The Ordinary vs. The Spectacular!

Sadly I must admit I am a bit disappointed that Hurricane Lane did not actually "hit" the Island of Oahu and our little town of Kailua with the expected high winds and torrential downpours!  Is that heartless, perverted, sadistic or what? What is wrong with me? I have been thinking about this strange feeling all day. I guess it boils down to being an "adventure" junkie. I love new experiences. Just making the preparations carried with it a sense of anticipation. What was actually going to happen? Sometimes the ordinary is just blame boring. I am often discontent with the status quo. I do a poor job of following Paul's example in Philippians 4:11
"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."
 Rather, I find myself often searching for the next thrill, the next "spectacular" challenging event. But life consists of more ordinary than spectacular and it is in the ordinary, the boring that one can slow down long enough to hear God whispering. He is trying to teach me that He meets us more intimately while serving Him in the trenches of life, the routine schedules, the daily tasks and familiar relationships than on the occasional spectacular mountain top.  
I am truly thankful for the prayers of others concerning safety through the possible storm. And my selfish self knows to rejoice that we were spared the possible hurricane damages. We were and continue to be blessed. So I will look elsewhere for my next "adventure fix". Ha!

Preparations for a "face to face" encounter with Hurricane Lane!

I have never been in a hurricane, although growing up in Iowa necessitated many trips to the cobweb infested farm house cellar! In fact three tornadoes converged on Oelwein, my hometown in 1968, my senior year of high school,  destroying a large section of the town including the roof of our high school building. My senior year came to an abrupt halt with no prom, celebrations, or finals-memorable indeed!
Back to the present. In less than two days hurricane Lane, a level 5 hurricane,  is tracking to hit Honolulu, on the island of Oahu. We are staying with Rebecca and her family of 6 on this island north east of Honolulu in a town called Kailua. Since we are not certain of the exact trajectory of Lane we are taking as many precautions as possible.
First of all, we have been shopping a number of times, as have thousands of others. Costco was a battle zone as was Target and the navy commissary! Checkout lines snaked through crowded isles from front to the back of the stores. Shelves were quickly emptied as carts bulged with everything from cases of water to bread and paper products.
How long we need to "hold out" against this force of nature no one can really know but the army is suggesting a stock pile of 14 days worth of food and water as a good gauge. All ports have closed and the fear is power outages, which could last a week or more. Therefore we have approximately 1 gallon of water per person for 14 days as well as a good quantity of dry and canned goods, noodles, boxed foods, etc.
Next we have spent the day securing anything that will "fly" with the winds, storing toys, chaining down kayaks, dismantling patio furniture, etc. We also filled two large garbage cans with water and will fill both bath tubs tomorrow with water so we are able to flush toilets.
Finally we made a library "run" and came home with movies (if the electricity holds) and lots of books, if it doesn't! Oh and we did not forget the extra batteries for flashlights, propane for the grill, and stocked first aid kits!
Have we covered all our bases? Who knows but we feel reasonably prepared.
 My Bible verse for today is found in Joshua 1:9 and is most appropriate:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go (and whatever you encounter)!"

There is a contemporary Christian song written by Ryan Stevenson titled "In The Eye of The Storm"
The chorus is as follows:

In the eye of the storm
You remain in control
And in the middle of the war
You guard my soul
You alone are the anchor
When my sails are torn
Your love surrounds me 
In the eye of the storm


We rest in the fact that God is in control!

WE ARE READY!

The Weight Vest

I have osteoporosis in my family and I would like to avoid this malady. Unfortunately my long and tall physique with thin bones combine to make me the perfect candidate. Medications are out of the question, my choice, but I also dislike lifting weights. I eat a healthy diet packing in a bundle of veggies and fruits every day. But a vegan lifestyle might be "light" on what is necessary for strong bones. A dilemma, until a recent discussion with my oldest son produced a solution. Since I do enjoy walking, even with bone spurs in my feet, he suggested I look into walking with a weight vest. Studies have proven in order to strengthen bones there has to be some kind of resistance. After a search on the internet we came up with a weight vest especially created for women. This is the website if any of you are interested http://ironwearfitness.com/wospveahebrm.html

I now walk several mornings a week, from 30-60 minutes at a time, wearing this vest carrying an additional 8 pounds. My goal is to add 12 extra pounds-10% of my body weight. Today, I realized the vest not only is a benefit for building bone strength but serves other purposes as well: it helps me focus on balance, and a longer than normal gait, which is often a problem for Parkinson patients. In addition I am working my voice muscles as I sing with the praise music, probably a pain for those in earshot!

My vest is quit snug and while wearing it I have a sense of security and purpose-like what I am doing will improve the condition of my body and hopefully prevent broken bones in the future.

In the spiritual world I could compare this to being "yoked" to Jesus. Jesus says in Matthew 11:29-30
"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yolk is easy and my burden is light."
A yoke is a wooden beam normally used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs. 
Being yoked to Christ I know "we", Jesus and I, are pulling together in life. That knowledge gives me a sense of security, guidance, comfort, support, strength and most importantly close and intimate fellowship with my best friend and my redeemer.
Consider being yoked to Jesus. It is the ONLY way to live life!

"Living on the Edge" AKA-Taking Risks

Recently my husband and I were on the big island in Hawaii with some of our children and grandchildren. We had the opportunity to view the molten lava spewing out of fissure 8 from the Kilauea Volcano. My daughter and her husband viewed it via a long difficult boat ride in the early morning hours, resulting in a close and magnificent view. It was definitely risky as proved by a serious accident occurring from the same company two days following their ride! The only other option for viewing flowing lava was a helicopter ride, which my husband and I chose due to several factors, two of which were sea sickness and "grandchild sitting" needs. Yet the helicopter ride, for me, was "living on the edge". We rode in a "doors off" four seat helicopter. Since  I don't "do" roller coasters one would wonder why I would even attempt this event but my desire to actually see the hot, runny lava was so great that I decided the risk was "worth it". I am happy to report, it was! To see another of God's powerful creations was truly magnificent.

In reflecting on my life in general, due in part to my upcoming 50th high school reunion, I would say I have taken a number of risks:

Wild escapades on a barn bag swing] as a teenager
 Iowa farm girl marrying a man from New York-(my parents thought that the biggest risk ever-Ha)
Riding in a hot air balloon
Living in and negotiating the cities and backroads of China for three years
Tandem bike-riding in China, Holland, Germany, Italy
Zip lining in the jungles of Costa Rica
Scuba diving on a multitude of islands including the cenotes of Mexico (so scary!)
Living 6 years full time in an RV and traveling the country volunteering at camps

I know each one of us can list risk-taking experiences in our lives that have changed us. Yet true change, resulting in spiritual growth, is in spiritual risk-taking, which could be defined as hearing and responding to the call of God through the whispers of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible is chock full of spiritual risk-takers. Here are but a few:

Abraham asked to sacrifice his son.
Moses asked to approach the Pharaoh of Egypt and demand the Israelites be set free from slavery.
David approaching Goliah, the giant, to do battle with five small stones and a sling
Rahab hiding Israelite spys in her home.
Ruth leaving her country and moving to the country of her mother-in-law
Esther entering the king's chambers to plead for her people
Peter entering a Gentile's home (Cornelius) and sharing the truth about Jesus with his family
Paul preaching in a multitude of Jewish synagogues and proclaiming Jesus as the prophesied Messiah

These giants of faith were no different than you or I. They were just obedient, even when obedience meant stepping into the unknown. I have to now ask myself when have I stepped out into the unknown spiritually and obeyed and what were the results? This is not such an easy list to compose. I won't bore you with what God has done through my meager attempts at spiritual risk-taking but I do challenge you to take a look at your spiritual journey and see if risk-taking is an intricate part of your "road".
You might be asking what exactly does this look like? Here are a few examples:

-filling that children's church vacancy by teaching those squirming little toddlers an hour a week.
-taking some cookies across the street to new neighbors.
-volunteering time at a homeless shelter
-visiting the lonely senior citizens at a nearby Senior Center
-cleaning the yard of an ailing neighbor
-being part of a short term missions trip or even answering the call to go on the mission field

On and on it goes-millions of ideas just waiting for the risk taker to grab hold of and shine the light of Jesus to a darkened world.

The Guardian Angel

It was Friday morning in Fishers and I was going to a women's Bible study in Britton Falls, the retirement community where we have our house. Because Hunter is still in Florida with the RV for another month I was not staying at our home but rather living with my son and his family and three of our grandchildren. They love me "sleeping over", which is exactly what I planned to do for a month. It was a cold morning in April but I knew my truck would warm quickly. I grabbed my Bible and study book and flew out the door, hating to be late. I jumped in the truck and drove around the corner to an intersection where I waited for the light to give me a green arrow. While waiting I began fiddling with the heat buttons on the dash. Now I am new to driving this truck since we have had it but a short time. For some reason I could not get the heat to turn on with the knobs and I was getting colder by the minute. I was concentrating intently on the lack of heat when the car behind me began to honk his horn, obviously indicating the green arrow was available and I needed to pay more attention and drive through the intersection. OK, I understood the message! Just as I was about to press on the accelerator an 18 wheeler barreled through the red light directly in front of me, traveling well in excess of the speed limit! 

I was so startled I could barely move, which I did, albeit rather slowly because of the shaking in my limbs! Slowly I was becoming aware that I had had a "near-death" experience! If I had not been trying to get the heat working and had dutifully moved in to the intersection when the green arrow first appeared I would have been hit directly on my truck door, t-boned as they call it, and been killed no doubt with the force of that semi! 

I later learned that Brooke, my daughter-in-law had, when borrowing the truck on the previous day, turned off the heat with a button I could not, at the moment, locate. If not for her action I would at best be hospital bound, at worst "in the grave." Thank-you, Brooke!!

I am reminded of Psalm 34:7

"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them."

I do believe God was protecting me, sending his angel to set up guard around my truck.

So often in life we tend to chalk occurrences in our lives to coincidence. As a follower of Jesus I do not believe there is such a "thing" as a coincidence. God never leaves us. His plans for our lives will be carried out as He wills. It is just my response to such an awesome God to give Him the credit for what He does and who He is through praise! So tonight I praise Him for His protection of me! 

Postscript-Laziness of "mind"

Today's devotional by Alistair Beg, one of my favorite pastors, is "Work with your Whole Heart"! God's timing is always spot on! This is a perfect postscript for my blog yesterday!

Check it out at Oneplace.com

Laziness of "mind"

My last blog was when? January 8th? Wow-where have I been? Out to lunch? Daydreaming? Just taking it easy? Could it be a case of "writer's block", blank page stare, pencil paranoia? I'd like to think God was simply being silent since I wait on His leading for topics and information to share. Has He been off my radar? Definitely not. In fact He has given me several "ideas" but I have not "run with the ball" He has dribbled my way. Why? I was pondering that while walking this afternoon and actually the answer was not what I wanted to hear. It is laziness of mind. Now I would not categorize myself as lazy. I cook, clean, exercise, read, volunteer, socialize, and participate in any number of activities. Yet do I really THINK? Do I honestly challenge my mind regularly? Unfortunately that answer is a resounding NO. In retirement it is easy to coast mentally. I simply pick up a Charles Martin novel and I'm happily floating in another world. Some would say that is deserved at this stage in life. But recent medical studies have come out with the stats on the relationship between stimulating your mind and staying mentally healthy longer. OK. That should be reason enough to do crossword puzzles, play free cell, engage in cards or other stradegy thinking games. I do participate in game nights and enjoy them but writing these blogs best challenges me to dig deep in my mind, sifting out thoughts and words and weighing what is most relevant at the moment to share as God nudges me. He has spoken to me about such topics as "Our Identity in LIfe" and "The value of true friends". Maybe there will be a time I wax eloquent on these subjects but today I just want to challenge each of you to seek out your area of "laziness". See it for what it is, name it and face it and decide to do something about it. If it's cleaning, pick up a dust cloth; if it's cooking, open a recipe book; if like me your mind needs some stimulation, try a crossword or face a blank page and write on it! I am already feeling energized! God knows best when he encourages us, through the words of Paul, (even in retirement), to be self-disciplined and keep running the race of life.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." 

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Let's all determine to run hard so that "in the end" there will be no evidence of laziness, even throughout the last years of life, but rather roads lined with trees of productivity under which our grandchildren can be refreshed!