Up, Up, and Away

Hot air balloons capture my imagination. I imagine floating off into the unknown and I am free to go wherever the wind blows me. I am caught up with the idea of leaving all my problems and worries behind. I find myself singing with Timon and Pumba …

Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase

Hakuna Matata! Ain't no passing craze

It means no worries for the rest of your days

It's our problem-free philosophy

Hakuna Matata!

My first real encounter with a hot air balloon was when I was living in Crystal Lake, Illinois and my son and daughter were still at home. It was early one Sunday morning when I woke up to a very unfamiliar sound. Whooooosh! Whoooooosh!! I quickly woke my husband (I always need a partner when I check out weird noises) and we began to investigate where the sound was coming from. We looked out our back window and I saw it. There was a beautiful hot air balloon slowly descending just behind our house. It was breathtaking.

That did it for me. I was enchanted with hot air balloons. Several years later my husband surprised me on Christmas with two tickets for a hot air balloon ride. I was going up and I wanted my mom to go with me. She was hesitant at first but warmed up quickly to the adventure. So early one morning we met at the predetermined site and there was our balloon lying flat on the ground. The crew went to work attaching the basket and the burner. Then the process of lifting the balloon off the ground began. A huge fan began pushing air into the opening at the bottom of the balloon and it slowly began to take shape.

Next we saw the burner lit and heard the sound of the hot air from the burner being forced into the balloon. The once flat balloon was now beginning to take shape. It slowly began to rise up off the ground and reach its top to the sky. Now its grandeur could be seen but it was still tied to the ground. My mom, the operator, and I quickly loaded into the basket while the crew began to untie the lines. We lifted off. Not a sudden thrust like a racecar leaving the starting line but an effortless, gentle ascent. We waved to family left on the ground and turned our eyes to the sky above calling us upward. I have never been weightless but this was close to what I imagine the feeling would be like. Free from all tethers and at the mercy of the wind currents to carry us where they would. And other than an occasional burst from the burner it was quiet.

And so it is with us. We are all like the hot air balloon I saw that morning lying on the ground with all the potential for flight but as yet not filled with the air that would make it rise. Genesis 1 : 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

It might as well say Judy was formless and empty. Without Christ we have no true life, no true meaning, no true purpose. Potential and possibilities lie within us waiting to be called to life. Many come to the Lord and just like He did with Adam He breathes life into us. Just like the Day of Pentecost the fire of the Holy Spirit fills our life with passion and we begin to take on the true meaning and purpose of our lives. The sad thing is that many Christ followers allow the Lord to breathe into them new life and the Holy Spirit fans the flames of purpose but they remain tethered to the earth. Fear, low self esteem, doubt, the past (you fill in the blank) keeps them earth bound. They are meant to soar but instead they stand as stately monuments. They are beautiful to look at but not fulfilling their divine destiny.

Learning to surrender our lives to the Lord is scary. Allowing Him to cut away the cords that bind us to the earth is also scary. But when we face the fear and allow the Lord to have His way, we begin a miraculous journey that is too wonderful to miss. It is not sudden but gentle and slow. As we rise above the noise and demands of this world, we begin to truly see the beauty of our heavenly Father. We experience the exhilaration of being directed by the breath of God – silent but powerful.

John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

Dancing

A few years back, I was on a cruise ship with my husband and one of the activities offered was ballroom dancing. I drug him there to watch. I was mesmerized as the two dancers glided across the ballroom floor as if they were on a cushion of air. His right hand was placed just below her shoulder blade. His fingers were together and his hand slightly cupped allowing him to guide her with just the slight pressure of his fingers and the heel of his hand. Her left arm was gently resting on his upper arm and her right hand rested gently in the palm of his left hand and then raised to eye level. The music would range from up-tempo to slow. The tempo of the music dictated their moves and whether the music was fast or slow they responded with grace and ease. Nothing was quick and jerky. Each step was choreographed, each move predetermined, each turn at exactly the precise moment and yet it appeared to be totally without effort and free. There was never a time when the couple would go off on their own. They were one.

For two to become one takes time. To know your partners every little nuisance takes time and practice. To lose yourself to the music comes only after the discipline of knowing the music has been mastered. I am almost 5 foot and my husband is a little over 6 foot so we don’t exactly dance cheek to cheek. More like nose to belly button so we didn’t sign up to take the class (I think his exact words were over my dead body) but we did go and watch and the beauty of the dance captured me.

I have read that the word “guidance” means

G= God

U = You

I = I

dance

Guidance = God you and I dance.

Let me tell you the dance that God and I did this morning looked nothing like the beautiful graceful ballroom dancing on that cruise ship. No, it was more like a wild African tribal dance with my arms flailing, legs kicking and my partner...

nowhere in sight. I imagine God was on the edge of the dance floor bent over in laughter or His head turned away saying I can't watch. If you asked me about the music, I would honestly have to ask "what music?" I was so focused on me that anything external didn't even register. I was not one with God, I was not being gently lead by His hand, and I was definitely not graceful.

I want to learn to ballroom dance with God. I want God to be able to guide me gently through life with just the slight pressure of His hand. I want to be so well acquainted with how He moves and His timing that I effortlessly follow Him throughout my day. I want the words graceful, gently, and with ease to be spoken concerning my interaction with God. I want to hear and appreciate life’s music. I want the Lord and I to become one.

That is my dream and I am working on it. There are times when I am just so overwhelmed by God's goodness that I have to break out in one of my wild happy dances but going through life on my own - wild and unrestrained - is simply a recipe for disaster. Good thing I have a patient partner who doesn’t mind my two left feet, flailing arms, and the fact that I have no rhythm. Heh what’s that I hear – God is calling to me to the dance floor. Look out Fred Astaire and Ginger here comes God and Judy. First lesson - let God lead - should be interesting.

Love Is In The Air

June has traditionally been the most popular month for weddings. I myself was a June bride, three of my close friends were June brides and my daughter was married in June. This year alone I have been invited to two June weddings. Yeah for June! Anyway, I have the “Here Comes the Bride” song stuck in my head. I am not really a big romantic but there is just something about a wedding. Everyone is dressed up and on his or her best behavior anxiously awaiting the arrival of the bride. Music is playing and candles are lit and vows are exchanged. All that arouses a little romance in even me. A couple of weeks ago, I watched as the bride and groom stood and exchanged vows and it reminded me of my wedding day.

Of course my mind had to go way way back to my wedding day – June 6, 1970 – yes you did the math right it has been 41 years ago last week. Yes, I realize that is longer than some of you have been alive. I was 18 and just out of high school. No, you really don’t need to do the math on that one. I was confident and unafraid and oblivious to all the dangers that lay ahead. I thought he could do anything and he thought I could cook. We both have had to make adjustments - him more than me. I will say he is still the most fantastic person I know and the song I sing to him (only in private) is …

You're still the one that makes me laugh

Still the one that's my better half

We're still having fun, and you're still the one

As I think back on the commitment I made on June 6, 1970, I am reminded of another commitment I made even years before that. I gave my heart to Jesus when I was about seven years old. At seven, I made a commitment that has stuck all these years even though I didn’t realize the depth of the commitment I was making. At seven, I would have told you that I gave Jesus my whole heart but every year since then I have grown to love Him more. My heart continues to expand to take in more of His love. It may be about time to renew my vows to the Lord because a lot has changed in the last 52 years.

As I watched the giving and receiving of rings a couple of weeks ago, I remembered something I had copied years ago. These are the words the Lord speaks over you and me… please read them slowly.

“I give you My love

My faithfulness reaches to the skies

I will be faithful to you

I gave Myself for you long ago for

I have loved you from before the birth of time

Every path that you walk will be Fragrant

With my lovingkindness and My truth.

I promise to be patient and kind

To never be selfish or rude

I will not demand My own way

Nor will I be irritable or touchy

I will not hold a grudge against you

Even though you should treat me shabbily

I will delight in your love

I will be loyal to you

And I will never leave you or forsake you

I promise you these things

And I do not lie

Seek Me first, love Me above all others

And I will take care of you; I will meet your every need

These things I declare…

I will keep these promises, which I have sworn to you

For I am faithful …forever.”

Source Unknown

In today’s world of broken promises, lies, deceit, disappointments, and people only concerned about themselves, this pledge of God to you and me is overwhelming. Why would the God of the universe love me and make these promises to me? Why would He continue to love me when I doubt Him, ignore Him, and break my promises? I can only say that it is because He not only loves me He is love. The Lord has been true to every promise to me. I wish I could say the same but I cannot. So today I choose to renew my vows to my Lord who is still the love of my life. I hope you will join with me and put in your name.

I (Judy) take you Jesus to be my beloved from this day forward. I promise to love you above all others. I promise to give my life in service to you. To show you the honor and respect that are due to you. I promise to obey your words to me and forsaking all others keep myself only for you. I give you my heart.

I watched as the groom (who had walked in with the minister and groomsmen) and the bride (who had walked down the aisle with her father) now grasp their hands together – turn and face the congregation and then together they take the first steps as man and wife. Even though I have loved the Lord for 52 years every day is a new beginning and my love grows deeper. His love is the very air that I breathe. So today I turn towards Him and take His hand. I leave all others and take the first steps of my renewed commitment with excitement and anticipation as to what the next 52 years may hold. The song “Here Comes the Bride” is now replaced by

You're still the one that makes me laugh

Still the one that's my better half

We're still having fun, and you're still the one.

The Best Is Yet To Come

As long as we are on this journey of life, we will all come to crossroads. That was the case for my grandson, Kyle, this past Friday. He graduated from 8^th grade and is now on the path to high school. He says it is no big deal but I am the one who drove to O’Hare and flew to North Carolina and then boarded a really small commuter plane to Havelock so I would be there when he was born and to his mother’s dismay he waited until I got there. I am actually the one who took him kicking and screaming to preschool every day. I was there the day he got on the big yellow school bus for the first time and disappeared around the corner. I have watched as his mom has taken his picture by the same tree every year on his first day of school. I remember when our dog died and we had in-depth discussions on why God allowed Bridget to get sick and die and would she be in heaven. I remember every birthday and we have had some really classic ones. One year we gave him a dozen eggs and an omelet maker. We had blown out part of the eggs and rolled up money to put inside and until he broke a money egg he really thought he was just getting an omelet maker. So the next year he asked for cold hard cash and we froze his money in a block of ice. I remember his first time on the soccer field. He did not want to stay and made it known in very loud terms and then this year when they won the tournament. Our summer water wars were the best and proved that the victory goes not to the swift but to the sneaky. I gave him his first business loan to buy a lawn mower so he could earn money over the summer. He paid me back in full. I remember watching him hang from a parasail in the Bahamas. I remember when he started junior high school – that was traumatic for me and now we are just a few short months away from high school. So maybe to him this is no big deal but to me it is huge. These have been 14 wonderful years watching him grow from a little boy into 5’11” of a very incredible young man and I am one very proud grandma.

People have been encountering crossroads since the beginning of time and I absolutely love God’s view of the future. Isaiah 43: 18 – 19 The Message:

18"Forget about what’s happened;

don’t keep going over old history.

19Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.

It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?

God is looking back over the path that He has traveled with the people He loves. He begins to recount each step of their journey together. He asks them to remember the day he brought Moses to deliver them, remember all ten plagues, and remember that the first born of every family not in a home where the doorframe was covered with blood died. He recounts for them that Pharaoh said to leave and to take whatever they needed and that Moses led two to three million people out of Egypt. He reminds them of the day when they came to the Red Sea and there was no way across and it looked like they were doomed. The sea parted for them and then drowned the Egyptians. Yes, our Lord looks back on the miracle-laden path He has walked with Israel and then He tells them to forget the past because what was coming would be even greater.

Israel, Kyle, you, and me are on a journey and that journey if filled with memories of great sorrow and great joy. Sometimes our path brings us to a t-intersection and we are forced to change course and go to the left or right. It may be the loss of a job, a divorce, a death, moving to a new community or a medical diagnosis that forces us to go a different direction. Then there are times when we find ourselves at a crossroad of choices. We can stay the course or choose to go another way. Whatever causes us to stand at the crossroads doesn’t matter as much as what we do at the crossroads. We should remember the path we have just traveled and how the Lord was with us step by step. We should remember the times the Lord has cried with us and every time we have danced with joy together. Crossroads allow us to reflect and unpack baggage we have collected on that portion of our journey. We may have collected some anger, bitterness, and hurt and this is where God says to leave it behind. We may have encountered blessings that we don’t want to give up like a high paying job, a new home, or a place that is comfortable. After we take time to reflect and rid ourselves of any excess baggage, we remember God’s words to Israel

18"Forget about what’s happened;

don’t keep going over old history.

19Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.

Kyle is standing at one of those crossroads moments and as great as the past has been I know that God has something beyond his wildest imagination in store for him in the future. I believe the same is true for every one of us. No matter if you are at a t-intersection and you are forced to take a path you would not have chosen or if you have wonderful options to choose from the Lord response is “Get ready, the best is yet to come.”

WW4J

Red and Purple

are the colors of choice by a group of ladies known as the Red Hat Society. Just in case there is someone who has never witnessed this phenomenon, let me give you a little background. There is an organization of women –requirement being you have to be over 50 – who wear red hats with purple boas and declare they are saying “NO” to all of societies’ rules and regulations. They are going to live life on their own terms and to the fullest. The times that I have witnessed a group of Red Hat ladies enter a room I have been struck by the fact that 1.They travel in groups 2.They make an impact on a room 3.They are having a really good time laughing and sharing. I really do not know any more about the Red Hat Society than that, but from that much, I like them. They have vowed they will not be bound by what society says they should wear or how society says they should act. Their value comes from whom they are and their mission is to live life to the fullest. I say red hats for everyone.

Society is continually bombarding women with messages and visuals of how we should look, act, and live. According to one web site these are the qualifications for a model. “If you are 5'8" or taller, you are ideal for fashion and runway. If you are shorter, then you are best suited for commercial/print (5'5"-5'7"). Petite models typically are between 4'11"-5'4", while plus size models are still required to be 5'8" and taller. The ideal measurements across the board for models are 34-24-34 (bust, waist, hips in inches).” Are you kidding me! I can qualify in the short category but those measurements are never going to happen. They go on to say, “Aside from height requirements, models are required to have good skin (not perfect but free of blemishes), great teeth, nice smile, healthy hair, and must be well groomed.” Well I think I got my third crown this year so the great teeth thing isn’t in my favor and my hair is falling out quicker than it is coming in so that makes strike three and yet there are more rules. “It is possible to have some blemishes, stretch marks or skin conditions but as long as you are able to keep it under control, such issues can be worked around using Photoshop.” Now come on, I have stretch marks that even Photoshop does not want to see. And the list goes on, “The average woman model weighs up to 25% less than the typical woman and maintains a weight at about 15 to 20 percent below what is considered healthy for her age and height.” On this one I declare that I am an over-achiever. I am well above the weight limits.

Moving from what society thinks I should look like into how they think I should act is even more horrifying. Take the “REALITY” shows that society is pitching. I say we should all hit the channel button and move on. Do I really think I need to fight – and I mean literally fight - with other women over how my hair looks, what designer I am wearing, or how many shoes I have in my closet. Come on ladies – I am saying our world has gone crazy so let's go crazy for Jesus - Wild Women 4 Jesus

Why do I waste one minute of my life trying to be a part of a group that is so ridiculously flawed? I think it is time we let the world know we have found a better way. Red Hat ladies travel in groups and so should we. We should all have a small group of women that are doing life with us. Life can be dangerous and God never meant for us to face it all alone. We should hold one another up, pray for one another, and encourage one another. When Red Hat ladies enter a room heads turn. When WW4J enter our world hearts should turn. People should be drawn to the love that is within us not by how we look or what we wear. Satan should tremble the minute our feet hit the floor in the morning. When Red Hat ladies enter a room there is laughter and a lot of sharing. If you could not be identified by the just the sound of your laughter-you need to laugh more often. When WW4J come on the scene it should be charged with the joy of the Lord.

Lynn Hybels has this to say “Never doubt that a community of thoughtful, committed women, filled with the power and love of God, using gifts they have identified and developed, and pursuing passions planted in them by God NEVER DOUBT THAT THESE WOMEN CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.”

Let’s remember that our value comes from knowing we are daughters of the Most High God and our mission is to live life to the fullest. If you want to join WW4J these are the requirements. 1. Travel in groups 2. Make an impact on the hearts of people. 3. Have a really good time laughing and sharing. Live life to the fullest!

I have a group of seven friends that God has gifted me with. A few years ago five of them made the trek to Carlinville from the Chicago area for a weekend. I bought them all red hats. No they are not all over 50, but I could not find pink hats so being the rebel I am, I just bought us all red hats. One of my WW4J is on one of those hard paths in life. To her I say – you are not alone. We will travel this stretch of life as a group. We, and especially you, will make hearts turn as those you encounter are impacted by the love of the Lord, and we will still do a lot of laughing and sharing. We are WW4J!