I apologize. I lived a lesson about expectations recently, but I wasn’t ready to share it. Honestly, the lesson still stung.

I think as well, I was worried. I was worried that in comparison to the grand disappointments of life, this would seem simple, small, and that my reaction would be judged childish. Trust me; our family has had some of those truly life-altering disappointments too. I do know the difference. So, sweeping pride aside and casting myself on your mercy, here I am. And, here we go.

Two weeks ago, we left on vacation. We are not the sort of family that goes on vacation frequently, or annually. We probably haven’t really been on a vacation in six, maybe seven years. The last handful of years have been full of family obligations and financial trials, and while we don’t regret taking care of our parents or older relatives, it also has not left much time to forge memories with our own nearly-grown kids. We planned and scrimped. Six months ago, I stayed up till midnight to reserve a camping spot that is famously hard to book, our family’s favorite river-side tent spot. We even had the car worked on, trying to prevent any problems. Plans were made. Routes were drawn. Hearts were set.

And then, on the weekend of Labor Day, nine hours into our trip, we found ourselves waving goodbye to the AAA towing guy. He left us at a McDonalds in a very small dot on the map, somewhere above Sacramento, and somewhere south of Redding. “Good luck!” he shouted, as he pulled out of the parking lot, headed for the next person waiting on the side of the I-5.  It was going to be Tuesday before anyone could look at our vehicle, Wednesday before the part could be ordered, Thursday before we could get back on the road. Our vacation was, for all intents and purposes, gone.

Now, did God have a plan for this trip – oh Yes, He did. It turned out that there was someone important to visit, time that really needed to be spent, love that needed to be given. It was crystal clear from the moment this all began that there was a bigger plan in place. Yet, my heart clung to the disappointment.

I tried for a week to “get over” it – to submit it to God. But no matter how much I prayed, or read, no matter what I did, I couldn’t shake the feeling of disappointment. I felt like so much had been taken – like it was the last straw on the camel’s back. I just could not shake the mood. This little thing was becoming a spiritual battle.

Soon, as it tends to do, Sunday rolled around. As my family got ready to head out to church, I just didn’t want to go. You know, there are just days you don’t want to deal with everyone being all loving and nice! I figured at least 20 people were going to ask, “So, how was your vacation?” or some version of that, and I didn’t have the energy to explain, or the will to be light-hearted about it. Maybe I should just stay home? Oh, how insidious are the lies of the enemy! 

I wish I could tell you it was a victory that I went to church, but in fact it was just duty. I realized it was my Sunday to lock up – I had to go! Yet, as I slipped into the pew between my son and my husband, with the strains of praise music beginning, I knew this was exactly where I needed to be. The songs that morning were songs of trust, faith, joy, and praise – just as they always are. Yet they spoke healing and right attitude to my soul. The praise of our great God put all of my little earthly concerns in correct perspective, and snapped my eyes right back into focus on Him. He touched my heart, straightened out the kinks in my attitude, and righted my course during that service.

Praise is an act of obedience, sometimes. Yet it always brings blessing, because it focuses our faith on Him, and takes our spiritual eyes off of our selves. Just when we need the body of Christ, the enemy would like to keep us away from them, because it is while a part of that greater body that we are the most powerful as a force for Jesus in this world.

Surrendering self is hard, if that is where my focus is. But putting Jesus first is easy – He is winsome, His burden is light. That’s what I learned this week. I  must focus less on me, even in the surrendering of me. My place is behind Him, following Jesus. If I get that right, everything else will fall in place! Like Isaiah, when I get a good look at the Lord, surrender is sure to follow.

Isaiah 6:1-8, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.  And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
    the whole earth is full of his glory.”

  At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

  Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”


Amen!
Blessings,
Cara & Patti
Classic Christianity

"But you brethren are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief."
I Thess. 5:4

Let us wear the world as a loose garment, not wrapping ourselves closely with it or holding it tightly, being instantly ready to step from it and allow the wedding garment for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb to settle over us. It is a time to look up with hopeful expectation, for it is a time of joyful anticipation of the coming of the Lord.

It is also time for us to invest our time and wealth in heaven. If ever it is the time for men to learn how to wisely invest for the Lord, it is now.

Lastly and most importantly, it is the acceptable time of salvation. Are you ready for the Lord's return? Are all your friends, neighbors, and family ready? If not, then we have much to do. Let us be diligent and urgent about the work of reconcilliation.

I think of the story told of a woman who in view of an approaching lawsuit planned to employ an able attorney in her town. After considerable delay she asked him to take her case but it was too late. "I am very sorry," he said, "but I have just been appointed judge. I cannot plead for you now. I can only judge you."

This was written in the 1940's by Rev. L.A. Meade and taken from devotionals written from his writings. Yet, as it was true then, it is very true today. Classic Christianity Vol I, May 2nd.

Blessings as we keep looking up,

Patti and Cara
Classic Christianity

Tonight I felt it for the first time. There is a change of seasons in the air, a little chill sidling up to my summer evening. I knew it was coming. I have been waiting, anticipating the cool nights and crisp bright autumn mornings that are all the seasonal change Southern California can muster. Here our days are deceitful. An October day might bring a triple digit blast of heat known locally as a Santa Ana wind – or “East Wind” to the real old timers – but the evenings give themselves away. Summer slips out of our grasp one hour at a time, with the earlier setting of the sun. Granted, it never completely leaves us…here in the land of year-round sun, summer can make a mischievous appearance in January, if she so chooses. And sweater-weather isn’t relegated to January! In fact, a June-gloom morning is as likely to require an extra layer as the winter months, and the Fourth of July’s fireworks are nearly always accompanied by snuggling together under a light quilt as we watch the fog roll in to meet the smoky remnants of the rockets’ red glare.

I’m feeling another change of seasons in the air, too. Sidling up, grasping at my heartstrings, tugging insistently at the corners of my mind is the knowledge that a change in my life’s season is lurking just a few flips of the calendar away. I had just acclimated to the fact that I have a daughter graduated from college and working full time. I had approached that transition gingerly, like dipping my toe into middle age. But the water was fine, and I went wading right on in. Having one child grown and self-sufficient isn’t so different. It’s the evenings that give it away, you know. The days are deceitful. With the younger kids to get through school, my days had the same rhythm as they have for twenty years. Research for lessons, grading papers, park days, and bleacher-sitting fill my every waking hour just as they have for two decades now. But, in the evenings there is a silence that creeps around the house occasionally, only to be interrupted by the whoops and hollering that I know and love.

I have noticed it more, this second time around. Our second child packed up and moved off to college just last weekend, and the normal rhythm is noticeably off a bit. He is a big presence, and leaves a large hole in our day with his absence. I can’t help looking at his younger brother as well, realizing that this little world of mine is beginning to wobble in its orbit. My universe is still spinning round, but a change is coming. Soon my days will not be characterized by barely organized chaos, but by a smooth, empty page of time stretching out before me, waiting. For so long, my task-oriented heart has reveled in the sheer exhilaration of riding life like a roller-coaster, barreling from one thing to the next, flying here and there, slowing down only to relish the camaraderie that is our family life.

Most seasons I have welcomed, having envisioned them, planned for them, and rejoiced in their coming. This season is different. I have never pictured what this portion of my calendar might hold. I’m not eager to begin it, and I’m glad that, like the Southern California autumn, the season will change slowly, hour by hour introducing me to the next page on my planner. There is no worry, just a sense of nostalgia for each “last” thing we do now. When will we take the last camping trip for the five of us? The last Holiday before we are joined by a newly married-in member? Ultimately, I look forward with eyes of faith to the next season being just as fulfilling, just as sweet, as each that has come before in its turn. I do not know the future, but I rest confidently in the protection of He who does. I feel the change in the nighttime breeze, and I’m so glad I can trust the One who sent it.

With hope and prayer that you can trust Him in the season in which you find yourself,
Cara & Patti
Classic Christianity

This article was a CHEA Award winning article for 2012.

Runners have a term called "Hitting the Wall."  It seems that in a long race there is a time when the body just seems that it cannot go on. Exhaustion, muscle fatigue, pain of continuing on beyond natural endurance takes hold and the runner yearns to stop. Just quit.

How like our lives this is. Sometimes the ordinary busyness and responsibilities of life cross with the urgent and unexpected and we "Hit the Wall." This is a time for reflection on priorities. Instead of dropping our daily quiet time to attend to the brushfires of the day,  let us remember that Jesus pulled away often to pray, gather strength and power, then and only then did He minister and reach out.
I forgot that this week. Book signings, church presentations, house cleaning, and precious, long-awaited visits from my kids all came at once. I could not envision how it could all be accomplished and became stressed. And actually, it all couldn't be done. I had my quiet time at night before I fell asleep instead of in the morning. My closets are still disorganized, but the book signing, the church presentation, the pizza for 20 for my Bible study group, the game playing with my granddaughters and kids, nursing a sick goat and a sick husband, all got done. 

Countless things were left by the wayside, but God gave me strength and joy to do what was important. This week is much lighter, and I'm going to remember to help someone else who's extra busy. How 'bout you?  (I might even clean a closet.  :-)
Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." Is.40:29

Blessings, Patti and Cara