Taking time to be still

It's quiet time in our house right now. One is napping. One is making a box about how God made her and why she is special.  And I am reflecting on this quiet time, this time to be still, this time to listen.

There are not too many times in the day of a child or an adolescent or an adult, that we'll CHOOSE to be still and stop thinking about past or  future to just be, right here, right now.  As an adult, you might be familiar with Psalm 46:1o:

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

Many focus on the part 'be still' and quickly give up because it's impossible to be still, it's so hard to not let the mind wander or to think of the to-do list. And this is true for me, in the sense that I cannot find a place where my mind does not think about anything, my mind cannot be still. And so that is something I pray for.

But right here and now, the part he's pointing out to me is not the stillness but this... 'and KNOW that I AM GOD.'

KNOW - that's a definitive, concrete word; he didn't say 'contemplate, wonder, figure out if I am God'

NO, he said 'KNOW' that I am God. That leaves no room for doubt. The rest of Psalm 46 speaks of the power and majesty of GOD.

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.^[c]

 ⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
   God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
   he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

 ⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

 ⁸ Come and see what the LORD has done,
   the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
   to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields^[d] with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

 ¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

He is a refuge, he is strength, he will not fall, he is our fortress, he is Almighty, he is an ever-present help - this is what he wants you to KNOW (not wonder about, not doubt, not think maybe this is what he is but I don't know for sure).  Therefore, DO NOT FEAR (vs 2), but be still, still the innards, calm the butterflies, chase away the fear because you KNOW who God is.

And you want to KNOW who else he is:  (from Exodus 34 - God is describing himself to Moses)

⁵ Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. ⁶ And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

He is GOD. He reigns sovereign in each of our lives from beginning to end. To KNOW him means to have faith in him, without doubting who he is. To KNOW him means to have faith in what he can do, which is far more than anything we could conceive of ourselves, to KNOW him means not to limit him by putting him the Bible Box and telling him he can only do what he has shown he can do in the bible.

To KNOW God means to not know what your tomorrow brings and to trust him with your today.

So put to rest the fluttering, the worrying, the list-making and ACCEPT that he IS GOD. KNOW HIM.
Practicing quiet time for everyone, adults and kids alike, allows each one of us to observe how God is working in our days and helps us to turn over the control, giving back to the one whose hands it is best in.

A life that lives for God's glory is FREE

A life that lives for the glory of God (that in all and through all he will reign majestic) frees, is freeing and is free.

Today we got to experience some of the cutest of God's creation, some beautiful horses, ducklings, chicks, bunnies, a very friendly and cute goat (yes, this goat was cute!) and chickens.

This was such a gift to us! A woman, committed to God shared her abundance with us.  She runs a daycare and a summer camp at her home, which is on several acres of land. And she gives God all the glory for the way he's turned her gift for children and her passion for animals into a livelihood.  She was not shy to declare this today and it was awesome to experience.  And because of her devotion to our Father and the faithfulness she witnesses each day working out all the details so that she can keep doing what she's doing, she extended God's grace to us and allowed us to come share in it as well.

Though she always has her financials in mind, as her husband has been out of work for two years and the bills still need to be paid, she did not ever ask for a dime for us to come and share in God's gifts.  She could easily charge a fee to each person that comes to visit her but that is not what God asks of her.

Although she has to face her financials and look her unemployed husband in the eye each day, her trust in the Father allows her to be free, unencumbered by the money. God's faithfulness frees her from having to be a 'penny pincher' because to her, she's been given these gifts of time to share, passion for animals and kids and she is just giving back what God has given her so freely.

And in turn, we, along with all the others she entertains at her place, got to give our children a gift, that all too often is unaffordable when payment is required. We got to let them spend time being free with our Father's creation, to experience the joy his precious animals can give, all soft and furry, cuddly and playful as they are. And it was absolutely Free. As a mom on a very tight budget, moments like these, are memories I cherish forever.

And I'm forever grateful for the grace God bestows on us to allow us to have this experience and the grace he bestows on her that she knows him too, and knows the power in his freedom which he freely gives to those who seek him.

Thank you Joan!

The miracle too often overlooked each day -

There have been many situations/events in my life that many would consider 'serious' as far as the implications of the outcome, but God delivered me so much peace, those times almost seemed simple.

Or for instance, it has never been a question for me to wonder if God exists. This is something my heart has always known. More recently, I've opened my eyes to see that not only is God real, but he is really involved in every moment of my life and I want him to be in control. And fundamentally I do not  question this either.

These are graces God has bestowed on me. I realize, not everyone sees God for who he is without questioning his existence and his majesty and the fact that he will reign sovereign to the end, when heaven is made new on earth.

I realize not everyone is blessed with the faith and trust in God that I have been given. God tells us it is time for my husband to quite his FT job - our major source of income.  My response was simply - okay. God allows a deer to total our car, our only car. My response was simply - okay, I know he'll make it right. God says it's time to take on a car payment again and buy a truck for the landscaping business. My response is simply - okay, I know he'll provide for it.  God says he'll provide for us, making a living on two small businesses, both dependent on having clients, both with seasons of ebb and flow. My response is simply - okay, I know he will provide.

This should not be mistaken as a careless, lazy or 'hand-it-to-me' type of attitude. There is a difference in trusting God enough to allow him to be in control and simply sitting back and expecting God to hand the riches down to you. The biggest difference in the two attitudes is your heart.

And he knows your heart, what's really on the inside.  He knows if you are trusting his sovereignty or if you are mocking him. And people around you who do trust God know the difference as well, they can see it in how you live your life. And if you don't trust God to the degree that you allow him to have control and you see someone who claims to trust God and it appears they're just sitting back and everything somehow is going well for them... well then maybe you're missing the boat!

The boat called G R A C E.

Grace is the daily miracle that 99% of the time is overlooked.  God works all things by his grace, all things. Know this, as sinners, we deserve not one ounce of the life we live.  It's God's grace that let's us wake up with breath in our lungs. It's his grace that puts food in our mouths, his grace that gives us a shower to use, clothes to cover us, a car to transport us, a ski show to entertain us, a church building to worship in, a sun to light our days even when it's stormy. It's his grace that's allowed you to have the job you have which provides a paycheck and maybe even health insurance, his grace that affords you the wisdom and knowledge you need to do that job, his grace that has given you the spouse that you love and that loves you. It's also his grace that brings you hardship, because by these hardships he's challenging us to grow and learn - just as we challenge our kids to grow and learn through discipline. He loves us, perpetual sinners, so much that he wants us to grow to be more like him and the only way we simple-minded humans can learn to be more like him is by messing up or facing hardships and coming through them as he designed, by his grace.

Every moment of every day can be considered a miracle of God's grace - but that's an attitude you have to chose.
The other side of it - well it's GREED.
Thinking you deserve the car you have or maybe even a better one, you deserve a raise in pay (telling God what he does pay you is not good enough), you deserve a vacation, you deserve to have more 'toys' or electronics or the latest iPhone or iPod or laptop or the biggest flat screen out there or a summer house on the lake or in another state, or that you deserve more attention at your job or in your family, you deserve to have better food in your fridge or more time to yourself or more money to spend on yourself or more money so that you can go out more often....

Need I go on? The human race is sick with greed and it's God's grace that waits, patiently, giving all of us every last opportunity to turn and see his grace and respect his sovereignty so that we may come to know him for who he really is and accept his son as our gift, to live forever in the new heaven on earth.

For those of us who have been blessed with an inherent understanding of God and his grace, we are able to live lives a bit more free of this greed each day we are still here on this earth.

So each day I choose the attitude of gratitude - cliche - but oh, so POWERFUL. This life is a battle of the mind. When you choose to focus on grace by way of being grateful for every moment of each day, one moment at a time, you are giving the control back to God - where it should be.

If you know me personally, then you're witness to what God's grace looks like played out on this earth. It's not sitting back and expecting handouts, it's giving the wheel back to the one in control and thanking him for loving me enough to spill his grace on me.

Look for your miracle of grace today! Maybe tell me about it in a comment.
Remember, Grace means getting something you don't deserve.

Back to true customer service...not the bottom line; Mazo locals, this is for you!

How many times have you been afraid to try something new - a store, a gym, a restaurant, a church, a hangout - because, well, the unknown is, dare I say 'scary'!

I distinctly remember adopting this attitude, dismissing a new restaurant in town because I knew nothing about it. It's a one of a kind, with not much outside advertising or information, and let's be blunt, the front of it is a garage door. Not the most inviting place in town, from the outside!

But, ON THIS INSIDE, it was one of the most love-filled places we've eaten at in a long time.

Bay 5 Diner, right on Hwy 14 in Mazomanie, across from the eating joint where we usually chose to go, because we know it well.  But we took a chance, since I had my bravery on my right arm (and the funds), who said, let's give it a shot. It's definitely a garage door on the outside, but on the inside, it's a very warm, welcoming, simply but sophisticated design and it's family-owned.

The miracle in this was not that we made it out alive with no food poisoning; man, what the devil can do with idle thoughts about what the unknown could turn out to be....

No, we walked in on a budget, not knowing what the menu was like having never been inside before. And what we walked into was a place who cared about us as a family. The miracle was that we got a meal for our family with a strict budget and they completely accommodated us out of the kindness of their hearts, because we were people to them and not a bottom line.  We were not treated any different because we could not pay full price for their goods.

As a result, we had a chance to see God work through them! He provided a meal for us. He loved us through them. And he again reminded us that it's what's on the inside. The unknown is only unknown to us, but not to him. Think of what we could have missed in terms of a gift from God, had we chosen not to enter into the unknown.

And in turn, I have been and will continue to pray for them and their new business. I will spread the word that this is a place to be visited and invested in, as they care about who they are serving and how their customers feel while they are in Bay 5 Diner.

And to me, this is exactly what I hope our clients would say about our gym, after they've spent one night in their with our family.  So I get it....just as they broke the rules to love a family in need, so will we do as our Father directs to assist those who walk through our doors and show them His love.

Shout out to Bay 5 Diner!! Stop in and get some awesome food! Every day is a different menu - tacos, italian, pizza, BBQ, prime rib, fish fry - yuuuuummmyy!

Human Tradition - What is it and why it is a fatal mistake.

I think it's very important for me to present the scripture to you first in this post, as when I was reading it, I completely missed the lesson the first time through - due to human tradition.

A quick set of background details:
After Israel asked for their first real-life king (instead of continuing to call God their king) and received King David they began learning why the difference was between following God as their king and following a human being as their king. Shortly thereafter, Israel split away from Judah (formerly part of Israel's collection of territories and the line of Kings I am discussing is the line of kings for Judah). King David was a great king. And God promised that Israel would always remain under a ruler from the house and line of David, so as each king passed on, their son would follow suit and take the throne as ruler. This continued on down the line. It went - King David, then Solomon his son, then Rehoboam (this is where Judah and Israel started to be ruled by different kings) his son, then Abijah his son and then Asa who was Abijah's son. I learned a very important life lesson when reading, for the second time, about King Asa. Here's what I was reading

2 Chronicles 15

¹ The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. ² He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. ³ For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. ⁴ But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. ...⁸ When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of^[a] Oded the prophet, he took courage. ...¹⁴ They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. ¹⁵ All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side. ...¹⁷ Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life.

¹⁹ There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.  

Why the 35th year?

Well, Asa lost his way; don't we all?

2 Chronicles 16

¹ In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah. [Asa was being threatened by King Baasha of Israel.]

So he took matters into his own hands:  ² Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. ³ “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”

 ⁴ Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim^[a] and all the store cities of Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. ^{So his bribe worked and the threat was removed - good right? If you had the means wouldn't you have done the same thing?}

^{This is what I missed...}

⁷ At that time Hanani the seer [prophet] came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. ⁸ Were not the Cushites^[b] and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen^[c]? Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. ⁹ For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”

 ¹⁰ Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.[Typical pride-laden reaction, ever seen something similar?]

I know that's a lot of scripture on a topic, most likely only I am into. I've been reading the bible from Genesis since the beginning of the year. Not as a challenge to read from the start, but because I was curious as to how the bloodlines began forming after the flood of Noah's day. It's a great gift from God to have the curiosity and then the understanding to follow it through like this. So here's why I love this story of Asa.

He is a good king. Fully committed to the Lord, doing good by removing idols and idol-worshipping and trying to recommit the people of Judah to following the Lord after they've taken a slight detour. Sounds like a good path, right? Lasted 35 years. But then God tested him with a challenge in the way of King Baasha. So Asa, thought his only option was to do a little name-dropping - our fathers got along so we should too - and took care of the matter himself. Sounds like an easy solution and it worked; Baasha backed off by way of a break in treaty and some threatening forward action by the King of Aram and all was well again for Asa and his people. 

I read this and thought, great, problem solved, nice work Asa.  See, even I, who is committed in a very big way to God (only he knows how fully), subscribed readily to this human tradition -  

Step #1: Brainstorm how I can solve this matter myself and quickly. Aren't we supposed to be Independent, Problem-Solvers, Self-Reliant, Self-Sufficient, Resourceful human beings; that's what we learn in school.

WRONG, wrong, wrong, wrong wrong!!!!!!

^{2 Chron 16:7} At that time Hanani the seer [prophet] came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.

There was not going to be piece in his 36th year because he handled matters himself instead of seeking out God's will FIRST, before anything else. He relied on himself and his resources instead of relying on the Lord. And because of that, the King who just bought him his peace, was now out of his hand, and my guess would be, at some point, this is going to come back and bite him in the bum!

Let's see if it does:

2 Chron 16:9b You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.” 

Yep, 'from now on you will be at war.' And then God chose to afflict Asa with a disease in his feet.  

^{2 Chron 16:12a} In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet.

But Asa was too full of pride and too angry now to have learned his lesson...

2 Chron 16:12b Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. ¹³ Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his ancestors. 

To make this all very clear, as it was made clear to me:

God wants us to rely on him. To DEPEND on him, for our lives to be contingent on him. And we do not rely on God when we first choose to consult a physician, seek a counselor, brainstorm our options in despair, or even simply brainstorming options when not in desperate need of an answer or solution, mybe we're simply looking for a next step or next option. 

We rely on God by coming to him in praying, being with him, seeking him, as our FIRST step. 

The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

He will be found and then we let God use physicians, counselors, his own strength, his own mercy, his own power to transform, whatever he chooses to use to lead us to our next step - but we have sought him and given him the lead. We let go of the reigns, hand over the control and ALLOW ourselves to be GUIDED by him. And if we don't seek him, he will forsake us. He will allow us to feel the consequences of attempting to control our own lives or our own situations that we think need fixing. 

So remember, when searching for a next step/solution/fix to a big or small moment in life, bend down first and seek him, pray, tell him what you're facing and give him the space to do what he needs to, let him take the lead. Human tradition will always fail but God's will will always prevail.

One final piece of wisdom: 

^{Colossians 2:8} See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces^[a] of this world rather than on Christ. ...²⁰ Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: ²¹ “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? ²² These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. ²³ Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining the indulgence of the flesh.

Depend on Christ! Be fully committed to him, not this world.

When this truth was revealed to me a few days ago, I had been seeking worldly solutions for a problem God can be trusted with and relied on to work out. The miracle of The Truth found in The Word.

Miracles of Abundance

a beautiful day, hot sun tempered by cloud cover

finding friends for all of us at the pool

husband kind enough to stay home while littlest one tries to find slumber; rest of us enjoying the gifts of pool and summer

three landscaping bids in one weekend

sharing God with friends, new and old

a full, full fridge

seeing God work in the gym

16 minutes well-spent keeping my temple healthy

husband with endless ideas from the Holy Spirit to help keep our temples healthy

biking around town, for multiple purposes

mint sun tea from God's garden

loving a friend, even though a favorite snowglobe was broken today

seeing my daughter find the forgiveness and move on in love; earthly things - no big deal, love - eternal

green smoothies - more good stuff for the temple


talking with my step-son, a genuine, real conversation

reading 'The one and only ever you' to sweet boy before bedtime

In the words of Anne Frank via Andy Andrews: "I am grateful for sight, sound and breath. If ever in my life there is a pouring out of blessing beyond that, then I will be grateful for the MIRACLE of ABUNDANCE."

Is 20/20 really what's best for us?

Just before the end of school, Ashlynn broke her glasses; it was the day before a field trip to the Old School House having something to do with Laura Ingles Wilder. And she was reading one of the books of Little House on The Prairie, so she was super excited to be going to see this school house. When I called to see if she could be squeezed in to see the eye doctor, the appointment they made up (literally stuck us into the schedule on top of someone else) was for that next day, during the field trip. The horror!!! Do I decide she's not going on the trip or do I decide the glasses could wait, or more so her eyes could wait to get new glasses, for a good three-week wait? We prayed about it and were convinced she'd be fine without them for a few weeks.
As the weeks went on, she was asked by every new face two questions every time: 1) what happened to your glasses?! 2) can you see or is everything fuzzy? how many fingers am I holding up?

She would always say  she didn't know what happened to her glasses or how they broke (curious?) and she would always say she could see fine and it wasn't bothering her to not have them. So she went from wearing them all the time to wearing them never and was fine. Not once did she complain about not being able to see.

(Back history: she found out she needed glasses in Kindergarten after the school screening and having to go through it twice. :) So she's had them on her face for over 1.5 years.)

So we finally had our appointment and today was the bid day to pick up the new glasses, which I have to admit, are super cute. Especially since with our insurance, we usually get a selection of about 5 frames, none of which could be classified on their best day as super cute! And she is not wearing them all the time, just to read or watch TV or maybe for something else, but not all the time and not when she's playing. So there you have it - -

Me, on the other hand, I've been wearing corrective lenses for 21 years! yikes! Mostly contacts, though my current set of contacts is over two years old. Kind of a Guinness Book of World Records I might be attempting to set - how long can you make a one-year supply of disposable contacts last? They're getting down there, got some deposits on them that refuse to come off anymore, so I wear them for specific things only: working out (thought now at home I just go blind, no contacts, no glasses; but at our gym I wear the contacts) or if I want to wear my shades outside and still be able to see or go swimming. These are the only reasons I will attempt to wear them. Trying to preserve them for as long as I can. Why? Because when you have limited funds and limited insurance, contact fittings as you know cost $$ I don't have and so I make do.  It is what it is and until one tears (that would be devastating!) I'll deal with the discomfort.

So today I was mowing the lawn and wanted to wear shades but not contacts and I thought, if Ashlynn can go without seeing perfectly I should be able to handle it. Yeh, I need to follow lines pretty carefully but I'm not that blind! So I cut the grass today with no corrective lenses. This meant I had to focus on my line closer to the mower rather than looking ahead, down the line, a little farther into the distance.

And this is when my blog post started.

We, our family, has been very focused for the last year or more on living 'in the now' where Jesus is. Not in the past, not in the future, not tomorrow or next week, but now, which quickly turns into the past, mind you, by the second. :) Don't worry about where the money for our monthly bills will come from for the entire month, but do what we can with our provisions for today to take care of what we need to TODAY. Make plans for the future, tomorrow, next week, next month, but hold them LOOSELY, because we really don't know what God's will is for the future and can only live out what his will is for RIGHT NOW, IN THIS MOMENT.

It's like not being able to see 20/20 perfectly. For me, I'm nearsighted, so seeing in the distance becomes blurry. So I can choose to squint to get the best sight of what's in the distance as I can, or I can choose to aim my focus to what's right in front of me and take it in in smaller chunks. Looking off to the distance means digesting the scene in larger chunks, possibly missing the finer details because the picture is so large. Taking my focus off the blurry distance and the need to squint until I can't squint anymore, and placing my focus right in front of me means taking in smaller scenes at a time, constantly reassessing the scene according to the new pixels I've just moved into focus. Much smaller scenes, much smaller set of details to observe/digest and much more refocusing/readjusting with the constant changing of images/information.  At first it felt a bit tedious mowing that way, as I had to keep stopping and looking up to check my lines, to make sure I wasn't leaving 'mowerhawks' in our lawn (I like that, I think I just coined a new word ;)) but it was refresher after the first fives minutes or so, as I let it soak in that what I was really doing mentally was refocusing my eyes and my mind to now and I was not focused on the end of my row - or to translate - trying to control the uncertainty of what's in the future.

And, this also something we are strongly focused on as a family and what we share with our gym family, when we focus on now - what we need to accomplish in this moment, with what we've been given - that hands God the control (which he has anyway through his Sovereignty but he still waits for us to hand it over to him). Control of our lives, control of the situation, control of the finances. Instead of us always trying to fix/solve/figure out the future, we're living by the moment, for the moment which allows us to live in God's will for us and live out his plan instead of ours.

Maybe we aren't meant to see 20/20?

I believe something I've always heard, I'm sure you've heard it too - God's got the bigger picture, we only are a very small part of that picture. Reminds me of a manual camera. Those who aspire to be photographers (as I once attempted to be by self-teaching), like really good manual camera handlers, usually aspire to manipulate the focus to make the picture more interesting. Usually, the focus is on the important/eye-catching 'thing' and the rest is a blur or out of focus in the background. Right? Those auto shoot and point cameras put everything into perfect focus - almost a false reality if you think about it.

Sounds a lot like God's plan for us. His plan is the big background blur and we are the little in-focus spec. We can't see his plan because it's not meant to be seen by us. We aren't meant to have God-vision, A.K.A 20/20 vision, auto-focus on everything. We were created to live in the now, with Jesus who is in the now - the present. And our now moves us along in his ever-present big picture plan.

Maybe try it out. Take off the specs, take out the contacts and try living a day with your focus on what you can see without them. Maybe, quite possibly, it is what God had meant for you to see all along.

It's the human tradition that comes in and demands 20/20. Is it a sin to leave a mowerhawk?! I haven't come across that one yet in the bible!

All praise be to God for this post.