At Water’s Edge

Do you have a favorite show that you escape to when stress is rising all around you like the rush of an incoming tide? Mine is the Great British Baking Show. I am not a baker. I am not a good cook. I dislike the kitchen and find food prep tedious and irksome. I am very likely to cut or burn myself when cooking, I am that inept. But I love the Great British Baking Show. The minute the pastoral scenery appears on the screen, and the delightfully whimsical theme music starts to play, I feel my shoulders receding from my ears where they have spent the day. I begin to feel the ease of the Union Jack-lined bakers’ tent on the formal estate lawn take over my mind and my soul.

By the way, I don’t eat sweets. I have never even heard of half the stuff they are challenged to make. Fougasse? Dampfnudel? Savarin? Somebody bring me a Twinkie. And all the measurements are in METRICS. So why is this show so enriching to me? What draws me in and keeps me there?

It’s the kindness.

In this particular reality competition show, the contestants are exceedingly kind. The judges are kind. The hosts are funny, and kind. When the week’s “Star Baker” is named, everyone is genuinely happy for them. The patisserie served up every week is a madeleine of niceness topped with a macaroon of gentleness. And I gobble it right up.

I think kindness is in very short supply today. Anger, animosity, arrogance, and a lot of other “a” words that have no place in a devotional are the rule of the day. From Washington, D.C. to my local gas station, the lack of kindness and consideration has become the norm, and it is wearing us down.

I had a miserable encounter at a gas station with a car of ladies who attempted to cut me off from a gas pump that I was pulling into. Every pump was full, and they came from the street and drove around a large truck that was stopped at the right pump. They could not see that I had already headed in to the left pump from the opposite direction. I could not give way due to a truck that had circled around the other side and pulled in right behind me. This was during the mandatory evacuation of Hurricane Dorian, and everyone was tense. I get it.

But when I indicated to them that they would need to circle around (as I had done four times already), the driver continued toward me, angrily gesturing for me to get out of the way. I continued pulling forward to line up my gas cap with the pump, and we scraped bumpers. Immediately a passenger jumped out and ran over, shouting a blue streak of verbal anger at me. I rolled down my window and apologized, and said since I was already in line with the pump, I assumed they would wait. Apologizing again, I asked twice if her car was damaged (I could see that it was not). She continued her blue streak, telling me that damage was not the issue! I hit their car! How dare I cut them off! Fortunately the truck behind me saw (and heard) her, and backed up enough for me to back out and leave without any gas. As I drove out of the station, she ran after me, yelling.

She will never be Star Baker at the Great British Baking Show. But then again, neither will I.

Colossians 3 (NIV)

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

As followers of Christ, it is upon us to be kind, compassionate, humble, gentle, and patient. We are to be the reflection of Jesus to the world in every thought, word, and deed. Especially when kindness is so lacking, it becomes our call, and indeed our MANDATE, to exude gentleness in this harsh world. I remember a song I once learned that said,

“You’re the only Jesus some will ever see;

And you’re the only Words of Life some will ever read.

So let them see in you the One in whom is all they’ll ever need!

‘Cause you’re the only Jesus some will ever see.”

Something is likely to annoy the heck out of you today. Like, WAY annoy the heck out of you. Ignore it. Be kind. Be gentle. Be a Star Baker. Be Jesus. The world needs it.

Photo by The Great British Baking Show, BBC. Guys, this is BREAD.

A cancer survivor friend recently shared a significant epiphany with me. Since her successful cancer treatment and in her post-cancer life, she has been meticulous in avoiding those things that might cause her cancer to return. A common and practical thing, her highly-tuned awareness of cancer prevention led her to a sudden realization one day. She was no longer living for life, she was living for cancer.

You see, every day she made a multitude of decisions based on that fear. I can do this, I can’t do that, I have to avoid this, I must eat that, I can’t eat this, I will never drink that, I can’t go in the sun…all day long, every day, cancer and the fear of it ruled her until she realized that by doing so, she was making cancer a part of her daily life…and she is cancer-free.

Fear can do that to you.

Fear is a strong and powerful emotion that can overtake and overrule every moment. It can prevent you from letting each moment just live out its life on its own. When fear rules, joy flees. Fear is a force of nature that can cause all other sources of nature’s divine pleasures to fade into the background.

Mind you, fear is not a sign of weakness. Fear is a part of God’s design to keep us safe and tell us when to flee. When a toothsome bear is chasing you in the woods, run! But it is not part of his design for you to live your life being ruled by fear. Instead, we are invited to seek God (also a force of nature…in fact, he is THE force of nature) and choose a life of love over a fearful life:

1 John 4 (The Message)

17-18 God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s.

There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.

Perfect (“well-formed”) love casts out fear. And so a life ruled by fear is simply one not yet fully formed in love. That’s the good news! We are all a work in progress, and we can choose to become more “fully formed” in perfect love each day.

And what is perfect love? God is perfect love. So when fear creeps into a moment, the way to cast it out is this:

1. Spend time every day growing closer to God, your perfect love. Perfect love banishes fear. The closer you stay to him, the deeper and more fully formed your faith will become, and your resolve for living a life worthy of LIFE will be stronger, and more fear-resistant.

2. Jesus came “that you might have LIFE, and have it abundantly.” Make choices every day based on life-abundant, not fear of what may (or may not) happen.

3. Talk back to your fear by saying this:

“God is my refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

I WILL NOT FEAR.” (Psalm 46)

Take that, fear!

So you go now, and live a life worth living for.

Flying Fearless by Michelle Robertson

Raise your hand if you dislike plastic straws. On the Outer Banks, we are raising awareness about the incredible damage that plastic does to our oceans, our ocean wildlife, and our earth in general. One picture of a beached whale whose stomach was filled with plastic was enough to change me. This is something that is starting to take ahold of our culture, slowly but surely. Paper straws are becoming the norm in places like Disney World, (can you imagine the number of straws they use in a day?) and it is not uncommon now to be served a drink without a straw. Thank the Lord, we are waking up.

Taking care of our earth is a charge we received at the very beginning of time:

Genesis 1 (NIV)

27 So God created mankind in his own image,

    in the image of God he created them;

    male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

And it was so. We are charged with caring for God’s glorious creation: the fish, birds, every living creature, every seed-bearing plant, tree, and even the beasts of the earth.

That is quite a lot of responsibility.

The simple question today is this: what can you do to intentionally change how you live? Can you reduce your use of plastic? Sign up for recycling? Choose paper bags over plastic ones? Refuse a plastic straw in a restaurant? Learn more about how to reduce your carbon footprint?

If we take this scripture seriously, we realize that God trusting us to care for everything he gave us. This becomes not a political or social issue, but a SPIRITUAL one.

So ask yourself today, what one thing can you do?

We can begin by refusing the plastic straw. Next time a server offers you one, just say, “No thanks. I’m saving the whales.” Let it build from there. The planet will thank you, and you honor God with your choices. And it’s biblical!

Clean Waters by Wende Pritchard.

Have you ever been in a moment that seemed to be endless?

A first kiss, sitting in the Operating Room waiting area, the month before Christmas, a painful reprimanding by your mom, being in labor with your first child, church administrative meetings….lots of things feel endless.

Of course the end eventually comes and in hindsight, you realize that it wasn’t as bad as you thought in the moment. Well, except for church administrative meetings.

Our sense of time and our perception of its passing are easily skewed by our expectations. If you expected a meeting to be over in half an hour, then by the third hour you are sure you’ve been there for days. The month before Christmas is exactly four weeks, no matter how ready you aren’t or excited you are. A first kiss is probably more fleeting than you realized….but when your Mama is yelling at you, well, that does go on for an eternity.

When working with people who have lost a loved one, the subject of time and our perception of its passing are often a part of the discussion. In the grand scope of things, this earthy existence is but a blink of an eye. One blink, and there is your 89.5 average years of earthly existence. By contrast, the scope of eternity is, well, endless:

Revelation 21 New International Version (NIV)

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Can you even imagine? All the pettiness, grief, hardship, heartache, and even all the pleasures of earthly life will pass in the blink of an eye, and we will dwell with God forever. And in our new Jerusalem, there will be no more pain, no more crying, and even no more death.

This is the perspective of time which we would do well to remember. So often we focus on the seeming endlessness of everyday life, when actually every day is minuscule compared to what is to come. So the aggravations of this world end up not amounting to much in the end. Yet in the moment, they certainly can overwhelm everything.

So next time you are stuck in a place or situation that you long to flee, remember the new Jerusalem. This moment, this thing, this burden will quickly pass, but God’s eternity is endless. His love endures forever, world without end. Amen.

Endless Summer by Michele Robertson.

So many happy stories end in, “She said yes!”

A shy boy shows up at the front door with a cake box. On the cake it reads, “Prom?”

An elaborate marriage proposal, planned for months, and pulled off to perfection.

Mothers, girlfriends, and sisters breathing a sigh of relief at the wedding dress shop that the hunt is finally over.

I had a chance to watch three little girls experience the pure joy of “she said yes.” They were plotting and planning a sleepover, hopeful and giddy. The third girl hadn’t asked her mother yet. She ventured over to her Mom, asked the question, then began to shriek, “SHE SAID YES!!! SHE SAID YES!!!” I was so excited, I almost started to pack my sleepover bag myself.

You know what’s ever better than when the girl, the dress, and the Mom all end up in “yes?”

When God says, “YES.”

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 The Message (MSG)

20-22 Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident.

God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

This scripture hinges on God’s promises:

*There is nothing that can separate you from his love.

*You are fearfully and wonderfully made

*God has a plan to prosper you, and not harm you.

*God wants to give you a future with hope.

*God loved you so much, he sent his only son to die so that you might live.

*When you sincerely repent, he will forgive you, and wash you clean of your sins.

These promises are rock solid, stamped by Jesus’ YES, and are the affirmation of his eternal pledge to you. He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. All he asks is that you believe he is who he says he is, and receive his grace. God’s yes and our yes, together.

What is God asking you today?

Say yes.

Crescent Moon by Michele Robertson.

According to the CDC:

• Secondhand smoke is smoke from burning tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, or pipes.

• Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer.

I am a recipient of second hand smoke. My parents both smoked cigarettes when I was a child, and I have strong and unpleasant memories of a care-giver down the street who watched me while my mother worked. Every day she smoked non-stop. The worst was riding in the car with her in the New Jersey winters with all the windows shut, breathing in her cigarette smoke as we ran errands in her VW bug.

I have had respiratory issues all my life. Coincidence, or exposure?

It occurs to me that there are other ways of encountering second hand “smoke,” as in the kind of smoke that comes with mirrors, or the smoke that someone tries to “blow up your chimney.” In this context, smoke is understood as “the obscuring or embellishing of the truth of a situation with misleading or irrelevant information.”

Sound like the nightly news? On any channel?

Essentially we are all victims of second hand smoke and mirrors. Nobody delivers the news any more. Nobody is telling the truth. It is all opinion, innuendo, and click-bait. Where is Walter Cronkite when you need him? The truth is obscured, misleading, and irrelevant. Contemporary news can make you heart-sick. And it is definitely toxic.

So what is truth? Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, heart, and the very being of God. Truth is God, expressed.

Psalm 25 New International Version (NIV)

2 I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame,

   nor let my enemies triumph over me.

3 No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame,

but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.

4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.

5 Guide me in your TRUTH and teach me,

for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

God alone is our only source of truth.

God alone is our savior.

In this age of constant confusion, lies, misdirection, second hand smoke, and cracked mirrors, our only hope is for God to guide our path, teach us truth, and to show us the way.

1 Corinthians 15 The Message

If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection.

But the TRUTH is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

That’s the truth. You can stake your life on it. All the rest….ALL THE REST…will all pass away. The troubles, trials, and fabrications of this world will all bow down to the truth of Christ-resurrected.

When that time comes, do you think anyone will care about today’s headlines? What is trending on Twitter? What is going viral on FaceBook or YouTube?

Nope. All that will wither away in the face of truth.

So stop spending your day inhaling the toxic fumes of untruth of what is currently playing on the news. Quit logging in to the shattered mirror of social media. Turn your eyes instead upon Jesus. And the truth will set you free.

Suffolk Sunset by Michelle Robertson.

Have you ever seen such a relaxed pose? Don’t you wish that for a brief moment you could actually achieve this level of chill? Not a care in the world, not a thought in your mind, no worries, burdens or pressures of bills, flat tires, back-talking kids, cheating spouses, and lay-off notices. It’s a dog’s life!

But for the rest of us….

Relaxation is hard to attain. Everyday life is so full of everyday stress, and then life-altering situations such as job loss, death of a family member, childbirth, hurricanes, etc. come along and can send you right over the edge.

I evacuated twice from two different states during the most recent hurricane. It was heading straight for Florida while I was there. Flights were suddenly canceled and the airport was about to close so we fled to catch the last flight out to North Carolina. Then the hurricane turned and we braced again for it to hit us on the Outer Banks, so I evacuated a second time to Virginia. One storm, two evacuations, three states.

I came home to find it raining in my closet. It’s not supposed to rain in your closet. My shoulders were so tense, they did not come down from my ears for a month and my neck still aches from the tension. And compared to our brothers and sisters in Ocracoke, we got off easy.

What do you do to relax? Golf? Read? Walk somewhere beautiful? Play games? Binge Netflix? Talk with friends? These are all wonderful ways to find a measure of relaxation in the crazy reality you live in.

But do you ever wonder, what would it take to find relaxation that actually lasts?

Matthew 6 (The Message)

30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

What I’m trying to do here is to get you to RELAX, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.

People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Steep your life in God-reality.

Steep your life in God-initiative.

Steep your life in God-provisions.

Every tea drinker knows that to steep something means you immerse it in hot water and leave it there until it is bled out. Matthew is reminding us to immerse ourselves in the heat of God’s love until God-reality replaces crazy reality. Like a long, steamy bubble bath where you emerge jello-legged and empty-headed, we are invited to steep in everything God is providing, and stay immersed until the tension leaves our shoulders and we lay belly up on the beach in the warm sun.

Do something for yourself today: enter into God’s presence and RELAX there. God adores you and has great pride in you. He desires to meet your everyday human concerns. Let him take care of you, and just BREATHE.

See the dog? Be the dog.

Photo by Margaret Brushwood

When babies come into your life, a lot of things get clarified. Purpose, priorities, and the point of it all are among the top AHA moments we experience with a childbirth in the family. I have strong memories of running along the San Diego Bay four years ago when my first grandchild was born. I felt my mother-in-law’s spirit infused in every moment. “Nana” loved Coronado, and she would have loved being there to greet her oldest grandchild’s first child. I also felt keenly aware of my own mother in those early days. “Grandmere” loved her daughters and her granddaughters. These two matriarchs watch from heaven now, and as the new matriarch in the family, they both send their love from heaven straight to my heart.

The clarity that came with their spirits was about my own priorities. I had too often put work before family in my life, and these two women and the way they loved their families made me realize that the time had come to re-adjust.

In short, I was able to make an arrangement with my bishop and my church to be appointed in an “appointment without pay” so that I could have more flexibility in my schedule and not be as confined to the church’s calendar as I had been for twenty-plus years. I still serve the church, but I have more time to be present with my family. Not everyone can do this. I am blessed beyond measure, and this decision brought me to a place of peace I have not experienced in decades. Finally, I have balance.

Babies are a true “labor of love.” It takes a village of family and friends surrounding the new parents to make life work in the first few months. Housework, feeding, grocery shopping, meal prep, etc. all require a team effort so that mother, father and baby can do the important thing: thrive! Or at least survive!

Did you ever think about the fact that YOU are a labor of love, too? You are God’s labor of love:

John 3:16 The Message (MSG)

16  “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.

God’s labor of love was born in a manger and died on the cross so that you might live. His agony was your victory. His suffering assures you everything you need to thrive in this world, and in the world to come. Jesus labored so that you can have the blessed assurance of peace and hope.

And those who believe can be provide a labor of love to the world:

Hebrews 6:10-12 The Message (MSG)

9-12 I’m sure that won’t happen to you, friends. I have better things in mind for you—salvation things! God doesn’t miss anything. He knows perfectly well the labor of love you’ve shown him by helping needy Christians, and that you keep at it. And now I want each of you to extend that same intensity toward a full-bodied hope, and keep at it till the finish.

Where is God calling you to provide a labor of love to someone today?

After 33 hours of laboring in love, my fourth grandchild has arrived. He is a small and tiny blessing, and reminds me once again of my purpose in life: to labor in love (I am so much in love with this wee boy!) and to extend this intensity toward a full-bodied hope until the day my labors are over.

How about you? May we labor in love until his Kingdom comes.

Stuff happens. Then more stuff happens. And before you know it, stuff has taken over, and you find yourself spending much more time than is reasonable just managing your stuff.

I have been trying to clean out my home office for two weeks. I have found a few treasures under the piles, but for the most part, I uncover something and wonder why the heck I still have it. I’ve come to the conclusion that stuff has a secret nocturnal reproductive life that we don’t know about. Surely every morning there is more stuff than there was the night before!

Stuff is the biggest challenge for folks who make the crazy decision to move into a tiny house. Made popular by HGTV, tiny houses are a fascinating (if wholly unrealistic!) trend for folks desiring a more simple and uncomplicated life.

Tiny houses range from 300-500 square feet. Think of that: you need to cram a kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, living room, storage space, and an eating table in less than 500 square feet. And then….where do you put your STUFF?

What do you really need? If you could pare your life down to the essentials, what would remain? Imagine you had to move into a 300 square foot tiny house: what would you keep, and what would you throw away?

The early church found out. They actually sold all their things so that they could support one another and live together in community, where everyone had what they needed and nobody had too much:

Acts 2:45-47 Common English Bible (CEB)

45 They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them. 46 Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity.

47 They praised God and demonstrated God’s goodness to everyone. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved.

They shared, with gladness and SIMPLICITY.

Do you ever wish for a more simple life? Is life too complicated? Have you lost sight of the simple delights God has provided? What does the Lord desire for you…more stuff, or more simplicity?

I believe we are all called to simplicity. Removing anything that distracts us from our calling as disciples enables us to experience a certain level of godliness that comes with simple contentment. Paring down to the essentials of what is necessary is a pathway to holiness.

And you might even fit it all in a tiny house, with room left over.

1 Timothy 6 (NIV)

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Tiny on!

Simple Sunset by Kenn Haas

Young Mother and Young Father were having a terrible night. Baby was fussy, feeding at a rate of a middle school boys soccer team, and sleep was a thing of the past. A twentieth attempt at nursing in three hours was soothing to Baby, but Young Parents were SPENT. As in ran-the-marathon with a high fever spent. As in government deficit-spending spent. There was nothing left in their sleep vaults.

Young Father moved zombie-like to the changing table to change the 812th diaper of the night. Baby had somehow completely wet the crib, and now needed a total changing.

After blow-drying the crib mattress, Young Father, still in the aforementioned state of being TOTALLY SPENT, went to install a dry diaper. Unfortunately, he neglected to protect himself from the possibility of rain showers at 2AM, and lo and behold, it rained. He cleaned up from that up-pour and returned Baby to Young Mother.

Now immersed in cleaning up the rest of the aftereffects of the storm, which included the changing pad, the crib sheet, the baby onesie, and parts of Young Father himself, he looked heavenward to pray to Almighty God and noticed something odd on the ceiling.

Young Mother at this point was sitting up in the bed, using rote to guide her through the next feeding. Suddenly Young Father stopped his cleaning activity and spoke to her in low, measured tones.

“Young Mother, I want you to calmly collect Baby and move to the other side of the room.” In her confused and DID I MENTION TOTALLY SPENT STATE, Young Mother blinked uncomprehendingly at her spouse. “I want you to move NOW,” he continued.

She moved just seconds before the large, winged, fanged, and possibly virulent COCKROACH flew from the ceiling directly above her head, down to the place where Young Father stood holding a dripping bundle-cloth and a baby outfit still warm from its owner.

A battle, the likes of which Game of Thrones only HOPED to portray, ensued. Young Father could not locate a shoe or heavy object nearby, and literally punched the roach twice with his bare fist. But as he went to retrieve a paper towel, the unthinkable happened as Young Mother watched from her corner…the roach arose from the dead.

In Lazarus-like fashion, it went from prostrate on the floor to arching his shiny black back like he was in the finals of a B-Boy breakdance competition. Up from the grave he arose, and re-located underneath a 300 pound dresser. Young Father, quite full of dead-of-night-alarm-adrenaline actually managed to shift the dresser, but Laz was on the move now, having had a better night’s sleep than poor Young Father.

Now the real stress began…to try to resume night-time routines (sleep? What’s sleep?) with a resurrected cockroach on the loose.

Have you ever lost sleep over things that go bump in the night? Do you wake up sometimes feeling under attack by the thoughts, words, actions, and situations you experienced during the day that come at you in the dark, disrupting your sleep?

So did David:

Psalm 3 Common English Bible (CEB)

3 Lord, I have so many enemies!

    So many are standing against me.

2 So many are talking about me:

    “Even God won’t help him.” Selah

3 But you, Lord, are my shield!

    You are my glory!

    You are the one who restores me.

4 I cry out loud to the Lord,

    and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah

5 I lie down, sleep, and wake up

    because the Lord helps me.

At the end of a long night, the sun arose, and Young Mother and Father went about their day. God provided enough sleep, and they discovered that when they cry out to the Lord, he answers from the holy mountain. Sleep came because the Lord helped them.

When you feel your enemies flying fang-first from the ceiling of your bedchamber in the middle of the night, remember that the Lord is your shield. He is your glory! He comes to restore you, and he hears your cries for deliverance.

In the dawn of the rising sun, Old Nana picked up a suitcase from the floor and out ran Lazarus. She commanded him back into the grave with a decisively fatal WHACK with a shoe. She even spoke words of committal over him as she flushed him to his watery grave. Peace reigned once again in the house.

May it also be with you tonight.

Nighttime Falls in Ocracoke by Rendy King.