November News

Here I am sitting in a coffee shop (with a Decaf Mocha Latte for those of you who are curious.)  And I am forcing "inspiration."  There are times when a writer thinks "I should write about . . .", and there are other times when a writer decides it is high time that she should have wanted to write about something.
Life here in Paris is normal.  Nothing shocking or new-which may make my title for this post seem a bit shocking.  But a lack of change does not negate the little bits of news that make life bright and enjoyable. 
A few weeks ago I went on a neighborhood walk with Mom and Samuel, and as we were walking, we passed a wonderful little niche in the world-not touched with the normal busyness of traffic; only touched by the activity of those who live there because they enjoy the sense of being tucked away in an unknown bend in the road.  It is sometimes in those little "corners" of the world where you find extraordinary secret gifts from God-which was the case for me on that beautiful late summer's afternoon.  In the front yard of one of the tucked away homes was a tree.  But this tree was not like most other trees which reach straight for the heavens.  It was slanting so closely to the ground I was surprised it was even able to stand.  Although I am not a forester, my imagination said that it probably had some sort of tree trauma in its youth, but lived through it.  From there, it had eventually grown so tall that it could reach above the roof of the home-towards the morning light. 
(I wanted to try not to be so "didactic" in this blog, but it seems I cannot escape it-so please bear with me, as I appear to be didactic in nature.  It is the ingrained teacher in me-always wanting to escape.)

Back to the tree:  one of my first thoughts when I saw the tree was how my impression of the tree's "history" could be applied in our lives.  Throughout each of our lives we encounter some sort of trauma, of various and sundry intensities.  But through all of these, from the greatest to the least, we need one response-to reach towards The Light.  The One, True Light of the World-the Saviour Jesus Christ.  Our trauma may manifest itself in some ways to those around us to the end of our lives, but even in it, we should point others the The Light.  And as I love my special tree on Abbott Lane more than any other in the neighborhood, in the same manner, others may love us even more for who the Lord has made us through all the circumstances in our lives. 

John 8:12

"Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.'" NASB

Choosing Joy-in the Here and Now

It is Monday morning-another week has begun.  And how will this week be?  Well, a lot of that depends on you.  Here is what I mean-one scenario, two opinions on that situation.  What is the difference?

Opinion #1: It is Monday morning (as previously stated.)  You have another headache for some reason. . . probably slept wrong-again.  You are about to get ready for work. It is rainy, and your hair has to be back because you work in food service. . . another bad hair day for sure before you even try (so why try anyways??)  All day long you are going to make food for other people-some happy, some grouchy.  Because of the rain the day will be slow.  Yippee. . . another slowly passing day. You'll leave work tired and stinking like grease.  That is what you have to look forward to today.

Opinion #2: Monday morning-a fresh start.  A new week to serve others making them food they love (they must love it or they wouldn't come back daily for the same dish.)  Ministering to a basic need of all human beings-eating.  It is rainy-what an adventure!  Rain coats, running through the rain to get into work-what a blessing to have rain since we have had three years of drought!  You have a headache again, but that is alright-another opportunity for the Lord to prove Himself strong in your life by giving you the strength and ability to make it through the day.  What opportunities will the Lord send your way today?

What is the difference in these two opinions of legendary Monday mornings?  Perspective.  Opinion one is a "glass half empty" outlook on life.  The pessimist.  Looking at the negative side of every situation. And as stated in Pride and Prejudice it "savors strongly of bitterness."  Life has it difficulties-its bad hair days, headaches, and picky customers.  But what about the flip side of all these situations?  What is the Lord teaching you in all these "troubles?"  (Now grant it-these "troubles" are definitely "first-world" problems.  Not torture or death as some people face.)  But what about the times of poor health, the times of deep heartache, the times of "drought" of soul?  In these times we often look at life from the pessimist's perspective.  What is the cure of the bitterness that creeps into our being and clings so tightly to our very souls?  Joy.  But how can you have joy in the difficult times?  You have a choice of the perspective you will take-Are you going to be thankful for the rain or angry about how the rain hinders your day?

In my life here is what I have found.  I must make a conscious choice to be joyful, to have the proper perspective-God's perspective-and then He opens my heart to truly feel joyful.  Often times (more often than not) I do not "feel" like being joyful, but when I choose to obey Him and rejoice in my circumstances, He changes my heart to have a supernatural type of joy.  Sometimes I am not immediately cured of my pessimism.  We are growing children of God, and sometimes it takes choosing a heavenly perspective every five minutes.  But as you practice choosing joy and are molded daily to look more like Christ, the choice will come more naturally and quickly. 

So the next time you are tempted to think pessimistically and be a glass half empty kind of person-flip the perspective.  For every negative there is a positive.  Pray the Lord to fill your cup with joy, and in so doing fill it to overflowing so your joy spills out and spreads joy to those around you. 

An Unexpected Ray

After days of cold, rainy weather, we finally had a sunshiny afternoon.  I decided to go soak up some sun rays by studying behind my dorm.  I went across the parking lot and sat by the day care with my back against the fence surrounding the playground area.  Getting all situated, I pulled out my speech class textbook and began reading about oral presentations.  All of the sudden, from behind me, I could hear the pitter-pat of feet on gravel.  Then, with much gusto and friendliness a voice from behind me, "HIIIII!!"  Turning around I saw a little boy, around five, grabbing onto some of the bars on the play set, leaning half-way off, with a smile spread as big as it could go across his face.  "I'm Thomas!! What's YOUR name?" 
     "My name is Emily."
     "Oh. . . Hi Emily!  I'm Thomas!  Want to see how I go down a BIG pole? This is how I go down a big pole."
     "Wow! I always wanted to do that but couldn't.  That's so cool!"
     "Mommy said I could play out here.  Want to see how I go down a BIG sliiide?" 
And Thomas commenced to slide down the slide, getting stuck at the bottom with his legs dangling off from the knee. He squirmed his way off and commenced to run around the play ground.
From then on I had a friend.  A few minutes later his mother called him to go, and I said goodbye, but with no response until he was almost to her.  He looked back, gave the biggest wave, the same massive grin, and yelled "Goodbye!!!"  But our time was not quite over.  He got to the edge of the fence, and played "peek-a-boo" with me as he was waiting for his mother.  He would peek around the fence and as soon as I looked or waved, he would dart back behind the fence with a grin.  And still, at the car, he would peek around the side, make a silly face at me, and then hide again. 
As his mother was driving away she waved, apparently aware of Thomas's new found friend. 

But even though Thomas was gone, his impact wasn't.  I sat chuckling, and pondering.  Thomas, in his child-like way, had poured out his friendliness and touched my life.  When I had walked outside, I had only counted on getting rays from the sun, but Thomas's life was in many ways like a sunray.  His joy of life had shone and touched me, warming my heart as the sun was warming my body.  So often, in our adult formality, we get so caught up in our tasks and ourselves.  Even though Thomas was concerned about his desires and likes, he pulled me into them, and helped me share in the joy of the moment.  We, as adults, get caught up in the menial tasks and forget to do them with joy and to include others in our lives.  That Thursday afternoon, I learned from Thomas.  In my fear of what other people will think, I often fail to be friendly and spread joy.  But no matter what I am doing, I need to let other people into my life and share the joy I have because of Christ.