“BE STILL AND THOUGHTFUL,”

SAID THE WISE OLD TREE.

“LIFE MAY SEEM LONG,

BUT TIME WILL FLEE.”

–Angie Weiland Crosby–

___________________________

A Place of Grace

by Debbie Allen

Every night on the news, I hear story after story of the chaos, upheaval, and tragedies that ensue after a hurricane ravages a distant coastline; a tsunami washes away an entire village along with all the people living there, or some dormant volcano erupts unexpectedly, in a faraway country; its fiery lavas sweeping over every living thing in its pathway. These are tragedies most of us will only find ourselves caught in the middle of, when we’re watching a Hollywood disaster movie on our big-screen T. V., while being blown away by the winds of our own earsplitting surround-sound system. Yes…our adrenaline levels may rise to new and unprecedented heights during some of the more intense scenes, but nothing life-altering will ever come from the experience; unlike the headline stories mentioned above.  Disaster only becomes life-changing for us, when it strikes us personally. When we suddenly, find our own hands and our own feet entrenched in the uninvited chaos, upheaval, and sometimes tragic aftermath of a disaster that becomes an uninvited part of our life’s story forever.  Sometimes you only have to travel as far as your own back yard for a personal encounter with calamity. But even a backyard-disaster can strike with enough force to leave your heart changed forever!

My husband and I live in a 55yr-old brick, tri-level with a backyard the size of a football field. When we moved here many decades ago, there were three young cottonwood trees growing across the back portion of our yard. From the very beginning, the tree in the middle was dubbed our favorite. Three separate trunks grew out of the ground to form that one tree. Oh, if only that tree could talk… the stories it could tell! Its branches might speak of the countless variety of birds who built nests and hatched nestlings in its forks.  Or perhaps it remembers the hoot owls who perched in its treetop at midnight; to survey the rich hunting grounds below.  Maybe the incessant chattering of the squirrels stands out…the squirrels who daily turned its branches into highways and escape routes to flee on; after taunting all the neighborhood dogs. In later years, after my three boys came along, those branches provided shelter and cool shade over the sandbox they played in beneath them.  Eventually, every umbrella-like branch enticed all my boys to climb up into the tree; sometimes much higher than I liked! Oh… how they’d laugh at mom’s horrified reaction to seeing them braving such great heights! That is… until their own sons and daughters came along and learned to climb just as high!  For many years on Easter Sunday, we hid plastic eggs in the forks of that cottonwood for my grandchildren to find. Occasionally, I even coaxed my grown sons to climb back up on those branches and sit with their wives, long enough for me to snap their picture! Even in my sons’ adult years, the aged arms of that tree still found the strength to hold them up. Yes…that faithful, old tree was heavy-laden with countless adventure stories, and family memories that spanned the course of 46 years.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Disaster only becomes life-changing for us, when it strikes us personally!”

-D. Allen-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The effects of time ravages all living things; and our cottonwood tree was no exception. Its once giant trunk, whose sturdy branches and leafy fingers beckoned to all my children, “Come on! Climb up! Come touch the sky!” now stood in my backyard as more of a silent memorial. Stripped of its former glory by time, weather, and tree trimmers, and missing two of its three main trunks; what was left standing looked more like a 30ft. monstrous sling shot…without the sling. Unwilling to part with its remains yet, my husband left it standing, knowing he would someday soon, be forced to cut it down.

Time passed and Jim’s “someday soon” never came, but something else did.  The backyard disaster I spoke about earlier. It was a perfect summer evening. Not even a breeze was blowing. No rain was falling, no lightning cracking, and no thunder boomers rumbling across the sky. The fragrance of freshly mowed grass still lingered in the warm sunshine; still left from Jim’s mowing just an hour earlier. Looking out across our backyard you would not have seen any sign of calamity whatsoever lurking on our horizon. And yet…disaster struck!  Overwhelmed by the sheer dead weight of its own unstable trunk; this backyard-giant finally toppled to the ground with a thunderous blow! Remnants of loose bark and rotted twigs flew in every direction. In the interval of dead silence that followed, Jim and I caught sight of our cottonwood’s corpse lying motionless on the ground. We headed straight for it.  Running towards this chaotic scene, my mind raced; trying to stifle the skewed whispers of the voice echoing inside my head. With great persistence, that voice tried its best to stir up anger inside of me concerning what just happened:

“I told you so!  That tree should’ve been cut down a l-o-n-g time ago; and THIS…THIS wouldn’t have happened!”    

“What if one of your GRANDCHILDREN had been ON that slide when that tree fell across IT???”

The thought of my grandchildren being involved in ANY way in this scene knocked the breath right out of me. But I knew choosing anger would’ve only added to the chaos in front of me. Two weeks earlier, I’d prayed, asking God to take away the worry and fear I’d connected to that tree and the danger of it falling on someone. I remembered ending my prayer with these words: “Lord…this tree is way too big for me to handle…so I’m putting it in Your Hands.”

 Standing ankle-deep in scattered bark and debris, my heart sensed this was more than just a backyard-disaster. As I stood there surveying the tree and recalling the words to my prayer; I began to see God’s Fingerprints all over the trunk of that giant corpse!  All my heart could do in that moment was to praise and thank my God for toppling that huge cottonwood right WHERE He did…right WHEN He did…and just HOW He did! I clearly recognized it was by the Grace of God that the only thing we lost that day was the slide on a jungle-gym swing set. However, what I gained was a renewed perspective and a fresh reminder for my heart of what it looks and feels like to be found standing in the midst of what I’m going to call, ‘a place of Grace.’ The place where the air is so thick and rich with the active Presence of God; there’s no denying it.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“What I gained in that moment was a renewed perspective and a fresh reminder for my heart, of what it looks and feels like to be found standing in the midst of ‘a place of Grace.’

-D. Allen-_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In the book of Acts, one of God’s most faithful servants, Barnabas, describes perfectly what I mean by the phrase, ‘a place of Grace.’  Barnabas was sent from Jerusalem to Antioch, Greece; specifically, to see for himself all the evidence of the undeniable work God was doing in the peoples’ lives; concerning salvation. It took Barnabas no time at all to recognize the reality of God’s active Presence there, too. Scriptures tell it this way:

“As soon as [Barnabas] arrived, he saw that God was behind and in it all.” (Acts 11:23a CSB)

“God was behind and in it all.”  What an amazing revelation when our hearts perceive such a miracle! How many times in life have we missed seeing God’s Fingerprints in the midst of our tribulation? When disaster strikes us and the pieces of our world come crashing down around us; how often do we fail to recognize that our own feet may be standing in our own ‘place of Grace’? Too often, we miss seeing it because our eyes are looking down, focused only on the chaos and devastation surrounding us. God’s solution to this dilemma is found in Isaiah 40, where He reminds us to, “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens.”  For it’s in those moments when we choose to do so, that the eyes of our hearts are opened to see God ‘behind and in it all.’ We can’t see something we’re not even looking for.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Sometimes God allows something in your life that only He can fix, so that YOU will get

to see that He is the ONE who can fix it.”

-Tony Evans–_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From ancient times to the present day, whether witnessing an unbelievable spiritual transformation, or standing in the midst of our own backyard tribulation, our hearts are transformed in those times when we lift up our eyes and acknowledge that our feet have been planted in ‘a place of Grace.’  In this place…our hearts are strengthened, and our devotion deepened to the reality of the living and active Presence of God, in every detail of both our lives and our struggles. You see, finding your feet planted in ‘a place of Grace’ isn’t all-about-us. It’s about God, and the unfathomable extravagance of the ways He chooses to demonstrate His Love, Care, and Divine Favor in each of our lives.

“Sometimes God allows something in your life that only He can fix, so that YOU will get to see that He is the ONE who can fix it.” -Tony Evans–

Lord, thank you for hearing all the cries of Your children’s hearts. We live in a world filled with impending disasters waiting to happen. We never know when one of them might come crashing down around us. You work in our every affliction to bring good out of it. When we are standing in the middle of chaos and upheaval…enable us to “lift up our eyes and see” that You, Lord, are “behind and in it all.” Grant us eyes and hearts that recognize when our own feet have been planted in ‘a place of Grace’.  For even in our suffering, your Spirit provides a fresh experience of Your Love, Care, and Divine Favor in our lives. We cry out like Job, asking You to help us to “lay our cause before You. You perform wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.” (Job 5: 8-9 NIV).  Yes, the troubles of this world are many and great…but You are so much Greater! Like Your word tells us, “There is no one like You!” Thank you, Lord, for loving us and refreshing our hearts in the amazing ways that you do.

In Jesus’ Name…Amen

“I love these little people. And it is

not a slight thing when they who are

so fresh from God, love us.”

–Charles Dickens–

__________________________________________

Cries in the Darkness

by Debbie Allen

As a mother, one of the greatest miracles I ever experienced in my life, was the beautiful act of giving birth to each of my three sons. Though it’s been over forty years ago since my youngest was born, few things in my life have compared to the experience of this miraculous moment!  I still remember the sweet sounds of each of my sons’ first cries; piercing my ears in the delivery room. Those cries always ushered in a look of great relief on my doctor’s face; before he stretched my son’s tiny squirming form out across my chest. I’ve never forgotten the incredible feeling of his tiny heartbeat racing against my own.  Drawing my newborn as close to me as I could, I knew from that moment forward; my life was never going to be the same.  My heart overflowed with the million little things I longed to one day share with this precious gift of love. However, my heart never imagined the immensity of all the things he’d be teaching me. 

Crying is every healthy, newborn’s first reaction to being pushed from his mother’s womb. Even as brand-new parents, Jim and I anticipated our son’s first cries. They were well-received inside the walls of the hospital delivery room.  But, our first night back home, it didn’t take us long to figure out why science labeled the cries of all newborn infants as biological sirens!  The joyous sounds we’d relished in the delivery room, suddenly mutated into ear-splitting cries in the darkness.  Cries equipped with the power to transform our peaceful home-front into a battle-front of sorts. That place where we engaged in a constant fight against sleep deprivation, and everything else that accompanied multiple responses to our baby’s needs all hours of the night!

Answering our son’s cries in the middle of the night, and fighting our way through those trenches of sleeplessness was no laughing matter.  I never imagined there was a level of exhaustion that could be so deep. Though sleep deprived nights proved to be a rigorous training ground for the first few weeks, eventually, the nightlife centered around my baby’s cries morphed into a new kind of normal. My routine didn’t change much, but my perspective shifted.  I began to see tiny miracles tucked inside those midnight runs to the nursery.  One night, half asleep, I scooped my little crier out of his crib to nurse him. In the stillness of those moments, the words of the doctor who delivered my son stormed back into my thoughts: “Y-e-s…” he’d spoken over my son’s first cries, “…these little wonders are wired for sound by God Himself!”  Though I’d given his words no thought at the time, now they captured my attention!

 A week later, at a doctor appointment, I asked Dr. Kirk what he’d meant by that statement. Grinning, he shared, “Humans naturally cater to their own needs; to a me-first mentality. One of the greatest of those needs is sleep. When a baby comes, unfortunately, that need doesn’t change. And if it were left up to moms and dads alone to wake themselves out of a dead sleep… babies might cry all night long. God had a better idea.  He equipped newborns, at birth, with the ability to cry at a decimal level so toxic to a parent’s brain; mom and dad will do anything to stop that sound.  It’s a sound that really can’t be ignored.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“God equipped newborns, at birth, to cry at a decimal level so toxic to a parent’s brain; mom and dad will do anything to stop that sound!”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hearing the truth behind my doctor’s explanation intrigued my young heart. I was in awe! With a vocabulary of one single word, “WAAAAAAHHHHHH!” my newborn son not only opened my eyes every night, but he also roused in me a deeper consciousness of just how intensely the Lord loves His children…both as newborns and as parents. By wiring newborns for sound the way He did, God in His wisdom, saved parents from themselves, as well as newborns from their parents! Perhaps on a deeper level, He even intended such noxiousness to rouse our sleepy spirits to see there are needs in this world much greater than our own…needs that really shouldn’t be ignored.

As time went on, I began to understand my son’s cries weren’t about the sleep I was losing…but the new insights I gained because of them.  Somewhere in-between his cries, my heart grasped another miraculous truth. The cries of my newborn were no less than God’s invitations to walk with Him in sacred places.  I began to see that every midnight trip I made down the hallway to the nursery, was really a promise to my son’s anxious heart that his cries were being heard; and my love would never fail him.  Pressed close to my heart while I nursed him, my son came to recognize my loving presence as the source of nourishment he could fully trust to satisfy the gnawing emptiness down inside of him. The thousands of miles I rocked him, caressing his tiny features, praying for fevers to break, singing over him and pacing the floor in the darkness while he cried; were all reflections to his innocent heart, that even though life was filled with struggles, our greatest Peace can still be found in the midst of our greatest storms.

As parents, our greatest desire for each of our infant sons was that they sensed through us; the reality of the Lord’s Loving Presence standing near to them on those sleepless nights. Even as newborn infants, Jim and I longed to introduce them to the cast-iron certainty of what it is to hear the encouraging Voice of the One Who Loves them most, Whispering down into their ears.  We prayed our sons would feel the comfort of Heaven’s Touch every time we embraced them in our earthly arms. And by God’s Grace, we hoped each of their tiny spirits somehow sensed the never-ending Faithfulness of the Lord’s Enduring Love surrounding them.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“The righteous cry out and the Lord hears them.” (Psalm 310:17 NLT)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So many things in life are intimately connected to our relationship with God, the Father.  Parenthood is no exception. Thanks to the miraculous way God wired my son’s cries, I came to know in a profound way, the beauty of walking in sacred places with my Heavenly Father. Every time I set my foot down beside my Father’s Foot in the darkness, it became a teachable moment for my young mother’s heart.  In the beginning, my desire was to become the perfect parent. But God envisioned something much greater for me. While I rocked my son back to sleep one night, I felt the rush of my Father’s Whispers telling me, “Stay like this little child.”  In the deep silence that followed, I pondered both His words and my son a little longer. I realized My Father, Who is the only Perfect Parent there will ever be; was asking me to consider the ways of my newborn son; and let them teach my heart how to Love Him even deeper.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“His ears are open to their cries for help.” (Psalm 34:15b NLT)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Stay like this little child…” All of God’s children are called to love Him in this way. To love Him unreservedly, ‘with all our passion, prayer, muscle, and intelligence…’ (Luke 10:27 MSG). Like my newborn, we are not to be afraid to draw near to Him or cry out in the darkness that surrounds us. As we listen to the sounds of His Voice rising and falling in our ears, we come to know him as the One Who Loves us most.  His very Words speak Life down into us. They are the only trusted Source of Nourishment our soul needs.  The Father asks that we hear His Voice daily…listen to His Instruction…and walk in His Ways. Only then will our hearts come to know and trust in the Father’s Love without fear or reservation. 

Dearest Father in Heaven, I’m so thankful to be your child. Not only are You amazing, You do amazing things for us from our first breath to our last. From the moment You show us the way out of the darkness of our mother’s womb into the Light of Your Face, You are showing us the Way to Your Heart. Thank you, Father, for the gift of Your Whispers in my spirit so many years ago. I have both pondered them and treasured them my whole life long!  Now, Father, on a much grander scale…hear our cries in the darkness that surrounds us in both our nation and in this world. Open our spiritual eyes to see the greater needs of the helpless and respond. You are our only Answer!  You are our Father…we are Your children, those who never outgrow our need for Your Great Love. Help us to remember and remain faithful to the words You gave me so long ago: “Stay like this little child.”   Hear our cries and anoint us with the courage we need to act accordingly!

In JESUS name we pray, AMEN

 

“Be joyful always,

Pray continually;

Give thanks in

all circumstances…”

(1 Thess. 5:16-18a NIV)

____________________________

Five L-o-n-g Minutes

by Debbie Allen

Listening to the soft sounds of deep sleep still wafting over from my husband’s side of the bed; I raised my sleepy eyes up into the skylight above us. I began to pray silently for the day. Having long understood that every new day offers me an opportunity to go a little deeper with God, I asked Him to teach me more about His Heart, His Ways, and His Character… so I might become a better reflection of His Love to others. Though this wasn’t the first time I’d ever asked God for these things…it was the first time I remember ending my prayer with this request: “Lord…draw my eyes to Your Presence today… and please help me not to miss anything You have for me.”  After a soft ‘amen’ and a smile in God’s direction, I jumped up to get ready; totally unaware of the impact those last few words I prayed would have on me and my husband before the day was over.

Every Wednesday morning, Jim and I meet family for breakfast at a favorite Denny’s Restaurant. The waitresses greet us with a smile, and have a cup of coffee ready and waiting for us by the time we reach the table they’ve already set up for us.  We are so regular as customers here; they don’t offer us menus anymore because our waitress has memorized what all six of us order each time!  Even if we forget, they remember. Talk about predictable! However, about halfway through our breakfast this day, anything labeled predictable disappeared from sight.

After our waitress refilled my coffee, I heard my husband, Jim, sigh so I turned towards him.  He was looking back at me but, after speaking just two words, his eyes closed and his head dropped down until his chin came to rest on his chest. It was almost like someone just unplugged him. Though still in a sitting position, he was out cold.  Nothing could’ve prepared me for that! He’d hardly been sick a day in his entire life. My heart raced at the thought of it.  Holding his limp hand in mine, I slipped my other hand around the back of his neck; lifting his head up while trying to talk to him. I continued looking for signs of a stroke or heart attack, while my sister-in-law frantically called 911. For five l-o-n-g minutes, I spoke into Jim’s glazed, brown eyes, praying the sounds of my voice might stir him back to consciousness. He remained nonresponsive. I felt totally helpless. I couldn’t help but wonder what parts of our life together were about to change…maybe forever.

By the time the paramedics arrived, Jim was stirring once more and insisting, “I’m ok…I feel fine.” After a barrage of questions, the paramedics reluctantly, allowed him to walk over to the gurney waiting for him at Denny’s front doors, and then they loaded him into the back of their vehicle and closed the doors.

As I stood alone in the shadow of the rescue truck that morning, my hands were trembling and my heart still pounding. One “what if?” after another marched, uninvited, into the chaos of my swirling thoughts.  That’s when I looked up to see a young, pregnant, woman walking through the parking lot and heading straight for me.  Though she was a complete stranger, she stopped and wrapped her arm around my shoulder asking, “Are you alright?” Her kind eyes looking into mine, she listened intently while I recounted the morning’s unexpected events.  To my surprise, she grasped my hands in hers and began to pray for both Jim and me. By the time she uttered her sweet ‘amen’, my hands were again steady and my heart much calmer.  Calm enough to drive myself to the hospital where the paramedics took Jim for a second opinion and a more thorough examination. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Lord…You are Peace in my turmoil, Light in my shadows, and the Arm around my shoulders when

my world is spinning.”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Long story short, Jim and I left the hospital later that evening with more than thankful hearts.  Though we found it impossible to believe, he received a clean bill of health and was told that this health crisis ‘may or may not ever happen again in his lifetime.’ Jim, who isn’t fond of doctors or hospitals, was perfectly, satisfied with that definite-maybe diagnosis, but my own heart, though grateful, felt compelled to look deeper behind the scenes.

You see, I began that morning with a very specific prayer, asking the Lord to ‘teach me more about Himself, to draw my eyes to His Presence’ and ‘… not let me miss anything He had for me in this day.’  Through the unexpected and chaotic events that followed, I believe God, in His own lavish way, was answering those prayers…and then some.

 I felt the Lord’s Strength in those first few moments I sat holding the limp hand of the one who’d always held mine. I felt His Courage wash over me as I looked into Jim’s empty eyes; eyes that only a few seconds earlier reflected both light and love back to me. I sensed my Lord standing beside me in the shadows of that morning. I felt His Presence in the warmth of a stranger’s arm wrapped tight around my shoulders…and experienced His Peace in the beautiful words that flowed from the prayer this kind stranger prayed for Jim and I.

It wouldn’t be an understatement for me to say that those ‘five l-o-n-g minutes’ in my life that day taught me something I hope I never forget.  Even while standing in the middle of all our life’s troubles; we are able to hang-on to the Goodness and Love of the Lord; acknowledging the Truth that it is only “because of the LORD’s great Love we are not consumed” (Lamentations 3:22). Every step we walk in the direction of whatever God is pointing us towards, draws us closer to His Great Heart; deepening us and helping us to understand a little more of who we are and who we can be, when we find ourselves standing in the Light of His Presence and Love.

“The blessings are sweetest that are won with prayer and worn with thanks.”

–Thomas Goodwin–

Lord and Father in Heaven, remind our hearts in this season of Thanksgiving, that it is the Gift of Your Presence walking alongside us in life that should be the greatest THANKYOU of our life!  Your unfailing Love and awe-inspiring deeds continually leave us breathless. Teach us how we can “let every detail in our lives—words, actions, whatever— be done in the name of Jesus, thanking You, God the Father, every step of the way” (Col. 3:17 msg). Whatever the circumstances, open our eyes to the intrinsic value of being able to choose to walk in the Shadow of Your Presence and Love all the days of our lives!  Thankyou that even in our hardest times, You offer us Compassion and bring us unspeakable Joy.  Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou!

In Jesus’ Name We Pray…AMEN

 

“In every walk

with nature,

one receives

far more than

he seeks.”

–John Muir–

___________________

Secrets of the Juniper

by Debbie Allen

 Feeling both awestruck and apprehensive, my husband and I climbed cautiously down to an overlook platform jutting out over the rim of the magnificent, Black Canyon, in Gunnison National Park. We marveled at how small and insignificant we felt while standing on its edges, looking down into the swift flowing currents of the Gunnison River, more than 2,250 feet below us! We were surprised to find that portions of these canyon walls remain shrouded in darkness year-round, because the walls are so steep even sunlight can’t reach them.

However, this same shadowy blackness enveloping the canyon walls also served to deepen the shades of gold we saw splashed across the aspens lining the canyon. Even the rockiest of ledges were adorned with ribbons of foliage, all aglow with deep plums and muted rusts. Together this scene became an unexpected masterpiece for our eyes to feast upon.  Though we were content to linger in this spot forever, time restraints pushed us back to the car and down the road to a place not far from the canyon’s edge. It was rocky there too… but not beautiful.  My eyes perceived it only as a wilderness. The landscape stood in stark contrast to what we’d driven away from.  It was hot, dusty and the only living thing we could see for miles around, besides the tourists, were scraggly looking pines in twisted shapes and sizes.  There were no golds, plums, or even rusts to enliven the view.  Only prickly, ever-greens…and some of those were turning brown.  Reluctantly, I followed my husband to the ‘Point of Interest’ sign which overlooked what I’d already deemed a wilderness.

“Nothing to stir my heart here.” I uttered in silent disappointment. 

But, oh how wrong I was! Sometimes it’s the very things our eyes deem as worthless that become what God uses to stir our hearts back to new life and shift our perspectives!”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 ” Sometimes it’s the very things our eyes deem as worthless that become what God uses

to stir our hearts back to new life and shift our perspectives!”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As I read the information on the sign, I learned that the pines I wouldn’t’ve given anybody two cents for moments earlier; were called Junipers.  Many of the Junipers have been standing firm on the far rocky edges of the Black Canyon for 600-800 years! The sign went on to say: ‘Their trunks have been twisted by the prevailing winds.  The fierceness of winter storms has shaped them.  Lightning has scarred them.  Drought has trimmed their branches to the bare minimum. But they endure.’

“BUT THEY ENDURE.”  It was these last three words that breathed new life back into my heart.  I now stood in silent wonder before these scraggly pines marveling at the message God created His Junipers to reflect back into this world. A message that captured my heart and gave me a visual for what silent surrender and true endurance look like; even while living in the midst of a wilderness. The beauty of the Juniper lay hidden in the message God created them to bear to this world. Oddly enough, I began to see that the same thing is true of God’s own children.

As a child of God, we too, are equipped to stand strong in those seasons we find ourselves planted on the rocky edges of life’s wilderness. Like the Junipers, we are called to reflect God’s Love back into this world.  Yes, there will be fierce storms to face; but even as winds prevail all around us, we can know God’s Hand is at work in their midst, shaping us for His wise purposes.  Sometimes, our knees will buckle, as though lightning just struck us down; yet in God’s Strength, we rise above the circumstances, bearing our scars and finding new life in spite of the harshness of our living conditions.  Droughts threaten to overtake us. Lean times will find us…physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually. But the child of God is like the Juniper, the most drought-resistant tree on earth.  The Juniper sends its roots deep down into the rock where it’s been planted and even at the end of a drought season; remains standing firm, mature and evergreen.  The child of God clings to the Rock [God] and remains “… like a tree planted by water, that sends its roots by the stream [God], and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8 msg).  

Our world is filled with creations that point our hearts towards God’s Love.  From the brightest glows of the Autumn season to the shadowy depths of the beautiful, Black Canyon; to the twisted Junipers anchored in the rocks of an unexpected wilderness; the message of God’s Love is undeniable. All of creation, in some way or another, reflects that message back to this broken world.

As children of God, we are planted on earth to purposefully, reflect God’s Ways, His Truths, and His Love before others. In a sense, we are to be someone else’s visual of what silent surrender and true endurance look like in life…even in the hardest of times.  Like the Whispers of God continually echoing off the walls of the matchless Black Canyon, may the message of our own lives resound the breadth, length, depth, and heights of God’s unfailing Love, to this watching world.  And like the Junipers that thrive even on the edges of the harshest wilderness, no matter what storms come our way in life; may it forever be said of us, as faithful children of God…BUT THEY ENDURED!

“Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it,

nothing will be too much for you.”

(Mark 11:22a MSG)

Dearest Lord, You are the Creator of all things everywhere. Your Love, Beauty and Goodness envelope all of creation, including Your children. And if our eyes somehow miss seeing the Beautiful Truth of it, it’s because we are not looking for it. Enable the eyes of our hearts to see the wonders You have placed within creation. Teach us the secret of the Juniper tree; who sends its roots down deep into the rock and at the end of a season filled with drought; is found ‘standing firm, mature, and ever-green.’  Father God, You are our Strength, our Stronghold, our Safe Retreat when storms descend.  Strengthen our hearts as we continue to learn the pattern of Your Righteous and Loving ways.  Whether in darkness or in light, wherever You plant us, may our lives faithfully reflect the unfathomable heights and depths of Your Love before the eyes of this watching world.  For we know beyond any shadow of doubt that without You… our hearts cannot endure.

IN JESUS NAME…AMEN

“Though our feelings

come and go,

God’s Love for us

does not.”

–C. S. Lewis-–

_______________________

A LABOR OF LOVE

by Debbie Allen

One of the many things on my summer to-do list, was for my husband and I to rebuild and refinish an old, wooden swing-set/jungle gym in our backyard.  It was meant to be a labor of love for our grandchildren.  With this in mind, Jim and I set aside time to work on it, money to buy replacement wood and parts, and the energy needed to accomplish all the hard work required of us for seeing this project through to the end.  What we didn’t factor in was all of the unforeseen snags we encountered along the way. Rotting and split wood, rusted screws, broken monkey bar rungs, and a new cover for the fort that didn’t fit on the roof my husband just finished building. Ugh!

Far worse than any other struggle we tackled, were the temperatures we worked in.  The temperatures soared up to nearly 100 degrees for the duration of the project. As the heat climbed, our energy levels plummeted. So, any board or post that could be disassembled from the frame, was piled on our patio, where I stood under the ceiling fans, painting each piece that came my way.  Unfortunately, that left Jim out in the heat with the skeleton of the swing set, yanking rusty screws from old pieces and sanding what seemed like hundreds of miles of splintery, weathered wood.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“God will meet you where you are in order to take you where He wants you to go.”

(Tony Evans/Instagram)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Because of the fans and high temperatures, my paint dried so fast, I ended up having more down time than I wanted.  By about the fourth miserably, hot day, both of us were disappointed that things weren’t progressing according to our original plan.  We knew we were too far along by now to quit, yet, not far enough along to see the finish line.   Discouraged, my husband headed out to what I’d come to call his ‘Jungle-Jim’ and I sat down on the patio for my morning devotional; before picking up a paint brush. Even sitting in the cool of that morning, all I could think about was the dreaded afternoon heat yet to come. It zapped our strength and made a half-day’s work feel like it should’ve been quitting time.  Trying to stifle the thought of it, I opened my Bible to a chapter in the book of Isaiah and began to pray silently:

“Lord, thank you for overseeing this ‘labor of love.’ I ask again for You to strengthen our hands for this great task and our resolve in this great heat…in Jesus Name, Amen.”

My guess is that I must’ve sounded as discouraged on the inside as I felt on the outside because when I came to Isaiah 58: I knew without a doubt that God was speaking directly to my own heart.  The passage read:

“Then you will call,

And the LORD will answer;”

You will cry for help, and

He will say, ‘Here I am.’

And the Lord will continually guide you,

And satisfy your desire in scorched and dry places,

And give strength to your bones;

And you will be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

And [you] will rebuild the ancient ruins;

You will raise up and restore the age-old foundations;

You will be called Repairer…Restorer…”

(Isaiah 58:9, 11-12 AMP) 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched and dry places,

and give strength to your bones.” (Isaiah 58:11a) 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________               

If ever there were a ‘scorched and dry place’ and ‘bones that needed strengthening’, it was my husband and I, in this moment.  The Lord’s timely words rushed over and seeped into all my parched places ‘like a spring whose waters do not fail’!  My strength was truly, renewed hearing Him whisper to my heart, ‘you will rebuild the ancient ruins’ (the swing set); and ‘raise up and restore the age-old foundations’ (the fort). I felt both seen and treasured by this One Who cared enough for me to step into my earthly mess and so gently, renew my resolve to persevere and to honor the crucial roles Jim and I placed upon ourselves to finish for our grandchildren. Only now, we would be tackling our own ancient ruins in God’s strength… as His repairer and His restorer!  

Though the unbearable heat didn’t change that day, and the heavy workload even increased, my heart and soul remained refreshed by both the Presence and the Love of the Lord I’d experienced in those few moments.  I couldn’t have asked for more!  And yet, when I raised my head up from that passage in Isaiah, my eyes fell upon a tiny, pink heart laying against the blackness of the table in front of me.  Now…what are the odds of those two pink petals drifting down from the potted, Impatiens plant above it; to form that perfect, pink heart? Even the eyes of a little ceramic frog, hanging off of the flowerpot, were pointed heavenward! My eyes, too, could only see this tiny miracle for what it was.  A tiny pink heart, Divinely placed there for such a need as this. My heart could only respond to its beautiful message in one way.  Smiling, I uttered softly, “Thank you, Lord… I love You, too.”

Each of us has a tendency to focus so intensely on the circumstances gripping us; we are sometimes blind to what God is doing right in front of our eyes.  You see, God never intends our difficulties and unwanted circumstances to crush us; but to push us closer to Him, to His heart… where we may experience the Love that awaits us there.  When His Presence and Love step down into the details of our life stories, our hearts discover joy and renewed strength, peace, and confidence, even during the hardest of times. For it is our hardest times that become the soils where God’s miracles grow best.  The perfect place for our hearts to witness His Hand turning our “scorched places” into His “watered gardens.”

“My [child], give me your heart and

let your eyes delight in My Ways.”

(Proverbs 23:26)

Dearest Lord and Sustainer of Life, Your Word reminds my heart that “You lavish Your unfailing Love for a thousand generations, on those who love You and obey your commands” (Exodus 20:6).  Your Love for Your children continues to astound me over and over again. It is vast and deep and wide and to be treasured like no other.  Yet, we are so often blind to Your Presence and Your Love in our lives. We too often forget that each one of us is Your own Heart’s ‘Labor of Love’ from our first breath to our last.  Forgive us!  Strengthen us in all our pursuits and difficulties.  We invite you to step down into the details of our stories and help us to see Your Presence and Love at work in all our circumstances.  Wash our eyes with Your Tenderness so that we might see You in a whole new way.  For You are the only One Who can take our “scorched and dry places” and turn them into “watered gardens.” 

In Jesus’ Glorious Name we pray…AMEN

“Sometimes…your largest fear carries

your greatest growth!”

—Meagan McCrery—

________________________________________________________

The Perfect Storm

by Debbie Allen

The skyline of Denver couldn’t have been any darker back in June of 1965.  This segment of time is recorded in the city’s newspaper archives as, “The Year of the Flood!”  Inside the city, torrential rains pelted the streets for days unending.  The Platte River overflowed its banks, city streets became little canals, and homes never intended to become house-boats, drifted away on the river’s rising currents.  Down the street from this scene, inside Children’s Hospital, lights flickered on and off. Nurses spoke, wide-eyed, about doctors, patients, and visitors still stranded in elevators halted by all the power failures.  Inside my room, just beyond the nurses’ station, I remember crying silently. I was only ten years old.  My sickness, compounded with the fear inside of me, compelled me to just pull the blankets up over my head and close my eyes tightly.  Little did I know it, but the storm which now drove me under the covers in fright, would someday be recorded in the archives of my mind as “The Perfect Storm.”

You see… my parents admitted me in the hospital the day before, to have some tests run.  As I lay under the covers trembling, I could not help hearing the raindrops splattering against the giant hospital window by my bed. After two days, I considered the very sound of them a nuisance.  In my ten-year-old brain, every split and splat I heard registered more like tiny, battle cries coming from each drop.  I saw them as my enemies.  Uninvited intruders who managed to invade my world; by conspiring with nature to wash out the only two bridges leading down to Children’s Hospital from the suburbs.  Unfortunately, my mom and dad couldn’t come and visit me for a couple of days because of it. More cause for me to stay under the covers and hide!   Feeling sick, frightened, and isolated all at once, weighs heavy on a ten-year-old little girl’s heart. I couldn’t even begin to see my way out of this pile of troubles, so… God found His way into them instead.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I couldn’t even begin to find my way out of this pile of troubles, so… God found His way into them instead.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Feeling a tug on the sheets, I looked up to find a pair of ebony cheeks and polished, brown eyes peeking-in on me.  They belonged to Nurse Crandall.        

“Whatcha doin, little one?  You can’t hide from me!  Don’t you know that I’m the Queen of Hide n’ Seek?  I’ll find you wherever you go!” she exclaimed in her slow, Southern drawl.

With those words, Nurse Crandall laughed until she cried.  I could only muster one little smile her way.  She pulled me out from under the sheets and helped me into a child-sized wheelchair.  Tucking a warm blanket around me and gently pushing my hair out of my eyes, she spoke these words of warning.

“Hold on tight girl… ‘cause we’re goin for a little ride.  You and I are goin down to have your picture taken!”

Nurse Crandall made the journey sound like an adventure, so I nodded my head in reluctant agreement.
Though the hallway lights still flickered on and off, she whistled cheerfully, pushing me down to an empty room labeled, “x-ray.” Then she motioned me towards a large, flat, black surface. Above me, I spotted some sort of hospital monster.  Nurse Crandall gave me a boost and instructed me to lay face-down and bottoms-up, in the middle of that dark surface. As I did so, I heard the monster shifting and groaning above me. I felt as timid as a little field mouse being circled by a big bird of prey! Nurse Crandall threaded some clear plastic tubing up inside of me while trying to reassure me that the monster (or camera, as she called it), was harmless.  All I had to do was lay there while she filled my unsuspecting bladder with liquid dye; during the x-ray.

“Oh, how I wanted out of this uncomfortable situation!” I cried, silently. 

As Nurse Crandall proceeded, she gave me a pat of encouragement on my backside.

“Now, you just let me know when you think you can’t handle any more!”       

Less than a minute into this process, I yelled-out,

“That’s enough! Stop… that’s all I can hold!”

Fully expecting her to stop the process, I was disappointed at her lack of response to my desperate pleas.  She offered me only a sympathetic smile. Still watching the x-ray screen and shaking her head, Nurse Crandall finally answered.

 “Oh, Honey!  You can handle a lot more than you think you can!”

And to my surprise, I did!  I had no choice but to trust in her knowledge and care; after all, she could see me from the inside out.

Sometimes what we are feeling when difficulty descends on our life; doesn’t give us a true perspective of all that’s really going on around us. I’m convinced that our ‘perfect storms’ don’t just happen to us; but God allows them for us to experience new spiritual growth in life.  In the fifty-seven years that have passed since that day in Children’s Hospital, Nurse Crandall’s words have continued to shape and refine my life.  Her sweet presence and the sounds of her voice in my childhood that day, became for me, a virtual snapshot of Jesus; which I’ve carried around in my heart for most of my life. Even today, when storms rise and fall around me; I sometimes feel like little girl again. Alone… face-down in the darkness…and enduring the un-endurable. But that’s also when I feel God’s Hand tugging on the sheets, I’ve pulled over my head in my hiding-place.  He so gently lifts me up, wrapping me in the warmth of His Presence; whispering His Goodness into the canyons of my grown-up soul.

“You can’t hide from Me, child. Don’t you know…I’ll find you wherever you go. Oh honey, you can handle a lot more than you think you can!”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“All of the perfect storms we encounter in life don’t just happen TO us; but God allows them FOR us to experience new spiritual growth over the course of our life.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Even now, new strength rises inside my heart every time I hear these words. I know I can rest assured that no matter what storms may come my way, I can fully trust in the One Who’s watching over me. He knows how much I can handle because Jesus sees me from the inside out.

“Depend on (Jesus) and keep at it, because in (Jesus) you have a sure thing.” (Isaiah 26:4 MSG)

HEART TRAPPINGS:

Dearest Father in Heaven…

These powerful words of Nurse Crandall’s, formed the perfect ending to my first week of walking with You, Jesus, my Savior. I was just a child back then but, You, in Your Wisdom, placed me in my own ‘perfect storm’ so that I might experience Your Presence through Nurse Crandall and her words to me; in a way that has touched my life forever.  You gave me such a unique picture of what it looks like to both grow and learn to trust in You, in all the perfect storms of life. The only thing that makes them perfect, is that YOU are in them!  I pray for all those who may be face-down in their own darkness; exposed…vulnerable…and fearful. Cup Your hands around their chin…pull their gaze into Your Own.  Lift their head and allow them to hear the beautiful words You spoke to me through Nurse Crandall. “You can handle a lot more than you think you can.” May we all find strength and solace in the sounds of Your Voice, Jesus. Only there, in the eye of the storms, will we ever find new growth; and discover our own limitations in light of Your great Power and Love for us.

In Jesus’ Name…AMEN