when I am on the mountain top, let me remember my journey through the valley, lest I neglect to show compassion to those in the valley; for I will be in the valley again.

in times of abundance may I remember my times of want, lest I forget to be generous to those in need; for I will be in want again.

when I am enjoying the sun, may I remember the rain, lest I forget to be grateful and to give thanks; for I will see the rain again.

when I know joy, may I not forget my sorrow, lest I forget to show sympathy to those who hurt; I will know sorrow again.

when kind words encourage me, let me not forget the wounds of cutting words, lest I fail to speak encouragement to those who need it; I will need encouragement again.

in healing, let me not forget what it was to be ill, lest I forget to care for the infirm; I will need healing again.

when I am rested, let me not forget what is was to be weary, lest I neglect to provide a respite for the tired; I will be weary again.

when my heart is whole, let me not forget how it felt to live broken hearted, lest I forget to show kindness to the broken hearted; I will be broken hearted again.

when my burden is light, let me not forget what it was to carry the heavy load of my cares and my sin, lest I neglect to bear another’s burden; I will be heavy laden again.

when I am walking in Your light, let me not forget the darkness that surrounded me, lest I neglect to share Your light with someone trying to find their way; I will walk through dark times again.

when all is calm, let me not forget the storm, lest I forget to sing Your praises in both; I know the storms will come again.

in my laughter, may I not forget my tears, lest I fail to lighten others’ hearts; for I will need laughter when my tears fall again.

when I am filled with hope, let me not forget my times of despair, lest I have no empathy for those who struggle; I will know despair again.

when I am surrounded by those dear to me, may I not forget my times alone, lest I fail to reach out to the lonely; for I will walk alone again.

when I am filled with faith, let me not forget what it was to doubt, so that I can reassure someone else;  for I may yet doubt again.

when I am home, let me not forget what it was to wander, lest I fail to welcome every returning prodigal home; for I was once a prodigal in need of welcome, I could yet be a prodigal again.

let me remember always, Heavenly Father, Your all sustaining, ever present comfort, that I might share it freely with all;  remembering and rejoicing, in being both the comforted and the comforter.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”  (I Corinthians 1:3-4)

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

duct tape,  don’t leave home without it.  Yes, duct tape truly is a many splendored thing, maybe because it has so many splendid uses.  If duct tape were a person, he/she would be the “jack of all trades” type,  the one everyone turns to in a pinch or when things go wrong.  You see, no matter what the problem, the odds are good that duck tape will be the solution. Whatever the question, duck tape is likely the answer.

Now John Lydgate said, “you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”   His experience may have born that out, but I submit to you, dear readers, that Mr. Lydgate had never met up with duct tape.  This is true of course because Lydgate lived from 1370 – 1451, well before duct tape appeared on the scene during World War ll.  Had duct tape been available during his lifetime, we might not have that famous quote, because duct tape does please all of the people all of the time. Who/what else can make that claim?

Lest you think I exaggerate, dear readers, let’s look at the facts, shall we?  Duct tape was invented during World War ll, was army green and was used for everything from repairing broken windows to temporary bandages.  It was waterproof and it worked.  After the war, it was used to hold ventilation ducts together.  Its’ color was changed to silver/gray and it took on the name, duct tape. Now in 1980, there appeared a brand of duct tape under the name of Duck Tape. (because duck feathers are waterproof)  This has led to some confusion over the years about the name,  duck or duct?   They are one and the same.

This Duck Tape brand began offering duct tape in a wide variety of colors and in 1997, printed duct tape was introduced.  As the uses for duct tape expanded so did the colors and prints available for purchase.  It seems we just keep finding more uses for duct tape.  It’s the answer to our every question.  Who/what would you want in a lifeboat with you?  duct tape of course (it’s waterproof)  What can clothe you in style and keep your bumper from falling off your car?  duct tape, of course!  Duct tape was used in the Apollo 13 repairs needed to bring the men on that mission safely home.  (bet they’re glad they didn’t leave earth without it)

What would you not want to run out of ?    I know you think the answer is toilet paper, but I’m thinking duct tape.  Duct tape is the answer to every home repair, every do-it-yourself project that presents itself to us.  When you don’t know what to do, duct tape it!  The choices of colors and prints just make fixing broken things more fun.  But duct tape is not just for fixing broken things, it’s for creating new things as well.  Everything from clothes to artwork can be created from duct tape. One of my daughters even had a duct tape purse.

Stuck at Prom, the annual competition started in 2001 by Duck brand duct tape is a great example of what duck tape can do.  You wouldn’t believe the clothes these kids create, all with duct tape.  Duck tape seems to have sticking power, it’s been around for awhile and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. It just keeps growing in usefulness and popularity.

Well, I could go on and on, after all that’s what an ode does; but duct tape is blushing, so here I’ll conclude.   Is duct tape right up there with the wheel, electricity and penicillin?  Only time will tell, but duct tape has found her way into every home by being versatile and by making herself indispensable to us all for big and little things alike.

they say that love makes the world go round, but I would add that increasingly, it’s duct tape that holds the world together   ( or at least a fair amount of our stuff)

so long live duct tape!  what would we do without you?

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  (James 1:17)

sincerely,       Grace Day

ps.  Jesus is my duct tape, He holds me together

 

kind words are duct tape for our souls

“Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”  (Proverbs 12:18)

“Kind words are like honey —- sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”  (Proverbs 16:24)

sincerely,     Grace Day

MERCY MATTERS      in granting grace to others we find the forgiveness our souls are seeking.

sincerely,     Grace Day

take care not to turn your molehills into mountains, they are so much harder to move when they get that big.  Your life already comes complete with more than enough mountains built in.  So it just seems silly to spend your time making more mountains.

instead, spend your time guarding and growing your mustard seed of faith, so that you can move your already existing mountains.  and practice mercy.  mercy matters.  mercy is the miracle that makes way for our mountains to move.

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”  (Mark 9:24)

“. . . I tell you the truth, 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.”  (Matthew 17:20)

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

Today I just want to be Mary and sit at Jesus’ feet.  That’s all.  Nothing more.  Oh, Mary had her critics, starting with her own sister, Martha.  But Jesus said it was okay with Him for Mary to sit at His feet. So maybe it’s okay if I do, too.  Just for a little while.  Just for today.

Maybe tomorrow I will slay Goliath or face-off with Pharaoh.  But not today.  Today I just want to sit at Jesus’ feet.  Maybe tomorrow I will be brave like Rahab or faithful like Ruth or forgiving like Joseph or hardworking and rebuild a wall like Nehemiah.  But not today.  Today, I just want to sit at Jesus’ feet.

Maybe tomorrow I will encourage like Barnabas or preach like Paul or share  my lunch with five thousand hungry strangers.  But not today.  Today, I just want to sit at Jesus’ feet.

Maybe tomorrow I will leave my country like Abraham or my job like Peter to follow where Jesus leads me.  But not today.  Today, I just want to sit at Jesus’ feet.

Tomorrow I will visit the prisoner, care for the sick, clothe the naked and give a cup of water to the thirsty, all in Jesus’ name.  Tomorrow I will cry out in this wilderness like John the Baptist that Jesus has come to seek and to save the lost. Tomorrow I will throw off the bushel and let God’s light shine all around.  But not today.  Today, I just want to sit at Jesus’ feet.

Today at Jesus’ feet, I have the green pastures and the still waters of Psalm 23. Today I can listen and learn, rest and let my Shepard renew a right spirit within me.  If I don’t sit at Jesus’ feet, I will be a clanging cymbal.

The valley will be deep and dark, they always are.  But for today I will sit at Jesus’ feet like Mary did. And like He did with Mary,  Jesus lets me stay.  Jesus does not turn me away.

I have many valleys yet to travel in this world and many mountains must be moved.  But not today.  Today, I just want to sit at Jesus’ feet.

sincerely,       Grace Day

“Be still, and know that I am God;”   (Psalm 46:10)

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,”  (Isaiah 30:15)

 

 

I feel like the most appropriate sign for my life right now would read,   “currently experiencing technical difficulties”      yes,  that says it all!

sincerely,       Grace Day

It’s true.  Today I saw a whole flock of seagulls in the Target parking lot as I pulled away.  Now I’m used to seeing large numbers of geese there and everywhere else in my city.  We are overrun with geese.  Have been for some time.  They are large, loud and messy and they are everywhere I go.  But seagulls?  We are a land-locked, mid-western state.  We do not have seagulls here.  At least not until today.  I had to look again to be sure I was seeing correctly.

Then it hit me.  Could they be displaced migrants from hurricane Harvey?  This is awfully far, but still . . .   fact is stranger than fiction.  My heart went out to the little guys.  There is no salt water around here.  There are no beaches, no ocean breezes.  They must be experiencing culture shock.  Come to think of it, they did look kind of dazed, just standing around on the newly black-topped parking lot in no particular formation, taking up lots of perfectly good parking spaces.  The black top must feel so unfamiliar under their feet.  I’m sure they much prefer the feel of the sand that they are accustomed to.

These feathered fugitives are aliens here. Perhaps the first of more to come.  My heart goes out to them.  They looked so bewildered, so uncomfortable in these surroundings which are strange to them. They are far from home, far from all that is familiar to them.

God gave a command to the Israelites regarding aliens.  He said, ” And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.”  (Deut. 10:19) The Israelites knew what it felt like to live in a place that was not their true home. They longed to leave and eventually God brought them dramatically through the Red Sea, through forty years in the desert into their promised homeland.

I know something of what those seagulls must be feeling right now.  It’s hard to get comfortable in a place that is not your home.  It’s hard to be at peace when you know there is something more that awaits you, that you have not yet arrived at your final destination.  You are restless because you are not yet home   Philippians 3:20 reminds me why it is that I feel this way.  “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”

Like the seagulls in the paved parking lot, who were meant for sandy beaches; I too am far from home.  I am an alien, but an alien with hope and a promise.  My promise is in John 14:1-3, where Jesus said,  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.”

Home is both a place and a person.  Someday, like the seagulls,  I will fly away home.

sincerely,     Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

I was surprised at the turnout.  I was surprised at the number of speakers wanting to be heard.  I was surprised at the eloquence of some, surprised at the depth of emotion in others.  The news hadn’t led me to believe that the community cared this much about the closing of their school.  But here was the evidence right in front of me.  With every impassioned speech I was more convinced of the support for public education in this community.  But was anybody listening?

Those in positions of power sat on the stage above us, separated from and looking down on the rest of us, including the speakers as they spoke.  As speaker followed speaker, the audience was engaged and responsive, clapping often and loudly to show our support and rising to our feet on one occasion.  We were listening intently to every word.  But were the people with the power on the podium similarly engaged?  It was hard to tell.  I could only hope that they were hearing more than the words spoken before them.  I was hoping they were hearing the hearts of those individuals who had the courage to speak out.

You see, this wasn’t the first such meeting about this issue.  In fact, it was to be the last.  A last chance for those of us in the community who are impacted by the school’s closing to let our voices and our wishes be heard.  But will it make a difference?  We like to think that we can make a difference where we live.  We like to think that we have a voice in the issues that directly affect our daily lives, such as public school closings.  After all, we are the taxpayers.  These decisions determine how our money is being spent.  Shouldn’t we have a say in the spending of our own money?

We each want to feel that we have been heard.  We want to know that our voice matters, that our voice makes a difference.  If not, we feel powerless to affect change in our communities.  Powerlessness leads to frustration and frustration leads to apathy in time.  (or to violence)  If no one is listening, what reason is there to speak out?   We give up.  But that is never a good solution.

As I sat in the auditorium this night the question uppermost on my mind was this. Was this public meeting merely a formality to give the appearance of doing due diligence in seeking community input before a final decision is made?  Are they just going through the motions that the law requires?  Were their minds made up at some point long before this public process began?  As I watched the meeting unfold, I knew the people with the power on the podium were hearing the words, but were they listening?  Were they truly listening with open minds?  or had their minds long been made up and closed shut?

Were we just voices in the wilderness, crying out to no avail?  Is anybody listening?  I felt the impassioned words of the speakers were falling on deaf ears and closed minds.  Their pleas losing their power, left unheeded and unacknowledged.  So many voices crying out in succession.  I could hear the emotion behind the words, the fears and the hopes attached to them.  Could they?  I was listening with my heart as well as my head, both open, were they?  These were real people before them with names and faces and families.  Were the people on the podium hearing their words or just noise, random voices in the wilderness that have no significance and no meaning.

It’s a terrible thing to feel you are not heard and therefore you do not matter.  We all want to matter.   I’m grateful there’s one place where I know I’m heard and I know that I matter.  When I cry out to my Heavenly Father, I am assured that I am heard.  “Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O Lord.”  (Psalm 139:4)

“In the day of my trouble I will call to You, for You will answer me.”  (Psalm 86:7)

“Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”  (Jeremiah 33:3)

I never feel like an unheard voice crying in the wilderness with my Heavenly Father.  His word assures me that He hears me and that He cares.  My voice is heard and my voice makes a difference with Him.

“In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help.  From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came before Him, into His ears.”  (Psalm 18:6)

sincerely,     Grace Day