God is with us in even the worst storms……
It is raining. Hard. The wind blows horizontal sheets of rain that bombard the window like plaques of pebbles. Thunder rattles the walls and the wind gusts through unseen cracks in the door jam. Lightening flashes across the sky, showcasing the trees as they bend and dance in the wind and lighting up the river that now streams down my driveway.
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Ever wonder if you heard God wrong and you’re supposed to be doing something different? Periodically those thoughts tiptoe uninvited into my brain, and I wrestle with what-if questions, too
Last week I met some very powerful and accomplished women at a conference. Jealousy crept in as I mulled over how old I am, questioned dreams I have yet to fulfill, and wondered about where I am in life. One of those powerful women happened to be with me at the time and my doubts spilled into our small group sharing.
“Maybe you’re exactly where your supposed to be,” she said. “Maybe Satan is trying to discourage you because you’re doing such a good job.” Her comment caught me off guard, and frankly, surprised me. I rarely think about the devil and speak of him even less. I thanked her at the end of our session and headed outside for time to consider her words.
What an interesting theory, I reflected as I meandered onto a nature trail next to the conference center. As usually happens when I am outdoors, my thoughts lightened. The sunshine warmed my perspective and my face; the birds distracted me with their song, and the plants and flowers perked my curiosity. Gradually I felt better and headed back for the next meeting.
As I crossed onto a boardwalk over classic North Carolina swampland, a dozen birds up ahead pranced on the path and squawked loudly. I didn’t pay much attention, until the stick they were fussing over raised its head and hissed. The snake was sill a good fifteen feet ahead of me, but the wooden path was narrow and the swamp below squishy with mud.
Continue reading →Tomorrow would have been Neil’s 62nd birthday. It’s nice to think of him today and smile without tears. He wasn’t perfect like me (lol) but he sure did have his good points. He was the most generous person I ever met– he would give away his shirt if someone else needed it – and in fact, on several occasions, did just that. He was level-headed and calm and loved to laugh – even when his jokes weren’t funny. And he had a remarkable wisdom that I didn’t always appreciate at the time. This is an old post, but it seems appropriate to resurrect it:
Neil had a way of teaching me things. Sometimes I learned from him, other times I learned because of him, but in retrospect he was pretty wise. Here are seven of his great life lessons we should all remember.
1. Don’t be afraid. Be reasonable, but don’t be afraid – to try something new, to go somewhere alone, to make a new friend, to do what you want.
2. Be compassionate to everyone – young people, old people, tattooed people, long-haired people, smokers, drinkers, drug users, folks in jail – because underneath it all they’re just people like us. No one is perfect, and every one of us is human and flawed, yet God loves us all. We should love each other.
Continue reading →Last month I had the incredible experience of hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Here’s the third installment about the adventure!
People talk about leaving something behind on the Camino: grief or anger or other emotional baggage that weighs them down. I wondered if my walk would uncover something I needed to abandon in order to happily move forward. Oddly, I don’t think I left anything behind, but I did bring something back: fresh eyes for my everyday pilgrimage.
Last month I had the incredible experience of hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Here’s the second installment about the adventure!
An often-repeated comment by people who have hiked the Camino is that they were touched by others they met along the way. (Have you seen the movie The Way? If so, you know what I mean). I expected to make new friends in our pilgrim tour group, but I didn’t expect to be moved by strangers on the walk. As always, God is full of surprises.
One morning, after snapping pictures of several beautiful vistas, I accidently dropped my cell phone into the zippered air vent of my jacket instead of the zippered pocket. Did the walkers 500 feet back see it fall? Or did they just happen to find it? Did the Holy Spirit point it out to them? All I know is that from my spot on the road ahead, I gradually noticed their shouts: “Amigo! Friend! Pilgrim! Peregrino! Hey!”
When I finally turned around, a couple was quickly approaching, the woman frantically waving my cell phone above her head.
“Thank you!” I exclaimed, my heart pounding and panicked at the thought I almost lost it. For the next few hours I thought about my excessive affection for my phone. It’s loaded with pictures and important contacts to be sure, but after all, it’s just a phone. What other possessions am I overly attached to? I remembered the admonition to enjoy the blessings and gifts God gives you while you have them, but graciously let them go when it’s time. It gave me something to pray about for the rest of that day.
These were not the only kind strangers. Although nature provides plenty of outdoor bathroom space along the trail, most hikers try to use an indoor one.
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