Your Flight Is Boarding...

How many times have you sat on a plane and mindlessly watched as the attendant cheerfully told you the same thing she says to every passenger that's ever sat where you're sitting? We'd all much rather doze off!

"In case of a drop in cabin air pressure due to altitude increase or rapid decrease, your oxygen masks will drop down. Please be sure to put yours on FIRST before you attempt to help anyone else!"

Blah, blah, blah.  Do we really need to see this demonstration again?  

It would appear that such information is only necessary for a plane ride and we all know that the chances of crashing are 1 in 3.4 million of the 78 major world airlines!  So most likely,  no one is really interested in her little speech...and we've all heard it over and over again, right?

BUT what if that tidbit of advice could save our marriages, our relationships or the demon-possessed guy that decided to walk next to you as you entered a restaurant and he had about three conversations going, at once, with himself,  ABOUT YOUR BUTT AND HOW HE'S NOT BLACK...and on and on...?

When pressure begins to build, God has made a way for us to release it.  In the natural, it's called exhaling.  Our bodies rid us of the toxic gas, carbon dioxide.  But the only way to get rid of this toxicity is to breathe out.  Breathe in and breathe out.

Because we are a spirit, we breathe real LIFE through a connection to Him in his Word, 'realationships' that keep us accountable and encourage us as well as daily worship (not in that order and I am sure there are more 'oxygenating' ingredients like prayer, sharing Jesus and so forth'!).  
Without these 'elements' regenerating us, we are poisoned with lies, discouragement and hopelessness. The end results are devastating not only to ourselves, but to those we love.

But too many of us are holding our breath.  Why do we hold on to the last breath we took and expect that we can keep giving life to those around us?  It's just not possible. We must exhale and fill our lungs with fresh oxygen...because there is so much more to live for and it's all worth it.








As Jacob and Jenna drove off yesterday, I was swept away in emotion.  For five months we poured our lives into each other and though there were intense moments and conflicts, as there will be when seven people live together, we loved each other.  We celebrated together, cried and hugged often (maybe I did most of the crying...), graced one another every day and sometimes we didn't do too well, but God's Spirit breathed His life on our time together and it worked.

We adopted Jenna as a daughter and Norah as another grandbaby, this wee one that unraveled us daily with her exuberance for living in every moment, all the while verbally exclaiming, "I'm here.  Enjoy me.  I am a delight and joy!"  And she is!  

My lungs need fresh air to move forward.  I can't breathe as my fingers pound the keys and the tears trickle uncontrollably down my cheeks.

On this Monday before Thanksgiving, breathe deeply. This may be a tough year.  There may be memories of pain that would love to choke you, robbing you of a new season of joy.  Take a deep breath and ask the giving  God to breathe His Spirit on you...





This is my prayer as I wake each day now:

Lord Jesus, breathe Your life into my lungs so I can push forward to love ALL THOSE YOU SEND OUR WAY.  Help me THIS Thanksgiving as my family is scattered and I feel like pieces of me are in Florida, New York, upper Texas, Kentucky, South Carolina and Houston. Establish Your kingdom in each of these places, always keeping our hearts close, despite the distance.

As you soar towards this holiday, may He fill your lungs with His breathe and may His Spirit satisfy you. 

Did I really say THAT?

" OH NO, ISAAC, CATCH IT...BEFORE IT HITS THAT BRAND NEW JEEP!" 

Waves of guilt washed over me as I witnessed our shopping cart careening toward a shiny new black Jeep parked three spaces, downhill, no less, in the parking lot at Walmart this morning, man-boy not quick enough to stop it before it plowed into  the side door.  I can still feel the surge of emotions now as I replay that scene over in my head: metal on metal as I sat there helpless, deep inside just hoping the owner wasn't around (humility in truth is what sets us free).  It was not to be.  Right as the cart hit, he walked out from behind his vehicle. 

Hot flashes!  Sweat began to bead on my forehead. 

  So many irrational thoughts, emotions flooded my being.  But what came out was, "I am SO sorry.  It got away before we saw it or could catch it." 

But the thing that I struggled with the most was what I said next. 

When he asked if I had insurance, I babbled that I wasn't in my car and told him that it wasn't our fault!  That he should talk to Walmart!  Even as those words left my lips, I knew that was the wrong answer.   What was I thinking?  This WAS our fault, but my 'default' was to find a way out, blame somebody else. 

Did I actually say those words? 

It's a precious gift to be able to look at a situation from a different perspective and hearing those words come from my lips gave me a chance to observe what I really believe.  Or maybe not.

More hot flashes and shaking...

He called the police, I immediately called my husband!  He encouraged me to calm down and call the insurance company, which I did and after sitting there  a few more minutes giving the agent information, the man brought me back my driver's license and insurance card! 
Felt almost like I'd been cuffed and fingerprinted.

Well, it turns out that the claim will be made on our renter's insurance!  And there's a very good chance our policy rates will not go up.  I do hope not.

This gift exposed in me what was really going on:

Fear.                                              

Fear of being rejected, screamed at by a stranger whose car we had unintentionally damaged.

Fear that my Love would be upset with me...He wasn't!

Fear that my father would be angry that, because I used his car, he somehow would be involved and have to pay this man...strange how irrational fear can be.

Basically, fear that I was in trouble.  The little girl inside was caught and scared.

One never knows what 'writing in the sand' will spark a lesson, teach us about ourselves and about God. 

He reminded me as I hit my pillow this afternoon that He wasn't angry at me.  I was disappointed in myself for uttering those terribly immature words, 'It's not our fault; take it up with Walmart!'  What if this man was a believer?  He was from Tulsa, Oklahoma!  Isn't everyone in Tulsa a born-again, Spirit-filled believer??? 

How I wish I could have told him I was sorry I didn't take responsibility initially...

Yes, those words did come out of me.  They revealed fear that needs to be expelled by His love from the places where I'm most vulnerable.

"And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.  Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love."                                                                                            1 John 4: 17-18

Today's lesson:  each event, little or big, is an opportunity to be grateful for the moment.  Learn from the mistakes, failures, mishaps and rejoice that my Heavenly Father is perfecting me in His love.

Has anything happened to you today that can be viewed is a gift, disguised as a struggle you're having or perhaps things didn't go the way you'd have liked today.  What is the lesson, the gift you can receive?