Mom and I were driving in the car when she proceeded to tell me that she spotted hula hoops in the Dollar Store the other day. She wondered if she could still hula hoop as well as she could years ago when I was a kid. Did she let her mind just wonder about the hula hoops? Oh no. Mom didn’t stop just thinking about it.  She said she grabbed one of the hula hoops and  tried it out in the middle of the store to see if she still could. We laughed and laughed as she recalled putting down her big ol’ purse in the Dollar Store aisle, not caring who was watching her, having fun trying to hula hoop.

Good for her. Shame on me for taking myself too seriously so many times.

A few days later, I was out shopping and spotted hula hoops. I did not drop my purse right there in the store and test her out, but I did purchase two hoops.  On my driveway at home,  I stepped into the bright yellow, plastic oval hoop, painted with fluorescent stars. I brought the hoop slowly to my waist, took a deep breath, stepped forward with my right foot, and spun the hoop to the right, causing the little beans inside the hoop to make their familiar, spinning sound (just hearing that sound made me smile). It lasted just a few rounds around my waist before it dropped to the ground. I giggled and picked the hoop up, trying again.  This time it spun long enough for me to even take a few steps, then fell. I snickered more.

By this time, my two beautiful and hip grandmother neighbors walked by. I posed a challenge and handed each one a hula hoop. They laughed and stepped in the hoops without hesitation.  The hoops spun, then fell. We giggled. Fun is contagious!

Next week our neighborhood is having a “Summer Kickoff Block Party.” I plan to bring the hula hoops.  Joy and Fun are contagious!

Let’s intentionally play like children sometimes. It’s good for us, for our souls. Let’s hula hoop; build sand castles; sing karaoke; catch fireflies in Mason jars and let them go; blow bubbles; play frisbee; add your fun here….

Reflect:

–What kind of child-like fun do you and your family have? Please comment.

–Who will you reach out to this week make fun contagious?

Renew: 

–-“At the time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.'” –Matthew 11:25-26 NIV

–“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child and had him stand among them. And He said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'” –Matthew 18:1-4 NIV

–“May the God of hope fill you with JOY and peace.” –Romans 15:13 NIV

Recharge:

–Let’s humble ourselves and trust like children. What will you do differently to be more child-like?

Resource:

–Hula Hooping is also healthy for you. “Hooping improves core strength, tones your stomach, arms, thighs and behind, is a low-impact, high-energy workout that can burn approximately 400 – 600 calories in an hour.” http://www.hulahooping.com/hoop-fitness.html

     

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For so many years our relationship was strained, as my parents divorced after 37 years of marriage. He intimidated me because he was sometimes verbally and even physically abusive to my family growing up.

My parents divorced in 1997, Dad remarried in 1998, and he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999. He fought hard for five years until he lost his battle to cancer in 2004.

Dad and I visiting a few weeks before he passed away with colon cancer in August 2004.

The Lord helped heal our relationship. I know my Dad loved me the best way he knew how. Was he the perfect Dad? Absolutely not. Did I disrespect him sometimes? I’m embarrassed to say I did, and I regret that.

One Sunday I was listening to a sermon on the Ten Commandments. I never before realized that the “Honor your father and mother” commandment is the ONLY one tied to a promise.

–“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” –Exodus 20:12 NIV

Notice it doesn’t say “Honor your father and mother” if he is always kind to you, affirms you, is/was the model Dad. My heart was transformed after hearing that sermon.

I’m thankful for those five years the Lord extended Dad’s life for me to forgive him and for us to renew our relationship. I looked at my Dad with a lens of honor, reverence and respect.

I began thanking him for all the blessings he brought to my life, instead of comparing him with my friends’ sweet Dads who took them out on Daddy/Daughter dates growing up. Dads who they wanted to marry men just like. Dads who walked them down the aisle.

Friend, I don’t know what your earthly relationship may be with your Dad. I encourage you to dig down deep and send or give him a card with some of the ways you are thankful for your Dad. If he is in heaven, you can write them in your journal.

If your Dad was abusive to you, or abandoned you, or was a deadbeat Dad, understandable boundaries are there. Or if  you may not know where or who your earthly Dad is, heart also aches with you. I wish I was there to hug you and cry with you. Please remember we all have our Heavenly Father, Abba, Daddy, with us. He will NEVER leave us, nor forsake us.

Although Dad’s in heaven, here are just a few of my lessons he taught me for which I am thankful:

1. Thank you, Dad, for teaching me how to check the oil dipstick in my old car, so that I never messed up my engine or blew my transmission. That little Ford Escort hatchback car I drove in high school burnt a quart of oil every 200 or so miles. Smile. I loved that car and am grateful that I had it.
2. Thank you, Dad, for providing for my needs and many of my wants. We were blessed with a house, plenty of food to eat, clothes and shoes. You even paid for my out-of-state college education. It was such a gift not to have to pay back college loans.
3. Thank you, Dad, for teaching me to appreciate the outdoors and fishing. You even taught me to cast a fishing rod and how to bait my own hooks. I wasn’t squeamish about the worms and minnows MOST of the time.
4. Thank you, Dad, for taking us to church most times the door was open. Your dedication to the Lord and His Word helped mold my faith.
5. Thank you, Dad, for teaching me how to budget my money and spend wisely. I remember how you paid bills promptly and taught me how to abhor debt. I still to this day try to avoid debt, except for my mortgages.
6. Thank you, Dad, for teaching me a strong work ethic. You worked hard at Delta Air Lines for 33 years before you retired. You liked to finish tasks you started and showed me follow through and doing what you said you would do.
7. Thank you, Dad, for showing me to volunteer in the community and help others behind-the-scenes. You used to mow and weed eat the end of our street where no one would mow. You also mowed around the Turkey Creek bridge in Hanahan where you would walk daily. You thought no one knew. We knew and appreciated your quiet good deeds.
8. Thank you, Dad, for trying to come to many of my basketball and volleyball games. Your presence was such a present.

Dad, I pray you can see from heaven I’m trying to carry on the Jordan legacy. Rest assured that I love my Heavenly Daddy–my Abba–with my whole soul. Thank you for loving me, Dad, the best way you knew how. Happy Father’s Day, Dad.

Dad, me, Mom, and brother Jamie at my college graduation.

Reflect:

–What are some ways you are thankful for your earthly father?  Please comment. I’d love to hear your stories, positive or negative.

Renew:

–“ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony…” –Revelation 12:10-11

–“Listen to your father, who gave you life…” –Proverbs 23:22a NIV

–“The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son delights in him. May your father and mother be glad…” –Proverbs 23:24-25a NIV

Recharge:

–What is something you can do today or this week to honor your Dad?

–If your relationship with your father is strained, please prayerfully consider reaching out and forgiving him WITH boundaries. I reached out years ago. It wasn’t easy. I’m so thankful we reconciled before he passed away. God is faithful.

     

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“That day Moses charged the people, saying ‘When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.'” –Deuteronomy 27:11-14.

The curses are spelled out in the remainder of Deuteronomy 27. Then the beautiful blessings are detailed in Deuteronomy 28. I had even heard some of those blessings in a marriage ceremony for one of my friends years ago.

It wasn’t until I went to Israel and actually saw Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal side by side in Schechm that the magnitude of the 2400-year-old blessings and curses sank in. Although the mountains are side by side, the difference in the terrain and topography are stark.

Mount Gerizim, the mountain of blessings, 3000+ years later, is lush and green, full of bushes, trees and plants.

Mount Ebal, the mountain of curses right beside it, is arid, lifeless, no vegetation of plants thriving and growing.

Mt. Gerizim thrives and Mt. Ebal is desolate

The message immediately hit me of the power of our words. The generations later of speaking blessings, sincere compliments and building up others shows the effects with growth and a thriving environment. The generations later of speaking curses and tearing down people shows the effects with death and desert.

Following this passage is the powerful declaration in Deutoronomy 30 to choose life. “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” –Deuteronomy 30:19-20 ESV. 

Reflect:

How has the power of words impacted you? Which mountain are you on because of them?

How does this message impact how you speak and the power of your words?

Lord, forgive me for the times I have spoken any curses or negativity in my words.  Lord, as Deuteronomy 30:19 says, may I always choose life in all that I do and say. I pray for your favor in fertilizing the power of my words, so that each word produces growth and multiplies in a green, lush environment for generations to come. In Jesus’ name, by the Power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     

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Kneeling on the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee, I breathe in the aroma of this ancient body of fresh water. It’s surreal gazing out on this glassy sea, a sea that’s really more of a large lake. It’s surreal even being here in the Holy Land, on this same shore where Jesus was. The Sea of Galilee is one of my most favorite, tranquil places in all of Israel.

I bend down and cup the water in my hands. I let the chilly water slip through my fingers gently. My mind wanders to the Bible passages of Jesus walking on this water. Of Peter’s brief walk on this same water.

I stand up and walk over to sit on a rock on the shoreline. I open my Bible. The story of Jesus walking on the water is found in three of the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and John.

The Gospels to me are like different camera angles of some of the same amazing events of Jesus. Matthew is the only Gospel that records Peter’s brief walk on water.

Let’s set the scene. Jesus had just performed the amazing miracle of feeding the 5000+ people with merely a few fish and loaves of bread.

“When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who had come into the world! Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.’ John 6:14-15. ESV

Some Bible scholars and I believe that Jesus would have gone up onto Mt. Arbel, which is a gentle-sloping mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee. What a good example for us. Even Jesus quieted his soul and rested after doing a miracle. How much more then should we take time to be still after a flurry of activity in our lives?

I also like the Gospel of Mark’s perspective as the story continues.

^“Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.” –Mark 6:47-52 NIV

So often Jesus shows up so clearly when we are “straining at the oars.” When have you experienced His presence clearly recently as you were “straining at the oars”?

Then good, impetuous Peter chimes in.

“’Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’

^‘Come,’ he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” –Matthew 14:28-33 NIV

What life lessons may we learn from Peter?

1. Stay focused on Jesus and keep your eyes on Jesus. As soon as we get distracted by the storms in life or other distractions, we can sink. What does focusing on Jesus look like for you?
2. When Jesus commanded Peter to come, he obeyed. Even though it made no sense, Peter did what Jesus said. This is what obedience looks like–doing what Jesus says. Are there any areas of our lives Jesus we are not obeying Him right now?
3. Faith is simply taking the next step. Peter sank when he lost sight of the next step. What next step has Jesus asked you to take?
4. Faith unleashes the supernatural. Let miracles happen.  Lord, help our unbelief. Is there anything you need to be doing differently in faith to unleash miracles?
5. Fear will sink you. Is there any fear that is gripping and controlling your decision making?
6. A little faith is better than no faith. The other disciples in the boat apparently had no faith.

What is your boat?

May we learn from Peter’s courage and obedience.

May we get out of our boats–our comfort zones—and step out in faith.  Be not afraid, friend.

     

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But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead…”

     

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