red Sea, can you believe that the people complained about the new season they were in?  They wanted to go back to the old miserable abuse and torture!  But once again, God performed miracles to show them how much He loved them and cared for them in the new season.

How's that working for you?  Are you grumbling in the desert?  Or can you remember how God has blessed you and provided for you in previous seasons? 

"The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of His bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands."  Deuteronomy 28:12

"Trey Tuesday" - October 18, 2016

Mole Hills and Mountains

Do a quick Google image search.  Look at a picture of a mole hill - a rinky dink little pile of dirt.

Then look at a picture of a mountain - majestic, enormous, immovable rock solid structure.

We face both each day.  The mountains of faith and hope, trust and love, patience and joy loom far off in the distance - ever present, ever necessary, ever totally attainable.  And then we trip over the mole hills - laundry, deadlines, drinking your 8 glasses of water, flossing, filling the gas tank, etc!  Mole hills are slippery slopes we must deal with as we strive toward God's mountains.

Our busy schedules make these mole hills seem like mountains, though.  An empty refrigerator can feel like a mountain to a hungry teenager.  Technology can distract you from remembering the mountain!  A minivan loaded down with snack remnants, overdue library books and a whole lot of everything else prevents you from being able to even see the mountain!

And then there are some mole hills that are like mountains - illness, loneliness, poverty, abuse, etc.  We must keep God and His huge mountain before our eyes. His mountain reigns supreme!  Always!  In all ways!

We don't know the mole hills in each other's lives, but God does.  His Word speaks directly to each one of us, personally, compassionately, and with great love, overflowing with strength, grace, and mercy for the mole hills AND the mountains in our lives. 

Psalm 121:
"I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—He who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—He will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

"Trey THURSday" - October 13, 2016

Weary?

Are you weary tonight?  Worn out?  Beat down?  Fed up?

It's America 2016 - we're all tired and exhausted, right?  This week, though, has been an exceptionally exhausting one for me....thus, the Trey THURSday!  :)  My dad has been hospitalized for a myriad of symptoms which doctors are trying to diagnose and cure.  It's sort of a cross between an obnoxious algebra problem and an episode of Monk!   Tomorrow is a big day for my dad, facing 3 procedures if God, his body and the surgeons allow.  We're weary.

And then I think of Trey.  Chemo, scans, meds, ports, surgeries, pain.  Never tiring. 

Never ever.  (except maybe when he was bored at home with his parents and siblings!)  :)

But over all that I lean on God's loving advice to us:

"The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary.He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."  Isaiah 40:28, 29

The everlasting God....the One who stays awake with us during the wee hours of the dark night

Does not grow weary....He constantly and forever is present and powered on - especially when we throw our hands up and our heads down in exhausted surrender!

Batteries, energy drinks, and yes, even coffee will run out, but God will renew our strength for the road ahead.  Are you weary tonight?  You are not alone.  And you are not without Power to press on!  :)

"Trey Tuesday" - October 4, 2016

Feeling Salty?

Salt and light.

God calls us to be both in this world.  People of many walks, beliefs, faiths, and practices often refer to the light.  Light points to the right way, the good way, the bright side. This one is easy to imagine, practice and sort of easy to do.

And then there is salt.  What does it mean to be salt?

"You are the salt of the earth."  Matthew 5:13

Salt?  The coarse white stuff that tastes weird and melts ice?  That's what we are supposed to BE?

Light is easy - you just glow wherever you are and people have to turn their own heads to notice your shiny self.

Salt is different.  You have to get close to salt to notice it.  You have to rub it in.  You have to get reaaaaaaaal close to feel the effects of salt.

Your young child doesn't understand that the ocean isn't like your swimming pool, until he/she gets knocked under a wave and tastes the difference!  :)

What kind of an influence are you in your world?

A far off light?

Or salt up close and personal?

Be forewarned - salt burns.  Tears are salty.  Sweat is salty.  Loving deeply can hurt.

During Trey's funeral week I think I cried enough tears to supply salt to every chip and pretzel factory!

"Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other."  Mark 9:50

p.s.  Here's a bonus Bible verse about salt that just cracks me up:  "Can something tasteless be eaten without salt, Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?"  Job 6:6

I love that the Holy Spirit would include a question like that in God's Word to us!  :)