Something happens at the end of the day when the to-do list loses its power, the however-many words we use have escaped us, and the sinks and tubs and TVs have done their duty. Life gets still. Sometimes for a fleeting moment before sleep. Sometimes, like last night for me, for a surprising length of time. Borrowing from ancient practices, I like to call these moments the Watches of the Night. Even though the body is tired, another part of you is still very awake.
It’s there, in the quiet stillness, that you can hear Him if you listen in your spirit.
It’s the same Gentle Whisperer that Elijah heard in the mouth of the cave.
He’s the Mighty to Save, who quiets your soul in the most beautiful of ways… He rejoices over you with singing.
This is no task for angels or even people. This is a visitation in love fitting only for One who can take such personal delight in you, despite your weakness or failure. And in the Watches of the Night, He Himself becomes the descant of your soul.
Listen with your heart, and in the Watches of the Night, you can hear Him lifting your soul, singing to your hope that He will come back to you again. He sings to your regrets with His stubborn love, casting them into the depths of the deepest sea. And in his delight over you, He buoys your heart to face new challenges and new opportunities for patience and endurance. [click to continue…]
I.
If you ever wanted to write a forever kind of song
That angels or children or the big choirs sing…
If you’ve ever wanted to rhyme with the heart
Of the One who bends the rainbow
And deserves even more than your finest praise…
Then make your music with a life of passion.
Spell it out with clearly with actions of love.
Dance in the reign of King of the ages.
Promise your steadfast, immovable service,
Then hold in His beautiful power your faithfulness.
Show the whole world His symphony in you.
II.
If you ever wanted to write a together kind of song
Of friends or family or heroes or darlings…
If you’ve ever wanted to love someone else in the music,
Yet knew that your most heartfelt expressions
Were still so short of all they deserve from you… [click to continue…]
Somewhere in the places you aren’t aware of in the moment, in the quietest and yet most powerful of ways, you are being loved.
Past the grand displays and the tender expressions, the soul-stirring words and the daily graces, you are being cared for…
…attended to…
…noticed.
Behind a love that gives, a love that speaks, or a love that serves is a love that stays awake while you sleep and attends to you while you’re lost in the busyness of your day.
This is a love that watches.
This love searches you and knows you… [click to continue…]
Years ago Ken Medema told the story of an experience he had at a youth function in Atlanta. He had been invited to play for a youth party after church one night, and he entertained the kids with some of his old 50s love songs. After his part was over, somebody fired up the record player (yes, record player) and started playing some other music, and these church kids started to dance.
Ken remained off to the side; he had been raised in a home that forbade dancing.
Soon, however, what he called “this wallflower of a girl” approached him shyly and asked, “Would you like to dance?”
I should mention at this point that Ken is completely blind. He was horrified at the thought of being laughed out of the room for trying something so completely risky and foreign to him, and he tried to beg off.
But Miss Wallflower wasn’t taking no for an answer. [click to continue…]
Ronnie Blair spent a lifetime waiting for the perfect moment. And he never seemed to find it.
He waited to ask Lisa Crane to the Senior Prom. Ricky Styles beat him it to it. Now they’re married with two kids and a third one on the way.
He waited to apply for the college scholarship from his father’s employer; didn’t want to appear too eager, he said. He missed the deadline.
He waited for the perfect job to present itself upon graduation, and in the process passed up three good choices. He wound up taking an entry-level hourly position not even in his field.
He waited for the perfect time to ask Leanne Wilson to marry him, and to her it seemed as though he was afraid of commitment. They wound up possibly the only couple in town who got engaged as the result of an argument.
In Ronnie’s life, the pattern was always the same. [click to continue…]
Grab a pen and a legal pad. You’ve got some writing to do, and you get one chance to get this right. Soon your number’s going to be called, and there’ll be no more letters, no more encouraging, no more leading…
…no more living.
Everything you have worked for on this side of eternity is hanging in the balance. And the guy you’ve picked as your successor – your standard bearer?
He’s AWOL.
Some people, when they burn out, act out. This guy burned out, and hid out.
And you have one chance to light a fire under him before somebody, well, lights a fire under you, so to speak. What would you say? How would you say it? Is this a time for force or finesse? Rah-rah or sob-sob? [click to continue…]
During the days of the American Old West, a tribe of Apaches captured the army paymaster’s safe. The Apaches had never seen a safe, but they did know that it held a large amount of gold. So they went to work on it.
First, they pounded on its knob with stones. No results. Then they used their tomahawks on the tempered steel case. When that failed, they roasted the safe because they knew that iron can be softened by fire. But that didn’t work, either. Then they threw it off a cliff. All that did was break one of its wheels. Next, they soaked it in the river. Finally, they tried to blast it open with gunpowder, which only resulted in some of them being injured.
Totally frustrated, they tumbled the safe into a ravine. When the army found it, the gold was still inside.
As you lead your organization, reach out to friends, teach that class, or spend time loving children, remember that in any endeavor involving the hearts of people, are “going after the gold.” And like the gold in the safe, many people have encased their hurts, their failures, and their “real selves” with a protective shell and a “keep out” sign. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on August 1, 2011
in Ability, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Pleasers, Principle of Freedom, Tense Truths, Waiting
I.
It all started with a dream last week,
About a friend I hadn’t seen in more than a decade,
And hadn’t talked to in six years.
Even though it had been so long
And so much life had passed us by,
I realized how important he still is to me.
My love for him and his family is as strong as ever.
And that dream made me take a look at the tapestry of my relationships
And realize somebody was missing.
[click to continue…]
Bryce is a prisoner in his own home. His really nice home with the pool, three-car garage, RV parking, and more bathrooms than family members. His “friends” are (too) curious about his life and trappings, like something of a bad sequel to The Great Gatsby. And despite his material success, Bryce remains restless, empty, and hungry for that One Honest Touch.
Tony is a prisoner in his own accomplishments. A hyper-achiever, he lives in a world of “What mountain have you climbed lately?” Last year’s exploits are old news to a bored world, many of whom live vicariously through Tony’s courage and imagination. Inwardly terrified to admit he’s just as bored and scared as they are, Tony longs for that One Honest Touch.
Madison is a prisoner in her own skin. Always a head turner looks-wise, for as long as she can remember, Maddie’s life has been revolving door of one vain relationship after another. Superficial. Super-physical. Super-lonely. Her striking beauty has always ensured her all the attention she could ever ask for. But it never has given her what her heart cries out for most – that One Honest Touch.
Deep Connection
All of us were created with a capacity, and need for, deep connection. A Touch. And our spirits never rest until we have it. [click to continue…]
Where does she get this stuff? I know that verse about “out of the mouths of babes,” but seriously? So here’s the story…
Kyle, my son-in-law, had been away on his second mission trip in three weeks – this one to Ecuador. Back home, Carrie was shepherding Shepherd and corralling the one she calls the “Big Sasster.”
A certified Daddy’s girl, Laura Kate was ecstatic when he got back. There back at the casa, Sassy Pants exclaimed, “This is our castle and our king has come home!”
All was well.
The promise of “soon” was replaced with the presence of “the king.” And she was once again with the man she loves more than all others.
And out of the mouth of a babe – well, technically a three-year-old – God perfected praise.
If only she knew – and one day she will… [click to continue…]
Something happens at the end of the day when the to-do list loses its power, the however-many words we use have escaped us, and the sinks and tubs and TVs have done their duty. Life gets still. Sometimes for a fleeting moment before sleep. Sometimes, like last night for me, for a surprising length of time. Borrowing from ancient practices, I like to call these moments the Watches of the Night. Even though the body is tired, another part of you is still very awake.
