Laced With Grace

As August rolled into September, my excitement and anxiety grew. I was ready to get back into the classroom and do what I love to do, but I knew it would be a time of transitions too. I thought that I would struggle this year with trying to continue with my duties as a mother and hold down a very challenging job. I thought I might struggle with the content of my classes, since I’m teaching things I’ve never taught before (as college level courses too!). I thought I might be drained by the demanding schedule….but I never thought I might be challenged spiritually.

I don’t know why, but I kind of forgot that I was walking into a very dark place when I opened the doors to our high school and walked down the crowded hallways. This week, as I side stepped around girls flirting with boys and dodged guys twice my size goofing off, I suddenly realized that many students in that busy hallway were lost children of God. It was the darkest hallway I’ve walked down in a long time. I saw kids grasping for life in trite relationships, in drugs and alcohol, in popularity and in the accolades of success.

They act like they know it all and they’ve got it all together, but they are walking around in darkness. I don’t think adults are much different and if we opened our eyes, I bet all of us could think of a dark place where God has asked us to shine.  

It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily routines of our jobs that we forget our eternal purpose. Yes, it’s my job to grade math papers and it’s my job to effectively prepare educational lessons and it’s my job to train students to reach high expectations, but it’s my duty to be a light in each of those jobs. It’s my calling to be a light in this dark place; this place where God has brought me.

The thing about dark places is that we can easily lose our way and get disoriented if our own light is dim and instead of sharing our light with those around, we start complaining about how dark it is.  We realize that it’s dark because of all the sin we see and we notice how few people seem to share our perspective on life (our heavenly perspective), but we often forget that our place in the darkness is not to curse the darkness, but to bring light into it.

So, what’s your dark place? Is it your neighborhood, your children’s school, your grocery store, or your workplace? I pray that you and I will shine brightly with God’s love and grace in these dark places, that our lights will elluminate the darkness and lead the way to our Savior.  And may our eyes remain trained on the True Light so we don’t get ourselves lost in those dark places.

I want you to meet three of my newest and closest friends.

Sophie

Sadie

and Jack!

Yep, we met in the most conspicuous manner. They followed me home.

It’s the strangest thing.

In the last couple of months, three dogs have followed me home.

Not one, not two, but three. How weird.

Let me explain.

Every morning (almost) I set out early for my “praise and jog.” Now don’t roll your eyes. I know what you are thinking, exercise, sheesh, get away from me I don’t need more guilt.

Okay, no guilt. But, I have come to love this time of my day. It usually follows my Bible reading and prayer time. That’s when I pray over your requests, so write me so I know how to pray for you. email me

But, when it’s time to jog, it’s just me, the Lord, my iPod loaded up with praise music and the great outdoors. I start by walking and within minutes when the first chorus of the first song plays, I am in a full out jog. I am pepped up and running and singing praises to my King.

It’s a rumor around our neighborhood some crazed woman runs around with her hands in the air singing. Oh my.

Ahem, I can’t help myself and my arms only go up on the really cool parts of the song.

Jogging 30 to 45 minutes is pure praise time. Did you catch that? Praise time.

Psalm 22:3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. (footnote) Or Yet you are holy, / enthroned on the praises of Israel

The Lord dwells in the praises of His people. My time praying and reading the Bible is awesome but this praise time is better. The Spirit of God is vivid and vibrant in those minutes where I run and take in the sights, sounds, smells of His creation. The Lord and I talk out many problems and concerns while running together.

So how does this relate to my new friends? Well, I am convinced that I am so filled with praises that these lost and scared guys are attracted to me. Not because of me but because I am a woman who is singing praises to the creator. Okay, maybe it’s a stretch but I know the Lord loves His creation, not only people but all of his creation including dogs. (The one exception might be RATS! Just kiddin.)

These little lost and shaking pets need help and the Lord sends me. Well, what really happens is these lost pups see me and they come running. They follow me and trust me I don’t encourage them. I look down, my compassion swells and I know I will help them.

I sometimes have to stop and pick them up like I did with Sophie. Sadie, was so happy to find someone, she fell into step with my jog and followed for an entire mile as I took her to my house. Jack was sorta scared and he was also soaking wet but he hid his tail and followed me right to my door.

Amazingly, Sophie, Sadie, and Jack each wore a tag with the owner’s phone number. I called and within minutes the owner arrived to pick up, I’m-so-glad-to-see-my-mamma, tail wagging, pup.

All creation shouts the truth of our Creator. Can dogs perceive it? I am not sure but I do know people can perceive the spirit of the living God in us. In the grocery store, at the movie theater, everywhere we go we have the opportunity to be the giver of compassion and to be God’s instrument of help.

We can’t give out what we don’t have, so fill up. Fill up with time spent praising and worshiping the Lord. I can’t emphasize enough the truth of God dwelling in the praises of His people.

So put what I say to the test. Spend 30 minutes in praise and worship every day this week. Then watch whom God sends your way. It will blow your mind and make your week, to serve the Lord in this way. It’s impossible to remain untouched when the God of the Universe is living in your praises. And that’s a promise.

Be blessed, Lynn

Find me daily at

Do you still have that godly awe and reverence for God? When His Holy Spirit is nudging you do you obey? I’ll be the first to admit, it’s not always easy to obey, especially if what I’m being asked to do is something that is out of my comfort zone. However, obedience is what God expects, period.

If we want God’s master plan to be fulfilled in our lives then we have to be obedient to His call. What is He saying to you? What is he asking you to do? Your success depends on your obedience.

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. Genesis 12:1

In the above verse God called Abraham out of his comfort zone, to leave behind all that He knew and go someplace he’d never been to set up a new life. (This reminds me a bit of our dear Iris) However, I confess, although I’ve been walking with Him many years,  He’s still working on me when it comes to obedience. It is hard to obey sometimes when we can’t see the end results of our obedience right away.

If we know that when God impressed upon us to witness the person would accept Christ it would be easy to witness.

If we knew that when we gave the last $10.00 in our wallets like He told us too that we’d get it back the next day we’d give it without flinching.

If we knew the new ministry He laid on our heart would be successful and well received we’d go for it full force…

If we knew…

But we don’t. We can only have faith in what He has promised.

God is not going to show us the end results of our obedience so He can get us to obey. In Isaiah 1:19, He says If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land. Hence, He wants us to have faith in Him and obey… trusting that He will bring about the expected results.

Abraham didn’t know where he was going and what he was going to meet when he got there but he trusted God and was obedient to his voice…

So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; Genesis 12:4 (NIV)

What is He calling you to do?

God bless,

Bernadine