Keep a Look Out!

I just stumbled upon a new hobby, inspired by a product I saw in an eclectic shop.  Framed photos of objects that resemble letters of the alphabet are strung together at the customer’s choice to spell a word or sentence.  Way cool!  I figured I could take my own pictures and come up with some creations.  Now I’m obsessed--to the point of embarrassing my daughter.  “Oh, no, Mom, not here!  There are too many people around!” 

Did that stop me?  Not at all.  It’s too much fun!

Has one of your friends ever purchased a new car—a model that you weren’t familiar with—and right thereafter you see oodles of them on the highway?  Why is that?  Because now you’ve been “introduced” to the car, so you recognize it.  You may even look for it.  That’s the way it is with this hobby I’ve been introduced to.  I can’t stop looking at objects and recognizing letters!  A ladder resembles the letter “A,” a stick pin looks like an “i,” and a street sign makes a great “T.”

It works that way with God.  If you’ve been “introduced” to Him, you will recognize Him in your everyday life—at home, at work, at play.  You may even look for Him.  That’s the premise of my upcoming devotion series iSights.  Look for it to hit the shelves—or your iPad—in the near future.  Meanwhile, keep a look out for Him.

Fit 4 Service

Have you heard of Fit-to-Fat-to-Fit (aka Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit), an experiment by fitness instructor Drew Manning who wanted to relate to his clients' struggles to lose weight?  According to The Blaze, Manning gave up exercise and ate unhealthy food from May to November 2011 to gain 70 pounds on purpose.  Now back at his original weight, Manning describes how difficult it was to get back into a fitness routine to take off the excess pounds.

I could’ve saved Manning a lot of trouble, if he’d have just asked me about it.  I know how difficult it is! Two years ago I began a healthy-living group at my church.  Over this two-year period I shed 20 pounds through eating healthy and incorporating daily physical activity.  Straying from my healthy lifestyle for the past few months due to emotional issues put me right back where I started two years ago.  Getting back into the fitness routine seems even harder this time around.

Endowed by their Creator

"See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands"--Isaiah 49:16

On this day that we celebrate our country’s independence, we may reflect on these words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Just two days ago I visited a government building in Delaware and noticed the meditation benches surrounding a sculpture dedicated to the evolution of our legal system.  Words of the Declaration of Independence are engraved on each bench.  I posed for a picture on a bench inscribed with this segment:  Endowed by their creator with.

Fill in the blank. Besides rights, what else have we been endowed with? Let us meditate on the fact that we have been endowed by our Creator with certain gifts that are to be used to fulfill His will in our lives, to bring Him glory.  What is your gift? Is it the gift of music, art, writing?  The gift of encouragement, hospitality, speaking, administration? The Master sculpted all of us perfectly for His purpose. Let us use our gifts.  Pursue His will.  Until we do, we will not truly experience Life, Liberty, or Happiness.  Let us give back to the one who gave His all for us.  The proof of which is engraved in the palms of His hands.