Falling Down - Changing Course

We planned for months.  I worked extra to have enough time to take off. Then we went to the meetings, packed all we thought we might need and headed to the airport at 4 in the morning.  It is one of our favorite weeks of the year.  It is the week we go on a mission trip to Honduras.  A lot of hard work is planned around cement bricks, shoveling dirt, sand and gravel, hauling buckets and bricks.  It is wonderful.  Staying at Baxter Institute with students from all over the Central America and the Caribbean, is the best. Work and sweat through the day, eat the food at Baxter, sing and pray in the evening then repeat the next day.  You would be amazed at how much a group of 50 or so can get done in 6 days with everyone pitching in and working hard.  You actually feel significant, like you are doing something that matters and you can physically see the results right before your eyes.  I love this week. I had it all planned out. And then I fell down, literally. 

We finishing a clinic and started working at a church site on the side of the mountain.  I slipped coming down the hill and landed none too gracefully on my face. My nose, lips, chin were full of gravel, scratched and bleeding.  My hands, arms, elbow, knees etc bruised and hurting. Yes it was one of my finer moments.  But my friends helped to clean me up and put ice on the rapidly swelling lips. My husband ran to my side.  Everyone was very kind, I was frightful looking.  The rest of the week children would ask what was wrong with my face while adults would  stare at me or apologize for my injury, lovely.  The worst  came the next day when I could not go back to work with the rest of the group. But don't you see, I had it all planned out.  How hard I would work and then come back dirty and tired each night.  Now I could no longer contribute, this was all wrong.  I felt worthless. I tried to take pictures of the rest of the group, post them on line, be the unofficial photographer.  But it did not feel the same. So I felt sorry for myself and more than a little let down by my circumstances.  It just wasn't so posed to work out this way. Thankfully, I was invited to go chapel with the students and having  "nothing better to do,"  I went.  I went in late and sat down on the back row noticing that I'm the only female in the room -- awkward.  I  asked the man next to me if it was OK if I was there, he said yes but I might like to go to the  Ladies Chapel that day (yes I might).  So I made my way to room 4 and slipped in late taking the last chair left open.  Only to find I took the speaker's chair --awkward again.  She said it was OK, she was going to stand in a moment anyway.   She speaks, then a lovely lady offers to translate the lesson for me.  It was about controlling our tongue and our attitude, a wonderful lesson.  She then asked if I would please pray for them in English.  I was so honored to go to God for these dedicated women, I was moved and humbled. We prayed together,  me in English and them in Spanish. Afterward they told me there was a women's Bible study the next day and asked if I could come and give the lesson.  Again the lovely lady would  translate for me.  What a gift they had just given to me. Without knowing, they gave me purpose and direction. They didn't feel sorry for me, they filled a void.  I spent the next morning in study and prayer.  I stayed on campus and had opportunity to visit with more students.

That afternoon  I went with a friend and together with women from Honduras, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Cuba and The Dominican Republic we studied God's word.  I was blessed beyond measure. I thought I had my week planned, I thought I knew how and where I would serve. I almost let self pity and disappointment rob me of the best experience of service. It was there for me, just not where I was looking.

Are we so focused on what we think we are so pose to be about that we miss opportunities passing right in front of us?  Pain, loss, rejection, injury, illness-- keep naming those things that get in the way of our plans. Those things that cause us to fall down.  You can stay down, stay injured and feel sorry for yourself or get up and accept some help.  You are not alone, some one will run to your side.  There is a place you need to be and a job you can do. You just have to be willing to change course.   

Book Covers Sell Books

People say,  Don’t judge a book by its cover?  But people look at book covers and covers sell books. We only have so much time to look at books, and the cover is what gets our attention. In reality we DO judge a book by its cover and the book’s author too.

A book cover makes a promise about what you will find when you open the book.  It tells you a little about the book, a sneak preview.  It is the definition of “first impression.”  And it is meant to be that.  When you walk through a book store, you pick up a book, and look at it. You may browse through it but only if the cover has caught your attention and kept your attention.   When is the last time you looked inside a book after the cover completely turned you off or offended you? Maybe the book is one you will completely enjoy, but the cover must draw you in first. 

Your image works the same.

What people see about you, your first impression, your image is like the book cover to your personal life. Your first impression literally makes a mental image. Your image makes a silent promise about who you are and what people can count on when they get to know you.  Or your image turns people away without giving them the opportunity to get to know the inside of you.  If you profess faith, your cover reflects heavily upon the author of the book as well.  What mental image of you and of God do others get when they first encounter you?  That mental image lasts. Pictures say a thousand words and those  pictures stay around a lot longer than words.  These are not questions of  short hair or long, of style or makeup.  Your personal book cover shows the world your values, your gentleness, your character. Or your cover turns the world off with bitterness, envy and self-promotion. When there’s a question about what to believe, your image might just tip the balance. That’s a powerful reason to be sure that the important ideas of your life are  carried through into all things that people see around you.  Your appearance, your home and office, your entertainment  are all on the cover of your life.  You know a lot about a man by what he laughs at. 

People do judge books by the promise of the cover. Make a promise they will value, keep that promise and they’ll notice it for sure.  When the promise on the cover of the book is not continued throughout the pages we are sorely disappointed.  Sometimes we are angry and disillusioned.  Reading a book with big expectations only to be let down is offensive and the event will be told to others.  No less will the hypocrisy of professing a life of noble character only to be found out as a fraud be offensive and retold to others.  A sinner may be simply ignored but the sinner under a saint’s cover is repulsive and often publicly renounced. 

I love books.  I enjoy walking through book stores and libraries. What do I learn from books today?  Yes, we do judge a book by its cover.  And yes, we have the same expectations of the people we meet.  First impressions can be changed but they last.  We can use that to our advantage if we choose.   Give the world the impression of Christ and we draw people to us.  Deny Him with our actions and we push them away.  Maybe the best news is books are constantly reprinted with new covers.  What you were yesterday is not what you must be today.  You may now  have a new edition of yourself with a bright new cover that tells everyone at first glance who and what you are.  God is a god of second chances.