O is for Ordinary by Lorilee Guenter

 

This past week, I have stumbled across a number of quotes related to journeys. There is an excitement about the destination. New experiences, celebrations, and milestones all draw our attention. In between the milestones are everyday, ordinary events. these are part of the journey that at times we overlook, at least I do.

In the midst of planning, hoping and dreaming we encounter the moments of life. Some church traditions mark ordinary time. It is important. When I rush around, or when I fix my attention on that upcoming event, I miss the daily joy of being. When I pause, when I lean into the everyday experience, I notice details. Conversation flows as we enjoy a meal together. The ordinary becomes extraordinary as I notice and acknowledge God's presence. I am able to recognise His hand at work in the moment.

Rushing and wishing, grumbling and complaining,with impatience, not only lead me to miss what is in front of me, they block my creativity. This is not a surprise since I believe my creativity is a gift from God. It is one way we as humans can reflect God's image. Grumbling does not reflect His character. Rushing causes details to disappear that might draw us closer to Him. Stress of what might be clouds what is. Peace falters. My mind spins. I lose sight of the source of everything.

As I sit down to revise and edit, I realise it is only when I ground my characters in the ordinariness of life that the story begins to come alive. Those ordinary details set the stage for the journey that pulls the reader in. They are connection pieces. I can not include these grounding pieces if I haven't allowed God to ground me in the moment.

Recently I have been in a liminal space, a time of transition. I am not quite here and I am not yet there. It is a place of waiting, of trusting and of learning. It is a place God is reminding me that the ordinary, everyday experience is valuable. He is with me in the waiting. He knows what comes next and will show me at the right time. When I write a story, I am discovering as I go. Not so the author of my life. He knows me intimately and is gently guiding me into every discovery. He is shaping me by them.

This gives me confidence and comfort as I live out my ordinary days. It is my hope and prayer that as the next destination comes into view, I will be able to enjoy both the anticipation and rest in each ordinary moment between now and then. I hope you will join me in this. 

Intentional Wanderings by Lorilee Guenter

 Each year, when we put up a new calendar, we are bombarded with tips on goal setting, and on the value (or lack thereof) of resolutions. Each year, there is great discussion about taking the opportunity to evaluate where we have been and decide where we are going. I often find myself resisting this tug of our culture. I don't set goals and I don't like resolutions. However, I also do not want to wander through life aimlessly. Thankfully I don't have to.

God is always leading. He does not wait for a date on the calendar. He does not wait for us to put together a perfect plan because He already has. Sometimes He reveals His plan one step at a time, sometimes many steps. Sometimes we understand what He is asking, sometimes we don't until later. Always He promises He will be with us. Throughout Scripture we read "Do not be afraid for I am with you." In Ephesians 2, we are told He has prepared works in advance for us. As I meditate on this, I find myself more and more disenchanted with the whole new year, new you messaging. 

Sometime during the past fall, the word intentional started showing up in conversation, in reading and then in random ways throughout my day. I started to contemplate this word in relation to my activities and in relation to God's leading in my life. I found myself thinking about why I say yes or no to questions and opportunities. I found the tension surrounding goals disappeared when I ceased trying to set a plan and instead looked to take intentional action and leave intentional space letting God set the plan and the rhythm.

This winter, in addition to the word intentional, I find I am meditating on and mulling over the theme of do not be afraid for I am with you. God tells His people at various times: I am with you. I am going ahead of you. I will show you. I am going to prepare a place. The theme of God with us is woven throughout His story and ours. I do not know what the next step is. I do know that God is already working out the details. When I pause long enough to listen to His guidance and take intentional action, but not so long as to let fear interfere, I will see the journey unfold in God's timing and it probably will be unlike what I would have planned. 

Required Flexibility by Lorilee Guenter

 

Our first major trip as a couple involved flying to Florida for a work gathering. We looked forward to meeting co-workers and exploring a new location. Plans started changing as soon as we arrived at the airport. Our flight was delayed long enough we would miss our connecting flight. The airline gave us two options. We took the option that would get us part way to our destination. It included an overnight layover before the last leg of our journey. The difficulties continued including getting lost finding our hotel and a full day delay coming home because of mechanical problems with the aircraft. Flexibility and adaptability became necessary. I won't paper over the frustration we felt, however even in the middle of being lost we found things to smile about. We found some hidden gems that our guide book did not list.  Since that trip we have become lost in many other locations, even with maps and GPS to guide us. This happens so many times we now expect to get lost at least once per trip to anywhere we have not yet been. The frustration has mostly subsided when this happens. Each time we look for the what we would otherwise have missed. Flexibility is required.

Many times in my art and writing the plans start changing as soon as I pick up a pencil (or paintbrush). I have the choice to give in to the frustration that bubbles up or embrace the change and see where it leads. I still struggle to embrace the change when I have a clear picture of where I think I want to go. With time, I am learning writing detour like travel hold treasure I would miss if I stubbornly clung to my plans. Flexibility and adaptability become necessary.

Some benefits found in writing detours are curiosities discovered while researching. I am in the middle of editing my first novel. I needed to verify some terminology but also stumbled on some unusual clauses people have included in their wills. For the curious this side trip is one of those gems. It has become part of my ideas file that I can pull from as needed. Even the act of writing the novel involved adaptation as I moved from the mindset of not being a writer to writing essays to trying something new and different. Flexibility was required.

Each piece of writing takes me on a journey through my interests and experiences. Writing helps me make connections. The need to slow down and observe the new and unexpected territory allows me to find treasure I would otherwise overlook. Now I look forward to the journey and even take some "wrong" turns on purpose so I can see where they lead me. One day I will be able to leave the frustration behind as I start looking for those gems right away.

I know the Master Map Maker and True Navigator. His word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105). When I remember this fact there is no lost. There is only here and now and the lessons of this moment. Therefore I look forward to what the journey brings including the unexpected.  Flexibility is required.

May your journey be filled with the expected and unexpected treasure that comes from following God's leading.

My Tattered Map - Marnie Pohlmann

I gaze at the map as it once again lays open on the table. It is well used, crinkled, and faded. Spills have stained it, hiding parts of the contoured landscape. Some of the folds have torn from being manipulated too many times while studying the way to go, and by constantly trying to restore it to its original state. Highlights and ink spin a web of trails across the country, circling some of the special places I have enjoyed.

I consider a starting point and my finger traces along the road to see how far I have been. Like a maze, though, I follow the path only to remember how I had turned back to find another way. I recall those trips. Sometimes I had become lost. Other times, a rabbit trail took me off the planned route.

Backing away from the table, I look at the map from further away. Overall, it seems I have not traveled to many destinations I had meant to visit. Some of my friends have shared wonderful stories of their adventures to those places; places for book releases, successful sales, or awards.

On the table beside the map is my Bible. Pen and highlights mark the pages. Corners are folded and some pages are glued together from sticky fingerprints. It is well used. Flipping through the thin sheets, I can trace the journey of my life through this map, too.

With a sigh I take a closer look at the journey of my life. Am I disappointed? A little. The map shows trails I had not been meant to travel. There were times I walked shortcuts through dangerous terrain, daring the darkness to overtake me. And there were times I followed the direction of people I should not have listened to. Yet although I have not traveled to where I had wanted, or to where I thought I wanted, I have discovered some exciting and special places I will never forget. And I have had wonderful companions on many of my adventures.

My eyes shift between my marked map and my marked Bible. I overlay some of the onion paper with highlighted Scripture onto my worn map and see how God has spoken to me throughout my journey. God’s Word has provided teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training. On the rabbit trails, He gently showed me His truth that redirected my path. In the dark times, He provided protection and comfort, encouraging me to make better choices in how and where I traveled. When I was lost, God’s light shone on the path He desired me to follow.

Both my map and my Bible look tattered but are filled with who I am, and who I desire to be.

I close my Bible and gather the map, once more folding it along the ever-thinning creases. The result is an uneven bulk of paper. It does not look like it was meant to any more than my journey looks like I meant it to look, but it is still what it is. The map reflects my past and reveals the place where I presently find myself.

I tuck the map into my Bible, ready to continue my travels, wherever the journey may take me. I try now to depend more on God’s map than my own, so I am sure to discover delightful company and destinations, all of which will provide new marks on the map - my map, that tells my story. This is the story I write about and share.

 

“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

(Psalm 119:105 NASB)

Read about Marnie's journey on her blog, Phosphorescent.

The Wounded Trilogy by Lynn Dove



The Wounded Trilogy by Lynn Dove

I have always loved the children’s book, “The Little Engine That Could”.  I loved the pluck and spunk of that little engine with the “I think I can, I think I can” attitude.  I love underdog stories!  I love the idea that despite all odds and being the smallest and definitely not the strongest, this little engine succeeded when all the other bigger engines failed because he believed in his heart he could do it!

What’s that got to do with me, you say?  Well, in 2009, I published my first book, "Shoot the Wounded", a young adult contemporary Christian fiction that has spawned two other books, "Heal the Wounded" and "Love the Wounded" (The Wounded Trilogy).  The books delve deep into the real world of teenagers trying to live out their faith in the midst of upset and struggle.  The books have garnered much praise and attention for their sensitivity towards social issues such as teen pregnancy, gossip, bullying and cancer and the books continue to fair well on some of Amazon's best-selling lists.  They have won awards and 5 star reviews, and teenagers and parents alike are buying and reading the books in numbers I never imagined.

But the books were almost never written…

I wrote Shoot the Wounded over twenty years ago.  It started out as a short story, something I just plucked away at for a weekend writing, but one hundred pages later I realized it was not a “short” story any more.  I would add a bit more to the manuscript every now and then, but I really had no real intention of going any further with it.

Then life happened...

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and it was a two year battle where everything I was doing before my diagnosis basically went “on hold” until I was healthy again.  I was just starting to grow back all my hair that I had lost after chemo, when God called me to seminary and also to be the Minister to Children at my home church in Cochrane.  My oldest daughter got married.  Life was full and busy.  I graduated from the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary with my Master of Religious Education degree in 2007 and one day as I was cleaning out all the “old” files on my computer I came across the untitled Shoot the Wounded manuscript.  It was just collecting computer “dust” and I almost hit the delete button…

My husband, Charles stopped me.  “Why don’t you finish that story and do something with it?” he said.

That led me on the writing and publishing journey that culminated in Love the Wounded, the third book in the young adult series. 

There were many ups and downs, with seemingly endless hills to climb on that particular writing journey.  There were many times I felt just like the Little Engine that Could…but with the help of God and MANY mentors, and supporters, I puffed my way up those hills with an “I think I can” attitude.  On those days when my thoughts were: “I DON’T think I can anymore”, and I felt weak and worn out from the effort, all those encouragers God had placed in my path helped push me up and over those mountains!

I am so grateful that God continues to use the message in my books to encourage students who are victims of bullying.  My books, written from a Christian world-view perspective, are reaching out to teens and adults who need to know that they are not alone; God is always there for them.  My writing has become a ministry and I am humbled God would use me and my books to spread His message of Hope to so many. 

While promoting my books, I began writing my blog, "Journey Thoughts" which has gone on to win a Canadian Christian Writing Award in 2011 and has to date over 11 million hits!  I would never have even thought to write that blog had it not been for publishing my first book. 

I don’t know where this “track” I’m on will continue to take me but with God and all my encouragers helping me along, I’m pretty sure it will be a great ride!

*(adapted from a previous article entitled "The Little Engine That Could" I wrote in 2013).

Lynn Dove is the award-winning author, of the YA “Wounded Trilogy”- a contemporary Christian fiction series with coming-of-age themes.  A wife, mom, grandmother, and free-lance writer with articles published in several magazines and anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her blog, “Journey Thoughts” is a Canadian Christian Writing Award winner.  Readers may connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and at lynndove.com 

My Journey With Jesus by Nina Faye Morey

The story of the two men “On the Road to Emmaus” reflects the journey that many of us experience in our walk with Jesus (Luke 24:13-32). They were preoccupied with feelings of sadness, grief, and disappointment because of their own failure and their leaders’ betrayal of their Lord. They neither recognized Jesus nor realized the true meaning of His crucifixion. They’d hoped that Jesus was the Messiah who would redeem the Israelites from Roman rule. They failed to comprehend the spiritual significance that His death and reported resurrection held for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28). They hadn’t yet connected all the dots between the events they’d just witnessed and what Jesus had revealed to them through His teachings.

Just as Jesus came to meet and walk beside these downcast men on the road to Emmaus, Jesus comes to walk alongside many of us on our painful journeys through darkness and despair. We’ve all walked this road to Emmaus at least once during our lifetime. We’ve all experienced fear, failure, disappointment, sadness, hopelessness, uncertainty, and death. And just as He did for these men, Jesus comes to us and opens our eyes to reveal Himself as our true Lord and Saviour. The road to Emmaus is whatever road we’re trudging down when we encounter Jesus, resolve to walk and talk with Him, and open ourselves up to His radical transformation of our lives. It may be a calm experience like the one described in Luke, or it may be a more dramatic encounter like Paul’s on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-9).

As we travel life’s road, Jesus joins us on our journey even though we may fail to recognize Him. It is His Spirit who arouses our curiosity and draws us towards Him. Like Moses, wonderstruck over the miracle of the Burning Bush, we find ourselves drawn aside from our usual path by a deep desire to explore a slow-burning but imperishable fascination with a spiritual world that’s difficult to fathom (Exodus 3:1-3). Our curiosity to know more about God leads us on an incessant spiritual quest. We find ourselves seeking fellowship with Him through His Word, prayer, devotionals, and meditative readings.

It’s at this point in our spiritual journey that we discover God is not some unseen, passive, “abstract” deity, but a very real and holy being who demands our complete loyalty, commitment, and devotion. Like Peter, it’s the crucial moment when we decide to “drop our nets,” to leave our former lives behind, and commit ourselves to Him (Matthew 4:18-20). It’s the moment when we open ourselves up to spiritual change.

At this stage in our spiritual development, we come to realize that this new life to which God is calling us is not only full of promises, but it’s also full of demands. We have not only accepted Christ, but the bonds, vows, and responsibilities that come with our spiritual conversion. God desires us to be active and fruitful in our spiritual lives. He’s given us gifts that He wants us to use to help and encourage others, open their hearts and minds to Him, and help direct them down the path in life that He’s chosen for them.

The Lenten season allows me to set aside extra time to walk and talk with Jesus. It enables me to focus more fully on my risen Lord and Saviour, reflecting on and renewing my relationship with Him. Lenten practices like Bible study and prayer open my eyes, move my heart, deepen my faith, and help me grow on my spiritual journey. Above all, Lent is a time for me to meditate on the profound meaning of Christ’s sacrifice and celebrate His eternal victory over sin and death.

Photos: Pixabay

A New Road - Marnie Pohlmann

I walk down this road of life.

I trip and fall into a dark hole.

I get up and continue walking.

Again, I trip and fall into a dark hole.

I climb out and continue walking.

Once again, I trip and fall into another dark hole.

Deeper this time, it is difficult to climb out.

But I pull myself up and walk on.

And again, I fall into a deep hole.

But I decide to stay awhile.

Eventually, I climb up the wall and back onto the path.

I fall into a hole.

I realize how dark, dreary, and lonely it is.

I decide to decorate, to make it cozier.

I hang a picture of me as a child, and I write in my journal.

I scream pain onto the page in silent words.

No one hears, so I stay in the hole.

Time goes by.

Though I believe I am secure and comfortable in my hole,

I begin to notice light up above.

I continue to write in my journal.

Then I hear a voice, calling to me.

He says he will help me get out of my hole,

He says, if I choose, he will walk with me on my path.

I think about it, but am frightened.

I know my hole.

I don't know outside, or down the road.

I am not sure I can trust the voice.

Yet he continues to call.

His words appear in my journal.

Finally, I agree to meet him.

He reaches down and helps me out of my hole.

I bring my journals.

He walks with me.

Just when I am about to trip into a deep hole,

He catches me.

We continue walking.

I sometimes almost fall into other dark holes,

But as I trip, he holds me.

I still skin my knees sometimes and he lets me cry,

but he comforts me.

We walk on.

And now He guides me down a different road.

I based this story on a poem I read many years ago. That poem did not have the journals or God calling to me, but it did end with learning to walk a new road. I have not been able to find the original author's name or even the original words. Over the years I have seen this idea of repeatedly falling into the hole, decorating the hole, and eventually choosing a new road, become a picture of my life.

I have a love-hate relationship with the journals I have kept on my journey. On one hand, they contain pain, struggles, and rebellion; times I do not wish to relive. On the other hand, they contain answers from God to my pleas, and they show how He has been at work in my life all these years.

My goal a while ago was to read through those journals to see what I could use in my writing. I was nervous about this project so decided this would be an exercise in research, not a reliving of the past. An emotional detachment was the key, or so I thought. I knew God was with me, holding my hand and ready to point out the gems of what He wanted me to share through writing.

And then I found myself again in a dark hole. Not because of my journals, but because of life circumstances which I found overwhelming. I returned to childhood coping methods I know do not work and once again believed the old messages of shame and worthlessness. Then I began to decorate my hole with pictures of everything wrong with me and my present life. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder once again settled into the corners of the darkness, bringing alive all the negative emotions of childhood, the work I do, and cancer.

I was depressed, yes, but I was not afraid - I am not afraid. In the dark times, God is present. When I am struggling, God is at work. He will not ever leave me, Scripture says, and He never has, so I know He won't this time. He calls to me and reaches down to help me out of the hole again.

Emotion is part of the past as much as it is part of today. If I am to read and write from my life journals, I must do it acknowledging and including all the feelings and emotions, not as a dry research paper. Memories in my journals may be dark, but I believe I will also see where the Sonshine drew me out of the holes. Rather than being nervous about this project, I am now excited to discover and re-discover God's presence in my life and how He so gently leads me to walk with Him on a new road.

I have been sporadic in my journaling lately. Writing ideas are strewn about in various pretty journals, church bulletins, Bible Study notebooks, and even in my phone. Personal woes and joys are dated with months between the entries. I have found I miss having (making) the time to journal.

This month's posts have been inspirational, showing me how journals are a gift. I now realize that organizing the thoughts, lessons, and ideas in those journals is also a gift. 

I think I'll start (another) new journal.

Photos courtesy of CCO License: hole - pexels.com;  girl, journal - pixabay.com

Marnie struggles and journals in northern BC. Visit her blog, Phosphorescent, to read her adventures in absorbing and reflecting God's light in dark times.