Pine Needles and Greens

I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but I was drawn into the Masters coverage yesterday in a way that I couldn’t explain at the time. Not normally a big fan of golf, I was mesmerized. But by the time Charl Schwartzel was helping Bubba into the iconic Green Jacket, I knew exactly why.

There was something for this first grade teacher to learn from Bubba Watson. What I took away from watching was simple, but might as well have been a flashing neon sign among the magnolias and junipers. Then again, when you’ve been in the desert waiting to be delivered out from Egyptian bondage for what feels like 40 years, you look for signs wherever they can be found.

Bubba is unconventional. If you watched you know why; if you didn’t you can google him and read about all the ways he doesn’t fit the mold. Observing this reminded me that God gives us the skills we need to get to the platform He desires when we seek His will with all we are. God gifted Bubba Watson in extraordinary ways, but Bubba persevered and honed his skills on his own, using every ounce of what God put in him. He followed God’s way, not the world’s way - the conventional way, and now he has a national platform through which to further the work of the Kingdom. Lessons & swing study (connections, the right net-work, perfect résumé, the right experience…) or not, when our time comes to drive it out of the pine needles, God will make sure we get on the green.

As in any pursuit - sports or otherwise, some are heralded, others not as much. Watching Bubba illustrated that in sports and in life it doesn’t matter what the world rewards, how full of trophies (or empty) your mantle has been, how much you’ve been lauded by those who profess to know. The world may give you acclaim, but that is no indication of your real contribution. On the flip side, when God decides to “promote” you, to fully make a way for your legacy, it won’t matter if you can see the green or not, He’ll get you there. The timing of that promotion, though, is up to God.

Past shots have nothing to do with today’s; our previous success (or failure) really doesn’t have a lot of bearing on our future. We need to learn from our mistakes, but with each new round, each new tournament comes new opportunity; and so it is with each new experience in life.

Watching the Masters gave me hope. Watching the Masters made me believe that my Augusta is out there, I just haven’t found it yet.

And so I wait. Wondering. Watching for what God will do next…believing that He’ll deliver me at some point from the desert, through the pine needles, and out onto the green.

Reminders of Hope and Promise

I've been fascinated by rainbows my whole life… From Kermit the Frog singing about the Rainbow Connection, which, I might add, I did a stunning rendition of (OK, maybe not so much!) in the Jefferson School Elementary talent show as a duet with Angie Overdorf & Dee Stahly on keyboard, to my love of Mork’s suspenders. My love of color runs deep.

On the way to school this morning I saw a gorgeous rainbow. Close to my house I could see the left side of it, but as I drove it disappeared for a few minutes. Once I was closer to school, I could see the arch and right side of it. Beautiful! It made me smile and gave me an enormous sense of peace.

Oh, I get the science behind it, and though that's not the point, I love that God thought up that when the sun's rays are refracted through raindrops the white light is separated into Roy G. Biv. How God delights me when He places that little gift in the sky!

And I also love that hundreds and hundreds of years later, God still sends us reminders of His covenant with us through that same way He did Noah:
Genesis 9:16 “Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

This morning as I drove (trying to keep my eyes on the road instead of in the sky) I wondered how many people missed it. I'm sure the people heading east couldn't see it. Older guy getting his Indy Star surely missed it...the line of pine trees by his mailbox blocked his view, but would he have seen it even if they hadn't? When I got to school I wondered how many people had grabbed their bags and their lattes and had not even looked up. How many people hurried on their way without looking? How many people were too engrossed in their own stuff to see the reminder?

Kind of a metaphor for life in a few ways, I guess:
1.) God wants us to be positive about life and to see all of the beauty in it! So stop looking down all the time. Keep your chin up, literally and figuratively and look around...it'll be worth it!
2.) There is plenty of evidence that God is alive and working in this world if we will open our eyes and look for Him. He can only do so much to show us...we have to meet Him half way by looking and accepting what He gives as that evidence, but the evidence is everywhere.
3.) Sometimes life feels hard, like trudging through mud, but God had not forgotten us. The politics of the world are scary, but God is watching and holding us close. Cancer, death, divorce…plenty of heavy things happen to people we know and love, but God is there to pick up the pieces. You are not forgotten.

My prayer for all of us: Dear God, help us see the multiple ways you show us evidence of your existence and your power each and every day. Let that evidence stamp out even the smallest doubts that you are working on our behalf. Amen.

When it feels like your own life is the modern-day version of exactly what happened in Genesis 8, “For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth” and “the waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days” I encourage you to look up. When you feel like your “rain” will never end, know that it will. Just hang on a little longer.

God keeps his promises. Will you believe that He does whether or not you see the reminder?

Question: Do you believe that God keeps His promises? Do you believe that rainbows are still a relevant reminder of God’s covenant?

Signals & Signs

Today while driving on a street near my house, the driver in the car coming toward me was motioning wildly at me. He seemed to be yelling at me when I was doing nothing but minding my own business, enjoying the drive home and singing at the top of my lungs as I am often found doing in the car.

I was taken aback by his actions…almost offended…

Why? I’m not sure.

Maybe it made me think of all of the times that drivers are nasty to each other. And I’ll admit that I’m probably the least like Jesus when driving. Other people’s driving always bothers me. They never do it right. And it tends to bring out the not-so-pleasant side of me. They go too fast, too slow, don’t know the rules for certain situations (not that I do it perfectly, but being a rule-follower, I do know those).

I tell my very spunky, young-acting (and looking) 67 year-old mother that she drives like an old lady (of course, that is simply the truth and sometimes the truth hurts, people!). I tell my beloved and nearly-perfect husband how to drive, and even though I try to keep my mouth shut, I simply can’t (please pray for him!). In fact, we agree that the older we get, the more I’ll need to drive most places that we go together. I think that little arrangement will be the key to keeping our great marriage intact for the long-haul. Sometimes I get so mad when driving that I do talk out loud to other drivers…maybe even yell...just a little... And, yes, I am fully aware of my control-freak tendencies!

I even spoke out loud yesterday as if to answer the guy driving the other car, “What, dude? WHAT? Why are you yelling at me? I’m not doing anything wrong! There is nothing wrong with my car! I didn’t do anything wrong!” And as I remembered that yesterday in that exact same spot on that exact same road another guy did the same thing to me, I said it even louder and with a huge sigh, “WHAT?!?!?!?”

Then a huge smile started to creep across my face.
A warm feeling started to penetrate my heart.
And a little prayer of forgiveness was raised as I told God I was sorry for acting like a fool.
It dawned on me at that moment what was going on:
The driver yesterday and the driver today were both trying to warn me. To warn me. To signal me. To save me. To help me avoid something ahead.
Both days a police car was lurking in a very wooded driveway on that road…waiting to catch someone speeding.

What a nice gesture! How kind! While I wasn’t speeding, being the rule-follower that I am I was glad for the heads-up so that I could be “extra good” at the moment I passed that driveway. (Not that we should try to dodge the police when we are doing something that’s not quite the right thing and are rightfully caught.) It was interesting to me that 2 people, only 24 hours apart in my meeting them on the road, both signaled to me. They didn’t have to do that…if they thought I was going too fast, they might have thought I was about to get my due, but both really wanted to get the message across, to get my attention.

When seeing those gestures, those signals, that communication, I had jumped to the wrong conclusion both times, only later realizing their true intent. What’s even worse is that jumping to conclusions is not my natural tendency. They were trying to help, but I “read” them wrong…

How many times do we do that to God?

How many times does He try in earnest to get our attention, communicate with us, speak to us, yet we misinterpreted it? How often do we jump to the wrong conclusion?

How often do we miss His voice altogether?

There are plenty of Biblical references to asking God for a sign. Gideon, King Ahaz, The servant of Abraham, King Hezekiah, and even Satan ask God for signs. But asking for signs is an act of unbelief that shows God our lack of faith.

I’ll admit that especially in trying to make the bigger life decisions, it’s tempting to ask God to show us a sign that boldly announces which way to go. It’s something that I have to remind myself not to do sometimes, too, as it’s easy to want that reassurance ahead of time.

But here’s the thing: God wants us to step out into faith and TRUST that He will meet us there. The sign that we’ve done the right thing will be His undeniable stamp of approval after we’ve demonstrated that we believe in our heart of hearts that He is real and that we are His. And because we’ve demonstrated it.

He will show us the signs, but not because in a faithless plea we begged Him to. He will show us because with everything that is in us we knew that He would. We don’t need to ask God for signs because when we believe in Him wholly, he will just give them to us as gifts.

He will, just like the drivers I passed, motion wildly if we are on the wrong path. He will speak to us…He HAS spoken to us. It’s just that sometimes we misinterpret it by twisting it into what we want it to be. Sometimes we miss it because we have an attitude. Sometimes we miss it due to something as simple as just not listening, not paying attention.

As much as we might want to ask for a sign, God calls us to walk by faith, not by sight.
And I promise you this: God will show up, and He’ll show up big, if and when we believe that He will.

Question: Are you walking by faith or are you waiting for signs?