The Bucket List

By Hally Franz –

 

I suppose it was the 2007 movie, The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman that encouraged people to begin making lists of all the must-do activities they hope to accomplish before passing from this world. It is a neat idea. I haven’t spent a lot of time on mine, but I did add one particular goal to it just the other day.

It’s something that seems unachievable for me, but I know this CAN be done. I have tried several times without even one success, and I am now more determined than ever.

Here it is… I commit myself to at least once successfully executing and completing a purchase at the self-checkout line in the grocery store. I think I am a moderately intelligent person, but this process eludes me thus far.

Each time I attempt a transaction, which, admittedly, I’ve been cautiously reluctant to do, I fail to get it done without having to recruit help from a nearby cashier. My errors include: placing items in the wrong spot during scanning, bagging in an incorrect manner, failing to scan properly, and messing up the payment process. Basically, there have been issues at every step along the way.

Perhaps it is my fear that makes me fumble at the self-checkout. Or, maybe it is my hurried state when I get there. So, going forward I will boldly and calmly approach the do-it-yourself lane. And, I WILL do this undoable thing!

I’m so happy we don’t have to achieve self-service salvation. Thankfully, we have church leaders who counsel us along the way, Christian brothers and sisters who offer their support, the ultimate instruction guide in His holy word, and His listening ear when our challenges overwhelm us. There is no shame in seeking help; in fact, it is encouraged. Combine these with a fearless attitude and a patient heart, and success and salvation are there for those who seek Him.

What a blessing for those who may find this eternally important task half as challenging as self-checkout lines.

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, help me to be an ally for those who seek the truth in Your word, and help me to regain my confidence when my Christian walk falters.

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4 KJV).

Man at the Top

By Cheri Cowell –

 

When implementing big policy changes or sweeping shifts in workflow it is important to have everyone on the same page. Buy-in is necessary from the top all the way down to the bottom. If someone feels threatened by the proposed changes, if they don’t agree to set aside their own views and go with the flow, the plans can be sabotaged before they even begin.

We might have great plans for our futures. But if we have not cleared those plans with the Man at the Top, we are sabotaging our own plans. It is not as if we need God’s buy-in on our plans, but our plans must be aligned with His ways. This is ‘committing’ our plans, when we align them with the will of God. Only plans that have been committed to God will succeed. Only plans that are aligned with the Man at the Top will bring us peace. Have you set about on your own path, or have you committed your plans to God?

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans” (Proverbs 16:3 NIV).

Prayer: I’ve made plans and then sabotaged them by not bringing them before You. Help me to commit my ways to You so You will help me succeed.

 

Two Lame Quarters

By Anne Johnson –

 

There were two brothers, Ollie and Sphen, and they did everything together. These two brothers ate, slept, worked, played and went to the two-seater (outhouse) together. One day, Ollie accidentally dropped two quarters into the stool.

“Drat,” he muttered.

Seeing his brother’s distress, Sphen threw a handful of one dollar bills down into the hole.

“What are you doing?” Ollie exclaimed.

“Well you don’t think I’m going down there for two lame quarters do you?”

The people in the van I was traveling with erupted with laughter from the joke. A minute later a quiet voice from the back of the van stated, “I don’t get it.” Again laughter filled the air.

I turned to Molly, a young girl, whose crimson cheeks were glowing, and explained the meaning behind the joke.

“Oh, that was funny,” Molly replied.

My daughter and I had been traveling with her Bible Quiz team heading home from their regional competition in Minnesota. I had spent the last three days with this group of believers and marveled about the different personalities and gifting God had blessed each of them with.  At times, I found myself being jealous of the abilities of the people around me. Silently, I pondered the ways had God gifted me.

I remembered the verse from Romans 12:6, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us” (NIV). I reflected about the rainbow of talents of the people around me. Suddenly, a quiet voice interrupted my meditation.

“What are you thinking about, Miss Anne?” Molly asked.

“Oh, I was just wondering what my gifting from God might be.”

Not missing a beat, Molly replied, “The gift of laughter of course.”

Molly had seen in me something I hadn’t ever dared imagine could be a gift from my Heavenly Father. Laughter has always been important to me, a balm for pain and chasing the blues away. And now, God revealed through a child His precious gift He had bestowed on me.

I wanted to crawl over the seat to the back of the van and give Molly a hug. Her words were therapeutic. I find it hard at times to see God’s hand in my life, especially if I am busy comparing myself to others. Depression and self-doubt had begun to build up within me, but with Molly’s words, I felt special to God. Needed. Useful.

And to think it was all started with two lame quarters.

 

This Old House

By Gillis Killam –

 

While traveling with a friend, on a rural road we saw an abandoned house where someone had once lived. It was now weather beaten with broken windows and unmown grass. Looking at the house my friend said, “Gil, if those old walls could talk they would tell quite a story!”

I have reflected on that statement many times since, and thought how fleeting is life, and then recall the Psalmist’s words, “Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—they are like the new grass of the morning: ⁶ In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered” (Psalm 90:5-6 NIV).

And also “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10 NIV).

Stuart Hamblen composed this song, looking forward to leaving this house:

“This old house once knew my children This old house once knew my wife This old house was home and shelter as we fought the storms of life This old house once rang with laughter This old house heard many shouts Now she trembles in the darkness when the lightnin’ walks about.”

He concludes with the chorus:

“Ain’t gonna need this house no longer I’m getting ready to meet the saints.” (Stuart Hamblen)

We don’t know what went on in the house mentioned above. It could have housed a family where joy and laughter reigned, or there could have been many heartaches and disappointments.  God knows, and this Psalm makes it clear that this life is temporary, and we should be ready to meet the Lord.

Jesus came to bring life not death. He didn’t deny the sorrow that it brings now, but He said what no other person could say, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25 NIV). It is a pain that remains now, but He says that we may die physically, but if we believe in Jesus we will live forever in the resurrection of the righteous.

Prayer: Help me O Lord, to focus on that glorious day when the last enemy of mankind is vanquished, because you have conquered death, hell, and the grave. AMEN

Bind Up Our Wounds

By Makenzie Allen –

Shopping can be a dangerous thing for all of us. Whether it’s at the mall or in Best Buy, money soon vanishes from our pocket and now resides in the nearest cash register. I admit it; the farm supply store in the spring is what gets me. Dozens of chicks and ducklings are just begging me to take them home. Last spring I got suckered into buying two ducklings. This year I decided to buy five bantam chicks.

Walking downstairs to my room, I peer over the side of my makeshift chicken home. Alarmed, I see blood on the smallest chicken’s back and immediately turn a glare towards the biggest, scrappiest chicken in the bunch. Sure enough, not moments later the larger chick turns towards the runt and picks at it’s bloody back. My amateur instincts guide me towards the nearest google search engine, and I am quickly scanning blog posts for how to take care of my chick’s wound. After researching, I learn that if chickens see blood on a companion they will peck mercilessly at the raw skin. With no special supplies, I run back into my room and lift the runt up. Taking makeup from my bag, I gently apply concealer and some brown eye shadow to my chick’s back. With the blood hidden, the chicks all forget the wound and go back to pecking the wood shavings covering the ground.

Turning my teary eyes to the gymnasium floor, I walk self-consciously towards my waiting basketball team. The hurts I had shoved way down inside came skyrocketing out all in those few moments. It was the night marking an end to my basketball season and as all of the girls on my team lined up waiting to be called out by name, my name somehow was forgotten. Embarrassment clouded me as I waited minutes that seemed like hours for my name to be called and my turn to run out and accept a t-shirt and hug from my coach. As I meet my basketball team it takes everything in me to push out an “It’s okay that you forgot” and a smile.

After my makeup party with the chicks, it struck me how relevant to life that scenario really is. Just as chickens won’t stop pecking at an open wound, experiences continue to scrape at the secret hurts in our hearts. After a season of keeping the bench warm at my basketball games, I tried to suppress feelings of inadequacy yet could not because the pecking would not cease. The night of my teams closing ceremony was an extra large peck, but all the little ones that I brought on myself kept the wound fresh and ready to be struck that night. And I wonder, how do you heal fast enough to erase the blood and ward off the pecking?

It has been a year since I waited on the sidelines for my name to be called and to be recognized as part of a team. It has been fifteen years however, since I have been pulled away from the sidelines and into the body of Christ. God is the only one who can heal feelings of inadequacy, doubts of being loved, times of loneliness, and wounds of the past.

“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3 (KJV) Someone once said that Jesus is the only one who will have scars in Heaven. He will and we won’t because only God can cover our bleeding wounds with Jesus’s blood, and heal a wounded heart.

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