Lisa notes

Ask

It’s a Sunday afternoon. I’m going 70 mph on I-65. Traffic is rolling along. I’m listening to Lauren Daigle’s new album, Look Up Child.

Adam had texted us Saturday about the album. He said to check out two of his favorites on it: “Rescue” and “Love Like This.”

I texted him back Sunday morning: I’ll be listening.

“I hear you whisper underneath your breath
I hear your SOS, your SOS
I will send out an army to find you
In the middle of the darkest night
It’s true, I will rescue you”

Then I see red.

Brake lights are coming on in front of me. We all slow down. We’re now going 10 mph.

I can’t see what’s ahead. Waze users tell me there is a wreck near Cullman. But I don’t know which lane will be closing. So I stay in mine.

I spot a red SUV in the lane to my left to gauge my position. I watch his progress. Should I switch to his lane? Is his going faster? Or is he getting behind?

Until there it is. Everyone is merging left. I need to get over. Now. I turn on my blinker.

It’s my ask.

Please.

Someone. I don’t care who.

Just let me in?

Unexpected Asks

We can’t always plan our need for help. While we may occasionally forecast that we’ll need help next Thursday at noon, it doesn’t always work that way.

Sometimes our needs come quickly.

And we may not even know what kind of help would be useful.

So we don’t ask at all.

But just because we don’t know who or what or how the help will arrive, shouldn’t stop us from asking.

Because God always knows.

And he’s waiting, prepared, ready for us to ask.

Unexpected Answers

So ask him anyway. Even if you don’t know how he’ll answer. Even if you’re scared he won’t answer at all.

Ask in faith, in truth, that God will send someone, somehow, to walk alongside you.

Eventually we all get what we need.

It may arrive in an unpredictable way, at the most surprising time, through a least-expected person.

So ask.

Love like This

As I wait my turn to merge into the left lane, edging over slowly, eventually I see a break. Someone is going to let me in.

It is the red SUV. The one I had been watching.

Why him? Why now? I don’t know.

But it feels like a holy moment.

I slip in. I wave my gratitude to him. I whisper a “Thank you” to God.

And Lauren Daigel sings on,

“What have I done to deserve love like this?
I cannot earn what You so freely give
What have I done to deserve love like this?”

Three Questions

Here are the three questions of the day:

(1) What question do you need to ask someone today?

(2) Are you quick or slow to ask for help?

(3) How has God helped you lately when you’ve asked?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers

(1) I’ll ask Jeff, “What do you want for lunch?”

(2) Depends on what it is, but usually I’ll struggle along in my pride before I’ll ask for help.

(3) God keeps giving me energy this year to squeeze in extra visits and things I’m trying to do.

Listen to Lauren Daigle’s “Love Like This”

More here

• First Ask. Don’t Sink in the Lake
  Before you sink in the lake, first ask God for what you want.
• Why Don’t You Ask? And Why You Probably Should
  There are reasons we don’t ask each other more questions. Are they valid reasons?
• Ask One More Question
  I had one more question for this homeless man. What’s your favorite Bible verse? His answer surprised me.

Get the whole Handmade series here

Talk

I checked my email folder for Jeff’s travel information. I pasted his Southwest flight number online at FlightAware. His plane had arrived in Nashville.

I called his cell. No answer. I didn’t leave a voicemail because I know he doesn’t listen to those.

I sent him a text. But got no reply.

When we send our messages into the world, they’re not always received.

And yet we’ve never had so many options for communicating. 

• Do you prefer calling or texting?
• GroupMe or Messenger?
• Blog comment or tweet reply?
• Snapchat or Instagram?
• Facebook post or FaceTime?
• Email or snail mail?

Or, ummm, actually talk face to face in person?

With more choices comes more responsibility. Like it or not, we have to think twice now.

When we choose the wrong medium, even with the best of intentions and careful wording, our message can be garbled. Misunderstood. Confusing.

To communicate appropriately, we have to match our message with the medium. I snapchat with my daughters, but I send emoji-less emails to colleagues. I include lots of OMGs and !!!! to Jeff, but try to keep emotions out of my tweets (most of the time, anyway).

God Shows Up Where?

And God?

God can and does show up in any and all of those mediums, plus more.

He reminds us to be wise. To be loving. To be conveyors of truth and grace and respect when we communicate, whichever platform we’re on.

I waited for 30 minutes for a response from Jeff. My phone still didn’t ring or buzz or vibrate. So I started the process again. This time he answered on the second ring. Whew. He just hadn’t noticed my first call or text.

So there’s that. Even with our best efforts, we can’t guarantee our message will be received if we don’t hear a voice or see a face.

Some things may have changed a lot.

But other things always remain the same.

Three Questions

Here are our three questions of the day:

(1) Do you prefer receiving a phone call or a text?

(2) Have you met online friends in person?

(3) What medium does God use to reach you most often?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers

(1) I almost always prefer text for short exchanges. But sometimes you need to hear the voice.

(2) Yes, I even went to Guatemala on a mission trip with online friends.

(3) I see God through other people in real-life conversations but I also hear him through blog posts and emails and any of the other avenues that we all talk to each other.

More here

• 26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God
  Not as connected to God as you’d like to be? Experience 26 surprising ways to encounter God in just a few minutes per day.
• How Do You Hug God?
  Sometimes I resent that I can’t touch God with my hands, hear him with my ears, see him with my eyes. Jesus used his touch often when he was here. And now?
• To Hear Voices, Listen
  He apologized for talking too much but I told him don’t be sorry for that. I wanted to hear him. In hearing others, we often hear straight from God, too.
• 6 Ways to Hear from God
  Discerning God’s will is rarely easy. Here are 6 ways to hear from God, revised from J. I. Packer’s “Knowing God”.

Get the whole Handmade series here

 

Divide

We like to play dominoes at my house. Usually Mexican Train.

But some people use dominoes to create a chain. They line up hundreds of dominoes in elaborate patterns.

Predicting Each Other

Then with one slight nudge on only one domino, the whole chain is set in motion. You can predict its exact direction and outcome.

Sometimes we do that with each other, too.

With only one question, we predict everything about a person.

For instance:

Do you love President Trump or do you detest him?

Depending on your answer to that question, we’ll predict how you’ll answer a whole array of other questions. We’ll label you right or left and be done.

Other one-question-only issues that can start the domino effect include:

• Believe Brett Kavanaugh or Christine Blasey Ford?
• Allow more people into our country or build a wall to keep them out?
• Stand or kneel for the National Anthem?
• Fox or CNN?
• Arm our teachers or keep guns out of the schools?

There seems to be a great divide.

And people on both sides claim the name of Jesus.

Lord, have mercy.

Trade in the Dominoes

I do believe with God that all things are possible.

But two years into this, I don’t see us closing the gap that divides us.

Instead, it just seems to widen.

Maybe we need to abandon our domino set of questions entirely.

And ask different kinds of questions instead. Ones that would help us understand each other clearer and less stereotypically. If we’ll really, really listen to each other’s answers.

• What are you afraid of?
• What do you need to feel safe?
• What do you need to be healthy?
• In what ways is your family hurting?
• What blessings can you share with others?

Because I still have to believe, deep down, that we’re all more alike than we are different.

At our foundation, we all want safe environments. We all want good health. We all want meaningful work and purpose and relationships. We all want to be treated with respect and for others to be treated with respect, too.

We agree on those things.

God, we need your help on all the rest.

Three Questions

Answer any or all of our three questions of the day:

(1) Is anyone in your family left-handed instead of right-handed? (Not a political question!)

(2) How closely do you follow politics?

(3) How can God use believers to bridge gaps between people instead of cause more division?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers

(1) We all happen to be right-handed in my immediate family.

(2) I follow politics very closely, more in the past two years than ever.

(3) Maybe actually serving each other in the name of Jesus with actions instead of trying to convince others with words that we are right and they are wrong?

More here

• Who to Love? For How Long?
  Who are you supposed to love? The person in front of you. For how long? Always.
• Drench Your Words in Grace
  Are your words drenched in grace? Whether right or wrong on interpretation, question motives cautiously.
• How to Love Well in Our Culture
  How can we love with both grace and truth in our culture? It’s more about how we live than what we say.
• 3 Ways to Listen So People Will Talk
  Do you know how to listen so people will talk? 3 ways to quiet down so you can hear the hearts of others.

Get the whole Handmade series here

DAY 11 of Handmade Series, #Write31Days

DOORS

Doors are solid.

They’re intended to block the way. To keep what’s inside in, and to keep what’s outside, out.

Except . . . when they’re open. Open doors remove the barriers. They allow the freedom to travel in and out, back and forth.

It’s the hinge that makes the difference.

A hinge allows room for movement. For opening. For closing.

Because of the hinge, change is possible.

Our acceptance or decline of opportunities from God often hinge on our attitudes, our faith, our surroundings.

Are we keeping our hinges well-greased?

Three Questions

Here are our three questions of the day:

(1) Which door do you open and close most often at your home?

(2) Is there a person or situation that comes in and out of your life?

(3) What door do you want God to open for you now? What door do you wish he would close?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers

(1) Probably the door to the bathroom. Or the door to the garage.

(2) I have a crazy relationship with my running watch. I’ll lose it for a few months, then it’ll pop back up, out of the blue. I bought a new watch after I misplaced the old one again, which I subsequently left in a car out of town. But surprisingly, a week later the old watch resurfaced one more time. (I need to be more responsible, yes?) More seriously, I also have a young friend who rushes into my life occasionally with big needs, then lays low for awhile after that.

(3) I’d like an open door to deploy with PAR, our local disaster response team, for hurricane relief, in either North Carolina or Florida. Only two weeks ago exactly, Jeff and I were enjoying beautiful, calm weather at Panama City City Beach, and now it’s been upended by Hurricane Michael.

More here

• Who Will Open the Door?
  Mr. M didn’t answer the door last week. Will he tonight? People pass through our lives so quickly.
• Portals for God
  Look for portals—openings—that God wants to reveal himself through your routine tasks. Unwrap these gifts of grace; enjoy them to the fullest.
• When God Parts the Waters, Walk Across
  Opportunities come to us in different ways. But if God parts the waters for you, walk across.

Get the whole Handmade series here