Category: Blog Article

There is a term “shut-in” that Wikipedia defines as “a person who is either unwilling or unable to leave his home, often due to disability, or a mental disease”. A conversation I had took me back to some places in my life where I felt an incredible fear about leaving my house. There wasn’t much rhyme or reason for it since I had no physical or mental ailment. I merely suffered from an undefined fear and I would confine myself within the house for long periods of time, avoiding my phones and knocks at my door.

I am not living in that place of fear these days, but I wonder about the different ways I have seen “shut-ins” today. Those that have lost all interaction with live people, but communicate entirely via computer or texts. Even those who seem to be functioning on some level but live inside their televisions. Worse still are those who are locked up within, afraid to venture outside of themselves; fearful of new relationships or adventures.

What a tragic lie “fear” can be…..

“Tripping The Live Fantastic”, this was a title of a Paul McCartney album released when I was privileged to actually see one of the Beatles in concert. Have to tell you though, I didn’t really understand the thought behind the title choice.

It’s certainly been…hhmph…cough…a few years since that album release, but now I think I finally am getting it! Perhaps my thoughts are not the same as Paul’s but I can appreciate a new thought in my own thinking for what it means to me now.

Imagine living life as expected? Now imagine living the life beyond expectations?! What a trip that is, to live “the fantastic” life we are meant to have!

Helen was sitting on an ice chest at the entrance/exit access point for a shopping area near where I work. She was holding a sign in her hands for all to read as they passed, “Need Help, Homeless, God Bless”. I flipped my car around to go talk to her and asked if I could buy her lunch. She graciously accepted and I went to a nearby restaurant to get us a meal.

With the food in my hands, I sat next to her on the curb not really caring if I got my clothes dirty. We managed to get it spread out like a hobo picnic and for the next few minutes I got to enjoy this woman’s company and hear special things about her life.

She was a mother of six children, 3 girls and 3 boys. She had been adopted into a large family but most of her family was no longer living. I didn’t ask her age, but she looked to be in her late 60s. At the moment, she was living under a bridge she said no one else was using, with her older son. He has a bad heart and cannot work.

Her story was simple for why she was homeless. She has a small income but the apartments she was living in had been foreclosed by the banks and everyone had been evicted. She could afford to pay a small monthly rent but to try to scrape together all the deposit fees and other costs was too much.

As I sat with her listening to her sharing her story, many cars would stop and give a dollar. This woman already had my heart of compassion, but I was more surprised by the reactions of each driver who stopped. Their faces wore the pain of seeing this older woman having to beg. You could see how much they desperately wanted this wrong righted but they didn’t know how.

I had the privilege to pray with Helen and in my heart I already know the outcome of her future. She was a true treasure to have met and spent time with. What I am really taking away from this moment however is much larger. I saw people today who want to help each other, who want to make a difference in the lives of those around them. I saw hope offered one dollar at a time, shared with smiles and cheer. This is love given away, one kind act at a time.

Image can be such a tricky concept. What we perceive our own image to be and how we see others. People are paid big bucks to work on the image of celebrities and politicians. Obviously I don’t run in the kind of crowd where I have people to groom my image for me, but still I have been given some direction for what my image is.

Gen 1:27 (NLT)  So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself, male and female he created them

I have to say this concept can twist my mind in amazing ways. My image is not about how I look, how I dress, what I can say or who I am seen with. My image is about love, righteousness, truthful, joyful, trust, patience and the list goes on.

How screwed up can we possibly get when we lower our eyes to compare ourselves with one another, instead of looking into the mirror of the one who made us? What I behold I will become and let me tell you, I’m not looking at today’s flavor of the month. I am setting my eyes on the very one who created beauty and understands what my image is to be.

“I want you now and tomorrow won’t do, there’s a yearning inside and it’s showing through”….from a song I liked years ago that stuck in my brain. The sentiment is still the same but my directive target is now heart based upon the one who has always been calling me.

We all ache so desperately for the desires and longings within our hearts. I have been examining my own heart “aches” from past and present. I can honestly tell you some of what I desired could not have been more pathetic. Shall I confess? House…money…yep, even a nice ride at one time! Higher up on my list of wants was “high power job” which only meant authority and position to be recognized in this world.

My current yearning is still just as desperate as the song I remember from back in the day, only now it’s for something “real”. I long for the eternal answer, the eternal dream! I want the promise of Jesus….

A header in one of the books I was flipping through tonight was, “when we practice real love”. It caught my attention because of the word practice. I can walk in real love in any given hour or situation simply by acting upon what’s in my heart. Being consistent in this however can be a whole other ballgame.

Shall we talk about a mood or inconvenience? These are times when walking in real love is not always my first response. It’s now I can appreciate the practice of doing so. When we practice, we begin to exercise what’s in our heart so it comes naturally to us, and we no longer give way to mood or other factors.

The picture I was sent on my phone showed the tiniest little girl as she lay upon her mother’s chest. You could see her breathing tubes and i.v. still hooked up to her frail little body. It was touching to see her lay so still, listening to the heartbeat of her mother.

Being chosen to participate in this life story wrenches my heart and leaves me in awe of my heavenly Father’s ways. This was a mother who fought for her child’s life against all odds. She had been pressured over and over again to abort her daughter. Despite the obviously difficult medical decisions, my friend chose to put the odds in God’s hands. As the story unfolds, this little girl has lived weeks beyond what she was given as predicted time for by doctors. She continues to grow.

I look forward to seeing her 1 year photo and the many to follow.

Finding great treasures of visual stimulus fires up imagination and question centers in my brain. Old barns or abandoned houses are a favorite wonder to me. When I see one of these out in an untended field I can’t help but ask “who did that house or barn belong to?” and of course, “who does it belong to today?” I wonder because the building sits on a piece of land someone holds a title to, yet they have not been able to do more then let a home or barn come to a place of disarray and a beginning of ruins.

How many of us today own treasures and let them come to be dilapidated ruins? I know I only mentioned barns or houses, but how about those more precious things; our families,  our lives, our hopes, our dreams, our destiny, our salvation?

You ever have a conversation where someone steps upon a landmine in your history of life? They didn’t mean to but hey, that’s just your damage detail right? War torn country for sure! Somewhere in your discussion they have tapped into something painful you feel from your past. In these moments I have to hope they don’t realize what they’ve done. I put myself in check not to be outwardly wounded or offended.

My mind doesn’t always shut down when I want it to about such things. I find myself wondering if I am such an open book that anyone could read the personal chapters written about me by others? I only wonder because I sometimes feel I have x-ray vision into the soul of those who have been hurt. What I don’t have vision for are details of the hurts. I am grateful not to know details actually, it helps me focus on compassion.

As a wounded soul being healed, my desire is to understand the needs of another soul in pain and come alongside them in support and love. I may have to carry first aid supplies, just in case I accidentally step on one of their landmines. I need to be prepared for the unknown. The best way I know, is to not rely on myself, but to pray for my heavenly Father’s mercy and grace He gives so abundantly.

I will draw closer to the very one who seeks my death so that I may live in fullness. I long to die to everything I ever thought I wanted. Let my hands grab hold of the better things. Let me leave behind emptiness, confusion, and vanity. May I know the joy of humbleness, the peace of living not for myself. Let my eyes see the fires lit in others I am meant to serve when I pour out all of myself as an offering of love. It is time to fully lay down my life so that I may know the greatest of loves.