SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY

Category: General

  • The Path (Devotion 2.8)

    Sometimes we choose the path.  Sometimes the path is chosen for us.  Either way, we must travel.  That can be difficult when we just don’t want to.  When we are feeling stuck or beat down, we just want to stop.  We don’t want to proceed.  In running, I have found myself at this point multiple times.  I have been on the path (that may have been chosen for me, but I still showed up on my own free will) and plodding along.  At some point, I have wanted to quit.  I wanted to sit down and call it the end.  That works okay if we are on the road and you have communication and someone can come get you.  It doesn’t work as well if you are on a trail in the middle of nowhere.  Those are the times when you suck it up and keep moving. 

    Life can be like the trail.  There aren’t always folks available to come get you out of your mess.  There are parts where you just want to quit.  And there are majestic and amazing sections you want to camp out forever. But you can’t do any of these things for long.  You must keep moving, even when it hurts.  In life, we experience grief and pain, tragedy and disappointment.  We experience celebration and joys, new opportunities and once-in-a-lifetime moments.  All of these are part of the path.  We just keep moving…one step at a time.  Whether you chose the path or the path was chosen for you, you can do this.  Don’t stop for long, great things still await. 

  • the Pause

    It can be difficult to pause, to stop for a moment and just breathe. My nature is to simply keep pushing until I collapse. But pausing can be so refreshing and important.

    When I pause, I open my ears to hear what is around me. I can clear distractions to see what God may be teaching me. I notice good things which would have been otherwise overlooked in the rush of life. I can focus for just a moment and hopefully adjust my path to reflect following God.

    When I don’t pause, I feel anxious and rushed, overwhelmed and chaotic. It’s hard to focus when there are constant distractions vying for my attention. Because my attention span is short, I tend to simply go from one thing to the other without recognition of the valuable. It’s ultimately unproductive.

    So I pause. For a moment, a day, or whatever it may take. I seek to redirect my path, find peace in the journey, and follow God on this amazing thing called life.

  • Won’t He Do It

    I enjoy Sunday mornings so much.  This is the time when I can slow down and take my time.  I sit with my coffee by the window and watch the world awake to another day.  I can slow long enough to hear the birds sing and pause the rush of my otherwise busy life.  It does my soul good to simply be still for a few moments.  

    Music is an important part of my life (though I don’t sing or play).  It is in these moments I hear a message in my mind from something that has become stuck throughout the week.  I’m sure you know how tunes or phrases can begin to play in your mind and continue despite your best efforts to move them along.  Today, that tune is “Won’t he do it, yes he will.”  It’s a fairly new song with upbeat music. It plays in my mind today and I let it.  It takes on a unique message for me on this day.  

    One year ago today, we opened the bakery.  I had no idea what would happen.  If I’m honest, I had very low expectations.  This past year has shown me that I was dreaming way too small and I just need to hang on for what’s next.  That’s exciting and scary, all wrapped into one.  But if this year has taught me nothing else, it has taught me that I can’t do this alone.  

    There have been so many people who have stepped up in my life and I am overwhelmed with gratitude.  I have an incredible family and friends who have become a vital part of my family.  I have watched folks put in long hours and do amazing things.  And again, I have learned I could not have done this alone.  

    For someone who is a driven, independent person, this has been a beautifully difficult lesson to learn.  I could not do this without those who stand with me every single day.  And I have realized, most importantly, I could not do anything without God.  I’ve tried, I must admit.  I’ve tried to do it all by myself.  But I can’t.  And the best part is, God doesn’t expect me to, and neither does anyone else.  

    So as challenging as it may be, I seek a deeper relationship with God.  I seek more moments where I can sit and be, listening to where he may be leading.  I seek to live in gratitude for the people who walk with me on this journey.  And I seek to live in community with amazing people who will not let me do this alone.  Won’t he do it?  Yes he will.

  • To Be or Not To Be

    I love to sit on my front porch with my cup of coffee and just breathe.  I don’t do this often enough and there is one simple reason…life.  Life seems to throw things my way which interrupt my moment of peace and quiet.  I think of things I should be doing other than sitting.  The time tells me I should be somewhere soon.  There are places to be and people to see, so the saying goes.  So I let the quiet go in exchange for the fast paced life I have not only grown accustomed, but have set up for myself.  I did this. 

    One of the reasons this happens is because I tend to value busy over rest.  Too much of either can be a problem, but I always tend to lean towards the “too busy” side of things.  Taking it easy doesn’t come naturally for me, it requires actual effort.  While this may sound odd to some people, my fellow doers will get it.  We were made for doing, or so I tell myself.  That is all great until I am reminded that sometimes we have to simply be.  I am told we are human “be”ings not human “doers”.  I’m not comfortable with this and I’d prefer to ignore it.  I’m fairly good at ignoring it until I completely run my body down and I am forced to be rather than do.  Crazy how that happens.  

    Today, though, I wasn’t forced.  No one made me sit here.  I am not sick or in pain.  Today, the breeze is perfect, the temperature just right, and the view from my front porch, medicinal.  If I’m honest, I don’t know when it will happen again…I’m not suddenly a changed man.  But just for this moment, I breathe and enjoy THIS moment.  Yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t promised.  Today I take a moment to be.  Maybe you can too.

  • Big Excuses, Little Accomplished- January 23, 2024

    I’ve got big plans.  In my mind, I can accomplish so much.  But I also have big excuses.  When it comes to exercise, I want to run every day.  The excuse is I’m tired or it’s too hot/cold outside or I have to be at work early or I can sleep for another hour instead of getting out of the comfy bed and running.  These excuses are legitimate, at least in my mind.  And, this is just the beginning.  I have a plethora of them, especially when it is 445 am.  I am super creative then.  Actually, I have more excuses than a mechanic has tools.  I’m equipped for any occasion.  The problem is excuses don’t really get me anywhere.  They actually just leave us stagnant and stuck.  We don’t get to where we need to be when we ride the excuse train.  

    It isn’t just exercise for many of us (me included).  We have excuses for our spiritual lives, our work lives, our home, our dishes, those clean clothes that will not jump out of the clothes basket into the drawers…and whatever else we find more excuses not to do.  We don’t start out like this.  We often have good intentions.  We get tired, and if you are like me, we get creative…creative with the excuses so we don’t have to do the things we should.

    The issue is when we live with excuses, we don’t find the land of freedom or peace or joy.  We don’t have a chance to live out our lives as God has created us.  We don’t get the opportunity to truly become better and live each day to its fullest.  We just find excuses.  I know I do, even though I know better.  So I come back to my favorite verse.  It is a reminder of how we are God’s handiwork and we are created for good things.  God made something beautiful and remarkable (that’s you and me).  We just have to use what he has given us for his glory.  And if we do that, we may find there are fewer excuses and more life lived.  

    May we see how good God has been to us.  May we see our opportunities as gifts.  May we feel encouraged to move forward with fewer excuses and more intent to follow God.  And may it begin with me…because I sure need it.  These excuses need to go.

    Ephesians 2:10 – For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

    Photos included in Devotions by David Cain of The Cain Gallery.

  • The Darkness of Friday, The Brightness of Sunday

    There are days that feel like the rain never ends and the clouds will not roll away.  We have a sense that we are in the comic strip where the cloud looms overhead and it is just on us.  But not all days will be like that.  It doesn’t continue like this forever.  It is the season of Easter and Sunday is coming.

    During Easter, so many Christians concentrate on the resurrection, the stone rolled away, the empty tomb.  But in order to get there, death had to happen.  In order for there to be a resurrection day, there had to be a crucifixion.  Jesus had to die.  He was gone, life was in him no more.  One that was loved and followed and adored died.  For those that loved him, it was a time of loss and deep despair.  Easter is first about death before it can be about life.  Thankfully, that was not the end.  Friday brought a thick darkness but Sunday’s light would overcome.

    What does that mean for those of us that grieve?  Easter reminds us of several important lessons we should carry with us:

    –We are not alone in our grief.  God understands what loss means.  He understands our heartache.  He understands our pain and despair.  He walks with us through our darkest times.  

    –We may go through many dark Fridays.  When someone we love so much has died, we often find we relive that experience…with all of the pain and sorrow.  We relive the loss and the wound is as fresh as the day our loved one left us.  

    –Sunday is coming.  In the Christian faith, Good Friday is remembered as a day of death, of crucifixion, of darkness.  Holy Saturday is a day of reflection, mourning, and waiting.  Sunday is celebrated for the resurrection of Jesus.  He overcame death and the grave so that we would have life now and for eternity.  Sunday is a time of celebration and excitement and thanksgiving.  Friday’s darkness is overcome with Sunday’s victory.  In faith, we are grateful that death is overcome because it gives us hope of something beyond this end.  It gives us a glimpse of light in an otherwise weighty, smothering darkness.  It is as if we are in a very dark room, so dark we cannot see our own hand in front of our face, and someone lights a match.  It is all that is needed to bring an overwhelming brightness to a very dark circumstance.  Friday does not have the final say.  There is a light in the darkness.  It is a hope that cannot be explained, but is so deep it cannot be denied.  

    –There are celebrations.  There will be days when the sun will shine and we will have the opportunity to celebrate the life we have been given.  While life will not be the same ever again, it will go on and there will be celebrations.  There are times when we will have a smile on our face, a joy in our heart, and an extra boost in our steps.  There will be times when we clap and sing and celebrate.  It may not be today…but Sunday is coming.  Easter reminds us that while we mourn, there is a glimpse in the darkness.  Just open your eyes a little…and let the light in.    

    Blessings,

    Brad Mitchell

    Aftercare Coordinator

  • A New Year – Same Grief

    This can be an especially challenging time of the year.  The holidays are behind us and we begin to move forward into a new year.  Many do not want to move forward into a new year because it means moving on without our loved one.  We do not want to find out what it is like to start 2022 without him.  We do not want to learn to live without her.  Yet, here we are facing a new year.  It can be lonely and frightening and really difficult.  

    To add to our difficulties, winter brings long nights and very short days.  The darkness seems to consume us.  We feel like it is time to go to bed and it is only 6 pm.  We wake up and it is still dark.  The sun coming up is a highlight and seems to come a little too late and leaves a little too early.  We don’t want to go through cold, lonely, long nights.  We just want our lives back the way they were.  And yet, here we are.  

    When life takes turns we did not ask for and we did not wish, how do we continue to move forward?  Sometimes we move slowly and cautiously.  It can feel like one step forward and three steps back.  It can seem as if we are making no progress at all.  Grief sneaks up on us and when we think we have this under control, we are knocked down again.  We struggle to regain our footing one more time.  Is there good news in it all?  Will this ever end?

    The answer is yes and no.  You will always miss your loved one.  There will always be times when you wish she was by your side.  There will always be moments you can’t believe he isn’t there.  I experienced this over Christmas myself.  My Dad died seven years ago.  That is a lot of time to process grief and move forward.  Yet, I found myself sitting in Christmas Eve Service a bit sad and hurt because he wasn’t there.  My daughter was singing in the church he pastored.  I couldn’t help but think how proud he would be of his granddaughters – singing, dancing, graduating to careers.  He loved these girls more than anything.  Yet, he is missing some of the most beautiful moments of their lives.  I allow myself to sit with it for a moment – even to be a little angry and a lot disappointed in it all.  But then, I move forward – grateful that I have the gift of being here to experience it.  I find myself grateful for all he instilled in these girls in the short time they had to know him.  And I am grateful there are more beautiful moments to come.  

    This progression doesn’t happen quickly.  We don’t wake up one day and the grief is gone.  Grief is unique and strange.  It comes and goes like waves of the ocean.  We celebrate the life of someone we love so much one moment and miss them like crazy the next.  We want them here with us so bad we ache and also give thanks they are not suffering any longer.  It is a part of who we are.  It is a part of loving someone so very much.  

    Yes, the nights are long – but the good news is the sun will rise.  It may not come up as quickly as we like or stay as long as we like.  But it does rise.  It rises and gives us glimpses of good.  It rises and brightens moments we would have missed otherwise.  The sun will rise and we will continue on our journey of grief.  Joy is around the corner – it just may be we don’t reach that corner today.  

    The best part of winter for me is what is happening beneath the surface I cannot see.  God, in his infinite wisdom, brings winter to allow for the nurturing of the ground and the restoration of beauty yet to be seen.  There is so much that goes on below the brown, crunchy grass.  Nutrients are being gathered.  Renewal is taking place.  Goodness is being fueled and we don’t even notice.  But in the spring, it will all start to show.  All the work of winter will spring forward in just a few months. 

    God is working in us too.  It may feel dark and harsh and lonely right now.  But God is at work in you.  He is not done with you yet – that’s why you still have life and breath.  Yes, everything you have known has changed.  Yes, it can be really scary.  But we are told over and over again to not be afraid – God is with us.  And he has promised the morning will come.  And with the morning, comes joy.  Joy may not be today.  It may only be for a brief moment.  But goodness is growing in you too.  Keep moving forward, one small step at a time (even if you fall back three steps).  There is beauty being formed beneath the surface.  Joy does eventually come.  You are not alone.

    Blessings as you begin this New Year!

    Brad

  • Unexpected Love

    Life rarely turns out like we expect – or in my opinion, it never turns out as we expect.  There are so many unexpected plot twists.  We make some good decisions and we make some really poor ones.  Sometimes it seems as if everything is going in the right direction only to find we are on a dead end street and we need to turn around and try again.  We celebrate too little and beat ourselves up too often.  And yet, through it all, we find that God is with us (despite ourselves).

    29 years ago today, Wendy and I went on our first date.  It wasn’t fancy.  For most, it was unremarkable.  But for us, it was the beginning.  It hasn’t always been easy.  Actually, there have been some really super difficult times.  Today, though, we have grown together and found out our love for each other is stronger than even we imagined.  Most people who knew us then would have never guessed it.  Neither did we at the time.  But here we are – and I couldn’t be more grateful.

    One of the most important lessons we have learned together is just how powerful God’s love is.  As Christians, this idea is thrown around a lot.  It is spread as a concept like confetti.  But we don’t always practice it.  We don’t always live like it.  And we don’t always see it in us.  God’s love is more powerful than our highs and lows.  His love endures through our most difficult times and holds us so very tight.  His love reminds us we are never alone in our darkest moments.  His love never ends.  It is too much for my mind to comprehend.  But when I am anxious and overwhelmed, I do my best to remember it. 

    What does this really mean?  No matter where you may find yourself today, you are never too far from God’s love.  You are not unlovable.  You are not beyond reach from God.  You are beautifully and wonderfully made – and you didn’t do anything to earn this.  You are created as God’s beloved.  You are special to God.  As much as I love Wendy, she is even more important to God.  That’s hard to take in.  And so are you…loved beyond belief.

    Love doesn’t mean things go the way we want or expect or deserve.  Love means through it all, we are never without.  We are never in a drought of God’s love.  And God shows his love to us every single day.  I’m beyond grateful I went on a date with a beautiful young lady 29 years ago.  And I’m even more grateful she became my best friend and my wife.  

    Here’s a reminder about God’s love for me and for you from Romans 8:

    38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    Now THAT’S love.

  • Presence Greater Than Worry – Devotion 283

    Aren’t you worried about that?  It is a line we have likely repeated more times than we care to remember.  It is repeated to us if we seem at peace.  When there are things going on in our world or even in our lives, there is an expectation of worry.  It stems from fear.  We are fearful something will be outside of our control and we will be left helpless.  It is a natural fear which produces what seems to be a natural worry.  And then we meet those people who experience peace.  What is the deal with them?  

    I admit I think there are some of us more prone to worry than others.  But I also believe we are all given an inner peace few of us really realize.  We are given a calmness, a sense that no matter what happens, it will be okay.  I am not talking about a ‘pie in the sky’ kind of thinking.  I am talking about a true peace which helps us to realize worrying about things which we cannot control is futile.  It is a waste of our time and energy.  It is useless – unless you just like have a knotted stomach all the time.  

    Worry seems to dim the more I spend time with God.  I begin to feel his presence and realize his goodness all around me.  My vision of what is true becomes clearer.  Many of my worries are not based on any truth at all.  It is skewed by my limited perspective.  And then the sun rises one more day – the clearing begins to show its orange and yellow hues in the middle of a dark blue sky.  Another day begins and God is with us.  God’s presence can bring a sense of calm like nothing else.  

    Today’s focus scripture is contained in one of my favorite Psalms.  Psalm 46 speaks to the power and love of God in a compelling way.  This particular verse reminds me not to worry or fear – no matter what may go on in the world.  I can experience God’s peace and presence, even when everything seems to be turned upside down.  I won’t say I have this all together.  I will say I am a work in progress – but moving forward in God is all that is really required anyway.  

    Focus Scripture:

    Psalm 46:2-3

    2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
        though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
    3 though its waters roar and foam,
        though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

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

  • Doing Right and Good

    Act like you know.  Make the right decision.  Do what is right.  Follow the right path.  You were raised to do better.

    We have all of these directives in our lives.  They are often vague.  What is right?  How do we know what is right?  What if we have been raised one way but haven’t actually explored any other way?  How do we know we are doing the right thing or even thinking the right way?  What if the way we have been shaped has so influenced us that we cannot see past that?

    These are all questions that help us to begin to explore doing the right thing.  If we aren’t asking the questions, we may take for granted what we know is the right way.  We may be missing what it means to be just and kind and loving if we are simply basing our decisions on what someone else has told us.

    It reminds me of when I am talking to people about a popular Bible story.  I will mention this story and they might mention…yeah, I remember when that happened.  What comes after that may not even be correct Biblically.  It may not be what is actually even written.  We can remember what people have told us in different ways than may actually be true.  It isn’t the fault the other person or of us.  We interpret what we hear based on our background and circumstances at the time.  It may be that we have learned some things completely wrong and have held fast to a notion that doesn’t really exist, except in our own minds.  We might be surprised if we took the time to read the Bible for ourselves and search deeply for what God is teaching in his Word.  Truly read it without trying to read into it what we think we know…that is the key.

    1 Peter 3:13-22

    3:13 Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good?

    3:14 But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated,

    3:15 but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you;

    3:16 yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.

    3:17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.

    3:18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,

    3:19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison,

    3:20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.

    3:21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you–not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

    3:22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

    This scripture presents for me questions – Where does your hope come from?  Why do you have hope?  What is it about you that is so hopeful?  What is it that makes you different?  Why is your outlook so unique?

    All of these are based on a couple of things.  First, that we have hope.  And second, that others recognize that we have hope.  Those may seem simple enough but especially in times like these, we don’t often appear very hopeful.  We may appear more angry or disturbed.  We may appear more entitled or belligerent.  We could simply appear anything except hopeful.  But as followers of Christ, hope is a part of us.  It is a part of our lives.  It is a part of how we function in difficult times.  But in times like these, we are really pushed.  So where does our hope come from?  What about the hope that is living in us?

    We find genuine hope when we discover Christ.  Hope comes through Christ and in him.  Hope is found not in our circumstances but in the One who created us, loves us and offers us redemption.  We find hope in Christ.  He offers us hope because we can have a new life in him.  We can find forgiveness when we have gone wrong.  We can find joy where we thought joy was no longer possible.  We can realize that we are loved beyond measure because he loves us so greatly.  This gives us hope that things can be better.  This gives us hope that no matter our situation, God is with us and promises us a new way.  He did not come in anger.  He did not come in spite.  He did not come in fury.  Jesus came to us in love.  And through this, we find hope.  It is also how people can discover the hope in us – by the way we follow Christ.  We are to be known by our love.

    When our hope is genuine, we are often more compassionate because we are not trying to defend something we do not know…something that someone has given us.  We are not trying to create something or contain something that is not truth because we know the truth, and he has set us free.

    When hope is genuine, we do good because it is a part of us because Jesus is a part of us.  We do good by doing what he has called us to do.  Good and right are not defined by our standards.  Think about it – what I may consider good may be different than what you consider good.  What I may determine is right may not be the same as what you determine as right.  So to know what is good and right comes from following Jesus.  He knows what is good and right because he is.  He knows what love is because he is.  He knows how hope feels because he is.  So to know what is good and right, we follow him – not our ideals or feelings.

    As I mentioned last week, good and right does not equal superiority of one person above another.  It does not favor a race or an ethnic group.  Jesus offers true life to all and he sees what is in the heart, not what we see.  So hate, racism, sexism, or any of the like are NEVER a part of what is good and right.  If we are going to follow Jesus, we are going to find the good, but it might be in places we would have deemed wrong.  Be prepared to have our world turned upside down and some of the truths we have so long held to be taken down in favor of the truths of God’s Word.

    When hope is genuine, we will find that we listen.  We listen to God and how he is leading us.  We will listen to where he is guiding us and when he calls us out for our sins, our wrongdoings and our shortcomings.  We will also listen when he calls us his beloved, his child, his disciple.  When we listen, we will read his Word with fresh eyes.  We will hear his commands to love others with fresh ears.  We will live our lives with fresh perspective.  We will be challenged to follow what he has for us.  It will probably mean we begin to mend fences.  It will likely mean we find we have been wrong and ask forgiveness.  It may mean we make amends where we never thought possible.  We may even be convicted for things we held onto so tightly.  We may find we were wrong.  But in the end, we will find what is good and right.

    I pray that we begin to find hope.  May we live what is good and right and may our lives be changed.  May others see the hope in us and may we show them Christ.  And may it begin with me.

    E4401F83-0F81-4122-A405-3E3FABF930EA