Brett is busy ordering the necessary items for making a film.  He received four boxes in the mail today.  One box contained the “clapboard”.  Aspen immediately began clicking it open and closed in front of her face.  Take one, take two, take three…..the clicking went on and on until she got tired of it and set it down.

I’m sure when the film is made, there will be plenty of clicks; take one, take two, take three.  Do overs.  Life certainly has plenty of those.  Every day I can choose to act out the scenes of my life with better skills or I can continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.  Click, click, click.

It rained today.  For awhile it rained so hard I couldn’t see across the yard.  All that water pouring forth from the sky.  I imagine that rain is like God’s forgiveness to us.  Everytime we have a ‘do over’ God is willing to pour down His forgiveness on us and give us a brand new start.

Brett is sick and throwing up, Aspen is in bed sleeping, but has a tummy ache and a headache.  I feel like I am surrounded by sickness.

When my oldest daughter was in the 9th grade she came down with the flu on a Sunday morning.  She spent a week sick at home lying on the couch.  The day she got well, my oldest son got the same flu and stayed at home on the couch for the next week.  The day he got well, my youngest son got the flu and also spent a week sick on the couch.  The day he got well, my oldest daughter got sick again. 

After three weeks of sick kids, I was ready to move out!  Especially after my daughter got sick again.  Fortunately she was only sick a few days the second time around. 

It’s funny how being around physical sickness just makes me want to leave and come back when it’s over, but if I stop to think about it the spiritual sickness that surrounds me generally goes un-noticed.  In fact, while I don’t enjoy being physically sick, I certainly find myself participating in spiritual sickness without giving it much thought. 

I want God to create such a sensitivity to sin in me that I see it like He does and if I can do that I will no longer be able to tolerate it in my life.  I will want to get rid of it as badly as I want to get rid of physical sickness.

Aspen excitedly told a friend of mine how much she loves snow.  My friend said that she had it all figured out.  She would love it if it snowed for a few weeks before Christmas and then the day after Christmas it would be summer!  I had to agree with her.  I loved the snow we had for Christmas, but I am ready for it to be spring and summer now.

Do you ever notice how every one wants it to be the weekend, or some other special occasion that is coming up?  We look forward to it and can’t wait for it.

Truly walking with Jesus is hard work and goes against the natural desires of mankind.  Noah preached for 150 years to people who made fun of him.  Joseph could have done what Potipher’s wife asked him to do, it certainly would have seemed easier.  Hosea continued to love his wife despite her many affairs.  That must have been a difficult choice.  Or did God put such a love for Gomer in Hosea’s heart that he loved her like God loves us?

I would like to arrive at  a place of a spiritual “weekend”.  The “fun” part of being a Christian.  The two days a week I don’t have to work.  I’m not sure that is such a great idea though.  Take a look at Eve and then Adam who chose to walk in their own wisdom and eat the fruit the serpent offered them.  Samson also chose to indulge in his feelings and ended up with his eyes gouged out and spending his days turning a gristmill.

Just like January follows December and eventually summer arrives, so a closer walk with Jesus happens when I consistently decide to walk with Him, and just like Noah and Joseph, choose the right even when it may feel wrong at the moment.

About five months ago Brett and I were driving home  from a summer trip when my car started to miss significantly.  We took it into the repair shop for a scan.  The scan told us that it could be one of three things.  Either the spark plugs, a mid-price range fix, or a price-range out of our budget.  We procrastinated taking the car in for repairs.  We didn’t want to spend the money, it was still running, and Brett’s car was getting us around just fine.

About two months ago Brett’s car decided to break down in a big way.  We just paid his car off a year ago and now it costs almost more to fix it than it’s worth.  I don’t usually worry too much, but I was concerned that now we had to rely on my 15-year-old car to get us around and it obviously needed to be repaired.  Shortly after finding out how much it would cost to repair Brett’s car I was driving down the freeway in my car wondering how much it would cost to repair it.  I started talking to God,  “God, Brett’s car has broken down and we can’t afford to fix it and my car needs repairs and You know we can’t afford to fix it either, if You could please fix my car that would be great.”

I believed God could fix my car, but truthfully I didn’t really believe that He would.  I’m not sure how long it took me to realize that my car didn’t miss any more.  But, it happened after a trip to DC, about an hour and a half away, suddenly I realized that my car was no longer missing!  It has been over a month now and my car is still running just fine.

Do you ever wonder why God answers certain prayers immediately, while others you just wait and wait for what seems like forever?  I know I do.

I have various feelings about God fixing my car.  I’m incredibly thankful of course.  I’m in awe that He would bother with my car.  I have to wonder why Brett’s car which isn’t even half as old as mine has bit the dust, while my car still runs and now it no longer misses after I asked God to fix it.  It doesn’t make sense to me, but the more I see God answer prayers like this the more I believe He really does know best and His timing is impeccable.  I just need to trust Him for everything I need and believe He will provide it when I need it.

Brett built a fire in the fireplace this afternoon.  It was so cozy sitting in front of the fire with Brett in our big double chair.  Even kitty appeared to enjoy the ambiance and changed her personality from generally hateful to an unusually sweet kitty who volunteered to sit on my lap while I was trying to type.

I told Brett that from here on out we need to always have a house with a real fireplace in it.  I told him we could sit in front of the fire year round that way.  He wasn’t as excited as I was to sit in front of the fire in July, but he did agree we should always have a fireplace.

Just like I always desire a fire in my fireplace, I should always desire the presence of the fire of the Holy Spirit in my life.  I think the problem we sometimes have with actually wanting the Holy Spirit in our lives all the time is that we would be convicted to do good at the most inconvenient times.  Those times you want to get even, the Holy Spirit would do His best to convince you not to hurt others like you were hurt.  The times you are tempted to gossip about someone else’s poor choices, the Holy Spirit would intervene in your thoughts and try to help you change your thought patterns.

If you stop to listen, the Holy Spirit will invite you to live a life of purity and holiness all throughout your day.  You may think He is asking you to do the impossible, but if your heart hears His voice, He will provide you with the power to choose to do right.

I have just three more days of teaching ESL students before they go home. Teaching them has been fun, but there is one thing I did not enjoy.  Each day I teach three class periods, which means I teach the same thing three times in a row.  Granted, I am teaching different students, who haven’t heard my wisdom on the days topic yet, but I find it incredibly boring to repeat the same thing three times in a row. 

God certainly has more patience than I do.  But, He has more incentive to keep teaching the same thing over and over.  He is willing to keep repeating Himself on the hope that someday I will listen.  He hopes that I will be inspired to actions.  He hopes I will choose to live as if everything I do, I do for Him. 

Every day He tells me about the endless love He has for me.  Every day He wants me to invite Him in, not just for a visit, but to stay. 

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.  Micah 6:8

The school bus pulled off campus at 8:15am this morning fully loaded with 38 Korean ESL students and  five adult sponsors.  The kids buzzed with excitement looking forward to going to the presidential inauguration. 

The bus driver dropped everyone off at the subway.  After exiting the subway they still needed to walk almost a mile to the inauguration site.  When they arrived they couldn’t see the inauguration, not even on the big screens set up for that purpose.  The kids immediately lost interest, ready to go someplace more interesting.   

At the end of the day a sponsor who had brought a pedometer said they had walked 11,000 steps.  That is equivalent to about five miles.  They walked five miles and basically didn’t go anywhere but McDonald’s for lunch.  They did take pictures of the White House and then spent most of their time walking shoulder to shoulder with the masses of people in Washington, DC for the festivities.

I’m so glad that when Jesus invites us to spend time with Him that it isn’t a waste of time.  He will be there for us and provide everything He has promised us.  When we walk five miles with Jesus, He will be with us every step of the way.

So it all started last night.  I should have made juice for this morning so I wouldn’t be rushed trying to get out of the house this morning.  But, did I?  No.  I was too tired, too lazy, and ended up not preparing like I should have.  This morning as I rushed around preparing to leave the house, I felt like one of the five unprepared virgins who didn’t go out to buy oil while waiting for the bridegroom.

Running late was my own fault.  I had gotten up with plenty of time to get ready, but I didn’t want to go anywhere.    I had a sense of entitlement, I had worked hard all week and my introverted self just wanted to stay home on the weekend.  I wondered if I have a sense of entitlement when it comes to God’s blessings?  Do I think I deserve all good things because, after all, I’m not so bad.  While it is true that I may not be such a bad person, on the other hand, am I such a good person that I deserve to receive the greatest gift of all?  The death of God’s son Jesus so I could live?

After preparing my juice and sucking it down in record time, I jumped in the shower ahead of Brett who was ironing his shirt.  After drinking the cold juice, I just wanted to stand in the hot water for hours, or at least ten minutes.  But, I didn’t have time to do that and even if I did, I knew Brett would appreciate a hot shower also.  So I braced for reality and turned off the hot water.  I thought about how when I stand in the hot cleansing water of God, I just want to get out as quickly as possible!

I find it pretty easy to be unprepared.  I can procrastinate with the best of them.  But, if I put off the good that I should do, I will soon be standing in the hot cleansing water of God’s love for me.  I will never be “good enough” to deserve God’s gifts for me, but God sent Jesus to die for me so His blood could cover my sins and I may live in the Presence of God all the days of my life.

Imagine the best moment of your life so far.  Chances are, you were doing something you loved while in the company of friends, family or both.  It’s funny how the defining of that, “best moment” changes as we make our way through life.  I remember when I was about 13 years old I started writing short mystery stories along the lines of, “The Hardy Boys”, and “Nancy Drew” fare.  Of course, at 13 years old, my stories were pretty juvenile but I loved writing them.  What elevated that experience to a “best moment” status was how impressed my father was with them.  I was doing something I loved to do and it was appreciated by someone I cared about.

Fast forward a few years and I’m a new teacher at a new school in the strange land of Nashville, Tn.  I’m handed a drama class as part of my load and on a whim and a prayer I begin a ministry called Adventist Christian Theatre.  Initially it’s only supposed to do a few programs at local churches and be something fun for the students to do.  At the end of our second year, in 1994, I’m standing on a stage in complete shock and awe as I watch scores of teens and adults crowd our stage in response to a call to come to the cross.  That experience will be repeated countless times on stages across America as A.C.T. becomes something far greater than anything I could have ever imagined.  And every single time, every call, I had the, “best moment of my life” feeling as I was doing something I loved and it made a difference to the world around me.

Fast forward again to last night.  It was the Friday evening culmination of our Week of Prayer here at the academy.  I had decorated the room, hung the lights and set the stage, the only thing I was missing was my Week of Prayer guest speaker!    I said a quick prayer for some kind of idea as what to do, and then proceeded to try to kill time by acting like I had a plan all along.  I grabbed some kids from the audience and we played a few rounds of group charades.  I chose three scenes from the life of Jesus.  In the middle of the game the thought came to me to use the game as a springboard to talk about Peter, Judas and Jesus.  I didn’t take time to think about anything, I just started talking…25 minutes later I finished with a room full of teens ready to follow Peter in running to Jesus.  I walked away wondering what had happened, what had come over me and why.  You would think the overriding emotion I would have felt was joy or at least happiness, but I was genuinely distressed.  Let me tell you why.

It was a “best moment” because, for about 25 minutes, I felt like I was doing something I loved (talking to teens) it was making a difference and felt like it was what I was meant to be doing–like God and me were on the same page finally and I was living His will for me.  And it made me feel sad.  Sad because my first thought was, why isn’t everyday like this?  Why are these moments when I feel the energy of the Holy Spirit, the conviction of God’s leading and the power of His promises pulsing through the heart of my life so few and far between?  I immediately dismissed the idea as unrealistic and impractical.  No one lives on “mountaintop” experiences, we exist in the valley of humanity, right?

I shared this with Miranda when I got home, and in her gentle but wise and understanding way she replied back to me, “What are you stupid, of course it can be.”  I took a moment to reflect on her postulation and we discussed it for a bit.  She had recently read a book called, “Practicing The Presence of God” in which a monk had dedicated himself to consistently focus his thoughts on God.  Not just memorizing and repeating Bible verses, but focusing on the reality that God was present with him always, no matter what great or mundane task he was doing.  Be it preaching to the masses or making up his bed, He focused on the reality that God was right there with Him.  That made sense to me and here’s why.

Heaven, I believe, will be a place of eternal joy because of three simple things: 1. We will live constantly in the eternal presence of God. 2. We will be doing something we love to do.  3. What we do will make a difference.

I believe we will all have “jobs” or tasks if you will in eternity.  Whatever the responsibility given to us is, it will be something we love to do and God has gifted us talents to do like no one else can.  We will be doing something we love to do, are good at, and makes the universe a better place.  Life doesn’t get any better than that.

Then, as most of God’s lessons do, the truth of this kicked me in the head–I can be living that life right now, I don’t have to wait for the employment office of eternity.  God has a job for me and you to do right now.  It’s pretty good chances that whatever talents He has given you coincide with things you love to do.  The only missing third piece is how to you use those gifts and work to make the world around you a better place.  When you can find that niche, that unique spot only you were meant to fill, then I believe we all can say at the end of each and every day, this was one of the best moments of my life.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

My ESL students added butter, sugar and eggs to their mixing bowls.  Then the whirring of the hand mixers sounded through the kitchen.  One group of boys so enjoyed the kitchen gadget that they blended their ingredients far longer than necessary.  After stirring in the flour, salt, baking soda and chocolate chips the kids rolled the dough into balls and dropped them onto the cookie sheets.  Opening the oven doors they slid the cookies into the preheated ovens.  The same boys who had been so enthralled with the mixer insisted on setting the timer on their oven; picture six boys surrounding the stove each offering their advice on how to set the timer! 

What if we became so enthralled with Jesus that we insisted on spending every moment of the day with Him?  What if we just naturally followed Him like the morning sun follows the night sky?  What if we insisted on sticking to Him like white cat hair on our favorite black sweater? 

What if we avoided everything that took our eyes off Jesus for even just a moment?  I think my decisions, based on spending time with Jesus, would probably be pretty well blended rather than just barely thought through.  My timing for helping others, avoiding the appearance of evil, praising God for His goodness and sharing God’s love, joy, and peace, would be perfectly timed instead of missed opportunities to share in the work of God because I was too self-centered to keep my eyes on Him.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  Psalm 51:10