Dear Reader:

Teachers often talk about the “magic moments” in teaching when they are witness to the “light coming on” in a student’s eyes during a particular lesson concerning a basic tool or concept of knowledge. It is what teachers  live for…

I wonder if Jesus felt that same exhilaration when He witnessed the “light coming on” in his disciples’ eyes and the multitudes of people He spoke to about God. Teachers’ worst days are not as much about misbehavior as simply the presence of apathy and blank expressions staring back. Those are the days you return home wondering “Why do I even bother.” (I feel sure Jesus felt this too, and collapsed in sheer exhaustion on several occasions.)

Somehow, deep inside of teachers, counselors, parents, coaches, physicians, social workers, pastors, etc. – we all know that no matter how dark the situation gets….that one day, unexpectedly, the light will return and the power from it will keep us energized once again.

Late Wednesday afternoon when Anne and I strung the tiny moon lights over the magic moon gate, we could already see the small bulbs burning. It was energized by a solar panel. But later when it got dark and I went back out on the deck to enjoy the new “lit” moon gate…it was all dark. I was disappointed.

I had just texted Anne that no lights were coming on and she had texted back…that it probably just needed more sunlight…it would come on the next evening…when I decided to play around with it and boom…the lights came on and I got the photo (above.) It didn’t last long but long enough to get a picture and enjoy the possibility of the lights..

Then yesterday I read a Guidepost article about a ‘light coming on’ and could relate to it. Hope you can too. Enjoy!

“A Light in the Storm”

Robert Kramer

For years my daughter, Candi, and I had talked about canoeing the Yellow River in the Florida panhandle. Finally, during one of her college breaks, we decided to go for it.

We were only half an hour into our trip when the sky turned dark and thunder rumbled in the distance. The current picked up, and I grew uneasy about the rising water.

The rain came down quickly in wind-whipped sheets and the river tossed us wildly over submerged logs and rocks. “We’ve got to dock!” I shouted. Candi bailed water furiously while I searched for a clearing along the dark, tree-lined bank.

The rain was so heavy I couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead. Every time I’d spot a place to come ashore, we were already past it.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the water directly in front of us. We’ve got to get off this river now! Just then I saw a faint glow in the distance. A house?

I steered the canoe toward the glow. It was a porch light. And there in front of the house was a cleared section of the riverbank.

By the time we got the canoe up on dry land, the porch light was off. “Lucky it was on when we needed it,” I said to Candi. A woman standing on the porch ushered us inside the house.

“Thank you,” I said to her as we dried ourselves off. “I don’t know how we’d have made it to shore if your porch light hadn’t been on.”

“But it couldn’t have been,” she said. “The power’s been out all day.”

……………………….

So until tomorrow…Don’t you think Jesus is still trying to get the light to come on in our eyes…to have faith that He will never forsake us, but instead, be there for us through the up’s and down’s of life?

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*With so many flowers rather withered and tired-looking during these hot dog-days of August…I am getting more creative with my fresh flower arrangements and using the asparagus fern more.

*Look at this cool picture….I took a photo of all the moon flowers hanging together on the fence (but without the flash) and it was getting pretty dark. I used the exposure icon to increase the light and this is what emerged….strange but beautiful.