Impossible Quest, Incredible Gift

On the morning of May 27, 2015, Glen and I were just beginning the third day of our second section hike on the Appalachian Trail.  One of the most traveled and beloved United States trails, the AT travels through 14 states from Georgia to Maine.  We had begun at Woody Gap, GA and were hiking southbound to the southern terminus of the AT on Springer Mountain, covering 20.5 miles.  We would then have another 8.8 miles along the approach trail (which does not count in "AT" miles) to reach our car.

We were breaking down camp, taking down our tent and putting away our sleeping gear when two people traveling northbound came running up the trail.  They were not hiking, they were running and were gone in a flash.

Only later did we discover that at 5:56 am on May 27th, Scott Jurek had started a personal journey to complete the Appalachian Trail. It is usually recommended that one take six to seven months to complete the entire trail, called a "thru-hike".  Scott Jurek, however wasn't going to simply hike this trail, he was going to run it.  His plan was to complete it in 46 days - a seemingly impossible quest- and he indeed completed it in 46 days, 8 hours and 7 minutes. (You can read about his thru-"hike" here.)

I enjoyed following Jurek's progress the 45 days after the end of our section hike, especially since we had seen him on the trail shortly after he started his journey.

Scott Jurek started that day with a quest.  Don't we as Christians start each day with a quest as well?  We have the quest to please the Lord.  It is the how we go about it that is the difference between an attempt and a completion.  

Scott Jurek ran what is called a "supported" hike.  This means he did not carry a tent and sleeping gear, nor did he carry what he needed to eat for days on end.  Someone met him at trail heads to supply him with food and he slept in a van or pre-determined, pre-prepared place.  This was so he could carry as little on him as necessary to be as fast as he could be.  Without this support system, he could have never completed his quest.

In attempting our "quest" we also must have a support system, and it must be the correct support system.  I once heard a preacher say:

"We freely receive God's acceptance in the the Lord Jesus Christ, or we attempt to work our way into favor by keeping His statues and judgments.  The latter is impossible; the former is assured to all who receive God's free gift of grace in His Son."

We must not simply depend upon what we "carry" in and of ourselves to provide our needs and to receive God's favor.  Our trust, our faith, is not in ourselves, but in our support system, the Lord Himself.

"According as His divine power hath given unto us all  things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue:" 

2 Peter 1:3

As much as it is our quest to live in a way that honors the Lord, it is more His quest.  His design, i plan is to conform us to the image of His Son.  He wants our success more than we do and He works this out and through us as we trust Him by faith to do so.  

"For it is God which worketh in you 

both to will and to do of His good pleasure."  

Philippians 2:13

"And ye are complete in Him, 

which is the Head of all principality and power."

Colossians 2:10

We are "His workmanship" as the Apostle Paul said, and what He has begun, He will finish.  Our role is to trust and obey by faith.  

When Scott Jurek finished his quest, he stood on the summit of Mt. Katahdin with his wife and support team and celebrated his accomplishment.

In our end, we will kneel before Him, with hearts full of praise and thanksgiving for His faithfulness, His work and His grace.

"Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

Philippians 1:6 

Life Where Death Reigned

 I never imagined I would enjoy gardening.  Actually, I didn't think I would be very
good at it.  But when Glen pulled up five very unsightly azalea bushes from the front of our house, and planted hydrangeas and miniature gardenias in their place, he started something.  Next came flax lilies, which I have grown to love for their beauty and hardiness.  Caladiums, impatiens and some green plant with white spots that I don't know the name of grace the flower bed in the shade.  Marigolds, knock-out roses and sun-patiens fill in the flower bed in full sun.

I find a great deal of pleasure in the garden. There is something very rewarding about digging about in the dirt, planting some small plant and watching it grow and thrive.  Sometimes it is very difficult too, as when we were out of town in February when the temperatures dipped into the teens.  The thing that was the saddest to me were the flax lilies.  They had survived so much, I thought they would make it through the cold but their black fronds told a different story.  Or so I thought.  

I trimmed away all the dead vegetation from them and then waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  Finally, I began to see the tiny light green tips emerging from the soil where the black fronds had been.  It took a while for the flax lilies to come back, but come back they did.  I planted several more in the garden and now I cannot tell by looking at them which were the ones that went through the freeze and which ones are new.

There are such wonderful lessons to learn in gardening.  One learns that something which seems to be trash can be collected and over time turned into the most wonderful enrichment for the soil.  Who would have thought I would rejoice over rotting vegetation?  One learns that almost all flowers need the sun, they will bend and turn their stems to face that which gives them light and life.  One learns that even though something seems hopeless, life can still spring from blackened fronds.

We all encounter instances in our lives of black fronds.  Something seems entirely hopeless.  To us there can be no chance of redemption in the situation.  But with the Lord no situation is beyond redemption.  He is the God of redemption.  He loves restoration.  He specializes in resurrection.  Just because we don't see the new green tips growing from the rhizomes in the soil does not mean they are not there.  We can trust Him in every situation to bring forth some form of life, some goodness, something wonderful, no matter how dark the fronds appear to our eyes.

I was in a singing group in high school, and we sang the song "I Will Serve Thee" by the Maranatha! Singers.  I have always loved the chorus:

"Heartaches, broken people,

Ruined lives are why You died on Calvary.

Your touch is what I long for,

You have given life to me."

This is what our Lord does, He restores, He redeems, He resurrects.

"And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten. . ."

Joel 2:25

The Mailman

 Kenny is our mailman.  He faithfully delivers our mail each day.  If our mail includes a package, he very courteously rings the doorbell so we know there is one waiting for us outside.

Kenny has been our mailman for a long time.  I tend to mark how long Kenny has been our mailman by the beagles he has known at our house. He knew the two little boy beagles, who disappeared out of our backyard. He knew Sparrow, although I don't think she ever understood why this man came on our porch every day.  He knows Ellie, and Ellie loves Kenny. She loves that he stops to pet her if we are outside when he comes by.  It doesn't hurt that Kenny carries dog treats in his truck.

When Kenny comes to our house he doesn't just bring any old thing he found along the way.  He delivers what has been entrusted into his hand by the United States Postal Service.  There is one designated place on each property for him to leave the entrusted items, he can't just toss them anywhere.  There is also an expected time frame for him to deliver the items.

Kenny is a picture of Christians in this world.  The Lord has entrusted us with a message for someone everywhere we go.  He does not intend for us to lead a purposeless life, He has things He wishes to impart through us.  Wherever we are, at work, at home, in the store, at the gym, wherever we travel, there is someone there who needs something the Lord can impart through us.  Perhaps a word of comfort or encouragement, perhaps a kind action or deed.  Maybe it is just a friendly smile, or a forgiving heart.  The Lord desires us to deliver faithfully what He has entrusted to our care.  He desires us to deliver it to the correct destination and in the correct time.

May we be as faithful in our calling as Kenny is with our mail.

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."  

Ephesians 4:32

Triggers

 We have a 1 1/2 year old beagle named Ellie.  She is a sweet thing, but like all beagles, she is a little difficult to train.  We are making slow progress, but she is still a little reactive concerning some things.  Her triggers tend to certain things in motion.  Big trucks, bicycles, runners can all get her excited and pulling at the leash.  We are teaching her how to calm down, and one way we do this is to try to see the trigger before she does so we can reroute her or block her vision of the trigger.  She is getting better and she just needs us to stay consistent to help learn calmness.

I am a firm believer in "triggers," especially when it comes to prayer.  I believe prayer should be an ongoing discourse between us and the Lord and not just a once or twice a day thing.  To help me remember to pray for certain people, or groups of people, I have triggers to prompt my memory.  For example, when I hear a siren (which is often since we live near a fire station) I remember to pray for the first responders among our family and friends.  One of our friends used to drive  a school bus, and when I see one, I remember to pray for her.  I have several triggers and today I added a new one.

There are a couple young women with whom I am friends and they both are having difficulties in relationships.  They are both Christians and want to have the person the Lord wants them to be joined with.  They both want loving relationships that honor the Lord.  I have committed to pray for these smart young women and I wanted a trigger to help me remember to do just that.  

Several years ago, I lost a good amount of weight and my wedding ring slides around on my finger.  Even with a ring guard in place, I often find it oriented the wrong way. (The jeweler tells me that if we tried to resize it, the baguettes would pop out.)  I have decided this symbol of my own marriage is a perfect trigger to remember to pray for these young women.  Anytime i find myself twisting my ring back into place, I will lift their names to the Lord who created marriage in the first place.

I find it an honor to pray for these women, and all the other recipients of my triggers.  Often we want to help in situations, but don't know what to do, or can't actually do anything. . .that is, except pray.  We can pray anytime, anywhere.  When a person's name or face flits into our thoughts, we can let that be a trigger for prayer.  We don't have to know the particulars of their lives right now, the Lord knows.  We don't have to know their needs, He knows that, too.  He knows how He wants to work in their lives, we just enter into agreeing with Him on their behalf.  Anywhere, anytime. Pray.

"I will therefore that men pray everywhere, 

lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." 

1 Timothy 2:8

At the Drop of a Heart

Words and Music by Glen Davis

At the drop of a heart,

You can come to Me.

You need not wait

‘til you’re  on your knees.

For I have made a way

 for you to come to Me

At the drop of a heart,

At the drop of a heart,

O come to me.

Anytime and any place,

You can seek My face.

For everywhere 

you’ll ever be,

You will need My grace.

Just open up your eyes,

And altars you will see,

 at the drop of a heart,

At the drop of a heart,

You can come to Me.

I am with you now,

And I will always be.

Our hearts are

 joined as one.

Oh I will never leave.

The sound of your voice

Is in my ears so sweet…

At the drop of a heart,

At the drop of a heart,

Come to Me.

At the drop of a heart

HIke Your Own Hike

Since 2014, Glen and I have enjoyed hiking and backpacking sections of the Appalachian Trail.  If you aren't familiar with it, the Appalachian Trail is a foot path through the Appalachian mountains which spans almost 2200 miles (the distance varies slightly each year) from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.

Every trip we have ever taken, whether lasting several days or only several hours, has never failed to present us with both challenges and joys.  The work of climbing to the top of one, or multiple mountains is certainly challenging,  The joy in seeing the vistas from those mountain tops makes the challenge worth it.

There is a phrase frequently used among hikers, "Hike your own hike."  Hikers will hike the same trail, but often in very different ways.  Some are section hikers, completing a small section at a time.  Some hike for weeks at a time, some complete the whole trail in one continuous hike.  Some hikers hike northbound (NOBO), some hike southbound (SOBO) and some "Flip-flop,"meaning they start at one point, go a distance and then go back to another point and hike back to where they started. Some use tents in which to sleep, some prefer hammocks, some "cowboy camp" meaning they use no shelter at all, but sleep under the stars and some sleep primarily in the three-walled shelters which scatter the length of the trail.  Some bring stoves to cook their meals, some eat only food which requires no cooking.

A mountaintop view in Virginia

No matter what the hiker chooses concerning direction, food, shelter, sleeping, they all plant their feet on the same trail.  And they diligently follow the white blazes painted on trees that mark that trail.  Without these blazes (and several wonderful hiking apps that direct your way) hikers could easily get lost and find themselves in dangerous situations.  The white blazes are the "feet on the ground" trail guide.

The first white blaze we ever saw,
north of Newfound Gap, TN.

As Christians, we all have our own walk with the Lord.  We may have differences in beliefs, in practices, in how we pray, when we pray, how we worship, where we worship...myriads of things, but we all seek to follow the Lord.  The beat of our hearts should be to  "...grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18.)  We should all be holding the Word of God as our "trail guide," that document that keeps us on the path and teaches us the truths of our Lord.  We should all be seeking to learn from other Christians in our lives and we should all seek to bless those whom the Lord has placed on our own personal trail.

"But the path of the just is as the shining light, 

that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

Proverbs 4:18

An unexpected view in Georgia

Tender Moments

 It was a moment when the hopes and dreams of a young couple were about to be realized.  When the planning and work of months was about to come to fruition.  It was a tender moment.

The church was full of family and friends.  Glen and the preacher, a friend of ours, were waiting on the other end of the church outside the sanctuary.  My father, sister, sister-in-law and nieces, who compromised my bridal party, waited in the foyer with me.

Those who were in the sanctuary had just finished singing a congregational hymn, "The Solid Rock."  As my nieces began the processional, my sister turned to me with moist eyes and said, "I love you."  As I recall, my response was, "Don't you dare make me cry!"

My sister watching
our first married kiss.

I know our father and sister-in-law were also there with us, and probably the ever-hovering wedding planner, but when I think of this moment, I  think only of my sister.  In my mind, there were only the two of us in that foyer.  It was a tender moment between sisters on one of the most important days of my life.

Another, perhaps not tender, but certainly intimate moment with my sister occurred when she was in labor with her last child.  I had come to her house to sit with the rest of her children while she went to the hospital.  She was sitting on the couch next to me.  As a contraction started, wordlessly, she gripped my hand.  I didn't understand much about labor then, but I remember thinking it must be very powerful to cause my sister to turn my hand to mush like that.

Tender, intimate moments between two people help to bond them together.  They give them moments they can remember when they shared a common goal, a similar liking, a hope or a dream.

Our moments with God can be tender and intimate as well.  Often when we think of prayer, we think of lists of people or concerns to pray about, or about seconds and minutes that should tick away on the clock.  Do's and don'ts may permeate our thoughts. While prayer may sometimes contain those aspects, it does not always need to.  

I remember when my mother was dying of cancer.  Grief and helplessness seemed to threaten to overwhelm me.  At times all I could pray was, "Lord, help."  I was a wordless, powerless child crying out to an all-powerful Father who Himself is the Word.  He knew my heart, He knew my pain.  And He was comfort and peace and yes, even joy in a time of sorrow and heartbreak.

There have been times we have stood on the top of a mountain with sweat running down our faces from the effort of getting there and looked out at a vista so gorgeous only the Lord could have painted it.  In those moments the only words which seem fitting are, "Oh, Lord."  For Him to have given us not only the strength and ability to hike up that mountain, but then graced us with the wonder and beauty of His creation left me speechless.

Let us look for these tender moments with our God.  The are infinitely more tender to Him than they are to us.  He loves for us to turn our attention to Him, to look to Him even if it means uttering only a few feeble words.  He knows our hearts and He loves our hearts.

"When Thou saidst, 'Seek ye my face;'

my heart said unto Thee, 'Thy face, Lord, will I seek.' "

Psalm 27:8

  

I put this one here just because I like it.

Joie Sans Fin

 

R. William Bennett is the author of a book entitled, "Jacob T. Marley", which is a prequel to the Christmas Classic by Charles Dickens, "A Christmas Carol".  Our son introduced the book to us and it has become a favorite of mine. I read it, along with "A Christmas Carol",  every Christmas season.

In this book the Ghost of Christmas Past and Jacob Marley have been witnessing as Scrooge views Christmas at the Cratchitt household.  The Ghost has just sprinkled Bob Cratchitt's house with joy from his cornucopia.  Having seen him sprinkle many people and places, Marley suggests he must be nearly empty of Joy.  The Ghost tilts the cornucopia to Marley's line of sight so he can see it is still full.

"Endless, Jacob,"  he says to Marley.

Endless joy.  Or joie sans fin, literally, joy without end, for our granddaughter Emma, who loves the French language. 

Endless joy.

Endless joy is what awaits us if we trust and believe in the Lord Jesus with all our hearts.  For now and eternity, endless joy.

Joie sans fin.  Indeed.

"That the trial of your faith, 

being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, 

though it be tried with fire, 

might be found unto praise and hour and glory 

at the appearing of Jesus Christ, 

whom having not seen, ye love; 

in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, 

ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."  

1 Peter 1:8

It's Ellie!

 

The other night at work, my friend Ahlam, gave me several birthday presents.  My favorite was a pair of socks with Ellie's face on them.  Ahlam pointed out to me, "It's Ellie!" to emphasize it was actually Ellie on the socks and not just any beagle.  When I go to work tonight I will "wear Ellie" on my feet and I'm sure I will take several opportunities to look down at the image of our sweet little beagle.  

In doing so, I will be reminded of the High Priests of Israel when they entered the Holy Place in the Tabernacle and Temple:

"And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the Holy Place, for a memorial before the Lord continually." (Exodus 28:29.)

Symbolically, the High Priest would carry the children of Israel with him into the Holy Place as a memorial before God.  God did not need to be reminded of the children of Israel, they were continually on His heart.  But their names engraved on the breastplate emphasized how important they were to God.

On the side of our house, protected by the carport, there is a brick that bears the signature of our then 14 year old daughter, Emmie.  When I first noticed this brick years ago, I was mildly irritated that she would have just written her name on the side of the house.  Now I smile every time I see it.  The simple signature is a testament to the wonderful person our daughter has become.  It actually gives me pleasure to see her name there.  

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, our names are also written as a memorial.  They are not on a breastplate, they are in heaven.

"...rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20).

Our names are written in heaven!  Not just on the side of a house, but in Heaven! Most specifically they are written in the Lamb's Book of Life as mentioned in the book of Revelation.  Now I have no Scriptural basis for this thought, but I would imagine that only the Lamb can write in the "Lamb's Book of Life."  If this is true, then there was a moment when those nail-scarred hands put our names -- put MY name -- in His book.  What a precious, glorious thought, that perhaps on August 18, 1973 the Lord Jesus put my name in His book.  And if the Lord Jesus does something, no one, no where, no how can undo it!  

Our names will always be in that book, "written in heaven."

"I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever:  

with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations."

Psalm 89:1

According to the Plan

 Recently, Glen, Ellie and I have been renovating our Laundry Room.   Glen was responsible for emptying the room of all the years of accumulated stuff, for tearing out the old home-made shelves, for all the heavy lifting and for graciously not complaining when we needed to make yet another trip to Lowe's. Ellie was in charge of morale and encouragement.  She has been right beside me all the way.

The only time she leaves the room is if I was using a saw or the air compressor.  Her sensitive beagle ears can't tolerate that noise in the small room in which I worked. Any other time, she was just lying there watching me, giving me either subtle approval or disapproval by her facial expression. (Okay, I might be imagining that last part.)  

We started the renovation with a plan laid out on paper.  Now that the room is almost completed, I am amazed at how almost perfectly it has turned out.  We made a few alterations to the plan along the way, but for the most part, it is just the way we designed.  I have to admit, it makes me so happy to look at it.  The room originally had never been finished, it was only bare studs and now to look at it a finished room gives me much pleasure.

It reminds me that the Bible refers to Christians as "His workmanship".

"For we are His workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, 
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." 
Ephesian 2:10

God is always working in His children.  He has a plan, a design, that was laid out before He spoke the worlds into existence. 

"And we know that all things work together for good 
to them that love God, 
to them who are the called according to His purpose. 
For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate 
to be conformed to the image of His Son..."  
Romans 8:28,29

He is constantly working in our lives to conform us to the image of His Son.  He "worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13.)

He will finish His work.  His finished product will match the design perfectly.  He will accomplish what He has set out to do because "...as for God, His way is perfect." (Psalms 18:30.) And He will be pleased with the result.  It will give Him joy to look at us and see the same attributes in us that are in His beloved Son.  

Let it bring great joy and comfort to our hearts to know He is ever working in our lives to bring us to the image of Christ.  Let it bring great hope to our hearts to know that forever we will be a source of joy and pleasure to our Heavenly Father.  Let it reassure us that He will finish the work of us.

The Secret Message

 I have a new bracelet given to me for my birthday by one of my best friends, Ashlee.  It is a Morse Code bracelet.

For those of you who may not be familiar with Morse Code, it is a method used  to encode text  as sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes.

My bracelet contains a coded message from my friend and the meaning is known only to those to whom we choose to reveal it.  The meaning is actually a statement made to me, about me, by another nurse years ago.  It has been a running joke between me and Ashlee and we both laugh heartily when we think of it.  In fact, I laughed when I opened the gift, saw the bracelet and the decipher printed behind it.

No, I won't tell you the message.  It's a secret.

And it reminds me of another secret.

If you pull up Glen's contacts on his phone, you will not see the name "Frannie Davis" listed.  But you will find my phone number under something he calls no one else but me.  It is a term of endearment which he has called me for a long time, a name that no one else calls me.  It is an expression of love.

These earthly secrets bring to mind another secret, in fact, another secret name...

"...To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, 

and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, 

which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."  

Revelation 2:17.

To think there is a day coming when the Creator of the universe, the God of all things, will give us a name known just between us and Him.  How personal, how intimate, how loving!  He loves His children so much that He has prepared a special name, just for them.  For each one of them!  Only Someone known as "the Word" could possibly come up with so many personal, applicable, special secret names.  How great and loving is our God!

Over Three Years? Inexcusable!

 I can't believe it has been over three years since I wrote on this blog.  I don't actually know how I fell out of the habit of writing, I just know it happened.  Life became busier and somehow taking the time to write seemed to be a luxury I could not afford.

The other day was my granddaughter's fourteenth birthday and I pulled up the blog to find an entry I had written on the day of her birth.   While I did not find that entry, I did find several I had written about Emma and her older brother Jack, and I enjoyed reading through them.  It brought to mind how much I miss writing about the people, events and things important in my life.

So much has happened in these last three years of which I could have written.  Our beautiful granddaughter Evelyn - named after her great-grandmother - was born.  Our sweet beagle Sparrow died of congestive heart failure at 13 years of age.  We brought home a new beagle puppy, Ellie, who is now 18 months old. The COVID pandemic rocked our world, especially those of us in healthcare, and in fact is still doing so. Hikes have been hiked, holidays celebrated, birthdays have come and gone.  Babies have been born, friends and neighbors have died.  Our grandchildren have been great blessings to us and our grown children continue to amaze us.  And yet, not a word.  Not a word written here to chronicle those events, to place them in the perspective of God's working in our lives.  Just silence.

For me, this is inexcusable.  What could have been so pressing and important in my life that it crowded out something I love doing, something I have wanted to do my whole life?

This brings to mind another aspect of our lives that sometimes seems to just slip away.  Prayer.

Sometimes I think we make prayer so difficult, we add so many "rules" to it, that we just end up not doing it.  We don't mean to, we may not even know how we fell out of praying, we just know it happened. This too, is inexcusable.

Our Lord loves us so much, He sent His beloved Son to purchase our salvation so we could have quick and ready access to Him.  How often something has mistakenly taken priority over prayer, how often has prayer been the very thing I needed to do and yet it was the last thing to come to my mind.

Prayer is such a simple thing.  Anywhere, anytime, simply talking to Someone who loves us infinitely, Who asks us to "let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice..." (Song of Solomon 2:14).  

Now I can be very quiet sometimes, but if Glen doesn't hear my voice for a bit, he wants to know what is wrong.  People who love each other love to communicate with each other.  In fact, when our family is together, you often must be very proactive to get a word in edgewise in our conversations.  We love each other and therefore it is very easy to communicate.

I think if we can ever get the truth in our hearts that our voices are sweet to God, that our prayers mix with the incense around His throne, we will more easily, more readily talk to Him.  About the big things, the little things, the sad things, the funny things, about whatever and whenever. Let us determine to share our days with the One who loves us more dearly than we can ever imagine.

"...the prayer of the upright is His delight."

Proverbs 15:8 

If My Voice

Words and Music by Glen Davis

If my voice is sweet to you, Lord,

As Your Word declares,

And if somehow you find delight in my prayers.

And if Your face You call me to seek, Lord,

Your face I will seek…

And my voice You will hear…

If My Voice