Just An Every Day Spider

Had a wonderful morning just last week. It was my day off and I took the opportunity to just sit on the back terrace at the house and let my mind wander as my body fell into a tranquil state. It was so different than most other days. Ah, to just sit there taking in all the beauty of nature. To just watch the birds at the feeders, to notice the fresh spring leaves, smell the wonderful fragrance of Lilly of The Valley, and all that I understand God has created.

It was a wonderful morning. There just happened to be one other thing I noticed. It was a much focused, industrious lone spider. As I relaxed, this spider worked. Don’t know if he was a male or female, but that doesn’t really matter does it? I just watched and watched and watched. Minute by minute it continued on its quest to complete its task. It was his fault you know. It made me again think that just sitting here was a waste of time and before I knew it, I felt I needed to be doing something. There was weeding, bushes to trim, etc. Yes I noticed those things as well. It was getting difficult for me to just sit there so I never did see the end result of the spider’s conquest until later. But it didn’t stop me from wondering many things through the day about spiders, which for the record, I know next to nothing about.

I wondered how he/she knew what to do. How long would it have taken this spider to learn what it seemed to do so instinctively? Did it go to school to learn all of this? Did its parents teach it all the intricacies of web making? No pun intended my fellow computer friends. I even contemplated that maybe the spider was born an adult.  

Then I thought about me. How have I gotten to the place in my life that I am at? Did I learn it from all my experiences, teachers, parents, friends, employers, mentors and maybe even tv? Or was it inside of me all the time. I even wondered how I came to know God Himself. For the rest of the day, I tossed these ideas around in my head. Late that evening, as I lay exausted and waiting for sleep, my mind went back to that lone spider. Is he sleeping from his labours now? Did he learn his trade well? Or was it just inside him all the time?

Maybe that is what is meant about us when we read the Bible and it says, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God”. God placed within us, a heart that seeks after Him. I then thanked God for always being within me as I drifted off to sleep.

Something to think about.

Rob

We Love Gifts!

Have you ever seen those crazy ads about ‘Christmas in July’? We may think it’s nonsensical. Why would we do something like that? But then again, we all love to get gifts don’t we? There is something about the receiving of gifts that move us way down deep in our hearts. For some it's the anticipation? Who knows?
Even birthdays have the added charm of a gift of some sort. And those are just a couple to times that gifts are given and received. Add to them, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, even Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.  No, I’m not trying to remind everyone about the later a month from now.
I once knew of someone who gave his wife flowers every month.  No special reason, he just likes to see the look on her face when she received something for no apparent reason except he loved her.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have something like that done for you? Even our government has gotten into the act of giving.  It has tried to give us the gift of holidays, with one for each month of the year. We have celebrating one of those this past weekend.  The 24th of May weekend. Commonly called, Victoria Day. I just read this today, “Victoria Day marks the birthday of Queen Victoria and is celebrated every year on the last Monday before May 25. Quebec celebrates National Patriots' Day on the same day, to honour the rebellion against the British, i.e. Queen Victoria, in 1837.” Oh well. At the same time some people want to change the name to Victoria & First People’s Day. Really?
But I digress. Back to the gifts. We love gifts that we receive. And we do receive gifts each and every day. Every morning we received a gift from God.  He gives us another day. He gives us air to breathe, and food for our bodies. He also gives us food for our souls. And we find it in our bibles. He gave us sight, touch and taste. He built within each of us the gift of legs and feet not only to get around with, but to run to Him where we use the arms He gave us to wrap them around Him as He wraps His around us. But He gives us more. He gave us the greatest gift of all. He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, salvation and an eternity with Him to look forward to. What gift did you notice today that He give you?
Something to think about.
Robin

Just My Every Day Face

Did you know, your face says it all?  This is not addressing how we look, because each of us looks different in so many ways. And it has nothing to do with little 3 month old Johnny looking like his mother or father or Aunt Gertude. Our face says it all.

Next time you are out and about, grocery shopping, department store, walking at the beach or park, take an honest look at the people you pass. There is the older gentleman sitting on the park bench, looking older than his years due to ages of work and worry. Now that many of those things are over, he sits gazing into space. Then you look at the young animated couple skipping along with their faces so lit up because they are together. Maybe you noticed the young mother, maybe single mom struggling to care for her two little ones and her glare tells you it’s not a good day at the store. Yes the face says it all.

I believe that the place we find ourselves in life will also have a detrimental effect on our facial expression. Here is what I mean. If it’s a good day, a slight smile. If it’s a normal, monotonous, mundane day, there is no smile and of course no frown. If the day is not going as planned you may find yourself wearing a determined, set, scowl that nothing but victory would change.

And of course life situations have a marked impression on our face. The face of a child who just received news they failed their test. The look of total disbelief from hearing the words of the doctor, she is going to have a baby. Or telling mom she is going to be a grandmother. The expression found on the face of dad as he puts his arm around his son and tells him, “I’m proud of you son”. Again, their faces tells all.

Even this week I have seen the faces of Leaf fans. While writing this Monday morning, their faces have said many things and changed many times going from game one to game six. What will their face say next. . .?  Which got me to thinking, what does our face say as we come into church on Sunday? Or leave church? What does our face say every day of our lives as we depend on God and recognize that no matter what, God is in control? What does our face say as we pray? What does our face say about our love of God and His love to us? And lastly, how radiant will our face be when we see Him face to face?

Something to think about.

Rob

I'll Do It When . . .

Have you ever said this line, or maybe you heard someone else say it? “I’m going to do it when . . . “. Thought you might.  We all say it. We say it when we are making plans. We even say it when we are going through life.  It can be completed like this, “I’ll do that when I get out of school”. Or how about, “I’ll do it when I find the right girl/boy and get married.” Or even, “I’ll do it when I retire.”

Did you know that this is not a copout? It’s not even procrastination.  I think it’s more of a statement saying, you or I are not ready and until I am . . . Are you ready? Yes, I know the song, One Day at a Time sweet Jesus. But I also know, Victory in Jesus. I think, feel, and believe that we may never be ready to do the things that present themselves.

I remember back a long time ago when I graduated out of Bible College that I was ready to take on the church. Any church, just give me the church and we would change the community and the world for Jesus.  That was until I went for my first interview. Oh it went very well. Nice people and very gracious. I even thought I answered their questions fairly well. It was what I thought to myself late that night as I lay there waiting for sleep to envelope me. And I thought, “am I ready for this, or do I need more schooling?

You see, I had said that I would jump into the first church that would take me and do the ministry God was calling me to. I thought I was ready, trained, coached, mentored, guided and taught what I needed to know to do ministry but in the back of my mind I didn’t know if I was really ready. And that’s the where we sit if we believe we are not yet ready.

Are you ready? Do you have enough training? Have you practised enough? Do you think everything is in place to get going? Many years ago I heard of a basketball player who practised 3 point shots for hours after all the other players had gone home. He wanted to be the best at this type of shot. And he was. But most of us are not like that. We are just like the rest of his team. But that is okay, because we may never be ready and because of that we just need to get out there and try.

Moses never led a nation into the desert before. David never killed a man before. Peter never preached before. But each of these men did something amazing for God by just being available and doing it because God called them. Because when God calls, He also equips. Life is calling.  Don’t put anything off again because life is not ready or you don’t think you are ready. God is calling you. So, as Nike said a number of years ago, “Just Do It!”

Something to think about

Rob