A re-post/publish from July 2007
I was in Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota on a business trip this week. On my way home Wednesday night I learned of some storms baring down on the Twin Cities.
First, let me take you back to Wednesday morning.
I had stayed in Fargo overnight and was meeting my client in Grand Forks at 9 am. I got on the road at 8 am for my one hour and 15 minute trip. Eek! Then, while driving somewhere between 85 to 90 mph in a 75, the Lord began to convict me about speeding. Of course, I argued with Him.
Skipping the ugly details of how and why a rebellious little runt argues with her heavenly Father, I agreed to go only five miles over the speed limit (which in my justification is within legal limits. Ugh, I need work). I set my cruise for 80 (so I wouldn't be tempted further) and rested in the knowledge that God would bless my obedience. He even ministered to me that He is the author of all and He was able to bring about perfect timing. I arrived at 9 am.
I enjoyed this am encounter and blessing for the bulk of the day as I knew in my heart that God was working to remind me to come back to His schedule and timing and trust Him -- always and in all things. Be still and know He is God.
Later, I was leaving Northwood, ND at 4:45 pm, headed for home. I was, however, a little upset because I had hoped to get out of there by 3:30 pm -- at the latest -- to arrive in Minneapolis with a little time to gether myself before bedtime and back to the office the next day.
While driving out of no-where-land Northwood, ND (beautiful farmland) I again heard that soft gentlevoice from within, telling me to rest in Him and believe that He has a plan and a purpose in the delay. I struggled in my flesh for another minute or two (I know, I know, I already said I need work!) and then chose to rest, the peace came, I set the cruise control for five miles over the speed limit and navigated my way out of God's country.
Before I knew it, I was already in Fargo -- only 3.5 hours from home! Hallehlujah!!! There was a lot of construction and I was on the phone with my friend as a waved goobye to the famous little border city. All seemed right with the world. Until ... yikes! Where am I?! I suddenly found myself snapping out of auto pilot in the midst of unfamiliar territory. Ugh! I missed the 94 Exit! Some XX miles back in Fargo! Oh for pete's!
I turned around. A careful odometer reading revealed that I'd traveled eight miles out of the city before I came out of my little place of traveling bliss and into that unfamiliar patch of road that exposed my inattention. Dang it! 16 miles out of the way! Surely I wouldn't get home now till like ... November!!!
Eight miles back to Fargo. An uneasy transfer to Interstate 94 East! East! And I was back on course. More delay. Drat. Boogers and poop! This is too much! But then ... once again, that sweet, kind, patient nudge (the Lord of course!) ... this delay too is not without purpose.
About four more miles out of Fargo -- 256 miles from Minneapolis -- I got over myself and my idiodic error, and rested again in the comfort of knowing that the Lord has me covered -- always and in all things.
Another hour goes by. To pass the time I licked the cheesy powder off several Lays stackers chedder "potato chips" and tossed the chip out the window not wanting to consume ALL the calories as I sat on my butt for another half-day of travel. Then I began to call other friends to make some human contact and find loving reminder that I was not really alone on the planet.
I called my friend Laura, but she wasn't home. Her sister/roommate was however. She informed me of Laura's evening itinerary and that the cities were experiencing some severe weather. I suddenly realized that for some time now I had been seeing a lot of lightening ahead. Hmm.
Lightening flashed all around, from cloud to cloud, from cloud to ground -- a spectular display that seemed to be announcing my return home. All the while it was far in front of me. I heard nothing of the weather on any radio station. I knew nothing of severe anything. Just a pretty, sufficiently distant display of nature.
I gently pressed the peddle of my rented Chevy Malibou and creeped through an underwater North Minneapolis at 10:15 pm as I gazed at the downed branches and debris left behind by an evening barage of atmospheric upheaval. For a moment I thought; dear Lord! my basement could be a 2,000 gallon fish tank by now! -- I pulled onto my concrete parking slab, turned off the car, gathered by belongings and waided through my swimming sod. I unlocked the back door to my home, entered, set my things down ... I was home. And then ... I heard the first drop of rain I had seen or heard all evening.
My basement -- dry as a desert.
Devine timing. Supernatural protection. And no harm to my tent. He is such a good God.
Thank you Lord. You deserve much glory and all our praise!!!
I pray that you and your families are all well and safe.
For those of you that don't know, the Twin Cities got whooped Wednesday eve -- including two tornados in major suburban areas.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Shut Up Already: He Can Do It Through You
Have you ever been faced with something you had to do, but you thought "I cannot do this. I don't even have the ability to do this. God, why are you forcing me to fail? Why would you even put me in a position to be responsible for something I cannot accomplish: how on earth could You be glorified in that?!" I was in this pickle, back in 2002 and learned a very valuable lesson.
It was several months after we laid off our creative director/copywriter. We had a new client for which we had committed to help with their branding. Among other things, this assignment would require a lot of writing. Not just writing--really good writing. Clever, comprehensive, inspiring writing. Just one problem; we didn't have a copywriter anymore and we couldn't afford a freelancer. Somebody had to do it and since I was the only one that could spell, it was going to be up to me.
The endeavor started out okay--I love a challenge and refuse to back down from anything. But if inexperience and lack of confidence weren't enough; as it turned out I had to start writing the client's "brand story" at 8 p.m. the night before the 8 a.m. presentation. No worries, I can do it--I guess. (We were swamped, broke after 9/11 and working 12-16 hours a day. That's a lot of hours to try to be creative.)
I was exhausted, hungry, angry at the situation, and couldn't get two thoughtful sentences on the page. Only 2-3 pages to go. I think it was about 9:30 p.m. when I started to break down. I was scared to death of failing, mad at God for putting me in this position, physically and emotionally drained--let's just say the natural ability to accomplish this task wasn't even within the realm of earthly possibility. It was all over. And of course I was the only one in the office working and worrying about this thing: naturally the owners were at home playing with their families. Nice.
I lost it. I thought my muscles were going to revolt and leave me like a boneless chicken. I thought I would never be able to look at the bosses again without scratching their eyes out. I thought we would lose the client and I was mad as a hornet that God had laid that in my lap.
Eyeballs swollen, I went to the ladies room, threw myself on the floor and bawled. I was yelling at God!!! Then started praying in tongues to keep myself from cussing at Him (I'm sure He could have handled it but I couldn't). I stayed there till I was all poured out. Exhausted, with no hope left in being able to get this thing done, I said, "God, You put me in this predicament, I need You to do something. Why would You say You'll be glorified through me and then allow this to happen? I can't do this. Did You hear me, I CANNOT DO THIS!!! You put me in this position and You better do something about it! I am going back in there and I am going to type whatever pops into my mind. I hope it's good because I wanna go home."
I grabbed a soda, dragged my sorry tail back to my desk, set my keyboard square in front of me, exhaled and literally typed every word that came to my mind.
Maybe 30 minutes later I struck the period at the bottom of page 2 and concluded that was that--good or bad.
The next morning, one hour before presentation, I read it. It was one of the best brand stories I'd ever read! WHAT?! For real. I passed it around. They guys all thought it was great--really great--and they were ready for the meeting. Miffed that they had no idea what it took to birth that thing, I smiled because He had done it. I finally understood what it means to come to the end of myself, to allow Him to work through me, and He was in fact glorified--I knew He did it. And now you do too. : )
This sounds ridiculous doesn't it? I had heard of things like this and thought, "yah, right." I wish it wasn't so darn painful to get to the place where we give up, but wow, when we do, He really is faithful beyond what you can think or imagine. To this day, I can write, anywhere, anytime. I just have to make myself available.
Just yesterday my boss (I do marketing for a Christian school now) told me in my review that I have the greatest writing gift he's ever seen. PRAISE THE LORD!!!
Don't run from the edge of your comfort zone. Please, run toward it. When you're getting to the end of your rope, He is just getting started.
God bless you and all He puts your hand to.
It was several months after we laid off our creative director/copywriter. We had a new client for which we had committed to help with their branding. Among other things, this assignment would require a lot of writing. Not just writing--really good writing. Clever, comprehensive, inspiring writing. Just one problem; we didn't have a copywriter anymore and we couldn't afford a freelancer. Somebody had to do it and since I was the only one that could spell, it was going to be up to me.
The endeavor started out okay--I love a challenge and refuse to back down from anything. But if inexperience and lack of confidence weren't enough; as it turned out I had to start writing the client's "brand story" at 8 p.m. the night before the 8 a.m. presentation. No worries, I can do it--I guess. (We were swamped, broke after 9/11 and working 12-16 hours a day. That's a lot of hours to try to be creative.)
I was exhausted, hungry, angry at the situation, and couldn't get two thoughtful sentences on the page. Only 2-3 pages to go. I think it was about 9:30 p.m. when I started to break down. I was scared to death of failing, mad at God for putting me in this position, physically and emotionally drained--let's just say the natural ability to accomplish this task wasn't even within the realm of earthly possibility. It was all over. And of course I was the only one in the office working and worrying about this thing: naturally the owners were at home playing with their families. Nice.
I lost it. I thought my muscles were going to revolt and leave me like a boneless chicken. I thought I would never be able to look at the bosses again without scratching their eyes out. I thought we would lose the client and I was mad as a hornet that God had laid that in my lap.
Eyeballs swollen, I went to the ladies room, threw myself on the floor and bawled. I was yelling at God!!! Then started praying in tongues to keep myself from cussing at Him (I'm sure He could have handled it but I couldn't). I stayed there till I was all poured out. Exhausted, with no hope left in being able to get this thing done, I said, "God, You put me in this predicament, I need You to do something. Why would You say You'll be glorified through me and then allow this to happen? I can't do this. Did You hear me, I CANNOT DO THIS!!! You put me in this position and You better do something about it! I am going back in there and I am going to type whatever pops into my mind. I hope it's good because I wanna go home."
I grabbed a soda, dragged my sorry tail back to my desk, set my keyboard square in front of me, exhaled and literally typed every word that came to my mind.
Maybe 30 minutes later I struck the period at the bottom of page 2 and concluded that was that--good or bad.
The next morning, one hour before presentation, I read it. It was one of the best brand stories I'd ever read! WHAT?! For real. I passed it around. They guys all thought it was great--really great--and they were ready for the meeting. Miffed that they had no idea what it took to birth that thing, I smiled because He had done it. I finally understood what it means to come to the end of myself, to allow Him to work through me, and He was in fact glorified--I knew He did it. And now you do too. : )
This sounds ridiculous doesn't it? I had heard of things like this and thought, "yah, right." I wish it wasn't so darn painful to get to the place where we give up, but wow, when we do, He really is faithful beyond what you can think or imagine. To this day, I can write, anywhere, anytime. I just have to make myself available.
Just yesterday my boss (I do marketing for a Christian school now) told me in my review that I have the greatest writing gift he's ever seen. PRAISE THE LORD!!!
Don't run from the edge of your comfort zone. Please, run toward it. When you're getting to the end of your rope, He is just getting started.
God bless you and all He puts your hand to.
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