echoes

There’s a school I pass that has a habit – a good habit – of posting inspirational messages on their roadside sign. Recently, the message was “Be a Voice, Not an Echo”. At first, I thought it was a great message, not just for the students of the school but for all of us.

Don’t be an echo simply parroting what others say. Don’t be an echo blindly following a group. Don’t be an echo striving to imitate the “lives” plastered across social media.

Be a voice and speak up when you see something wrong. Be a voice and be true to yourself. Be a voice and find your own song to sing.

As important as all that is, the more I thought about it the more I came to see that the message doesn’t go far enough. There are times when being an echo is a good idea.

My first thought was Jesus. Jesus was an echo, but He was a good echo, sharing God’s word and God’s love. Jesus wasn’t simply parroting or blindly following, He understood God’s message and wanted to help everyone to understand it too. But make no mistake, Jesus was a voice as well. He didn’t imitate those around Him, He knew there was a better way and spoke up for it. Jesus was true to His calling – even though it ultimately cost him His life.

In that way, we too should be an echo. We can speak God’s word to a hurting world just like Jesus did. And when we find someone who has a message that shares God’s love, joining together to share that message gives it greater power and a wider reach. But it is still important to be a voice and speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves; to speak up when we see something wrong and work to fix it; to sing the song that God has given each of us.

Voices for justice, voices for equality, voices for peace – but echoes of love…

 

sharing the love

“I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will consistently speak of all His glories and grace. I will boast of all His kindness to me. Let all who are discouraged take heart. Let us praise The Lord together, and exalt His name. For I cried to Him and He answered me! He freed me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:1-4 The Living Bible

This verse was part of the reading for my morning devotion today, and wow did it hit home. After my experience the last few days, it was the perfect verse and a reminder that it’s important to share these stories.

I’ve been feeling stressed and unfortunately my reaction to stress is to overeat. I know it’s not healthy, I know it’s not wise, I know in a way it denies my claim of faith – that I can rely on God to help me through anything and everything. But I felt powerless to stop. And finally two days ago as I was driving to work I reached my limit. I cried out to God, literally. People passing me may have thought I was crazy. I spent a good ten minutes talking out loud to God. I asked Him to help me understand why I couldn’t seem to rely on Him, instead turning to food for comfort. I reminded God, and myself, that I had asked Him to fill the God-shaped hole inside me. And that when He answered my prayer my life had changed drastically. I asked God to help me remember how much He loved me and wanted only the best for me. I offered Him my worries and my fears and by His grace I was able to leave them there. That day, the urge to eat just for the sake of eating was less and I felt encouraged.

Then yesterday as I was driving to work I realized I had left my phone at home. My first instinct was to proceed on to work as I don’t really need it, but then I thought about my mom. When she needs me, she always calls my cellphone. I decided to go back home to get my phone. I couldn’t leave her without a way to reach me, even if it meant I would be late for work. As I turned toward home, I felt the stress settle back around me. And that is when God helped me recognize the heart of my issue. I am my mother’s main support now. I’m glad to be able to help and do what I can for her, but I can’t do everything she needs, or even everything I might wish I could. And in that moment I realized that was my problem. I feel guilty for not doing more. My stress comes from feeling like I am failing my mother. But I give what I can, and I vowed in that moment to remember that God is there with me – and with my mother – and I do not need to do it all. I felt the stress begin to lift and as I rounded a curve in the road, God gave me the exclamation point to His reminder. The truck coming toward me had a sign below it’s license plate with one simple word – Jesus.

The rest of the day, my appetite was back to normal. I was comforted that my focus was back where it belonged and my stress was under control. God had heard my plea and answered me. He understood my fear and loved me even when I doubted His presence.

So now, you can see why the Psalm I read this morning prompted this post. I had to speak of God’s love and mercy and share how He is always near and ready to hear when we call..

I see the moon…

Driving to work before sunrise this morning, I saw a beautiful full moon playing hide and seek from behind layers of streaky clouds. At times it was in full view, glowing brightly in a blue-black sky. And at other times it was almost completely hidden from sight. The times it was hidden from view did nothing to diminish it’s beauty when I next caught a glimpse of it. If anything, the moon seemed a little brighter, a little more beautiful each time I saw it. I was so taken with the sight, it was hard to focus on driving. I would much rather have pulled over to the side of the road and just watched the moon, but work has to come first.
As I continued on my way, the twists and turns in the road allowed me occasional glimpses of the moon. As I drove, I noticed how at times, whether due to the clouds or the turns of my route, the moon was completely out of sight. Yet at other times, it seemed as if I was driving straight toward it.
It occurred to me that this drive was a perfect analogy for God’s presence in our lives. Whether – like the clouds – life seems to get in the way, or – like the twists and turns of the road – the choices we make lead us away from God’s path, sometimes the light of God’s love is obscured. But like the moon, God is always there.
As children, we’re taught that the moon is always there, Whether we see all the glory of the full moon or only the merest shadow of a new moon, we accept that the moon does not ever go away. Cloudy nights do not make us doubt the moon’s existence, neither do the cycles that cause the moon to gradually fade from sight or the times that our journeys call us to move away from the light of the moon.
Yet, when we face difficulties in life, whether like the clouds they are beyond our control – illness, injury, the loss of a loved one, unemployment – or like the twists in the road, when we make choices that turn us away from God – rudeness, selfishness, unkindness – many people are so quick to say that they can’t see God in these circumstances so God cannot exist.
But, like the moon, God is always there, willing to shine His love to light our way. It seems when we find this light blocked, we become so focused on the darkness in our lives it becomes harder and harder to find the way to God’s light.
Perhaps we can learn to trust that the light is available to us if we will just take our focus off the darkness. If we can give that darkness to God, the clouds will clear and we can see God in our circumstances. And like the moon, God will be able to shine brightly in our lives during the good times and the bad.

welcome home

During the long six weeks of my family member’s time in rehab, my daily schedule was completely disrupted. Not that I’m complaining. My gratitude that she is still here with us greatly outweighs any temporary inconvenience. But my days were no longer my own and many familiar and comforting things were put aside.
One of those things was my Bible. It still sat in its usual easily accessible place, but I never seemed to find time to pick it up. I still spent time with God each day – I know I could not have made it thru those days without Him – but time with my Bible was so hard to find.
The other day, facing the new normal that this accident has brought to all our lives, I decided I needed to make it a priority to reclaim some of the things that made my life my own. The first thing I did was pick up my Bible and the worn cover, the dog-eared pages, the weight, the feel as I flipped through pages filled with familiar names – Psalms, Isaiah, Matthew, John, Galatians, Philippians – brought instant comfort. Seeing bookmarks that mean so much to me marking passages that have guided, instructed and supported me quickly erased the time apart.
Then as I was reading the recommended verses from the daily devotional I use, I felt God reaffirming the choices I’ve had to make to support my family member, and welcoming me back to our times together in His word. James 1:17-18 “But whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God, the creator of all light, and He shines forever without change or shadow. And it was a happy day for Him when He gave us our new lives, through the truth of His word, and we became, as it were, the first children in His new family.” (The Living Bible)
As I read that God is without change or shadow, I thought to myself these last six weeks have been proof of that. But then, imagine! It was a happy day for God when He gave us our new lives. It wasn’t a chore, it wasn’t an obligation, it was a happy thing. We didn’t have to beg, we didn’t even have to ask. Our new lives are a gift.
What a welcome home…

make me a channel

Five weeks ago at this time, I was sitting in the “family room” of the trauma unit at our local hospital waiting for an update on a family member that had been in a serious car accident. As I sat there, I thought I should be praying, but I couldn’t find the words. That felt so strange, I had to stop and analyze it. What I realized was comforting, but a bit of a surprise…

I couldn’t find the words to ask God to be with my family member, because I didn’t need to ask. God was already there and had been from the moment of the accident. I have never had an experience of knowing with absolute certainty like that before. It was powerful.

But the most amazing thing? That certainty allowed me the freedom to be open to those around me and their needs. In the family room with me was a woman whose husband had been stricken at home and was in very serious condition. The woman was so distraught that she could barely explain the situation to her family. As we sat there across the small room from each other, I prayed for her husband and for her – for comfort and strength to face whatever the future might hold. I visualized God wrapping them in His arms so they would know that they weren’t alone. I prayed for guidance and wisdom for those caring for the man. And as we sat in that too small space, struggling to give each other privacy, I could sense calm coming over her. Her tears slowed and she was able to speak more clearly when her family called her. God was truly in that room with us that evening.

In the midst of fear and worry, I was blessed to be a channel for God’s peace. To reach out to a total stranger, even if she never realized I had done it, gave me a sense of purpose on a night when I had little control. And it has helped me thru the challenges of the ensuing weeks. God is still in the room!