Month: September 2020

“ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.  That everyone who believes may have eternal life in Him.”
–John 3: 14-15

As I sat here in my new hairdresser’s chair with my life laid out before me, I found myself more concerned about my lake hair than a stint down the river. I thought I could keep the story to myself, but no!  The kids had come for our inaugural lake weekend. I had survived rides on the inner tube, so I felt bulletproof.  I honestly thought I had put the clandestine adventure behind me, but oh no. The words spewed out of my mouth, and the dreadful saga of “Sammy the Snake” unfolded. Hold on to your seat!

Just how was I going to get rid of the victim and clean up the murder weapon? I snagged a shovel from my neighbor, that I had known for all of three weeks, and coerced her to join in this exciting escapade. After a short discussion, we took a vote and decided the best thing to do was toss the snake into the lake. (No wonder she never goes down to the lake to swim.)  While I was washing the patio and the scene of the crime began to disappear before my eyes, I suddenly became aware of the weapon I had grabbed. It was a lovely decorative cross on a stand that adorned the previously peaceful, welcoming porch. I killed the serpent with a cross!  Oh my!  With the crime scene destroyed, I could sleep soundly with peace in my heart, until now!  

I killed the serpent with the cross.  I lifted Jesus up high to all who would listen.  Because I believe in Him and want everyone to know His story.  Sometimes we are sent unusual experiences to spread His word.  It’s amazing how washing down the patio can lead to washing a heart clean.

Praise His holy name!!

Ponder This:

1. Has Jesus ever snuck up on you?  When?

2. Has Jesus’ power ever surprised you?

3.  Have you kept it to yourself, or blabbed away like me?

Pray with Me:

Dear Jesus,

You surprise me in so many ways.  Thank you for opening my eyes to see You at every turn.

-Your snake hunter

I hope you can join me next week as we do a little laundry together! You’re thrilled at the thought I’m sure. And remember as my auntie used to say, “No matter how bumpy the journey, your path has already been cleared.”

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”
– 2 Peter 1:2

It started with a simple question from my athletic sister-in-law, “Want to go for a bike ride?”  My mind immediately shifted to memories of me as a youngster with my pigtails flying in the air as I rode on my Schwinn, with cards clipped to the spokes of my tires for that racer noise, as I sped down the streets of my neighborhood trying to beat my brothers home from the park. 

What could possibly go wrong on a mountainside bike ride? After all “riding a bike” is something you never forget, and I was quite the speedster in my younger days.  Those were my thoughts until I saw the monstrosity that awaited me. A mountain bike and I mean a mountain bike.  It was as tall as Pikes Peak with no cards on the spokes and with my pigtails a style of the past, I realized this was not my vision of a leisurely spin.  As if it wasn’t bad enough, I was presented with a lovely bike helmet, “just in case”. 

You see, we were on vacation and when you’re on vacation you sleep late, stay up late, and your quiet time is filled with noisy fun. But then you find yourself flying down a mountain calling out to Him as you crash and burn.  Thankfully when I took off my helmet, I was having that predicted bad hair day, but at least I survived.  My Jesus showed me grace when I was just a little too busy for Him.  He showed me grace when I was careening down the mountain.  He showed me grace when I laughed at my brave stupidity and Jesus showed me peace as He guided me back home and into His arms. He reminded me of the one true thing I will never forget, He is my companion and friend. I pray He’s yours too, no matter what your days hold.

Points to Ponder

1.  What makes you brave?  

2.  Have you seen Jesus’ grace and peace lately?

3. Who is your closest companion?

Pray with me

My dear precious Companion,

You keep me safe even when I tend to ignore our time together. You give me peace just because I am yours. I am blessed.

Your speedy friend.

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 I hope you’ll be my walking partner as I navigate my way through a life of whimsy, grace, and a lot of love for our Savior. You can read about my adventures on this blog, Wandering the Path, or if you’d rather, join me on my podcast Wandering the Path with Debi. 

And remember, as my Auntie used to say, “No matter how bumpy the journey, your path has already been cleared.”

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 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.”
– Mathew 14:7

There are many things that I admire about Jesus, but on the top of my list is his ability to do fractions.  Just think, the disciples gave him 5 loaves of bread and 2 measly fish and then Jesus went to work teaching the best math lesson I’ve ever heard.  He divided up the food and fed 5000 hungry and the tired new believers and even had some left over. 

When I first heard this story in Sunday school, many years ago I should have listened closer or at least taken notes.  It is definitely a math lesson, with a little faith thrown in, that I could have applied as I sat around our kitchen table with my dad redoing my algebra homework. You see I was usually on the honor roll, all A’s except for that pesky grade that floated from a strong B- to a C each nine weeks in algebra. Give me a verb to conjugate and I was all in, but don’t even think about one of those crazy algebraic equations that involved 3x squared and 2y and then if you dare to throw in rational numbers and irrational numbers you might as well be speaking another language. I told dad many times that he was being totally irrational to even assume I could grasp this class.

Dad hung in there with me and I worked really hard, and that C/B- became a steady B.  Nothing flashy but steady, steady, steady. Kind of like the disciples. They questioned Jesus and his mathematical equations, but they kept on passing those baskets around. 

After many nights around the kitchen table redoing algebra, Dad had to know I couldn’t do fractions, yet when he passed away, I joined the disciples and their questioning mode. He made me executrix of his estate. A lot of ciphering came my way.  He owned cows and if any of you have “cow experience” you know what goes along with that. It was stuff that was to be divided between my brothers and myself and my step mom. Have you ever had to divide a cow in half and then divide that half into thirds?  I thought I was going to “half” to call a butcher until a brilliant lawyer informed me I could just sell all the cows and divide the profits.  I guess I didn’t have enough nights around that table. I was lamenting this problem to my brothers, and finally in my exasperation I used my “sister” squeal of the past and  asked, “Don’t you know Sister don’t do fractions?” We shared a sibling laugh, of late nights around the kitchen table, and dad trying to help me understand Algebra. 

But you know what my dad understood? He knew I would get the job done no matter what.  After He was gone, Jesus’ disciples probably had laughs around their table, of the day they just couldn’t figure out the formula of how five loaves and 2 fish could feed the 5000. With their amazement came the understanding that, once again, He was the supreme teacher of us all.  Jesus could count on the disciples.  They might have questioned Him and His math skills, but they trusted and followed through with the Savior’s plan.

The nights around our kitchen table were good practice for my math needs of the future, even though I still can’t do fractions.  But steady, steady, steady with faith is a good practice for walking a life with Jesus, our supreme teacher.  Won’t you join me?

Points to Ponder

1. Do you have kitchen table memories?
2. Has your faith in Jesus increased throughout the years? In what way?
3. Who is your supreme teacher?  How did they get that title?

Pray with Me:

Dear Lord of all,

You give me memories of faith and blessings.  May you always be in the middle of those cherished times and those yet to come.

Sitting at Your table.

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^“When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 
– Genesis 28:16

Just so you know, I am not a fan of shoes. You know those things you wear on your feet to keep from stepping on snakes or stickers or an occasional rock?  When my neighbors remind me that walking around barefoot in the summer is not the safest thing, my consistent response is, “I am connecting with Mother Earth and Sister Sky, and between the two, my feet are in good hands.” So of course, on this noteworthy day, it would be unthinkable for them to see me cringe as I stepped on a particular edgy stone. Some things are just better kept to yourself, except when the Holy jumps in, touches your heart and you find yourself out on a limb blabbing to the world.

It’s amazing when something like the “ouch” of a rock can cause you to catch your breath and reach into the recesses of your mind,  and trigger a  memory of a  heartfelt time of a mountain top experience that stays with you. Like a well-told Bible story, or a flash of young sons playing in the yard, or maybe just a “God tap” on the shoulder. 

This “ouch” led me back to a time when my Savior held my hand through a journey and a wake-up call, much like He did Jacob after he awoke from his nap in Bethel and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”  Genesis 28:16.  Man, oh man have I been there, and it took a hike up a mountain and many conversations with God to fully rise and shine in His glory. My husband and I had gone on a weekend getaway and he was playing golf so I went looking for my “God” place, my Bethel where I could trust the Holy to bless my prayers for my sons. Where His Son would shine upon them every day so they would grow in faith and love. A place as others walked by, our young sons would soak up a stranger’s need, joy, or kindness so they could be true examples of God’s glory as they grew into men. It wasn’t an easy hike, but it was worth every breathless step to truly give them to the glory of God. In a meadow filled with blooming wildflowers and the afternoon sun shining down, I fell on my knees and gave them wholly to Him, and left.

Yep, some mother I am, just walking away and leaving the hopes and dreams for my babies with Him. Well about halfway down the mountain, and really feeling good about myself,  I changed my mind.  “Of course, I could take much better care of them than God possibly could”, so I hauled it back up the mountain, snagged two dirty rocks from among the leaves and flowers that I decided looked like them after a baseball game, stuck them back in my pocket and raced down the mountain as if God was going to grab me from behind and snatch them back.  Was I a crazy mom or what? When we returned home I placed these rocks in my flower bed and once again became in charge of their worlds. 

Years later, we moved from the home and the flower bed that held the memorial stones that had made the trip down the mountain that day, and through the years, as the flowers had grown, so had my sons. The King of all Kings had listened to my prayers on that mountaintop and honored them, He could care for them in ways I never could, He gave His life for them, I just shared mine. As I was loading my garden tools onto the moving truck, I gazed upon the beds and remembered the rocks and the trip up the mountain, the words of the mystic,  Julian of Norwich surrounded my heart, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well”. I finally got it. God is the “all” thing  I had grown to love and trust with the most precious gifts ever shared with me, and at last, I could leave them among the roses in their Father’s care.  As I trudged off with the Holy holding my hand I might have been limping a little, but I was well. He’s my Rock and my Redeemer and I pray He is yours.

Points to Ponder

1.  Have you ever felt the need to be on your knees with the Father?  Do you remember the time?

2.  Have you ever doubted God’s plans?  What made you do this?

3.  Where do you feel “All things will be well?”

Pray with Me

Dear Lord of my dreams,

I trust you with my all and all and know that you are the One who will hold my hand during “ouch” times.  I am favored to have you in my life and so thankful for others that have guided me along the way so when I fall on my knees, I know you will catch me.

Your Blessed one.

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