Month: May 2020

I am not sure what it is about the beach that draws me in.  It could be the seemingly endless rolling waters that remind me of God’s great majesty.  It could be the peaceful sound of the waves that could put me to sleep in just a few moments.  The feel of the sand between my toes and laid back in a chair without a care in the world is always appealing.  Whatever it may be, there is definitely a pull for me towards the beach.

Have you taken the time at the beach to build a sand castle lately?  It only takes a bucket and all of a sudden, you are a kid again.  You begin to dig ravines.  You may even compose a mote around the castle.  It can quickly become a family activity as everyone comes to put their own special touch on the production.  You can lose track of time when you are building a sand castle.  We get everything perfect.  We can be so pleased with our work – it may even be our best work yet.  But if we pause for a moment, we know what will happen.  Eventually the tide will roll in.  Eventually the waters will rise and will wash right over our creation.  So why do it at all?

Building a sand castle is one of the momentary joys in life.  It isn’t meant to be permanent.  We don’t create to make a structure that will stand for all time.  That isn’t the point.  We are simply making something fun in the moment and allowing our creativity to take flight.  We are spending a little time in our day to just be in the moment.  We don’t do that enough in life.  We don’t spend our time on the frivolous, the simple pleasures.  But sand castles teach us to differently.  They teach us to spend time to build something just for the sake of building.  No long term investment needed.

At the end of the day, the waters will rise.  I wonder, though.  Does the water destroy our creation?  Or does the water provide us a clean slate to build something else beautiful, if just for a moment?  I think we are given a smooth, clean slate that invites us to be a kid again.  We are given the opportunity to just have fun.  Nothing permanent, no investment needed.  Just enjoy the moment.

Today, enjoy.  Simply find joys that can transport you to childhood.  Build your sand castle.

Focus Scripture:

Matthew 6:34

³⁴ “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

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That is so beautiful!  I cannot believe how beautiful this has become!  Look at how beautiful that is!  All of these expressions conjure up different images for us.  What one person sees as beautiful, another may not feel the same.  There is a saying ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’.  So what is beauty and how do we recognize it?

Let’s begin by looking in the mirror.  I know, that may not be the first place many of us would look or consider finding beauty.  But, did you know that you are beautiful?  Really, you are absolutely beautiful.  Some may agree with that.  Some will not.  The majority will want to change something about themselves first.  But I am confident in my assessment that you are beautiful just the way you are.  Do you know how I can be so confident?  Because I know you are made by an amazing Creator that calls you his beloved.  I know that you are not a mistake.  I know that you are loved and adored beyond your wildest imagination.  I know because you are a creation of goodness.

Yes, we have many flaws.  We have many things we would change if we could.  There could be a list of things we would do differently if we were the creator.  We probably wouldn’t make donuts have calories so we wouldn’t have a gut.  We might would make sitting on our couch a vital exercise to keep six pack abs.  It could be we would want wrinkles to disappear when we laugh.  It might become limitless on how we would change things.  But those things – those extra pounds hiding our six pack – those wrinkles that replace our smooth skin – these are all things which are on the surface.  God sees so much more.  He sees our heart, our love, our intentions.  He sees our kindness and our joy.  He sees us as we really are.  He isn’t worried about the things we spend so much time concerned about.  He loves us because we are his.  He loves us because we are, indeed, beautiful.

So pick your head up.  Carry yourself with determination.  Smile – you are one of God’s beloved and he thinks you are beautiful!

Focus Scripture:

Colossians 3:12

¹² As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

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I have heard this phrase many times in my life – Do Not Fear.  These three simple words should take care of it all, I suppose.  Attached to the phrase may be “everything will be okay” or “there is nothing to fear but fear itself.”  I know these words are meant to be affirmations, a way of providing an assurance.  But if someone is telling you this, chances are you are fearful.  And if you are fearful, it doesn’t help a lot to hear you shouldn’t.

Fear can be good.  It can keep us from getting into dangerous situations.  Our bodies may be giving us a clue that we are in an unsafe environment.  But not all fear is good.  We can become fearful to the point that it completely paralyzes us.  It keeps us from functioning and living.  There isn’t any one thing causing fear, it is simply where we find ourselves.

Do not fear – I even hear this phrase from God.  His people are obviously fearful, often for very good reason.  It could be they are coming against an army or the enemy.  They might be fearful because they are taking on a new journey where the unknown is scary.  He tells this to people who are given new messages and directions.  For me, though, the key is not in the phrase – Do Not Fear.  It is what else is said and whom else is saying it.  If God is saying it, there is something to it.  When the Creator, Sustainer, and Life Giver says for us not to fear, we should probably take notice.  But that is not all.  He often continues…for the Lord, your God is with you (and often implied if not said).  And that part is the most important part for me.  That is the part that speaks loudest to my fears.  Not only should I not fear, but I should not fear because God is with me.  When I follow him, I should not be fearful because he is with me.  When I take on new challenges he has presented, I should not fear because he is with me.  When I am overwhelmed with life’s situations, I can rest in him knowing that he is with me.  That really means something.

May God remind you not to fear today…because he is with you.  May you be filled with his presence and guided by the Spirit.  May you not fear, God is with you.

Focus Scripture:

Joshua 1:9

⁹ I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

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As I understand it, birds learn to fly right from the nest.  Their first expedition is the flight into the world.  They do not need instructional videos or Powerpoint slides to teach the best way to get wind under their wings.  They just fly.  It is an ability God has given them from an early age.  And they have a community to help them as they soar into the future.

This is all beautiful until it doesn’t work out.  Leo chases birds often – he was created to hunt.  I think that most birds in our yard tease him a bit.  They will land on the ground inside the fence or on the rail and just wait for him to come their way.  As soon as he gets close, they take off.  It is a game they have played over and over again.  I often watch, knowing what will happen.  That did not happen today, though.  I saw the bird in the yard.  I watched as Leo pointed her out.  He bent down in his stealth mode and he begins to creep forward.  This is the same scenario I have watched hundreds of times.  This time, though, the bird didn’t move.  I saw her squawk at him but not move.  Because I love nature, I rushed over to check out the bird and called Leo off of her.  He found her fascinating, of course.  It is his job.  I noticed that it was a small bird that was not yet prepared to fly.  She had apparently dropped out of a nest in the tree above.  And her parents and fellow community were flying around with desperate attempts to instruct her.  They were doing their best to distract Leo and hopefully save the little one.  She was screaming, mouth wide open for rescue.  I was able to get Leo away from her and she hobbled to safety.  Her little family greeted her on the other side of the fence.  For now, she was back with those that could care for her.

Sometimes we fall out of trees before we are ready to fly.  We may have a community that loves us that tries to rescue us.  It may take an intervention for us to make it to safety.  It may be that God provides just the right person to come to our aid, to love us, and care for us until we are ready to fly.  If you have fallen from your tree, may you find rescue in the arms of the Creator.  He can teach you to fly once more.

Focus Scripture:

Psalm 31:1-3

¹ In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
² Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.

³ You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

Observing what is going on around us just might bring unexpected surprises.  I enjoy sitting outside and just watching.  Some find that “people watching” is interesting.  But for me, “nature watching” is way more fascinating.  If we just take a few moments and look, listen, and feel the rhythms of the earth, we might be pleasantly awakened.  We may become entranced by the simple.

Today, I find myself watching a tree frog.  To me, they are cute little creatures.  They are small yet resilient with an innate ability to cling to most any surface.  They can almost fly when they jump.  These are also all the reasons they frighten my wife.  She is always trying to avoid them while I am trying to watch them.  One tree frog found herself on the exterior wall of our house today.  She was probably leaping to get away from the dog torturing her.  But I noticed her as she made her way along the siding.  Around 8 feet up, she looked as though she effortlessly made her way.  She continued to move until she found just the right spot.  She actually disappeared from my sight (which is why I knew she was comfortable there).  She slid into the side of the window pane, unnoticed by other animals or passerby.  It was her safe space for the moment.  She could breathe, relax, and find reprieve.  She won’t be able to stay there forever – food awaits in other places.  But for now, she can simply rest.

This taught me that rest is important, even vital for our survival.  Sometimes we simply need to find our safe space and settle there for a moment.  Sure, we will have to leave that space eventually – we will get hungry.  But we can find a moment of rest and peace we often so desperately need.

Have you found your safe space to just rest?  Are you missing the value of a reprieve?  Is God’s creation speaking to you to take a time out?  May we find rest.

Focus Scripture:

Exodus 20:10-11

¹⁰ But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

Leo has been my key to discovering joy.  He has such a vibrant personality and finds excitement in what I would consider the dullest things.  He loves to chase bugs, most of which he will never catch.  He finds pleasure in making lizards run around the yard.  If he finds a way, he will take something of yours and run around the house with it just to get you to chase him.  He doesn’t really want whatever it is, he just wants to see you work for it.  It makes him happy to be chased.  If you haven’t guessed, Leo is our 2 year old baby which also happens to be a dog.

Recently we discovered something else that Leo loves.  Water is his new friend.  When we put water in the container outside, it is difficult to get any water in there because he is biting at it and putting his whole head in the stream.  He absolutely is all in when it comes to water.  My mom decided to hook up a sprinkler for him (yes, he has everyone doing something for him – he’s cute like that).  I cannot explain the joy he found with this new toy.  He chased the water round and round.  He jumped to reached it.  He ran up to it to take in the full experience.  He would back off and observe what was happening, and then jump back in for more.

I don’t just see my dog running through a sprinkler.  I see one of God’s creation finding such joy in the simple experience of chasing water.  When we watch him, his joy is contagious.  We laugh and find ourselves joyful through him.  It is a beautiful shared time.  And it is found in something so simple.  All the parts of this joyful experience have been there all along.  We didn’t realize it until Leo.

What joys are we missing?  What could be right around us just bursting forth with joy that we haven’t even noticed?  May God open up the possibilities of joy to experienced.  And may we dance in the sprinklers.

Focus Scripture:

Psalm 148

¹ Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
² Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!

³ Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!
⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and they were created.
⁶ He established them forever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.^[a]

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
⁸ fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!

⁹ Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
¹⁰ Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!

¹¹ Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
¹² Young men and women alike,
old and young together!

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above earth and heaven.
¹⁴ He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his faithful,
for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

Things really changed in just one short day.  I have a hard time believing it only took a day for them to shine, as if they had taken a long breath of thanks.

Yesterday, I decided it was time to plant flowers in planters on the back porch.  I spend a lot of time there and my dog is at the age where he may not eat the flowers now.  So my youngest daughter took on the adventure of picking out and bringing home some new flowers.  She did a beautiful, colorful job of selecting just the right ones.  My mom came to help me plant them – we both love to dig in the dirt.

I had two flowers that were inside that needed to be planted in bigger planters.  They needed a bigger home and to be outdoors to receive all of God’s goodness.  One of them, in particular, was looking very sad.  The flowers were dying out, as they always do at some point.  The leaves looked good, so I was excited to see how they might flourish.  If you have ever re-planted something, you know there is usually a time of transition.  It takes the plant a little time to get accustomed to its new home.  It may even look a little pitiful before it begins to take shape.  So this morning, I expected to walk out onto the patio and see some transitioning plants, especially the one from inside the house.

What I found instead was that this plant seemed ecstatic about its new surroundings.  Even the seemingly dead flowers were standing tall.  It had taken on a new life.  The problem was the former pot was too small. The flower had become root bound.  It could not grow any longer.  It could not produce or even sustain what it had to offer because the life was held down so tightly.  It needed a place where the roots could spread out and life could begin anew.

As I found such joy in the new progress of this plant, I found something similar in my own life.  In our world, we try to buy stuff and surround ourselves with things.  We feel like if we have one more thing or have the latest gadget, all will be good.  When we hold onto those things and continue to fill our lives with stuff, we may just be squeezing the life out of ourselves.  We may be trying to find life in things that are actually constricting our life.  We just might find that life is really found when we are not being smothered by objects.  They might be making us root bound.

What might you need to get rid of in order to grow?  What things are holding you back from finding true life and joy?

Focus Scripture:

Matthew 6:19-21

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰ but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

There are days when we get anxious and just want it to happen.  We have waited and waited and are overly excited.  For some people, that means tracking the packages from destination to destination until it finally arrives at the door.  For others, that might look like checking the bank account often to see if the deposit has really arrived.  We get so worked up about something arriving that we miss what is happening in the meantime.  We miss the value of the wait.

Blooms remind me of the wait.  This is a beautiful image of the almost, but not quite.  You know these flowers will bloom and become vibrant.  You know they will bring smiles and joy.  They are on their way.  They just aren’t quite there yet.  If we try to open them in a hurry, they will not survive.  They move on their own time and at their own pace – or the Creator’s time and pace.  They need love and nourishment as they bloom.  They will come to life, but it will just take time.

We take time as well.  We are almost, but not quite.  We are growing and developing but not quite all we were created to be.  We are being formed and shaped into the image that our Creator intended.  We need nourishment, we need love, we need attention.  But we don’t need to try to force ourselves to be something we are not.  Sometimes we need to give ourselves grace when we haven’t grown as much as we think we should.  We are growing, we are becoming.  We just need to be patient as we receive all we need from our Creator.

Focus Scripture:

Psalm 25:4-6

⁴ Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
⁵ Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.

⁶ Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

It only takes a little light and a bit of shade to change everything.  A glimmer of light can cast out the darkness and awaken the world.   The sun pouring through trees can cast shadows that enliven our imaginations.  Watching creation at just the right moment can open our eyes to the delights of joy unseen without blinding us to overexposure.

As I drive home from the office, depending on the time I leave, the sun can be directly at eye level.  I happen to be just the right height to catch every bit of sun that is sparkling bright.  I am tall enough to see over the dashboard but too short for the visor to do any good.  This can be challenging when the sunspots dull my efforts to see the road.  On the days when I work later, I do not get the same effect.  The sun has set just enough to reach the tops of the trees.  It is still high enough for me to see and for the earth to be lit bright.  But it is not so high that it reaches me in my height-challenged state.  The trees provide a buffer.  The sun can glimmer through, but not at full strength.  They provide just enough reprieve that the beauty is magnified.  And for just a moment, I am glad I worked longer.  But I am even more glad that the trees are just the right height for the moment, even if I am not.

We don’t often see the value of buffers.  I might miss how the trees provide just the right amount of shade to keep me from being blinded if I had not experienced the full sun.  The trees seem to stand taller and are even more magnificent when they are shielding me from full exposure.  They are not obstacles to be conquered or overcome, they are gifts to enable me to see clearly.

What buffers are in your life that you are viewing as obstacles that may actually shield you from being blinded?  What do you have that seems to get in your way of full view but in reality is keeping you focused on what is good and right and pure?  What trees are blooming at just the right time so they cast shadows in ways that help you see God?

Focus Scripture:

Isaiah 4:5-6

⁵ Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed over all the glory there will be a canopy. ⁶ It will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery