Conclusion to We don’t have tomorrow

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Happy Thursday and thanks for stopping by today! Grab whatever you’re having and your strand of faith, maybe a Kleenex and a journal as I share from my heart to yours.

In the days that followed, I received positive updates. My son’s dad was improving on many accounts but each time the nurse reported this, there was surprise on her part with a firm confirmation that he would have to change his lifestyle or he wouldn’t make it out of a convalescent hospital. The words of my nephew’s wife – I guess that makes her my niece – surfaced: “He told me before they put him under that when he made it through this he was going to change his life.”

Surely that meant he had tomorrow, I assured myself.

The days turned into two more weeks, and my soul began to be troubled as I hadn’t heard from anyone about his condition. Was he still in a medically-induced coma? Surely that wouldn’t be, couldn’t be good. I sought answers from friends in the medical field who assured me that the coma would help with healing. I pushed what troubled me back into the hallway closet of my heart.

It wasn’t until we were driving up north to take our grandson back home and be part of his first day of kindergarten that I was prompted to text my nephew. Five minutes later, my phone rang; it was him.

“Funny you should text me,” he said. “I just got out of a meeting with the doctors.”

Silence screamed.

He continued: “It’s not good.”

My heart sank to the floorboard of the truck, his words going as fast as the miles gone behind me, slowing down when he came to the final conclusion: “So they are going to turn all the machines off and we have to let him go.”

Nooooooooooo, I screamed silently. My heart and thoughts just wouldn’t make the connection and that refusal turned the faucet of tears on and they flowed. I cried over the tragic waste of it all, all that he had lost, even more what my son had lost, and any and all opportunity of looking this man in the face, soul to soul to offer empathy, understanding, affirmation and forgiveness…gone. I didn’t have tomorrow. I couldn’t stop crying and for the next hour, anytime the tears would seem to abate, a thought would come crashing into my heart, taking me back, forcing more tears to the surface. Finally I dozed off, emotionally exhausted.

“I’ve already taken him up.”

I jumped, somewhat in a confused haze, looked around to George who sat driving, his eyes on the road, silent. I looked around at the brown lifeless hills surrounding the stretch of road on either side. I shook my head and as if to tell myself it must have been a dream, I shared with George the words I heard. They lay there in the air…floating away with no response, leaving me to think I must have just been dreaming, wishful thinking. I had sent my son a text message after trying to call him…he responded by saying he didn’t want to talk about it, couldn’t talk about it and his final sentence squeezed my heart, making me yearn to be there with him, frustrating me even more because I couldn’t; he was so far away. He said: “I’m just glad I have my mom. I love you.”

I tried to busy myself by playing games on my phone, reading, lost in a sea of memories, clarity keeping me present.

Two and a half hours later, I received a text message telling me he had passed! My heart lurched especially as a realization hit…hard: they said he had passed a couple hours prior...before my “dream!”  I have to believe that though I didn’t get tomorrow to tell him all that I wanted, and neither did my son, that I will see him in my forever tomorrows. I am comforted knowing he is no longer running from his past, allowing it to dictate his choices, robbing him from the ability to be loved and to love.

In the meantime, Coffee hour friend, let me just share from my heart to yours, if there is something or someone you are running from, STOP! Find someone to share it with; learn what you need to learn to unpack it, to let go of those things that rip you off from the love of family, friends and most importantly, the reality of the necessity of the love and grace of a loving Savior. And if there’s something you haven’t told someone you care about, tell them! Don’t wait until tomorrow for tomorrow may not come…for them…or for you!

Love,

Evinda

We Don’t Have Tomorrow …

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Oh, my goodness, can you believe it; it’s almost fall! I love this time of year, when the change of seasons is just around the corner, even though the heat is trying to contradict that truth, and decorating ideas fill our thoughts; creativity brings them to life, our fall and winter clothes lay waiting for the weather to line up with the time of year. And the colors, don’t you just love the colors of fall? Woops, got carried away there, thinking just a little ahead! Grab your coffee, your strand of faith, and come on in as I share about a tragic loss I recently experienced, and some truths that came from that loss.

Three weeks ago, my son text to let me know his dad was in the hospital with the worst kind of pneumonia someone could have, especially for one whose immune system was already compromised. He asked me to pray. He attached three crying faces. Oh, but that broke my heart for so many reasons, for both of them, but especially my son. Without getting into the not-so-pretty details, let me just honestly share that I was more concerned for my son, as there were so many things left unsaid between them. So honestly, as a mom, I prayed for my son, and after working through a bit of unresolved animosity on my part as a result of his dad’s absence in my son’s life, from the age of four until that moment, I prayed for his father…and continued on with the rest of my evening.

I’ll cut this long story in half and just let you know that the next evening, my son called, tears filling his throat, making it difficult for him to talk so his words came out rather choppy: Mom, I don’t know what to do; Ryan doesn’t think he’s going to make it and says I should come out there.”

My heart fell to the ground, but thank goodness common sense didn’t follow. “Son, you have to go. You can’t “not” go or you will live with that regret for the rest of your life.” I explained we could help him financially if that was a problem, suggested he start shopping for airfare, hung up and stayed in survival mode. My sweet-hearted husband then called him back, gave him the credit card number and re-affirmed what I had told him, but man to man.

The arrangements made, we met my son up in Monterey the following day…at the hospital. I spotted my ex in-law family and after I ran to my son and held him for several lingering moments, I turned and hugged each one of them. There was no sense of awkwardness or animosity; just a genuine concern and sadness that joined us all on one common ground.

I was in no way prepared for what I saw when my son walked me into his room. There he lay, face down, suspended in the air, strapped in some contraption that kept him airborne with his head in like a cage, tubes coming out of everywhere. I gasped, hardly recognizing the man that lay there. As I listened to the beeping of the machines, my heart began to take in all that my eyes were seeing. The tears wouldn’t come; I wasn’t sure why. It was as though they were paralyzed, just like he was, from moving toward freedom.

I stared at him, thinking about all I had come to learn about him just in the last year, things that filled in the puzzle pieces of our life together nearly thirty years ago, why things didn’t work out, why he did what he did, chose the things that he did that brought him to this very moment. Oh, how I wanted him to open up his eyes and I wanted to look into them, deeply, reach down into his soul, massage it to softness, rid him of the stony heart made even more hard because of the way he lived his life…because of all that he ran from. I wanted to tell him I understood why he did what he did; why he didn’t do what he should have, could have; that I forgave him for not being the dad he should have, could have been. What I had learned didn’t justify his behavior, but it did clarify his behavior.

But I didn’t get that chance, not just because he wasn’t about to open his eyes due to the medically induced coma he was in, but  his sister came in there so I lost that opportunity.

By the next day, he was making great strides of improvement and my heart rejoiced over the possibility of another possibility…not just for me, but for him, for my son, to maybe have a chance to be father and son healthily without all the demons that had chased this man to the hospital. I was refueled with hope; I had tomorrow…

Join me tomorrow for the conclusion

Evinda

Faith Filled Fridays From Croley’s Corner of Chicklit Power

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Thank you for joining me today for Faith Filled Fridays. Grab your favorite beverage, a pen and journal and let’s get started.
Recently I’ve had many ask me what I thought about waiting! For many of us, we’ve at some time or another gone through a time of waiting … waiting for answers to our prayers. And for some of us, we wonder why we have to wait so long for things to happen and other times, well, don’t we get tired of waiting and resign ourselves to the fact that maybe He’s not listening since His answer isn’t coming fast enough?
We certainly are a society that does not like to wait…period! And why should we? We can Google questions rather than wait for an answer; we can order clothes on line rather than suffer waiting in a weekend line at a retail store. Think about it for a minute and ask yourself, do you like to wait? The answer for most of us is a definite NO!!! We don’t like waiting at the doctor’s office… at the bank, and especially waiting in line at the drive-thru. Speaking of getting through a drive-thru …
Awhile back I had a couple of my grandchildren with me, they informed me that they were getting hungry so I suggested going to our favorite eating place. When we turned the corner, to our surprise, a line filled with cars was wrapped around the building and all I could hear was a huge gasping sigh followed by:”We’ll never get to eat now!” I quickly replied, “Don’t get frustrated. We can drive to another location that maybe isn’t so busy” … I paused and added a however; “we’re not guaranteed it won’t be just as busy.” I’m not sure if it was impatience or hunger, but they thought for a brief moment and asked, “Can we go inside?” My response was, “Sure.”
As we entered, we saw immediately that the inside was as busy as the outside! again they looked up at me with a look of urgency…they were hungry! I explained to them this shouldn’t take long… really, and if they waited patiently without complaining they could enjoy an ice cream for dessert.
They were happy with the thought of a sweet reward, so they suffered through the wait.
Bringing this into a spiritual perspective, we too can find ourselves in a position where we’ve asked for something from God and as we begin to turn the corner in our journey as believers, we suddenly see ahead that things are just not moving as fast as we were hoping and we have to wait. And sometimes in our waiting we become exasperated…impatient...always asking...”What’s up with the wait?” Waiting can certainly feel like we can’t see the end from the beginning.
We are a people of hurry up and getter done, not thinking about the consequences of our impatient- ness. God doesn’t operate any faster in this century than He did in the first. And so while we rush ourselves, we can’t rush God. In fact, much of life is spent waiting. When it seems nothing is happening, we need to trust that is when everything is happening … behind the scenes. We just can’t see it….at least not yet!
In the waiting we forget that we’re not the only ones that God is dealing with. We must remember that He may be dealing with other people, situations and/or circumstances. And to be impatient and demanding can sometimes cause us to act out of and therefore change the outcome of God’s will for our lives and maybe the lives of others, as well.
While our natural nature is to hate waiting, this period of uncertainty can be a time of great personal growth. We must recognize that God is in control, even when it seems He has forgotten us.
Had my grandchildren demanded to go somewhere else, well, the reward would not have been half as sweet! They endured in the wait, even in the simplest way! Our lives may not be as simple as choosing a place to eat; however, it’s just as important to know that waiting on Him brings blessings and rewards to us all!
Don’t grow restless in the waiting. God brought favor to Hannah after years of praying for a son...in her waiting… Moses spent forty years tending sheep before God called him as a deliverer of His people; God had to deal with Pharaoh’s hard heart...in the waiting. Remember He may be working with the will of others….in your waiting!
What are you doing while you are waiting? Are you doubting or worshipping? Are you complaining or praying?
Keep your heart full of hope...in the waiting!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
Thanks for stopping by Faith Filled Friday’s and remember to keep Him close to your heart...while in the waiting.
Love,

Deb

Seven Sacrifices to Joy

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Thanks for joining me today for our Coffee Hour and more of the Seven Sacrifices to Joy. I hope you brought your red Strand of Faith so we can tie some knots in it together! Let’s get back to a Sacrifice of Righteousness because there are so many things that count!
We left off with a thought-provoking teaching by Jesus Himself in Matthew 5:39 wherein He teaches us to resist evil. Oh, how freeing that can be. Often when we think of evil, or an evil doer, don’t we think of a non-believer? For me, one of the most disillusioning lessons in my earlier calling to ministry was dealing with those in the church who hurt others. I believe that He knew that the greatest wounds would come from within the church and this one verse is the greatest prescription for such a sick thing. I now know, through life’s experiences, that when Jesus was speaking to us about resisting evil, He was not and is not confining it to a person who is not a follower of Christ. The church is not a place for perfect people, or I surely wouldn’t be able to attend any church! Oh, that each church would recognize that they are to be like a hospital which doesn’t turn away sick and wounded patients, but takes them in and begins the symptom assessment through a history and physical and then begins treatment!
It is in the church that we are treated for and taught how to not act out of our flesh! How do we resist evil? By not reacting to it! The reason that’s difficult for us is because too many of us put unreasonable expectations upon others, especially those within the church, placing unrealistic hope in people instead of the Author of Hope. Psalm 146:3 tells us “Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is not help.”
I don’t want to belabor this sacrifice, but I feel in my bones that since we deal with people, and God uses relationships to heal us, we need to sit in this for just a bit more. Not that I have perfected this requirement, to resist evil, but now that I understand it I have begun to practice it and each time it gets easier. Now, prior to my truly listening in that example I shared last week, there have been many occasions that I did not turn the other cheek to receive any more words of wrath! In fact, I have been known to spit out a mouthful of nails! You may be saying, “Well, why would you? That’s not what Jesus is saying in that verse.”
I agree; we are not to be doormats; however there is a fine line between turning the other cheek and hurling nails out of our mouth to pierce the heart of the one who hurt us! Have you ever felt like that; like all you wanted to do was strike back and hurt the one who just hurt you? The fine line that must be looked at is the line of pride!
We cannot offer up a sacrifice of righteousness when pride is by our side!
Returning to the incident I shared with you last week, I remember praying before getting out of the car to meet with this person in an effort to resolve conflict, to help me leave my pride in the car. If pride were a child, the conversation would go something like this: I’ll be right back; you stay in the car, I won’t be far. I promise I’ll come back for you! Pride, you stay inside while I go outside!
When we push our pride to the side, we are better equipped to turn the other cheek emotionally from the evil acts of those who hurt us, and face them in love, without retaliating. Could this be a sacrifice of righteousness?
Oh, but I can see now how different it could have turned out; I could have been so ripped off of the spiritual and emotional victory I felt when leaving that meeting.
When dealing with conflict and wanting to offer up a Sacrifice of Righteousness, perhaps if we remember that no matter how right we feel about something and how wrong we feel about someone, in the long run, when we are face to face with Him, He’s not going to ask us about their side; we are going to only talk about our actions and our failure … or success to offer a sacrifice of righteousness! Which shall you choose?
Oh, Abba, I fall short, miss the mark every day, and some days are worse than others. I thank you for your mercies that are new every morning, for your Word that works as a double-edged sword, piercing my heart and trimming away what needs to go. Help me offer up a sacrifice of righteousness, even when I don’t feel like it! When it all comes down to it, Father, what matters is my relationship with you and my relationship with others affects my relationship with you. Help me to be Christ-like to those who slap me in the face with their evil acts.
Seeking to offer a sacrifice of righteousness

 Evinda

Who/What do you put your hope in? from Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power…

Happy Friday and thanks so much for stopping by for our Coffee Hour and for our Power Friday! Can you believe Christmas is around the corner? Oops, sorry… There I go again, jumping ahead in life! Grab your coffee and let’s stay in this moment!

I am currently in the trenches with people who are willing to deal with their hurts, habits and hang-ups by looking at the root(s) they are tied to. We have just finished with the Root of Despair, and I am so loving this transforming journey with these fellow transformers! This root was actually a very powerful one for me, probably one that was the easiest to write for it’s the easiest to detect. See, what I mean is that despair is rooted in a lack of hope, and people who lose hope become incredibly desperate.

But there is something rather profound in this whole dilemma of despair, which translates to no hope. Could it be that who/what we put our hope in leaves us bankrupt? Leaves us empty of the will to fight? Threatens our stability? Steals our joy?
Here is a list of the top 5 things we tend to put our hope in. Make a mental check mark if any of these things steal even a little of your hope:

1. Others/self
2. Money
3. Our hurt, habit or hang-up
4. Education
5. Career

You can’t fill an internal need with an external person, place or thing! Oh, to be rooted to the Author of Hope because who we put our hope in we tend to love!

Evinda

JEFF's JAVA HOUR - 1st Trial in Texas

Well, I’ve come to my first big trial in Texas and right now, there isn’t much I can say but there is so much that is going through my head and through my heart. Like a piece of drifting wood caught in the middle of a raging ocean, I find that right before I reach the top of every violent and towering wave, my hope of seeing land, as I tirelessly climb to the top, never gets any more visible than the hope I had at the top of the first wave, but I know someday I'll see land so I cling to hope.
I can’t tell you how I feel and why. I just know that I need Jesus. He is my hope where there is no hope. I’m not quite ready to share what’s causing me to feel this way. All I can tell myself is that He said that He makes springs in the wastelands; He made everything out of nothing. [Isaiah 43:19]And honestly, that is what I have turned my life into… nothing. Oh, how I relate to that saying, “if only I knew then what I know now.” I surely would turn my life into gold with choices that propelled me into God’s pleasing and perfect will instead of making choices that scratched just the surface of deep emotional itches.
But you know what? Who would I be today if I hadn’t gone through the consequences of those choices and where they took me? Would I be able to really see the beauty of light if I hadn’t spent so long in the dark? Would I really be able to cry when joy overwhelmed me if I had never felt such deep sorrow? Would I really know God passionately if I never had to seek Him with all of my heart on my knees crying out in desperation, “God I can’t do this anymore I need you to save me, to show me, to comfort me, or at least to give me the strength I need to keep going!”? Would any of us know anything if we didn’t feel compelled to ask Him, “Why?”
Ohhh but it is such a rich beauty because with the deep purples of despair, and the bright reds of anger and hatred, a brilliant orange mixes with a living yellow, blue and pink to show that something new and exciting is on the horizon. Yes, trials are and can be something that gives life and life so colorfully, abundantly, and beautifully.
God, who am I that you are mindful of me? [Psalm 8:4] Haven’t you seen what I have done? Don’t you know who I am? My thoughts are shameful and my heart is deceitful, God? I know that you say that You forgive unconditionally but it is so hard for me to believe that. I am unworthy to even speak Your name but You have given me breath in my lungs and Your name is on my lips. You are my master, God; teach me; discipline me. Wrap me up in your arms and love me like a father loves his son and never let me go. I desire to be obedient to you, God, as you desire obedience from me. I want to do your will and not just hear your will and I long to know your will in my heart. Teach me how to trust you and what that word even means. I love you, God. Please don’t let me stray from you.

Jeff

POT of JOY - Ingredients Part III

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Thanks for joining me today for more of this series that has definitely turned out to be more complex than I ever imagined. I truly thought joy was kind of like a snap of the fingers, a one-ingredient recipe; wow, was I ever wrong! Grab your coffee and let’s finish up reiterating the ingredients thus far and putting them with a real life circumstance, life real time!
Since “joy” is in the word “rejoice,” it stands to reason that you cannot rejoice without joy! This may sound a bit redundant, but there are some light bulbs going off in my heart and in my mind and I am finally getting something that is freeing me up from some misinterpretation and misunderstanding. Oh, knowledge is power and the scriptures remain a mystery unless we dig for understanding. Let me share with you my light-bulb moment from Romans 5:3-4: “And not only that – the “that” refers to having peace in and through Christ – “but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that the tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character hope.”
So let me see if I can explain this a little bit at a time by applying it to a life-changing season that I am walking through right now as you read this. First of all, to “glory in tribulations” actually translates to “rejoice” in tribulations, but let’s not stop there; do you see that word “in?” I learned a long time ago -- in the midst of excessive crazy-hard circumstances -- I don’t have to rejoice “for” them while I’m “in” them but I can rejoice through them! That is huge. Let me put this to the test of that life-changing season I’m going through right now.
My son and his family have been called to another state, and not just around the corner; I’m talking 1450 miles away! I can’t even put into words what the past several weeks have been like knowing that they will be so far away and I can’t just get in the car and drive over to see them, at least not for a short drive! Gone are the every-other Monday lunches we shared, or the weekend over-nighters. It has been like someone with a knife has been casting a shadow over my heart and when I’m not looking, they sneakily cut away a layer of it, one piece at time, one day at a time, as if to separate us, one from the other.
And as the time drew closer to say good-bye, I was left yearning for that piece of me to stay and protect the rest of my heart, to not go so far away. Talk about a bummer! But – yes, I said but – I have been able to rejoice! Why? Because I know God has called them to and will carry them through this new season of their lives; that’s the bigger picture.
The bigger picture is still yet to come, but in the meantime, a small movie captured in a week’s worth of memories created when we moved all of them 1450 miles away comes into focus and the moments made during that move squeeze my heart with joy. They are what I cling to now every mile we drive further from them and back toward our home. These moments wouldn’t have been as sweet without the reality of our imminent separation and I’m so happy I’m sad! There really is always something to be thankful for, to rejoice about! Something tells me I’ll be sharing all of those memories in another series someday soon.
Join me tomorrow for more of this joy-stirring series, Destination? Joyful! ™
Tearfully Joyful,

Evinda

Nana Holds-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and thanks so very much for joining me, especially in the busiest season of the year! Grab your coffee and come back in for more of Nana Holds! I may keep you just a few minutes longer today so we can get through an incredibly important point, so make yourself comfy. I’m trusting that it will be worth your time!

A couple of blogs ago, I left off with a question about who was more blessed, the one who struggled less and had more, or the one who struggled more and had less? Well, I’d like to take this blog to answer that, which means I’ll be somewhat fast-forwarding to where we are emotionally and spiritually today, but it took several months to get here and I’m so glad I didn’t give up! See, in those first few months, I was still struggling with all the sacrificing and questioned why I had to go through all of this, why I had to give up my life as I had known it, my weekends and I didn’t feel very blessed. And although I was making the necessary changes, and sacrifices, my heart wasn’t quite in it all the way. All that has changed and I don’t want to give too much away but let me just share a couple of those life-changing revelations that have helped me to jump in with my whole heart!

When I was preparing for our November event titled “Living Outside Your Circumstance,” I realized then that He was allowing this and as long as I allowed Him to even with just a little piece of my heart, He would use it for something incredible. He showed me through a verse in John that the answer to living outside this circumstance, and any circumstance is actually within; that in order to get through it, and rise above it, we must acquire an eternal perspective to rise above our external circumstance. This is the verse: These things I have spoken to you; that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you WILL have tribulation but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world!

Well, the word tribulation got my attention and I was off and running to my Greek and Hebrew concordance and wow, what a treasure! Tribulation translates to “thlipsis” in Greek and primarily means “a pressing, pressure, anything which burdens the spirit and is often accompanied by anguish.” Hang on with me here because this gets better. So the root word for tribulation is actually a sort of sifting machine, a machine that goes and sifts the bad from the good by applying pressure!
There it is; the 10-karat diamond that sparkles with truth that shows us that circumstances/tribulations can work for our eternal good by sifting out the bad, separating it from the good, if we let them! Remember when I admitted that I saw myself as a not-so-kid-friendly Nana when this blog started? Well, I now know that He doesn’t want me to keep this perception, and through this circumstance and season, He’s going to separate the bad from the good and I will be transformed in the process to be more like Him, closer in His image.

Yes, most definitely, this circumstance, this tribulation has been working like a high-pressure sifting machine, cutting away the bad in me, unleashing me from a bondage I had no idea I was trapped in thereby bringing to surface the good. What’s telling about this is oftentimes, as soon as hardship comes our way, we automatically conclude, this couldn’t be from Him, and we begin to squirm and wiggle our way out, or scream our discontent and questions, shaking a finger at Him while hardening our heart.

When we ask why to a circumstance — and it’s okay to question, by the way — Jesus would have us remember that in a very real sense, Satan is temporarily in charge of this world and exercising squatter’s rights, and we all know that squatters don’t get to stay! Though it may look like the enemy is winning, GOD is the only one who can take the ugly pain, hurt, sorrow and any other side effect of our circumstance and turn it into something amazing.

In the meantime, don’t blame God for all the circumstances that you perceive to be wrong in your life; instead, look for an eternal good for your external circumstance, because when you take the X out of external, what do you have? So when I ask myself that question now, I can definitely look up and say, I am incredibly blessed for all I have gone through for He has used every bit of it to entwine my heart with His and I am humbled to know and realize just how much planning He has had to do on my behalf to get me where I am with Him and take me where I’m going, on my way to eternity!

I’d better let you go for now. Please join me on Monday for more of this journey of some of God’s most incredible sovereign multi-tasking skills ever displayed in my life.

Joyfully,

Evinda

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

Am I a Parrot or an Eagle-November’s WOW from Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me for a little break today and the conclusion to our WOW for this month. Grab your coffee and come on in and let’s wait a while together as we dig for diamonds in these words of wisdom found in Isaiah 40:31.

So this next part of the verse is why I titled the WOW what I did, but I had no idea I’d find so many truths to tie in my thread of faith that make this title ring out with beauty and nothing like a parrot! “They shall mount up with wings as eagles” definitely got my curiosity years ago when I read this verse for the very first time and it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I heard one pastor’s explanation for the use of the eagle. See, when an eagle is soaring, their wingspan can be as large as eight feet wide, the widest of any bird!

What I so love about our Father speaking about an eagle to and through Isaiah is He could have said, Those of you who wait on/in me, I’ll raise you up on wings of a parrot or a duck, for that matter, but He chose the most amazing bird with the most fascinating wingspan to illustrate His love and compassion for us in our times of waiting. Also, a parrot reminds me of someone who talks the talk and doesn’t walk the walk, but an eagle, well, talk about meek and beautiful!

But there’s more to this than I thought. As I researched about this, I came across a very old commentary regarding this verse which explains that the verb “waiting” brings rest which renews strength, allowing the ascending/raising of the wings. Clarke’s Commentary points out that “It has been a common and popular opinion that the eagle lives and retains his vigor to a great age; and that, beyond the common lot of other birds, he moults in his old age, and renews his feathers, and with them his youth.

And finally, the meaning of the Hebrew is simply, “‘they shall ascend on wings as eagles, or they shall lift up the wings as eagles; and the image is derived from the fact that the eagle rises on the most vigorous wing of any bird, and ascends apparently further toward the sun. The figure, therefore, denotes strength and vigor of purpose; strong and manly piety; an elevation above the world; communion with God, and a nearness to his throne – as the eagle ascends toward the sun.”

Oh, to walk the walk, or fly the journey with wings as an eagle instead of talk the walk like a parrot!
I love what Barnes writes in his commentary about this particular verse, and especially about the last few words: “They shall run and not be weary.” “This passage, also, is but another mode of expressing the same idea – that they who trust in God would be vigorous, elevated, unwearied; that He would sustain and uphold them; and that in His service they would never faint.”

This analogy was at first directed to the Jews in captivity in Babylon to encourage them to put their trust in God. But it is as true now as it was at that time. Many of us who have been in some form of captivity, have experienced some season of painful waiting have found that by waiting on the Lord, our heart has been invigorated; our faith has been confirmed; and our affections have been raised above the world. I know where my strength comes from to endure a circumstance without complaining – well, almost without complaint — to engage in continuous duty without fainting, to pursue the twists and turns in the journey of life without exhaustion, and to rise above the world in hope and peace.

Rising up to the occasion of life,

Evinda

Am I a Parrot or an Eagle-November’s WOW from Chicklit Power

Is it really November 1st? At the risk of sounding like a parrot, I have to confess, I’m not sure where the year has gone, because we all know that with the holidays, the New Year will be here in the blink of an eye! Wow, what a blur! Grab your coffee and come on in for our monthly words of wisdom and weapons of warfare.

I wasn’t too sure what we were supposed to talk about for our WOW, so instead of relying on my own understanding, I asked Him, and last Saturday, in the midst of my run, He reminded me of all that I am learning as I practice living outside my circumstances. I must confess, I am blown away by how much easier it is when scripture comes to life right smack in the middle of my circumstance, enabling me to rise above it instead of staying stuck in it. Not only does this month’s wow do just that, but it holds me accountable, keeping me from just talking the talk instead of walking the walk, or flying the coop!

So let’s get into our words of wisdom and weapons of warfare found in Isaiah 40:31: Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings of eagles, they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not grow faint.

There are a few word pictures in here so let’s break this down so it will root in our heart and take flight in our hearts. The first words that beckon me to stop and ponder them are “wait on the Lord…” The verb wait never used to be anything I liked to do, and in some cases, it’s still a struggle. But when you add “on the Lord” to the equation, that’s like saying wait + the Lord = Hope, so it’s gotten a lot easier for me.

There are so many circumstances, seasons, difficulties that require us to wait: The mom waits for her prodigal child to return from his/her wandering. The wife waits for her husband to join her in her faith. The childless woman waits to conceive. The jobless person is waiting for a job while the ownership of their home is dwindling away. The hungry homeless man is waiting for food and shelter. The trafficked victim is waiting to experience a rescue. Some of us are waiting for someone we love to get over their addictions.

The list goes on and on and on. All of these themes of waiting have the same theme: they signify a measure of faith, a sort of looking toward or for, a faith that fuels hope, or is it hope that fuels the faith?

Back in the days of Isaiah, the term “wait upon” referred to servants waiting for their Master’s orders! Have we strayed from that waiting? In modern usage, those who wait are those who show their confidence in the God’s ability and willingness to fulfill His promises by patiently awaiting their fulfillment. Let me turn to my concordance and see what we find.

OMG, the Hebrew translation for the word “wait” is to adhere to! That makes my skin tingle as I visualize that. I can literally see myself clinging to Him, sometimes loosely, and oftentimes ever so tightly. I want so much to paint this verbal picture so you can see yourself adhering to Him! Picture a tree and its branches. The branches don’t worry about how they will stay attached; they just are. He is the tree and we are His branches. He’s our glue when we feel we are coming unglued!

During these tough situations of waiting on the Lord, there is something to help us wait, a promise if you will: renewed strength! Then if that’s the case, I’m not really waiting on my own, but on and in Him and when I am losing strength, I simply just need to come back to my source of strength. I can also almost see an exchange taking place here, the waiting for renewed strength. Wow, after all I’ve learned about waiting, it all boils down to the truth that this type of waiting is restful!

Whew, I’d better let you go for now, but please join me tomorrow for the conclusion of our monthly WOW! We won’t have Power Friday like we usually do because I don’t want to interrupt this!

Renewed,

Evinda

Invitation Tuesday From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for stopping by today for Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power. I’m really enjoying these Invitation Tuesdays, where I can share something relevant as it relates to our next Destination? Joyful! ™ event on November 3rd. Grab your coffee and come on in.
I’ve been doing the final edit on A Cup of Hope for the Day since last Tuesday – I’m happy to say it’s finished, the final edit that is. I hope there isn’t a final, final! Anyway, I was so excited about something I read that I know that He wrote through me. In fact, as I was editing this book, I marveled at the truth that HE really did write through me because I didn’t remember writing many of the “cups of hope” that are in that book!
Anyway, this is what I read in one of the series within A Cup of Hope for the Day which I found to be so relevant for our next event: “When we allow our circumstances to build a wall around our heart, this prevents us from knowing God with our inner being. See, this kind of knowing takes experience and if there’s a wall around your heart that you’ve built to try and shield yourself from your circumstance, you are blocking yourself from the spiritual view, and that could actually be blinding!
Want to know how to live outside those circumstances in victory? Well, please accept this invitation:

Looking forward to sharing this time with you,
Evinda