I often tagged along behind my dad on the family farm. I’m sure he could have completed his work much more quickly without me behind him, but I don’t remember feeling as if he minded. (Perhaps I was just oblivious!) One of my favorite places to be was the small ledge behind him in the combine. I also enjoyed riding in the pickup with him to feed the cattle or to check the crops. We took a couple trips together as I got older. I rode behind him on the motorcycle when I was in junior high. We looped through Michigan and Wisconsin, exploring such places as Mackinaw Island and House on the Rock.

As great as my memories are with my dad, I have to say one of my favorites occured more recently when, a few months ago, I sat behind my dad on his four-wheeler. I was visiting my parents for the afternoon, and he offered to take me for a ride on some trails a neighbor had recently created. We rode slowly, crossing the rode and following a field road I had walked many times to visit friends in a nearby subdivision. We skirted around the building that used to be used as a small airplane hangar, owned by a commercial pilot but used by several pilots, including my dad, who shared a Cessna with a friend for several years. I remembered many weekend morning flights to pancake breakfasts in small airports.

As we worked our way onto the trails, I asked my dad a question or two every now and then. He sometimes share a quick story about a connection to someone I might know. Most of the time, we rode in silence. I watched the light filter through the trees and mottle the leafy ground. I listened to the small sticks crunch beneath our wheels. I smelled the fresh, damp air and was refreshed. But mostly, I paid attention to my dad. I noticed the back of his neck – the same sight I’d seen for hours when we’d ride the motorcycle. I saw a bit more gray and a few more wrinkles, but I also saw familiarity in the way his skin was weathered from years of farm work and his hair slightly curled on the ends. I listened to him breathe, noticing how relaxed he becomes when he’s outside among nature. My dad has never sat still well for long, and he certainly doesn’t like to be trapped inside, but put him outside, especially moving through the woods or fields, and he’s entertained for hours by the changing landscape, wildlife and details of everything around him. I watched his hands wrapped around the handles. His hands have been strong for me. The realist in me recognized my dad couldn’t do everything, but the little girl in me always believed he could. There will always be a part of that little girl in me.

We drove out of the wooded area and into the open fields, and I asked him about the “bridge” he had built across a small creek. Apparently it had been washed away earlier in the year, but he’d rebuilt it and agreed to show it to me. On the way, he described the design of it, which included an old fence with a bit of reinforcement. I laughed when I saw it. My dad has always loved to solve problems with whatever he can find around the farm. He’s a simple guy, but I think his problem-solving abilities could rival a professional team of engineers and architects. I took one look and thought there was absolutely no reason as to why it would be sensible to cross such a homemade bridge. But that thought was secondary to the trust I had in my dad. If he built it and was confident enough to cross it with me on the back of the four-wheeler, I had no doubt I’d be fine. I had no apprehension because I fully trust my dad.

We crossed that bridge not once, but twice. As we began the ride home, I thought of what a blessing that hour with my dad was. Even more so, I thought of what a blessing it’s been to be my dad’s daughter. He’s not perfect – of course, no earthly father is – but the trust I have in him and in his love for me has served as a solid foundation in my life.

From my seat behind my dad throughout my life, I saw a piece of my life through his perspective, and he believed I could do anything. He dreamed dreams for me. He shared possibilities. He watered the roots so I could grow into whatever was next in my life. The most important gift he gave me was a blank canvas. Because of his consistency, I have a strong foundation of faith. Because of his dreams, I have a trust in faith. Because of his compassion, I have a faith in serving others. Because of his fatherhood, I have faith in a heavenly Father who cares, loves, and sacrifices.

I am blessed to have followed behind my dad, and I’m treasuring every hour I’ve had and will have.

I challenge you to pay attention to whom you have sat behind and whom you’re sitting behind now. Follow quality people, because you’re going wherever they’re going.

Spiced Hot Chocolate

• 4 cups prepared hot cocoa with 1% milk
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 4 cinnamon sticks

Combine cocoa, nutmeg and chili powder. Pour into mugs and serve with a cinnamon stick.

Cider Snap

• 2 cups apple cider
• 4 teaspoons red  cinnamon candies
• 4 slices apples, thinly sliced

Combine apple cider and cinnamon candies. Microwave, uncovered, on 100% power for 4 to 5 minutes or till  candies dissolve and the cider is steaming hot, stirring once. Serve in mugs, garnished with apple slices.

Coffeebar Chai Tea

• 2 cups water
• 4 black tea bags
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 whole cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 2 cups milk

Hot Cranberry Tea

• 1/2 gallon orange juice
• 1 (64 fluid ounce) bottle cranberry-raspberry juice
• 1 (16 ounce) can pineapple juice
• 2 (2.25 ounce) packages small red cinnamon candies
• 1/2 gallon water
• 8 tea bags

Pumpkin Spice Coffee

• 1/4 cup ground coffee
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 cups water
• 2 teaspoons half-and-half cream, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon white sugar, or to taste

Mix the ground coffee, allspice, and cinnamon in a small bowl, and place into the filter of a drip coffee maker. Pour 4 cups of water into the coffee maker, and turn on the machine. When coffee has finished dripping, pour into 2 cups. Stir in cream and sugar to taste.

Gingerbread Coffee

• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 cups hot brewed coffee
• 1 cup half-and-half cream
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened whipped cream

Wassail Punch

• 1 tablespoon whole cloves
• 6 cinnamon sticks
• 3 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
• 3 3/4 cups white sugar
• 2 quarts water
• 2 quarts orange juice
• 2 cups lemon juice
• 1 gallon apple cider

No food left behind!

Fast forward to today. No one in my family, probably as a knee jerk response to separate ourselves from the vulture-like behavior, take food home from a restaurant unless it’s something that makes sense, such as a whole piece of chicken or half the salad we separated before pouring dressing on it because we’re limiting portions. Some might call it wasteful, but we’re just trying to avoid the trappings of family patterns.

At times.

We don’t scoop up all the food in public, but we definitely hover over it when we’re at my parents’ house. Mom always wants to send food home with us after a huge family gathering. (1) She’s being kind and wants to share. (2) There’s no possible way she can fit everything into her refrigerator.

But we’re fairly picky about what we take. We don’t want to be eating the same food for days to come, mainly because we know we simply do not need the extra food. We take what we know we’ll eat. Everyone takes her favorites. A few items, such as my aunt’s cheesy potatoes, cause more of a stir as they get scooped up in a frenzy among several competing family members.

Grammy’s siblings gathered up everything they could to be sure nothing was wasted. Availability superceded preference. My siblings gather what they want.  Preference supercedes availability.

So, the question is…

Spiritually speaking, do you fill your to-go containers with what’s available or with what you prefer? Do you revenously scoop up every available morsel? Do you pick and choose only what’s palatable to you?

To ravenously scoop up every available morsel suggests there’s no discernment involved. I could end up getting food poisoning or having an allergic reaction. Picking and choosing only what’s palatable to me suggests self-centeredness. I could end up missing out on the vitamins I need or the enjoyment of a new taste.

If I was only talking about food, I could begin to pit the “clean-your-plate” camp against the “eat-only-until-your-full” camp, but I’m not trying to solve world hunger or address eating disorders with today’s post. Shift your focus to spiritual food.

How do you nourish your spirit? How often do you feast? Snack? How do you decide when, where, and how you eat? With whom do you eat?

As difficult as it is for me to recommend - now that you know my family background – I strongly suggest you fill your to-go containers full. Choose the contents well. You never know when you’ll need a snack to give you the boost of energy required to make it through life’s situations.

By now you should be teachers, but you need someone to teach you again the first lessons of God’s message. You still need the teaching that is like milk. You are not ready for solid food. Anyone who lives on milk is still a baby and knows nothing about right teaching. But solid food is for those who are grown up. They are mature enough to know the difference between good and evil.  Hebrews 5:12-14

Several of us offered to drive, including me. This was the first trip the “Dynamic Duo” planned for women’s ministry. I’m not releasing their names. They know who they are, and while they likely don’t mind me sharing their story of adventures in the Windy City, it seems a bit more exciting to identify them as the Dynamic Duo, composed of DynaOne and DynaTwo.

They worked really hard to get the trip planned to the smallest detail. They’re the perfect pair to plan our ministry’s fellowship events and trips, because their enthusiasm is contagious. They use planning events as their excuse to get together. In fact, they had a “meeting” the night before we left for Chicago even though we were leaving the church at 5:45 a.m.!

They were in a car together with two other women. They’re inseparable. We didn’t try to follow each other, since keeping four vehicles together for four hours is a bit difficult. We all knew (pretty much) where we were going and would likely see each other shopping throughout the day. I connected with the Dynamic Duo’s group shortly after arriving in Chicago to make sure there had been no problems. Since they were in the same building, I met up with them and chatted for a few minutes. A couple of the women said they’d had to hike super far from their parking space. Someone else said it wasn’t very far at all. I asked where they parked, but they couldn’t remember the specific street. No one thought much of it.

I checked in with them again mid-afternoon. They were tired of walking and planned to drive to Navy Pier to explore for a while before heading home. Then I got a phone call over an hour later.

“Susan, where are you?” (I answered.)

“Do you see the visitors’ center?” (“Yes.”)

“Can you meet us there?” (“Sure. Would you like to share what’s going on?”)

“Not really.” (End of phone conversation.)

I soon found them huddled around a map of downtown Chicago with a visitors’ center employee trying to identify parking garages in which they might have parked.

Yes, they lost the car.

By the time I reached them, they’d been searching long enough to get frustrated, tired, and very confused. I tried to put their clues together, but the more they talked, the more contradictory the clues became. All the “facts” they remembered couldn’t possibly fit together. However, we had little sunlight left, and I had a pair of fresh legs and a (somewhat) clear and logical mind, so DynaTwo and I set out in search of the car.

We ran in and out of several parking garages, checking the second level, which they all agreed upon. Several parking attendants asked if they could help. The conversation was pretty much the same wherever we went.

“Can I help you?” (“Yes, we’re trying to find a car and we’re not sure which garage it’s in.”

“Let me see your ticket.” (“The ticket is in the car.”)

“Are you sure you’re in the right parking garage.” (“We’re not sure of anything except what the car looks like and that it’s on the second level.”)

“Oh. Well, good luck.” (“Yes. Thanks. Well…Merry Christmas!”)

The search continued. The sun went down. The parking garages darkened. And we got cold. It was time to consider other options.

After a brief discussion with DynaOne, whose car it was, and the other two women in the group, we decided one of the women would go home with another group and the Dynamic Duo and their sidekick would spend the night and look with fresh eyes and legs in the daylight. I encouraged them to have a fun slumber party, since it really wasn’t going to help them to worry all night.

Well, they definitely had fun! They jumped on the opportunity to have a girls’ all-nighter, making the best of a tense situation. Oh, the stories they’ve shared about their adventures! As they calmed down for the night, they identified the most likely parking garage and found the car first thing the next morning. They learned a few lessons about parking in Chicago, but the most important lessons they learned were about friendships. The three of them laughed until they cried through the night…or cried until they laughed. Probably both!

During the height of the crisis, someone said we’d all laugh about it someday…if the car was found. It didn’t take long for the laughter to begin. What else were we going to do? It turned out well. Everyone was okay. The car was fine. And the Dynamic Duo and Super Sidekick found an excuse for an impromptu slumber party they’ll never forget!

How do you handle crises in your life? Do you throw a pity party, a tantrum, or a slumber party?

Ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will open for you. Yes, everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened. Matthew 7:7-8

“Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.” Henry Ward Beecher

“I choose patience… I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so. Rather than complaining that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.” Max Lucado

“When we yield to discouragement it is usually because we give too much thought to the past and to the future.” Anonymous

“He has right to interrupt your life. He is Lord. When you accepted Him as Lord, you gave Him, the right to help Himself to your life anytime He wants.” Henry Blackaby

“The true follower of Christ will not ask, ‘If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?’ Rather he will say, ‘This is truth. God help me to walk in it, let come what may!’” A.W. Tozer

“Here lies the tremendous mystery – that God should be all-powerful, yet refuse to coerce. He summons us to cooperation. We are honoured in being given the opportunity to participate in his good deeds. Remember how He asked for help in performing his miracles : Fill the waterpots, stretch out your hand, distribute the loaves.” Elisabeth Elliot

“I wonder if people who asked for God to intervene in our world, really know what they are asking. Will they want to be there when God really does intervene?” – C.S. Lewis

 

Let me clearly state…

1. I respect Tim Tebow.
2. I love football and enjoy a good game no matter who is playing.

I respect Tim Tebow for living out his faith on - and off – the field. It’s no easier for him than anyone else who publicly lives out their faith. In fact, it’s likely more difficult because he lives in the nationally broadcast eye. He regularly deals with people who judge him – not only for his football skills but for his faith. Not everyone agrees with his bold expression of faith. And then there are those who do, and it’s some of these people I struggle with the most.

That’s why I want to shout: ”Beware of your adoration of Tebow!” There’s a fine line between respect and idolizing.

You must not worship or serve any idol. (Exodus 20:4)

When we start searching for “proof” that one person is superior to others because of the numbers of a football game or the “success” of a player, we enter a danger zone. Success is not measured in earthly wins or losses. God extends blessings to people in every situation, visibility, popularity, social strata, and earthly beauty. He reaches people where they are. His idea of the ladder of success isn’t ours. There are people on every rung of the ladder who are close to God and those who aren’t. It’s not where we are in everyone else’s expectations and definitions. It’s where we are in our relationship with God – not where we’re rationalizing we are but where God says we are.

Faithful people win by earthly standards and lose by earthly standards. How they respond draws them closer to God or creates space within the relationship. Tebow seems to (at least publicly) handle both wins and losses with grace. I can’t fault him. But there are many people’s responses that make me cringe, especially the ones equating Tebow and the Bronco’s success with God’s preferential blessing. God cares about every detail of our lives. Even football isn’t trivial to him. If it’s important to us, he wants us to share it with him, but God also wants us to replace our perspective with his perspective. If he says our priorities are messed up and need some major deconstruction and reconstruction, it’s time to get to work.

When we project our own definitions of blessings and curses, ability and status, onto those of God, we’re in a danger zone, and we need to turn and run.

The most ludicrous line of reasoning I heard leading up to this weekend’s game was an attempt to pit Tebow against Brady as good versus evil because of the stats of Brady’s draft. You can laugh. I hope most people take such silliness with a large grain of salt, but there are others who cling to such ridiculous reasoning.

For every truth spoken, there are innumerable untruths spoken. The most dangerous are those untruths mixed with a dash of truth, making it taste enough like truth that it’s easy to swallow and digest.

I don’t personally know Tim Tebow, but my impression is that he’d never want to hinder someone’s faith. Let’s make sure we don’t do the same, not because it’s not what Tebow would want but because it’s what God wants. Let’s honor God in everything we say and do, whether it’s about football or the Bible. We’ll make some mistakes along the way, but when we learn from them, our faith will grow along the journey.

The mayhem that’s surrounded Tebow and the Broncos will drastically die down in the coming days, but I hope to carry the lessons I’ve learned from the fervor into other areas of my life.

I want to be mindful of the moments my inadequately considered comments or rationalization spew statements about the character of God and his will that are misleading and inaccurate. I hope to hold my tongue or be honest in my uncertainty when I speak.

Will you join me in the commitment?

As a Christ-follower, I can respect others, but I can only remain in the footsteps of one. No matter how enamored I become with someone, no matter how much I love someone, no matter how I much I appreciate someone’s example, I will not be deterred or distracted as I try to place my steps in the footsteps of Jesus. It won’t be easy, but he already told us it wouldn’t be.

Enter through the narrow gate. The gate is wide and the road is wide that leads to hell, and many people enter through that gate. But the gate is small and the road is narrow that leads to true life. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Here are a few phrases I texted.

• Be yourself, but don’t expect anyone else to change. Patterns rarely change in a crisis. The impact of how everyone responds usually has ripple effects later.
• God doesn’t expect you to change anyone. That’s his job. He calls you to be obedient. Stand and rest in him. He’ll use you in the process even when you don’t see it. He’ll give you peace even in the chaos.
• Your hope can’t be someone else’s hope. They have to seek and accept hope on their own. It’s one of the hardest things to accept with those we love. Just think of how God feels when we don’t fully accept everything he provides us.

Several days later I searched my phone to reread the texts. God was prompting me to recall them, because I needed to hear them while in my own situation. I believed each and every sentence I texted, so you might think I could also easily live by the advice contained in the texts, but sometimes living by what we believe isn’t as easy as it sounds. Perhaps you’re better at it than I am. (I hope you can handle my honesty.)

What advice have you given lately that you need to give to yourself?

I call it boomerang advice. I must be willing to speak any advice I give into a mirror. I need to cc myself on every text and email I send and subscribe to my own blog and social networking accounts. I’m still not perfect in the process, but I’m growing. I used to listen to myself a lot less, which meant speaking without processing and advising without listening at times. I had to learn the hard way, and I want to spare you some headaches by letting you know if you’re not attentive to what you’re throwing out there for others to catch, it will often boomerang back to you and surprise you with a loud whack. You’ll avoid a lot of bruising if you only throw what you can catch.

Keep an eye on your own advice. You’ll save yourself a lot of headaches and built some trustworthy relationships along the way.

Listen to advice and accept correction, and in the end you will be wise.Proverbs 19:20

It’s a simple verse, yet it hit me hard. Not because I was being obviously proud or haughty, but sometimes God points out the need for slight attitude adjustments. I was carrying some anxiety I didn’t need to carry. And I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. Oh, I was functioning just fine, including digging into my Bible study. I could have easily gone through the motions that morning, but (thankfully) I was engaged, because I sensed I needed something. I did. Honestly, is there ever a time I don’t need something? I want to be a lifelong learner. I want to grow. Learning and growing won’t just happen. I have to seek and be willing to hear and respond. Learning is active and applicable, and God reminded me…

Humility is essential.

I won’t learn much – if anything – if I assume a self-righteous position. What good is it to learn from myself? I already know what I know. What I don’t know is what I don’t know and what I want to learn, which means I have to seek out those who know.

A strange phenomenon occurs among peers in their preteen and teen years. They often primarily rely on each other to learn the ways of the world. They ask each other about dating, studying, friendships, sports, colleges and life in general. They excitedly teach each other. Yet how much more experienced is one than the other? Oh, perhaps slightly more experienced…but enough to be the primary method of teaching and learning?

Let’s be honest. It’s not just preteens and teens. We adults often do the same thing; we’re just a bit more sly about it. The people we go to might not be the same age as us, but there are other similarities. We look for people who will affirm us instead of those who will challenge our way of thinking and living and stretch us in ways that are somewhat uncomfortable. We seek what sounds good instead of was is true. As long as we can control the situation and flow of information at the pace and content that agrees with us, we’ll continue the relationship, but if accountability to standards we don’t believe in begins to creep in, we get out.

Yes, we need to be discerning and get out when relationships are destructive or even detrimental, but that’s not what I’m referring to. When I mention accountability and declare it as essential to healthy, growing individuals and relationships, I’m talking about accountability to God’s standards. If we’re seeking to be taught by someone who knows more than us, there’s really only one source to go to: God. He’s going to cross our paths with others who can teach us through seasons, too, but we have to recognize people are fallible. The people I’ve learned the most from have opened their hearts with wisdom while also being sure I know they’re human. They’ll do their best to point me in God’s direction, but they want me to seek him directly as well.

To be humble acknowledges my position in relationship with God. Only he holds the best perspective. Humility in any other context is likely skewed. We distort truth in our own efforts because we don’t know it all. We’ll define ourselves as less or more than what we actually are.

I was doing both that day. My pity party made it look as if I was thinking less of myself. But who was I to decide what should be pitied? As I placed it on God’s scales, I immediately recognized my error. My math was completely off. I placed it on the scales, expecting them to take a sudden dip, but the scales registered no weight. As I handed it to God to weigh, he took away the weight. He did the same with the anxiety. And then he replaced both with James 4:10. Humble yourself in the Lord’s presence, and he will honor you.

God’s Word is full of such promises. He often says, “If only you’ll ________________, I’ll _________________.” Why, oh, why, must we continue to think we can do it all on our own? Why do we cast our anxieties upon him and quickly reel them back in?

What are you holding onto today?

Loosen your grip. As it falls from your hands into God’s, he is ready to blow it into oblivion with one quick breath.

Despite living in central Illinois, where you can usually look across the plains and see for miles, we could walk about a mile and reach fantastic sledding hills in the winter. The hills overlooked the creek bottom, and the hike to sled was worth the effort. After hiking back up the hills after the sled runs, we began to wonder if our legs would carry us back home before our fingers and toes froze. But the promise of Mom’s homemade hot chocolate was all the motivation we needed to return.

The hills took on a different context in the summer, especially the year we cleared the north hills. The bulldozers came in to knock down every size of tree and pull up root systems. We’d check on the process when they weren’t working, and I was amazed to stand beside many tree trunks large enough for me to walk through with barely a stoop if they had been hollowed. It was quite a process of transformation to watch. The hills of scattered trees I had known became almost unrecognizably bare. I noticed details I had never seen before. And it wasn’t long before I knew those hills more intimately than I ever thought I could.

After the large machinery was done, it was our turn to scour the hills. Since farm machinery would be working the hills, planting and harvesting beans and wheat in the coming years, we had to pick up what the large equipment couldn’t get and the farm machinery shouldn’t get. So, our trekking began.

We walked back and forth across the width of the hills. We worked as a team (most of the time), picking up rocks and broken pieces of root systems and throwing them onto a trailer. It was dirty, exhausting work. Every now and then, we’d find a treasure – Indian arrowhead or a fossil – and we’d gather around to examine each other’s discoveries. We’d soon go back to the monotonous search for rocks. The land was rough, a result of being pulled apart. We weren’t working on level ground. What looked like stone was often a clump of dirt and when kicking a clump of dirt, we often found stones. Walking on uneven ground was tiresome. Repeatedly bending over and picking up debris was exhausting. The adventure of the process quickly wore off as we returned to the hills day after day.

But the process was necessary in order to prepare the fields for the next thing: crops.

We often are in the process of clearing something of the past in order to prepare for the future. It’s essential we do the work. Sure, we’d rather be enjoying the thrill of sledding or consistently finding treasures. The filth and exhaustion isn’t as much fun as the adventures, but it’s a critical part of the process. We can complain and whine. We can sit and pout. Or, we can get to what needs to be done.

What work is God requiring of you today? What’s your attitude about it?

Be obedient, and let him prepare your life for the next season. His purpose might be beyond your wildest imaginations…and memories.

The farmer is like a person who plants God’s message in people. Sometimes the teaching falls on the road. This is like the people who hear the teaching of God, but Satan quickly comes and takes away the teaching that was planted in them. Others are like the seed planted on rocky ground. They hear the teaching and quickly accept it with joy. But since they don’t allow the teaching to go deep into their lives, they keep it only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they quickly give up. Others are like the seed planted among the thorny weeds. They hear the teaching, but the worries of this life, the temptation of wealth, and many other evil desires keep the teaching from growing and producing fruit in their lives. Others are like the seed planted in the good ground. They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce fruit—sometimes thirty times more, sometimes sixty times more, and sometimes a hundred times more. (Mark 4:14-20)