Joy in the Journey

In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105 This morning during my prayer time I was talking to God about feeling a bit lost. I so dearly want to do His will and go only where He directs. I prayed for a clearer vision, for more Holy Spirit power. Suddenly I found myself talking about the yellow brick road from the Wizard of Oz. How great would that be? Can you imagine? You take your question, decision, confusion to God and turn it over to Him. There in front of you, path illumined! If only the Holy Spirit would take us by the shoulders, turn us toward our goal and say, “follow the yellow brick road” or shiny white way or whatever color the Holy Spirit likes to use. Throughout the day my mind wandered back to that thought. What if? It isn't like it would be all smooth steps from there. We would still encounter trials and potholes. Think about Dorothy...

  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name sake. Psalm 23:1, 3 My husband and I live in Florida. It is flat here, very flat. Having transplanted from upstate New York, that flatness was odd at first. Now, rolling hills, valleys, mountains, those are things we visit and feel awe. As each of us walks our faith we often encounter teachings, sermons, devotional messages about the mountains and the valleys. We want, we're told, the mountain top experience, where we can see for miles, beauty, majesty. I love the view from the top of the mountain. While visiting Tennessee, Otto and I went to Clingmans Dome, which is the highest point in Tennessee. It is magnificent. Let me get back to, we live in Florida, flat, flat Florida. I'm not an athlete of any kind. I'm a grandma in decent but certainly not good shape. That walk to Clingmans Dome was not easy. It was beautiful and awe ins...

  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 For the last few weeks I've been revisiting some familiar songs. They are songs from a movie series my grandchildren loved. Now one of my students is allowed to watch videos of the songs as a reward. Listening to them I was struck by two thoughts, all three movies follow the same exact formula. Each one contains the anthem, the breakup song, the song of angst sung by the male lead, and so on and so forth. One set of songs stood out to me and I realized that it is a part of the problem in today's society. One female character is convinced that she is someone special. She pouts, she poses, she manipulates and she schemes, all to get her own way. Her innate selfishness and exaggerated self-image is demonstrated in each movie by a song. In the first one, she's going to the top of the heap, no one will get in her way. In the second one, she announces t...

  “ I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remain in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5 A few weeks ago I was at dinner with my husband, daughter and three granddaughters. It was a special dinner, so of course we had our phones out to take pictures. After leaving the restaurant we began to walk along, stopping to watch a street performer. As we did I reached for my phone to take a picture of my granddaughters and it wasn't where I usually put it. I mentioned that I thought I might have left it in the restaurant. I delivered that information with no fear or panic in my voice. Would it be a an inconvenience to walk back through the crowded, tourist filled area to the restaurant? A little. Was I in utter panic because I'd left my phone? No. That last piece of information was too much for my daughter. “Mom! Why aren't you freaking out? It's your phone!” She said to me in a tone that suggested we...