Category: Devotion

I love to hear children giggle.  There is something infectious about their laughter.  I rarely laugh as much as I should as an adult and admire those that do.  When I hear the belly roll laughter, I can’t help but smile.  There is such joy about the tears running down your face when you laugh.  Today – I can’t help but think that God’s creation has a sense of humor too.

Wendy does not do well with tree frogs.  They are her nemesis.  While I think they are cute and enjoyable, there is nothing the least bit attractive to her.  I see their skill to stick to most anything as quite a gift.  She sees this same skill as frightening and intimidating.  When it rains, we can really hear them outside our back door – the same door that Leo goes out to go to the bathroom.  They hang out by the back door and make noises – the noises frogs make.  I hear it as their song.  She hears them taunting her – laughing at her – daring her to come to the door to let Leo out so they can leap in.  I can’t help but giggle at the sounds.  I think it is even more funny now than ever.  Now when I hear their sounds, I giggle to myself hearing them call Wendy to open the door and let them have fun.  Creation definitely has a way of bringing a smile.

I have a feeling we don’t smile enough – or laugh enough – or enjoy the good things enough.  We don’t laugh at the sounds of the frogs because we ignore the sounds.  We don’t think of the joys of children laughing because we are busy doing grown up things.  We don’t spend time seeking the goodness and joy in creation because it is hot or we are bored or whatever it is that keeps us from seeing the funny, the interesting, and laughing.

Today, I hope you find some moments of joy.  I hope that you hear the laughter around you and you simply smile.  May you allow the goodness of God’s amazing creation speak joy to you today.

Focus scripture:

Psalm 37:3-4

³ Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

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

There are so many things in life we can plan.  We can plan when an event will happen and send out invitations.  We can plan our vacations and know months or even years ahead of time.  We can plan for ballgames and dance recitals.  All of those are set, at least to some respect.  We can get our lives set in a nice schedule, ordered by our wonderful planners.  But no matter how much we schedule it all, there is always the unexpected.  We can never be fully prepared when the unexpected happens.

With the chances that something will happen, we can react in different ways.  I had a family member that would react by always looking for the worst.  He would prepare for the absolute worst events to happen and then be relieved when they didn’t.   I’m not convinced this is any way to really live.  It seems overly stressful and anxious.  Another way to prepare is to trust.

Trust is often difficult.  Who do we trust?  What do we trust?  I trust Wendy with everything – really everything.  But she is no more prepared for the unexpected than I am.  We are definitely in this together.  But we both need to trust in someone other than ourselves.  We choose to trust in God.  While that sounds simple enough, it takes time and focus.

When I am trusting in God, I am not anxious because he will be with me through it all.  I am not worried about what is coming.  I am not looking for the worst, but rather focused on the best.  He is the Creator of all that is good and beautiful and healthy.  He gives us life and breath.  He does not force us to do anything but guides us to the best this world can offer.  But trusting in God means that I take the time and effort to listen and learn.  I make a conscious decision to not try and control everything myself.  I relax in the hands of the One that is surprised by nothing.  It takes time, but in a world of unknowns, it is the best decision I could make.

Who are you trusting?  Where are you placing your trust when the unknowns come your way?  How do you handle what comes your way?  I choose God.

Focus Scripture:

Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

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

If you know me, you know I love crazy socks.  They bring me a little happiness as I pick which pair I will wear each day.  Most of the time, I do actually try to blend colors.  But ultimately, they are just little moments of happiness.  Yesterday, I was picking out my socks and decided to choose the pair that had cinnamon buns on them.  That is correct – bright blue socks with cinnamon buns all over them.  They are fun.  As I put them on, I had a flashback and I caught myself laughing.

When my girls were small, they rode in the back seat, of course.  They also were in booster seats so they sat a little higher up.  Maia sat behind me most of the time.  On more than one occasion, she graciously pointed out that I had a cinnamon bun on the back of my head.  It seems that at the top of my head, my hair swirls and I have a bit of a bald spot.  Unfortunately I have seen the cinnamon bun for myself in pictures.  Only my children would take my bald spot and describe it as a delicious food.  So I giggled a little as I put on my socks.

I love it when small things bring big smiles to my face.  There is so much stress and chaos in the world, it is so good just to smile.  It feels better when the tension is not there and we can just enjoy.  For me, it was found in a glimpse of socks.  I also find this spending time with good friends or running in God’s good creation. There are glimpses of goodness all around – just waiting for us to notice and smile.

I hope you find your glimpses of goodness today.  I hope you find a moment to smile, relax and just enjoy.  Goodness awaits.

Focus Scripture:

Psalm 149:3-5

³ Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
⁴ For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.
⁵ Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their couches.

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

Nature speaks to us every day.  There are paintings in the sky, choruses in the air, brushstrokes of blooms happening daily.  Every single day there is beauty yet to be discovered.  We can give up on God’s beauty before it even happens.  I know I do.  I decide way too early what will become amazing and what will simply become.  I have a flower on my porch.  It needed a bigger pot and I took care of it.  It is outside and this summer heat is brutal.  It gets watered along with everything else on the porch.  While all the other plants are blooming with fragrant masterpieces of God’s touch, this plant struggles to survive.  There were no promises of blooms or even signs of survival.  I left it on the porch just because.  I had counted it out.  I continued to water it because I was watering the others.

Out of nowhere, the leaves began to look more hopeful.  They began to spring up with life and their green held signs of promise.  I was cautiously optimistic there was more to be seen with this little guy.  I didn’t do anything different.  It did cause me to take notice of the changes, though.  A few days ago, a small bloom popped out of the green leaves.  Today, it fully bloomed into a flower. The vibrant orange bloom stands out among the otherwise all green plant.  It is small but it signals hope and life.  This plant has not bloomed its last.  I was the only one that gave up.  God was still working underneath the soil to bring up something amazing.

God’s garden teaches me that I give up too easily on what he is doing.  He is watering and nurturing and caring beneath the surface.   I decide way too early what is a good crop and what is useless.  I don’t always see the promise of the soil or the blooms waiting to spring up.  I fail to notice that God has not given up and I am simply to keep on loving and watch God produce.

What have you given up on that God is still working out?  What have you failed to notice that God is doing all around you?  Maybe he is working on you and me.  Maybe there is something waiting to burst forth in us that is good and loving and amazing.  Maybe there is a bloom in us we haven’t even seen yet.  May God paint and create and nurture the goodness in our world today.

Focus Scripture:

Philippians 2:13

¹³ for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

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

It doesn’t take much to turn a situation around.  It can go one way or the other.  Our attitude, the tone of our voice, the feeling in our heart all can show through.  And this can cause things to go good or bad.  I find it both amazing and disheartening how a simple comment can become a seed that can take root in us.  It can be amazing because the seed can be full of positive encouragement and loving kindness.  A kind word spoken can begin to find its way into our heart – and if nurtured, can help us to grow and become even better.  It doesn’t even have to be a word.  It can be a kind gesture, an encouraging smile, or an uplifting note.  Kindness can yield kindness.

Unfortunately the opposite is also true.  A hateful comment can take root in people as well.  Others can start to believe the things that are being said about them.  They begin to allow those comments to become a part of who they are and they react based on those seeds.  They begin to see themselves as whatever has been spoken of them.  A simple off handed comment can change everything, if even for a day.

I find that people, in general, have no trouble spreading seeds of meanness when they do not actually look at someone else.  When it can be typed, it just becomes easier.  So we have seeds being sown all over that are full of despair.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  We can be the difference.  We can choose what seeds we will cast out today.  We can decide that today’s comments will be kind and encouraging and loving.  We can make a conscious effort to find something good and positive to say.  We can share a good word with someone.

May we spread seeds of kindness wherever we may go today.  And may they take root and multiply.

Focus Scripture:

Romans 15:5-6

⁵ May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶ so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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

When I take Leo for a run (or he takes me for a run), I expect him to point out things I ignore.  I am not surprised when he notices the trash on the side of the road.  I am not shocked when he finds the rabbit I would have missed.  It doesn’t even phase me when he sees the dragonfly and I would have not given it a second thought.  These are expected.  This is what he does.

Today, we finished our run and I came in to make my breakfast.  He decided to be a little more patient than usual – maybe because he went on the run with me and felt sorry for me.  As I was getting everything prepared, I looked over at him (I was thankful he wasn’t whining to try and speed me up).  He was laying by the glass door looking out.  He turned his head to the right and then to the left.  He spotted something.  It wasn’t anything that startled him.  It didn’t cause him to bark or even get up.  It was just enough to pique his interest.  I went over to look and saw nothing.  He gave me the…you mean you can’t see that…look.  I never did find anything unusual.

The gift for me was his way of seeing.  It didn’t matter that I didn’t see it.  I just enjoyed the look on his face as he was discovering.  He was looking at something that captured his attention that I missed.  I was focused, he was relaxed.  I was busy getting this done, he was just waiting for his turn.

What do I miss when I am in a rush?  What do I not see that is right in front of my eyes?  What is it that I pass right by that might capture my attention?  God has given us such a beautiful creation – with moments of his greatness all around.  Will we let it pass us by today?  Or will we take just a moment and notice what he has for us?

Focus Scripture:

Psalm 150:1-2

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty firmament!
² Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his surpassing greatness!

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

It is one of the things that all of us have – an opinion.  Some of us are much more vocal about our opinion than others.  Some share their opinion without being asked.  Some opinions are welcomed while others are greeted with the ultimate eye roll and exhausted exhale sound.  We believe our opinions are right – otherwise we would change them.  It is not a problem to have an opinion.  This only becomes a problem when we mistake our opinions for the gospel.  When we start believing that we have the answer and that our answer is the only valid one, there is a problem.

When this happens, we stop listening.  We stop learning.  We stop growing.  When we have all the answers and our opinions become the authority, we lose.  If we are honest, there are a lot of people losing right now.  When we are encountered with differing opinions, we have an option.  We can drown out the other ideas with our view.  Or we can take a moment and truly listen.  It isn’t so that we can change our opinion that we listen.  We listen because other people’s opinions hold value.  We learn when we listen.  We become better people.  We become more like Christ when we allow others to share and we actually value them enough to listen.

Maybe today, we put our opinions aside and simply listen.  Maybe we can stop deciding we are always right and spend time hearing the views of others.  It is not to change our minds, but to open our hearts.  If we listen carefully, we might hear something from the Lord.  And his opinion is definitely worth hearing.

Focus Scripture:

Matthew 11:15

¹⁵ Let anyone with ears listen!

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

I always appreciate when I can get things accomplished.  The weekends seem to be crammed with things I could not get done during the week.  When else will I cut the grass?  Surely there will be time to wash the sheets, change the filters, catch up on laundry, work on the “to do” list that has grown too long.  I can get so much done with that time.  And then the weekend arrives.  And I work to get it all done – until I tire out, that is.  And as much as I like checking things off my list, when do I rest?  When do I stop and simply breathe?  When is it a good time to…have a sabbath rest?

That’s the problem.  Busyness can cause us to push things off until we have “more” time.  The lists grow longer, we get stressed, and then we forget to rest.  We push until we collapse.  Then we take a vacation that isn’t nearly long enough because we had already pushed so much prior to arriving.  We finally gear down about the time to return to our lives.  It is the perpetual hamster on a wheel.  But that isn’t living.

Sure, the grass needs cutting.  Yes, all of those things around the house really need to get done.  But if we do not take the time to rest, we will find we are out of balance.  We will find we are missing the joys of life.  Sabbath forces us to stop so we can remember that God created…and we have the joy of simply breathing it in.  It causes us to take a moment to notice all the goodness that fills our lives.  When it is all rush, we miss it.  When we are so exhausted that we fail to enjoy life, it all passes us by.  What a shame to miss all that God has given us.  We are given this beautiful life to truly live, and live abundantly.

How can you stop from your busyness this weekend to take in the beauty of God’s creation?  How can you simply breathe in his goodness and allow him to renew you, before you start again?  May you find sabbath this weekend.  It is waiting.

Focus Scripture

Exodus 16:22-24

²² On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers apiece. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, ²³ he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord; bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.’” ²⁴ So they put it aside until morning, as Moses commanded them; and it did not become foul, and there were no worms in it.

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

The Psalms are one of the most treasured gifts we have that is often hidden.  It is not that we do not have access to them.  It is not that they are difficult to read or understand.  But most people consider this the book that holds the middle of some Bibles.  They are seen as poems or pretty writings.  And sure, there are poems.  Yes, the writings are beautiful.  Simply looking at this only would miss the point.  The Psalms are so much more.

The Psalms are songs written as an offering to God.  They hold timeless thoughts and prayers.  There are songs of triumph and praise.  There are prayers of rescue and relief.  There are cries out to God to simply be heard – just to have God speak.  There are questions and sometimes there are answers.  There are brutal words and comforting thoughts.  In other words, they can often be the songs of our own hearts.

When we don’t know what to pray or to say or to think, the Psalms can be a welcome word.  They can offer a frame for our thoughts that we can present to the God that loves us and cares for us.  They provide permission to struggle with our feelings and our situations.  They remind us that we are not the first to have doubts or worries.  And it is as if we are praying prayers that have been offered for all ages – praying with our brothers and sisters in other lands and other times.  The joy is that God hears every prayer.  He pays attention to our pleas.  He is with us in our most difficult times.  He does not leave us.

If you are struggling today, try reading a Psalm.  If you are celebrating today, find a Psalm.  If you are having an average, okay day – there is a Psalm to offer.  Spend some time in prayer.  May the Psalms offer words your heart feels but your lips cannot seem to speak.  May you be renewed.

Focus Scripture:

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.

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

You are much stronger than you think you are.  We often feel as though we know our limitations.  We set boundaries for our accomplishments.  We decide how much we can do and when.  Sometimes that is good.  Sometimes it is not because we are limiting ourselves for what could actually be done.  For the majority of us, we have no idea just how strong we really are.  We look at someone else’s accomplishments and think how we could never do that – except we have never tried.  It is different if we don’t want to accomplish it.  I’m not talking about those things we have no interest.  I am talking about limiting ourselves on how much we really can do.

In difficulties, we are pushed to what feels like our absolute boundaries.  We hesitate when we hear ourselves ask what else could go wrong.  We have all ideas that if one more thing happens, we are done.  And yet, we continue to move forward.  Granted, we may move slowly.  It is often really painful.  There is nothing easy about one more step when you are already weary beyond measure.  But when you take one more step, you can take another.  Soon, you are accomplishing what you set out to do.

I wonder how many times we allow fear to set the limits of what we can accomplish.  Or maybe our own self-doubt and criticism rings in our minds as we try to move forward.  If you find yourself drowning in a pool of defeat, start swimming, one stroke at a time.  If you find yourself overwhelmed by grief or worry, take it one small step at a time.  When you think you can’t go any further, remember God is with you.  He is supporting you as you take one more step.  Just keep moving.  You are stronger than you think.

Focus Scripture:

Psalm 17:5-6

⁵ My steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.

⁶ I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me, hear my words.

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