All I Can Do Is...

Lately, I've been receiving news about those I love. The news oftentimes is tough for me to handle, like the death of Jacob. There have been other things, too, that have been bittersweet. I walk around looking as if I might cry any moment. I don't know how to pray. My prayers go in about a million directions. Then, finally, I give up and do what I need to do...I lift my hands in worship looking not at the problem, but at the unique "gift" that the Lord has put before me and I sing:

I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned

In awe of the One who gave it all

I'll stand my soul Lord to You abandoned

All I am is Yours

Words by Michael W. Smith from the song The Stand

From the Album Stand

In Memory of Jacob

I recently received news that Jacob, one of the babies of Lawra Orphanage had died. Jacob was sick. His illness could have been treated. But, he was not taken to the doctor soon enough. Now he lives with His Heavenly Father.

I pray that people will answer the call to "Go" and work among the least, last and lost of this world so that in the future other children will live to be mighty men and women of God in their villages.

What Zone Are You In?

This mornig I woke up, reached for my glasses, and...what? They aren't where I put them!

I was in the panic zone. I looked on the bed, under the bed, in between the pillows, on the night table, on the dog bed, in the dog crate (just in case), you get the idea. I was blind without my glasses!

Then, I stopped and prayed. I prayed that God would show me where to look for them. I was now in the learning zone.

I went back into the bedroom, and something shiney caught my eye - my glasses! While I was flipping the sheets looking for them, they must have flew off the bed, lining up next to the dog bed, not easy to see at all. I put them on and now I am in the comfort zone.

Not one zone is bad or wrong in itself, it's what you do while you are in it. Are you too comfortable that you aren't being challenged, aren't growing? Are you in such a panic that you can't hear the voice of the Lord, the voice of reason, or the voice of trusted others?

Or, are you in the place where you are open to learning new things, new experiences, new "aha" moments from God?

What zone are you in?