I witnessed one of the best “pay it forward” events today I have ever seen, for the most extraordinary reason ever.  One of my regular customers and her children drove up this morning, and we did our usual chitchat while her food was being finished.  I gave her the food and we finished the transaction, and I was ready to say goodbye when she took her hand off the steering wheel, and with an embarrassed look asked me how much the order was behind her.  So I told her the amount and that she was awesome for blessing someone. She quickly shook her head and said no, and then added this “I cut that car off in traffic while ago, we wound up here together and I want to apologize for doing that just because I was in a hurry!”

I was stunned by her honesty and her willingness to demonstrate humility and her love for God to all of us, and quickly took her money so she could get away.  The next car drove up and after I bagged her food, I gave it to the lady and told her it was paid for by the woman in front of her.  She was stunned also, and managed to ask “why?”  I told her it was an apology from that customer for cutting her off in traffic.   I reached for her drink next and when I turned to hand it to her, tears were streaming down her face.  She told me the woman HAD cut her off, but she was so moved she couldn’t say anything else..I just watched her drive off, totally amazed by what had just happened.

AND THEN!  My mind and my heart were overwhelmed with the fact that I had just been caught, tried and convicted of SO many times that I had been thoughtless, rude and uncaring of others and had NOT responded the way my customer did to her victim!  That customer’s act was the most beautiful picture of God’s love and grace, and it had touched me, my coworkers, her children, and especially the one she apologized too! It also touched the hearts of everyone I shared it with, and everyone they shared it with….!

So the point here is this:  if you’ve done wrong, no matter how small or how big, or whether anyone else would ever know, MAKE IT RIGHT as often as you can!!  I learned again today that apologies have more power than we will ever know, and God receives SO much glory for them!  If we really understood how open people are to apologies, and how God can radically use them to change lives, we would never hesitate to give them!  I plan to start acting on that immediately!

One of the most aggravating realities of working in a drive thru window is the ever present cell phone that SO MANY people are on when they pull up!  I understand that occasionally the phone actually rings while customers are in the drive thru line, and they feel compelled to answer it.

HOWEVER.  For every 10 calls, one is usually a genuine “oops I am here on the phone” apology…and there are 9 others that are on evidently the most important call of their lives, or they actually pick up the phone and dial while waiting for their food!!  This results in several things:  repeating orders several times to make sure they agree with it, repeating the total, repeating requests for condiments, and interpreting sign language to figure out what they want.  It is an extremely frustrating process for me and the cars behind them, because their line gets longer due to the increased time I am having to take.  It is also frustrating to the customer, because they don’t always get what they want how they wanted it, since they couldn’t stop talking or listening long enough to really communicate with me.

It is also interesting to me that their distraction affects the whole purpose of my being at work.  I am employed to provide the customer the best experience they can have, each time they come.  I want to be friendly, helpful, and fulfill their orders with excellence.  And I want them to feel important and glad that they came.

So, what is the point of this story?  Just this.  God has used this repeated scenario in my life to for a very distinct purpose…to show me exactly what happens when distraction is allowed to enter my times with Him.  There are so many times that I “drive up” – approach His throne – and am already “listening” to something else.  The cares of the upcoming day, the worries about family, or work, or the enemy, trying to divert my attention.  Sometimes it’s innocent – it happens before I “get in line” to approach the Lord.  A thought pops up right as I open the Bible, I remember something from the day before, etc.

Other times, though, I am just as guilty of spiritually multitasking as those who come to my window fully engaged on their phone and not willing to put it down!  I come to God in a rush, wanting great “service” (love, kindness and mercy) and yet not willing to stop what I am doing (listening to something else) to really pay attention.  I want Him to provide what I need (spiritual food) and also I try to get Him to make it faster.  No WONDER I come away from some of my quiet times frustrated and feeling like my prayers didn’t make it further than the ceiling.  No WONDER I go through some days feeling like I didn’t “get the right order” or didn’t get “listened to right”…because I started off all wrong!  You cannot approach the Lord, our Savior, our King, with any attitude other than that of complete and total devotion, and complete and total attention to Him and Him alone.  He deserves no less, and WE need to remember that!

So now, when I have one of “those” customers, I stop and thank the Lord for His reminder to me, and I commit anew to making sure that my times with Him are the of the highest quality!

I have heard that phrase SO often lately and God has been using it to teach me so much.  Here’s a few examples:

“When the baby comes, he wants to be in the delivery room with me, but my Mom is pitching fits coz we aren’t married..she thinks he has no right to be there! It’s so complicated!

“I haven’t seen my real dad in 2 years becoz he’s been living with different women and I never really know where he is..it’s complicated!”

“I don’t go to church anymore coz I got hurt, and really it’s a complicated story, you don’t have time to hear it!”

“Yes, we’re still technically married but I don’t see anything wrong with going out with guys until we get divorced..it’s so complicated, you wouldn’t understand since you’re happily married.”

Wow! And all of these were made by people who profess to be born again believers, as supposedly are their loved ones.  So what do they mean by “it’s complicated”?  While life most definitely IS complicated in this crazy world we live in, that’s not the reference point here.  I believe the real truth behind that statement is this…”I didn’t like the pace with which God was/was not working in my life, and I thought I knew best, and here I am!”  Or, “I didn’t think God’s Word was still relevant on this point so….”

In other words, the complications in these recent conversations I have had with people recently is the direct result of SIN..either on their part (#1 and #4) or others (#2 and #3) or a combination of both.  Sin, by it’s simplest definition, being disobedience to the Word of God whether in big or small decisions!

Our God is a God of order (1 Corinthians 14:33), peace (Isaiah 26:3) and has a definite plan for our lives as Christians to live worthy of His Name and for His glory.  He has promised that He will direct our steps (Proverbs 16:9) and that He will guide us through the Holy Spirit  and His Word.

SO!  How’s your life lately? Can it be described as a completely complicated mess?  Or as a work if the Lord that relects His image?  And if it is the mess, have you really stopped to reflect and ask yourself why?  I have been doing that in recent days, and I am allowing God to change me..do you need to join me?

Last Wednesday night at church I walked into our main sanctuary lobby as usual to go into the sanctuary for Bible study.  The minute I walked in, I heard this LOUD and obnoxious beeping..loud enough to hear all the way down the long hall with double glass doors leading to the next building.  I walked into the sanctuary, intent on putting my stuff down and immediately finding the source…only to find a couple of people calmly sitting inside, both of them looking at their cellphones.  I asked them WHAT that ungodly noise was, and they were both like, “We don’t know”.

I was stunned at their response.  This was NOT a little noise, it sounded a LOT like an alarm..fire alarm, burglar alarm, something that should not be ignored.  As I walked down the hall, I saw two other people halfway, and they too were not concerned!  As I got to the women’s bathroom, I located the noise.  It was a clock radio that we have in there to broadcast the service in case you are indisposed, and someone had evidently set the alarm on it.  And the volume was on EXTRA LOUD.  Before it totally deafened me, I unplugged it and presto, no more noise!  I went back to the sanctuary and reported it, and they were like, “thank goodness!” and “ok!”

So, why share this?  For this reason…as I went home that night, I could not help but be overwhelmed by the Lord that this was SUCH an accurate picture of the church today…and that the responses of those inside the building before I got there are way too typical of the church also.  A lot of times, they are also even typical of me, I just happened to be on the ball this time.

Most of us know about the issues in the world today, and the things that are so glaringly evil, sinful, and destructive.  But when it comes to our churches, we can be so blind!  There are alarming things in churches today that many of us are totally unaware of…even though all the warnings (the alarm) are there.  There are false teachings, people with wrong motives, people that are not really followers and believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, people that if left unnoticed or not dealt with could bring a church down from the inside out!  And while it’s not always as obvious as that radio alarm, sometimes it is!  And sometimes we are sitting inside, making the choice to ignore it instead of searching for a cause or solution.

So what’s the answer?  Let’s begin to listen up!  As the Scripture says in Acts 17:11, “for they received the Word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”  In other words, we need to pay attention!  Pay attention to what we hear in church, and if we have any doubts about it, search the Bible.  Pay attention to what others do, and search the Bible to see if it lines up.  Pay attention to the causes that others believe in or champion, and search the Bible again.

If we were all willing to do this, and hold each other accountable, there would be a lot fewer alarms sounding, and then when we heard them, we would know what to do!  I have committed since that night to be much more alert and be much more useful to both my church and the Kingdom of God..will you also?

It’s been almost almost 9 months since I was fired by my previous employer.  There.  I said it.  FIRED.  Yep, cute, lovable, hardworking me – FIRED.

So, what’s the big deal about that word?  Here it is.  When I was looking for new employment with the Dept of Labor, they stated in their job seeking guidelines that the worst thing you could EVER put on a resume/job application was “fired”.  You were to use the term “let go”, or “laid off”, or my personal favorite, “released”.  I am absolutely serious.  Therefore when I came to that infamous box “reason for leaving employer” I tried all of the above, with mixed results.  I completely realized how stupid that was when I was in a face to face interview, that was going really well, when she looked at me and said, “WHAT does “released” mean??”  I broke out laughing and told her honestly that was what the Dept of Labor told me to use, and it meant, in a word, fired!  She cracked up too, and the rest of the interview went great, although I turned down her job offer because of travel distance and starting pay.

My point is this – no one wants to admit the hard truth anymore….and they certainly don’t want you to!  Which is one of the major stumbling blocks in evangelism today.  People no longer want to hear that they are sinners in need of a Savior – because that would mean admitting something bad – i.e. the truth – and that’s not acceptable. Most want to hear it all whitewashed, that everyone is going to heaven unless they REALLY mess up – murder, child molestation, drug sellers to children – and only about 5% of the population could possibly be guilty of that.  Therefore no one needs to worry, and evangelistic Christians are just ignorant of all the facts.

Truth is also a stumbling block to born again believers today.  We’d like to think that we are always doing great with the Lord, that we are on the right path, and that we do not need to worry about ourselves because obviously we are growing and maturing and couldn’t possibly be in need of repentance and/or revival.  That’s a harsh way of putting it, but the evidence is born out by the fact that so many of our lives today do everything BUT proclaim the Lord and His ability to keep us free from sin and free to glorify Him with our lives. And so we live in a form of denial and are not living the lives we could be in rich fulfillment of our calling by Jesus into sharing His Gospel and changing our world.

So, what to do?  Call it what it is!  State on that application that you got fired – or that you were in prison – or that you declared bankruptcy.  Start letting the world know the truth -one courageous step at a time, and then move on to boldness and courage as you let those unsaved friends, family, and acquaintances know that there IS Truth, and that they are missing out on it!  To God be the glory!

One of my favorite Christian songs is “Let It Rise”, which states “let the glory of the Lord, rise among us, let the praises of our King, rise among us…”

While this picture is not one of mine, it is of the same Blue Ridge mountains that Robert and I went to for his birthday trip.  It is a picture of the early morning fog rising up from the mountains, and it absolutely does NOT accurately portray the complete awe of seeing this in person.  We rode up the Blue Ridge parkway on Sunday, and I could have stopped at every other turn to try and capture on camera the beauty of the fog, the sunlight on it, the glow of the mountains….you get the picture!  The breathtaking wonder of watching God at work in His perfect timing each day COMPELLED me to worship and praise as we rode, completely captivated by the glory of God!  And that’s exactly the way God designed it.  The Bible repeatedly states that in many ways all of creation shows the glory of God, and gives praise to His name.

So as we rode, that led me to another thought.  The main reason that God created us – people created in His OWN image – was to bring glory to His name (Psalm 145:1-2).  As I meditated on that, I realized that my life and my testimony should look like that fog to the world. Fog is not designed to stay on the ground…it is a great hindrance then, causing stop signs and traffic lights (for example) to disappear as I am drive.  It also hides things – buildings, other cars, hazards – and trying to find your way through the fog can be confusing and terrifying.  The fog also follow the path it is supposed to – it doesn’t stop and get stuck on the way.

Like the fog, we am also not designed to stay “on the ground” in our Christian journeys!  The glory of God is only reflected (sunlight) as we allow Him to move us to “rise up” in our maturity and usefulness.  On the “ground”, we can many times be an obstacle to His glory shining by our sin, our own agendas, or our unwillingness to be used.  We can cause the unsaved and our other brothers/sisters to wander into danger (not seeing the stop signs) by our words and behavior.  And we can certainly create a LOT of confusion when we misquote the Word of God, or misinterpret it or God’s will for the world.

So!  Next time you have a foggy day, why don’t you ask God (like I will) to show you any way that you may be hiding His glory in your life?  After all, because that is our chief goal in life, none of us should want to miss being such a bright reflection as we rise that others will stand in awe of our Lord and Savior!

We were on vacation this weekend in the North Carolina mountains, on our motorcycle (which we rode up there) and had just arrived yesterday at a very famous bike road called “the dragon”, which has 318 curves in 11 miles.  It’s an awesome ride, and at the beginning of it there is a motel, a gift shop, and a biker cafe where I love to eat either before or after the ride.

As we were eating, I saw a man with a group of younger men and women, and they were ALL biker outfitted.  I pointed him out to Robert, and just from his posture and facial features, we figured him to be 70, maybe 80.  So we assumed that he was a back seat rider (as I am) on one of groups other bikes.  NOT SO!  He walks out to his own motorcycle- not even a trike, but a two-wheeler – and puts on his gloves, helmet, etc.  He then gets on the bike with very little trouble, except having to lift his leg across with his hands, and he pulls out with his group to start their ride.

Shortly after that, Robert and I started and made it to the end where you can rest and then turnaround and do it again.  When we arrived, the older man was sitting there on his bike, looking around, and I went up and asked him how “young” he was.  He told me 82!  I said “Good for you!”, and he replied, “For as long as I am able!”

We went our separate ways at that point with his statement ringing in my heart for the rest of day.  It is so easy for me to talk with God in the mountains – especially on the back of a bike – and He was filling my mind with this thought.  As inspiring and uplifting as it was to hear an 82 year old say “for as long as I am able” about riding motorcycles, that pales in comparison to spiritual goals.

In other words, God was challenging me to think beyond what I had just witnessed, and I realized this…..when I am 82, or 72, or 92, or whatever age I may live to be, I want to be telling a curious world something ENTIRELY different “for as long as I am able”.  I want to be inspiring others and making them watch me, and try to guess how old I am as I do His work.  I want to be sharing the Gospel, encouraging, learning, and growing more to be like HIM.  I want to go out shining for Jesus, not flamed out.  Pushing to help others know him, not pushing a bike to new heights.  I want to leave with a record length of service for Jesus, not a record length of a pursuit of an earthly goal or hobby.

After all, in our world today we have too many people with their eyes on other things and our world is not growing better, it’s growing worse.  But if a few more of us hear and commit to the “for as long as I am able” challenge concerning Jesus and His work, this world will NEVER be the same!

I saw the most interesting thing in the drive thru the other day, and God taught me SUCH a lesson in it.  A customer drove up with her daughter, who was around ten.  After I confirmed their order, got their money, and started assembling their food, I noticed the daughter was holding a mallet like the one pictured.  Jokingly I asked if they were going to use it on me or the window if their order wasn’t right, and they both laughed and assured me that no, that wasn’t the purpose!

Seeing the still curious look on my face, the mother explained that their air conditioner compressor wasn’t working right, and would occasionally quit.  When it did, the daughter (who demonstrated!) would take the mallet and hit the dash, and the compressor would cut on again for a short while.  Then they would repeat as needed each time it quit!  The mom told me “I don’t have the $300 it would take to fix it!”.

So.  That was all well and good, because we’ve all been there…not able to afford car repairs, house repairs, and even medical “repairs” because we didn’t have the money.  However, as I looked at her, I noticed the arm and shoulder full of tatoos…and the pack of cigarettes on the seat.  I also noticed the electronics in the car…ipad, tablet, etc.  It occured to me that maybe that $300 wasn’t available because of a lack of priorities, OR willingness to sacrifice “wants” for “needs”.

Now while I do not know that this was true, it was plausible.  Just as I was feeling somewhat smug or proud that I did not have those issues, God spoke to my heart and “hammered me” (pun intended) with some sobering truth.

This lady and her family were willing to take along a somewhat heavy mallet, and experience great inconvenience to carry it at all times, have occasions where the compressor quit and they got hot, and hope and pray each time that the striking of the mallet would work. Silly, right?  AND YET!!  How many times, God asked me, are we the same way in our Christian walk? How many times does HE have the solution to our problems but we are afraid or unwilling to go to HIM and get them fixed?  After all, it might cost us something….$300 worth of humility, repentance, schedule changes, priority readjustments, or obedience!

There are many times in my life, and I am sure I am not alone, when I’d rather live with a broken air compressor (sin or rebellion), and carry around any mallet I can find – advice from others, a Christian book, turning over a “new leaf” – to hopefully fix what’s wrong!  It is so much easier, I reason, to limp along with something broken in my life, than bring it to the Great Physician who can fix everything..because then I don’t have to spend ($300) or sacrifice anything (electronics, tatoos, etc) and I can get by.

But guess what?  A Christian limping along through life that way is no more effective, or permanent, as a witness and disciple, as that air compressor.  The only way to fix that air conditioner is to take it to the shop and have the compressor replaced.  And the only way to fix a broken life is to bring it to the Shop of Jesus’ grace and mercy, and replace the sin with repentance.  May we all have the courage and willingness to do that as we face this challenging world we live in!

There is a very popular saying showing up in my newsfeed on Facebook quite frequently, and it goes like this:  “Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.”  Its a very true statement, but beware: it’s also one of those “warm fuzzies” that can cause us to miss ministry opportunities if we stop there.

Friday morning I was working the drive thru window but was on a restroom break, which meant I had to walk through the front counter area.  On my way back to the drive thru window, I spotted a regular customer and stopped to greet him.  He was smiling slightly but his eyes told a very different story.  I started to keep walking but couldn’t.  I stopped again and told him it looked like he had a lot on his mind,( i.e. one of those “battles”) and he teared up and just nodded. Now…he is a regular, but I really didn’t know hime that well..just that he is quiet, friendly, and usually smiling. But when a grown man tears up that fast, I tend to take notice.

So I asked him if he believed in prayer and if I could pray for him. More tears, real tears, and he nodded again. I waited to see if he wanted to volunteer any more information and he choked out, “please just pray”.  I assured him I would and would begin right then..and then I had to ask him his first name!  I had waited on him before, but not enough to remember his name.  So he told me, got his food, and left.

Now there’s no miraculous ending here. I finished out my day, praying for him when I could, and I have prayed for him frequently since then.  I have no idea if or when I will see him next, or whether his situation got better.  But I do know that for that brief few minutes, I stepped past the “be kind” barrier, and allowed God to take me straight into ministering in His name for someone who needed Him.  And I am SO grateful!!

So what’s the point?  Being kind is indeed admirable and most of the that is sufficient and welcome to the “everyone’s” that we meet.  AND YET!!  As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, who are saved by His blood, and wanting to do HIS work, we need to ALWAYS be ready to go further, and impact lives with HIM!!  To God be the glory!!

As I have shared before parking lot sweep is one of the jobs at work that has to be done, and I usually enjoy it. I like getting out and walking around in the fresh air, and it gives me time for praise,worship and prayer.  It is also NEVER boring to see what people throw out of their cars…the variety is astounding.

However, some days I find myself trying to understand the thought process behind what is tossed… if there is one. I wonder if they know, for instance, that cigarette butts do not magically disappear, or that beer/coke bottles do not roll themselves over to the trashcans.  And the bags of half eaten and leftover food left by the curb do not serve as advertising!  I also find receipts, bills, grocery lists, phone #’s on scrap paper, ATM receipts, pacifiers, and especially chewed up gum..All  of these are unsightly, distracting, inconvenient, frustrating to deal with, and possibly even dangerous to cars and people.

And yet!  Just when I reached my peak of aggravation the other day, God jolted me with this thought: there are a lot of times that my SPIRITUAL “parking space” looks a LOT like some of those at work!  Careless thoughts and words(cigarette butts) and bad attitudes (trash) can be found.  God’s Word that I read that morning, and yet didn’t fully digest, so I couldn’t share (leftovers/half eaten food).  And on and on we could go.  All of these habits or sins that I carelessly toss around, knowing that I’m covered by grace, but acting as if they don’t affect anyone else.

Just as I wonder what it takes to not care that I have to clean up their junk – and that they should KNOW better than to leave it – I wonder if people viewing my “parking space” might think the same thing?  I can’t believe they don’t have more decency than to take their trash to the garbage cans and dispose of it.  But what if they are thinking, “I can’t believe they said that?” or “Shouldn’t a Christian KNOW better?” or “do they expect me to believe they love Jesus if _____”

It’s a startling thougtht!  And while all the “trash tossing”, both physical and spiritual, is not deliberate and a sign of uncaring, some of it is.  And just like I want those customers to watch what they do, I believe there are times those watching my life want the same.  So next time I pick up trash, I will ask the Lord to show me a piece of “trash” in my life, and do my best to pick it up!