Focus (noun): the center of interest or activity
One year. Tomorrow marks one year since the last day of school for the 2019-2020 year. One year since our world was turned upside down. One year of becoming all too familiar with words and phrases we could have never imagined would become part of our daily vocabulary; quarantine, social distancing, pandemic. One year of “new normals”. One year of our focus constantly changing and being challenged.
Today let’s take a moment to ponder our focus journey over the last year, but let’s not stay in the past for long. Remember when we were focused on scoring a pack of toilet paper or paper towels? Remember when the daily COVID-19 press conference seemed like our lifeline to the reality that was upon us? Remember the rollercoaster of emotions? Remember the mourning we experienced in so many different levels? All of those things have altered our focus over the last year.
Now that we have reflected, let’s “keep moving forward” as Walt Disney said. I pray that through this all your true focus was our Savior Jesus Christ. Through it all, He was the one unchanging part of our lives. However, if you have moved away from Him, let’s look ahead and re-focus. Proverbs 4:25-27 NIV says, “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or to the left; keep your foot from evil.”
Today examine your focus. Where are you gazing? Which way are your feet going? Is your focus on God, God’s love and God’s will? Are you “living in the moment” and enjoying the gifts God has given you today? Or are you still focused on the hurts of the last year and allowing all that was lost to occupy all your focus and time?
For me, last night was filled with much hope. Last night renewed my focus. Last night I had the blessing of watching my son play baseball. Tomorrow will be one year since he had been able to play the game he loves so much with his high school teammates. Last night was filled with much hope. Although it was different, I was able to see many I haven’t seen in so long, I was able to sit in the school stadium watching baseball, and I was able to hug my parents without the worry of them getting sick. I know our “normals” will continue to be new, but may we all be able to stay focused on the blessings within each moment that God gifts us. May we all “look straight ahead and fix our gaze before us.”
P.S. Always have extra toilet paper for “just in case” emergencies. LOL

I am excited to say that I turned 40 this week. Some may wish to be like Mother Gothel in Rapunzel and have some magic trick to keep them youthful or access to the fountain of Youth known as a mythical spring, that restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. I however am looking forward to my 40’s and the dreams God has in store for me. According to C.S. Lewis, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream”.

Rather than relying on some fad trick to keep me young, in the book of Rev 22: 1-2 we read about Eden being restored; “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations”. 

If I desire to be a fruit bearer, I must plant myself near the water of life. In Ps 1:3; “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leave does not wither – whatever they do prospers”. How can I be fruitful, youthful, and planted in God’s word? Number 7 is the number for completion in the bible: 

1.     Stress less! Mat 6:34; “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Ead day has enough trouble of its own”.

2.     Surrender more! Pro 16:3; “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans”. 

3.     Give thanks always! 1 Thes 5:18; “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. 

4. Love myself more! Mar 12:31; “Love your neighbor as yourself”.

5.     Build a healthy tribe! Pro 27:17; “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”.

6.     Rest well! Ps 46:10; “Be still and know that I am God”. 

7.     Find Joy in the Journey! Neh 8:10; “For the joy of the Lord is your strength”.

We have also heard that laughter is the best medicine for the soul. From Walt Disney, “Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are never forgotten”. I can laugh as I say, “40 is the new 20”. Stay planted and stay young. Keep dreaming with me!

God has used my writing this week to speak to me and help me work through letting go of some things. For example, my many devotion email subscriptions. As I shared with you in my last blog post I recently had COVID. One of the lingering symptoms for me has been what is called COVID brain fog. I am still struggling with focusing or concentrating for long periods of time. As I have gotten back into my morning devotion routine I have continued to have difficulty reading all the devotions that I usually read. For several weeks I felt guilty that I wasn’t able to get it all read. However, this week God has reminded me that He doesn’t have a prescribed formula that He expects for our time together. Those expectations were made by me and God’s love for me is not based on how many devotions I read every day. In the song we have be breaking apart this week, “Truth Be Told”, Matthew West sings, “Can I really stand here unashamed knowin’ that your love for me won’t change? Oh God if that’s really true then let the truth be told.” Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” NIV

As I said, I receive many devotional emails. Over time I have kept adding more and more. My unread emails have accumulated over the last few weeks and sometimes have reached over 100 in my primary email. That causes me to be anxious when I look at my phone and see all those unread emails. Through my writing this week, God has allowed me to let go and get back to the basics. So tomorrow when I am able to sit and study a little longer, I will also set time aside to go through all of my emails and unsubscribe to most of them. I am still praying about which ones to let go of but I know I have to cut my list significantly. The point is I had to be open to God telling me the truth this week. I had to be open and listen.

How about you? Is there an area of your life that God is speaking to you about? Are you looking at other’s lives and making expectations for how your life should look? Is God wanting you to open your eyes and heart for the truth to be told? Today I encourage you to find a time that you can sit and listen to God. You don’t need a devotion book or email for this time. Just go back to the basics of just you and God. Be still and quiet and allow God to speak the truth to you. 

Below is a list of most of the devotionals I receive each day. All of them are wonderful. Maybe one of them is just what you are looking for.

First Things First by Christine Caine

Proverbs 31 Ministries

Daily Hope with Rick Warren

Devotional Daily

Girlfriends in God

Steven Furtick 1 minute motivation

Chocolate & God

Tony Evans

Complete as an adjective means, having all the necessary parts. The definition of faith is COMPLETE trust or confidence in someone or something. Putting these two words and their definitions together; complete and faith is like an oxymoron. To have complete faith, we rarely have all the necessary parts put together before we move forward. Often, we get hung up on insignificant details. In Mat 6:25-26 NIV Jesus uses birds to remind us of our worth and what steals our attention; “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

I was recently on a run when I saw a bird’s nest nestled in a bare tree. I thought about how God must have created trees with the intention that birds would use the strength of the branches to build their homes in complete faith. It is hard to fathom that a strong tree like this grew from a tiny, planted seed. We read about this in Mat 13:31-32 NIV; “He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” The mustard seed is just 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter. A millimeter is one thousandth of a meter.

This past week I was reminded of a jar of mustard seeds that sits in my kitchen. Not only does this seed provide nutrients to our health, but they are also a symbol of nutrients for our faith. We read about this faith in Mat 17:20 NIV; “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “move from here to there, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Have you ever done something that required complete faith? Is God nudging you to step out in complete faith today? Surrender all the details in prayer. It is in the surrendering that we draw closer to God and can keep moving forward in faith. 

I Surrender by Hillsong Worship

Are you scared? Remember, you are surrounded by God with every prayer and every step you take. Notice surround and surrender start with the same 4 letters. 

Fearless by Newsboys

Promise: a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen.

Last week Julie encouraged us to carry God’s promises in our pocket. This week I have shared some of the many promises of God. The Bible is full of promises. In fact if you Google “scripture about promises” you will have a list of many sites to refer to. However, sometimes there are those instances when you just don’t know what to say or pray. In those trying times, there is one promise that I have learned to always turn to.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Romans 8:26

What a comforting promise. Can’t you just imagine it? When we are at a loss for words, the Holy Spirit groans on our behalf! The Holy Spirit intercedes for you and me! The Holy Spirit helps uswhen we don’t even know how to help ourselves!

I have to admit, this scripture has been the promise I needed this week. My family and I have been battling with COVID over the last couple weeks. Praise God that our symptoms have overall been minor. But there were moments that I felt overwhelmed and worried and unsure of what to pray. Actually some of the symptoms I have had the hardest time with are low energy level and what is being called “COVID brain fog.” I am having trouble getting going in the mornings and concentrating which has made my devotion time routine rather non-existent. As I have shared before, my morning devotion is the glue that holds me together. So this last week it was a struggle for me to even write for my daily posts. Each of these days when I wasn’t sure what to say to you, the Holy Spirit interceded for me and groaned on my behalf. God gave me the inspiration and Julie has been so helpful! I have been writing my posts in the evening and sending it to her and she posted for me each morning. What a blessing and an answer to the prayers I didn’t know how or what to pray! 

What’s going on in your world today? Do you find yourself at a loss of words for your current situation? Do you feel like you don’t know what to say? I encourage you to make Romans 8:26 one of the promises you put in your pocket. Spend some time today memorizing it and committing it to memory. Then call on this promise whenever you find you are at a loss for words.

My word this week has been faithfulness. Some synonyms are constant, dedicated, devoted, loyal, and steadfast which is the definition of our God. Some antonyms are disloyal, faithless, false, fickle, and inconstant which is the definition of our sinful nature. Every day at some point we stress, worry, or fear. It may be something as silly as stressing for perfection or something bigger like worrying over a diagnosis or loved one. What promises have you journaled and prayed over? What do you do with those promises after you have written and spoken them? Often, we leave them exactly where they were written and spoken, in the past. We forget to keep them in present tense. If we could just remember to always keep a promise in our pocket.

With life’s overwhelming demands, keeping one promise in our pocket may not be enough. What if we used our mountain tops to prepare us for our valleys? Think of it as making deposits with God’s promises when things are going good for us. Did you know not one of the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed. Every single one was faithful! You can read in Joshua 21: 43 – 44 how God gave Israel back the promise land. 

Where would we be without love? God has promised us eternal life. On those days when we do not feel worthy, remember that Jesus hung on a cross between two thieves for you and I. John 3:16 NIV “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. 

Where would we be without planning? We are constantly making plans, canceling plans, changing plans. Just about all of 2020 was about canceling plans. On those days when the plans we made did not go how we envisioned, remember that God sees the bigger picture. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Where would we be without courage? Each one of us require courage at some point during our week. On those days when the Devil tries to whisper lies to discourage us, remember that God is with us whereever we go or don’t go, meaning even when quarantined. Josh 1:9 NIV “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

In preparing for my word of the week, I came across an amazing worship song called “Promises” by Maverick City. Some of the lyrics sing; “I put my faith in Jesus. My anchor to the ground. My hope and firm foundation. He’ll never let me down”. It is a long song, but God is worth 10 minutes of your worship. 

I would love for you to comment what promise or promises you will be carrying in your pocket and why. 

https://youtu.be/q5m09rqOoxE

I must admit, I am not always so flexible. In fact, this week I found it hard to write about being flexible because I was stepping on my own toes. Sometimes instead of being open to being flexible, I am grumpy and resistant. Recently I have had a life lesson on being flexible. 

As I have shared before, my devotion time in the mornings is sacred time. I love getting up early, before everyone else, to pray, study and share with God. Over the last couple months my daily routine seemed to be lacking the same passion, focus, and zeal as usual. I couldn’t really say why, but my morning time was lacking something and left me feeling like I was not as close to God as I wanted. However, in the last 2 weeks my routine has been turned upside down.  Over Christmas a new puppy was an addition to our family. So in the mornings when I would come out of my room to get my coffee and have my devotion time, the puppy would hear me, whine and then be in the room with me and Abby (our Yorkie). Needless to say, I spent my usual quiet time being a referee and never could settle down to study and pray. Not having my quiet time made me grumpy! After a few days of this chaos, Clark suggested I just give up and sleep later instead of getting up so early since I wasn’t getting to have my time. But I wasn’t ready to give up completely. Instead, I prayed for God to lead me in ways I could be flexible. What could I do to ensure quiet, alone time? God told me I needed to think outside of the box. So the picture from today’s blog is my current devotion spot.  I now tiptoe to the kitchen to get my coffee and then retreat to my closet. While this spot is not beautiful nor is the seating ideal, it is now a sacred spot for me. This is where God and I meet each morning. 

In his book Win the Day, Mark Batterson says, “The key to sustained growth in any area of our lives is routine, but once the routine becomes routine, you have to reinvent the routine.” I had to be flexible and open to change and because I was, my morning routine has been rejuvenated! 

This week, as I have prayed and read scripture about the word flexible, I often came upon Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  And here I am back at my word of the year, transform.  So as I learn and grow in regards to my word “transform”, I must be flexible. 

How about you? Do you have a routine that has become too routine? Do you have a routine that needs to be transformed? Are you being open and flexible? Is your flexibility allowing God to reinvent your routines?