Trailmarker Archives 2010



SIGN-UP to receive Trailmarkers via email. Trail Markers If you have ever gone for a walk or hike in a State or National Park you may remember that not only is the path worn down by others traveling over it, but there are also markers attached to the trees to help you stay on the right path. All of the different paths that cross are marked with different colored blazes. As you walk, you not only enjoy what God has made, but you keep an eye on the markers along the path. Some paths have an increased intensity, some are easier. Some paths cross water and some come to a dead end and you have to go back to where you started. At different times paths cross and you have a decision to make. Do you want to take the easier path? Are there obstacles along one path that you just don't want to deal with? But at all times, all of the paths are clearly marked so that you can find your way, if you are looking. Christ does the same thing for His followers. He marks the path out for us. If we choose to, we can follow His path, or we can go out on our own and create a new one. That is the wonderful gift of free will that God gave us.	Archives from 2010 We would love to hear from you about how you have Left a Trace on the world or about how someone Left a Trace on you! Email us at leftatrace@leaveatrace.net December 3, 2010 Recently I read a devotional that I take issue with. A question was raised in the devotion that basically asks, “Can you serve the Lord without your health?” My answer is a resounding, “YES! You can!” But that is not what the writer wanted me to say. I get it. I know what she was saying. I know because I have a food addiction and I’m not truly healthy. My blood pressure is fine. My cholesterol is fine. But I eat my emotions. When I’m tired, I eat. When I’m stressed, I eat. When I’m happy, I celebrate, by eating! Luckily I don’t do this every day or all day. But I do it enough that my body is not at its best. And my eating takes me away from honoring God. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 it says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” If I rely on food for comfort and happiness, I am not relying on the God who created me. So here is the conundrum, I’m not healthy, but I can serve the Lord. I am not promoting ill health or inactivity here, because, yes, I know that I can serve Him better if I am at my best. (And I am working hard at becoming healthier!) But I am here to tell you that God wants us however we are. He loves us with our addictions and our problems. He loves us no matter what we look like whether or not we are healthy. Many of us serve the Lord in a sick body. I can do it. You can do it. And you can do it well. It is true that when we are healthy we can serve with greater endurance but unfortunately I think that often when we are healthy we forget to endure for the Lord. God will use our ill health to bring us closer to Him and to His will. Today I want to remind you that no matter what your health is, you can honor the one who came to this earth in a lowly manger. You can share Him with someone today through the simplest of acts; whether a smile, a whisper, a tear or a nod of friendship. You can give the gift of Him because He gave himself to us. November 21, 2010 So you have an idea of what it would mean to leave just a bit of your faith in the world. So here is the question, "Could a 3 year old leave a bit of his faith on others?" My little one does. We were at a store a few days ago and someone asked him what his name was. He says, “Nate.” They then asked if he knew how to spell it. He says, “With the cross that Jesus died on.” (That is how his preschool teacher describes a “t.”). A while back as I was reading a book he started pointing at words and asking, “Does that say God?” Over and over again he asked. He was looking for God in a book, called the Bible. Today when I told him we were going shopping, he asked me if he could get a lolli. But it wasn’t just any lolli he wants. He would like one that is red, yellow, black and white, because that is precious in His sight! Talk about leaving a bit of your faith! Small children and their wonderful words about the love that they know and feel is amazing! November 9, 2010 How does God see worldly time? In studying creation I have come to believe that when it says that God created the world in seven days, it means seven days. I think that because a day is defined by the rising of the sun and that relates to the rotation of the earth and I believe that the earth has always rotated at the same speed and etc and so on. So a day to me means 24 hours. Now, don’t go off on a huge tangent disagreeing with me here. The girls in my accountability group go off on that tangent enough all the time. In the scheme of things it is more important to just believe that God created the world than it is to know how many days or hours it took him. The main point is that when God created the world, he also created worldly time which is defined by the rotation of the earth on its axis. But God doesn’t physically exist here. God’s Spirit resides in us; Jesus lived here and knew our time. But God is different. His time is eternity. His time is infinite. His time is something that we can not put our hands and heads fully around but we know that we want to be there, with him. One question that frequently comes up in discussions with my friends is how God, who is so big, who has existed for infinity can possibly be concerned about the now. I can’t say that I have even a little bit of understanding of how he does it. Nope. Not even a little bit of the “how.” But I do think I can grasp that even though he sees the ends of infinity, he is focused on the here and now of the earth. He is now with us. He is now wanting a relationship with us. He is now loving us, encouraging us, carrying us. Now is the time that for us to live for Him. Now is the time for us to do for Him. Now is the time to forget what happened in the past that ties our hands, keeps us bound and stuck. Now is the time to forget all the yuck of the past that slows us down. Now is the time to forget what we want tomorrow to be. We need to live for Christ now. We need to ask ourselves what we can do now. November 3, 2010 I just had this image come to my mind of a conveyor belt. Kind of like the one at the grocery store where your food slides down to the end for the bagger. But this one isn’t moving. Instead it is stacked with all of the things that I want to accomplish today. Exercise, eating right, errands, messages, friends, kid school projects, a bit of work, guitar lessons, meals, party planning, and I’m sure there is more, but I have to stop thinking or I am going to become extremely depressed. (Now you are probably thinking of all of the things on your own to do list for the day. Sorry about that.) I have to tell you that lately I have had this mantra running through my mind, “One day at a time. One day at a time.” When someone asked if I was ready for my daughter’s birthday party, my answer was, “Nope, I have 24 hours.” When asked what I was making for our Sunday school class’ lunch, my answer was, “Chili, I think. But that isn’t until Sunday, so I still have time.” So, back to the conveyor belt that isn’t moving. That is where I am picturing all of these “to do’s” piled up high for me right now. And it looks to me like the pile is going to get higher. At the end of the day my conveyor will be filled and moved to tomorrow where more will be added and just a few things will be plucked off and put away. The nice thing is that some of the fun things that I know I have to do have already been put away; things that really don’t need to be done for weeks. But they were fun after all, so I went ahead and did them when I had a spare moment. If I think too much about my conveyor belt and how full it is getting, I can really get bogged down. I begin to worry that something won’t get done. Or someone will be disappointed. These things aren’t the things that I’ve said yes to and over committed myself. I’m talking about the daily stuff. When my husband asked me if I was ready for something this past weekend I said to him “One day at a time.” The thing he was asking about wasn’t until the next day. He responded by reminding me that that is actually Biblical. In Matthew 6:34 it says “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Luke reiterates this concept in Chapter 12 verses 22 – 26. My conveyor belt has begun moving again because there are plenty of things that can be done tomorrow; things that don’t have to or need to be done today. Today I will focus on today. The things that need to happen today. And what doesn’t get done? Well it can be done another day, if it is still important then. - Donna October 19, 2010 I have a group of Christian friends that I meet with regularly to discuss God, Jesus, and life. We call it an accountability group instead of a Bible study. There is a long explanation for that but one of the main reasons is that at any given moment our conversation can take a flying leap far away from the topic proposed for the day to someone’s personal joys or worries. The best part is that throughout this somewhat convoluted conversation we somehow manage to keep Jesus at the center of it. One of the best moments I can remember from meeting with this amazing group of women is the time when a couple of us dragged ourselves in to the coffee shop. We looked and felt like we had been raked over hot coals by this world. It struck all of us at once that normally when we are feeling done in by kids, school, housework, regular work, and social stuff we normally crawl under our personal “rocks” and hide for a while. But when it comes to our accountability group, all of us throw off our personal burdens and gain strength from the Rock we have built our foundations on, Jesus. Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” 2 Samuel 22:2-3 “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.” - Donna October 12, 2010 So many of us love to people watch. I can remember times in college when we would sit on the dorm steps and see who would walk by. Now, one of my favorite places in our little town is the coffee shop. There is a lot of comfort there with so many familiar faces and you are quickly drawn into the community as you watch what is happening around you. When I pick up a newspaper I go to the human interest stories to see what others are doing. My parents added a screened in front porch to their home so that they “could see what is happening in the neighborhood.” As you are people watching, have you ever tried predicting what someone would do when you are watching them? If they drop something on the ground, do they pick it up? If they are in a rush, do they acknowledge the people they know walking by or do they keep their eyes to the ground? When someone stops to talk to friends, do they become completely oblivious to everything else? It is often quite easy to predict what someone else is going to do when you have observed them for a while. I can pretty well guess that my oldest will forget to practice his trumpet after school no matter how many times I remind him. (Yet, he still loves to play it and be in the band!) I guarantee that if I walk into an office supply store with my daughter she will desperately need another notebook. And if my three year old sees a toy commercial for a truck or action figure on television, he will say to me, “Mom, I could want that for my birthday.” Have you ever thought about watching God the same way that we watch people? Many times I have been involved in conversations where people ask “How do I know that God is talking to me… telling me to do… teaching me…?” I have finally come to an answer that is comfortable for me. If you watch God in the world, watch Him by reading his Bible, you will know. God’s character stands out when we see him. God loves us. God forgives us. God only does what is ultimately good for his people. God will discipline us, but he will not harm us. God wants everyone to know him. God wants to comfort us. God encourages us. God wants to help us through tough times. God is generous. God is consistent, faithful, and all knowing. This list can go on but the point is, when you wonder if God is speaking to you, asking you to do something, encouraging you to move forward or to stop, ask yourself if what you think God is saying falls in line with God’s character that you have seen and watched. - Donna October 5, 2010 As I was on my way to pick up my son from school a few weeks ago I saw an interesting “dance” take place. It began at a stop light where there are three lanes of traffic coming up to an intersection. There is a left turn lane, a right turn lane, and the lane in the middle going straight through. Someone in the right turn lane really meant to go straight. So they pull over close to the straight lane and assume that they will be let in. When the light turned green everyone began across the intersection, including the person in the turn lane. Because there are actually two intersections designed this way, I've seen this many times in our little town. And this is where sinister little me says, "you committed to the right turn, you need to turn right." (I think Jerry Seinfeld could have made an episode out of that.) What I found so interesting was the reaction of the driver that was forced to let the right turn lane car into the straight ahead lane. A reaction that I’m sure I have had in the past myself. First was the beeping horn as we crossed the intersection. Then the right turn guy decides quickly to turn into the store on the opposite side of the intersection, which makes straight lane guy swerve aggressively, and needlessly, around right turn guy. Then straight lane guy laid on the gas and took off. He must have been going at least 50 mph in a 35 mph zone and coming up on the school. When he gets around the bend he slams on his brakes, because right there is the police officer waiting to direct traffic at the end of the school day. To summarize, straight lane guy went from waiting at a light (daily life), to annoyance (beeping the horn), to anger (swerving and speeding), to frustrated (police) all in about one minute because of someone else's error in judgment. Why is it that our first reaction to someone else’s mistake is annoyance? Is that how we expect other’s to react to our own mistakes? It makes me think of the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant from Matthew 18: 21 – 35. We are forgiven by God for innumerable sins that we commit, yet when it comes to us having to forgive someone else for a mistake in judgment, or the smallest of infractions, we often react quickly, negatively and without charity. September 2010 Have you ever had a time when one word can just throw you for a loop? Or maybe a time when that one word was the tipping point in an already stressful situation. What if you are a leader or administrator? You have God given characteristics. You take action when action is needed. You like to get things done. You like to *initiate,* which means, “to cause or facilitate the beginning of.” To show initiative means, “to have energy or aptitude displayed in action or initiation.” You are a person who does not like idleness. If something needs to be done or said or asked, you do it. But what if you are mistaken as an *instigator? To instigate* means, “to goad or urge forward.” Look at that again, initiate means to cause the beginning; instigate means to goad or urge forward. Close, aren’t they? They both cause movement. The difference lies in the intention behind the action. Is your intention to push forward and get a reaction, no matter the outcome; to just start something? Or is your intention to get the ball rolling; to begin a process toward whatever end may be? God gave me the gifts of administration and leadership. There are days when I really wish he hadn’t given them to me because I also take controversy straight into my heart. In this world administration and leadership go hand in hand with controversy. There is always someone who will think differently of me. That means that there is always someone who will take my initiative as instigation. The heart of the matter lies in intentions. What is my intention when I am leading? Do I have God’s will in my heart or am I pushing through with my will? In the books of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel you will find wonderful examples of this battle between intentions. Does David purposefully instigate his taking over the kingdom from Saul? Saul sees David as an instigator, wanting power. Saul’s son Jonathon sees David as taking initiative in his God given path of life. Again, the true heart of the issue lies with intentions. Does David want power for himself or for God? Is he in line with God’s will or is he following his own will? August 23, 2010 On Wednesday, children in North Carolina head back to school. So I can’t help but think back over the summer and remember the experiences that we have had. And we have had a lot of experiences this summer! From hosting a child from Belarus to camping in Virginia, canoeing in Minnesota, and having a summer that has to go down as one of the hottest in the south, we have HAD a summer. My daughter went to an overnight, away camp this summer. This was a first for her. I knew she wouldn’t have any issues and she didn’t. She is such a confident, self-sufficient young lady she could probably be the director of the camp next year. She could have done it this year if she had been asked! Of course on the way to camp we were feeling some nervousness. I was worried that she would bound through the camp with her boldness and not stop long enough to enjoy or allow others to enjoy. I’m sure her nerves were more of the kind that young girls have ~ Would she have friends? What would she eat? What if she got hurt? So is it not just like God to remind me just who my daughter is? That she is His and He will take care of her. I have told you before that I believe that the Holy Spirit orchestrates a lot of details in our lives to help us see Him working. When I think about it, the whole day is taken up with Him arranging details. It began with our faucet breaking the day before. When my husband went to fix it, it turned out we needed a new one. He bought a new one, installed it, and the new one broke, at night, after store hours. So back he went the next day, the day that we were all going to drive to Camp Tekoa. That is how I found myself driving to camp with Abby, without the rest of the family. As we got in the car, I noticed that we needed gas. But I got distracted and didn’t stop at the gas station two miles from our home. I had a quarter of a tank, so it wasn’t desperate; I just knew I would have to stop at some point. When we got twenty minutes from home, Abby realized that she had forgotten her flashlight and pillow. Luckily we were at an exit on the highway where I happen to know there was a Walmart. We stopped, got a new flashlight and pillow, which happened to be on sale and cheaper than I expected. Then we were back to driving and the GPS said we would still make it to camp during drop off time. I knew that at any time I would need to stop and get gas. For some reason (that would be the Holy Spirit prompting me) I did not stop at the 20 or so exits that I could have to get gas. Nor did I get gas at the station right beside Walmart. And it is absolutely against my nature to not fill up on a long trip. I was panicking for my husband on another trip this summer when I knew he was running low on gas and I wasn’t even in the car with him. The “funny” thing about that is that I somehow knew not to stop yet. So when I finally pulled off the highway at this little exit in the middle of no where, to get gas at this little station with just two pumps, of course there had to be a reason. And of course the reason was one of those things that is WAY out of my comfort zone. A car pulled in right behind me. A woman was driving. A man got out of the passenger seat. Of course he spoke to me. And of course all of my instincts to run and freak out are going off. He asked me if I had Verizon for my cell service. I lied. I made up some story about not knowing my service carrier because it goes through my husband’s work. At this point I am near panic, but he is about 20 feet away from me, so I didn’t dive into the car and drive away with gasoline pouring on the ground like I wanted to. And of course he didn’t believe me that I didn’t have a clue about my cell phone service. He finally explained that he wanted to sell the phone so that he could get money for gas. I said no thank you and he went inside the station. At this point is when I started hearing voices. All those debates on whether or not you should help the person on the side of the street or if you are going to get mugged. In one ear I “heard” my friend who works for the police department start going crazy telling me that it is a scam. The phone had to be stolen. They were just begging for money. I should get in the car and drive away as fast as possible. And so on. But I “heard” my other friend, who is a nurse, in my other ear saying that you can’t know. It could be legitimate and it is not up to us to make the determination, we just need to help if we are able to help. When the man came out of the station, he once again engaged me in conversation. My instincts to run are still on high. The girl inside did not buy the phone either. Now, I don’t do this. I have only once before given someone “on the street” money. But I leaned into the car and pulled all my cash out of my wallet, a whole three dollars. And I gave it to him. He walked into the station paid for three dollars of gas. The woman pumped the gas. And that is when my daughter who is watching this whole interaction, finally speaks up and asks me what is going on. I give the short, quick answer and what does she do? She pulls ten dollars out of her pocket and tells me to give it to them. This is her money that a neighbor gave her for watering plants while they were on vacation. What am I to do? So, I gave the woman the ten dollars and tell her that it is from my daughter. Then I say “Have a blessed day.” The woman begins crying and says thank you while just looking at the ten dollar bill. I hurry to get into the car and drive away, trying really hard to not look back. Why? Because I did not want to know (well I did want to know, but knew that I shouldn’t want to know) whether or not they used it to get more gas. Abby then proceeds to quiz me for the next hour on how far they could possibly go on ten dollars worth of gas. She is wondering whether or not they will be able to make it to their home. I battled with skepticism, fear, anxiety, leading of the Holy Spirit, and whether or not I should have looked back. I’ve come to the conclusion (this is where you will say, “no duh.”) that I will never be able to fully reconcile this experience in my human mind. I fully believe that I was led to that gas station by the Holy Spirit at that exact moment in time. Whether it was for the benefit of me, my daughter, or for the people in the car, I will likely never know. But God had a plan. I was part of that plan and I did the best I could at the time to fight against my world formed instincts to run away. - Donna August 16, 2010 Бабочка (Ba-ba-cha-ka) ~ that is butterfly in Russian! It is one Russian word that after this summer I will probably never forget. Butterflies are such an awesome symbol of the resurrection. Whenever I see one floating on air around my backyard it is like a silent prayer of peace to me. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that this summer while Natasha was staying with us I saw more butterflies than I have seen in total all my life. I’m not exaggerating either! There were butterflies in the backyard almost every day. They were around when we were camping in the mountains. There were hundreds of butterflies along the trail when we were horseback riding and one even flew across the lake when we were boating. I even have a new butterfly bush growing in one of my gardens that I did not plant and guess what ~ it always has two or three butterflies on it. I could just pass all of these butterflies off as just a coincidence of nature. Maybe the rainfall and sun mixture was just right this year for the butterfly. But I’m not going to. My heart falls into a great sense of peace when I see these butterflies. I am choosing to believe that God is communicating with me. I believe He is reminding me that His resurrection does not have borders. His word is for everyone, no matter what language we speak, where we live, or the amount of money in our wallets. He died for us all. Natasha is home in Belarus now with her two sisters and her mom and dad. It is difficult to communicate at this point because we must use snail mail. But for now, I feel peace whenever I see another butterfly floating around the backyard. They remind me that even though she is on the other side of the world, she is safe in God’s hands. - Donna August 9, 2010 While Natasha (the child we hosted through ABRO) was staying in our home there were times of complete frustration and anxiety. Most times it was because of the communication barrier, being that she speaks only Russian and we only speak English. There was often a message that either she needed us to understand or vice versa. And I have to laugh every time I think about it because there are times when I would just nod my head like I knew exactly what she was telling me and move on. I can only imagine what she is telling her parents about us right now because she has to believe things about us that are totally incorrect. People constantly ask me how we were able to communicate. I now do know about 20 Russian words and I have to admit that Natasha has over 200 English words. But we began by drawing lots of pictures and using our Russian ~ English Dictionary. Then we moved on to the online translation programs that are now all across the internet; which worked even better once we got Russian alphabet stickers for our computer keyboard so that she could type back to us. At that point a lot of the frustration disappeared. Looking back at this process I can’t help but think of God trying to speak to us through the Holy Spirit. There is a huge language barrier there and it is even more than with us and Natasha because we knew for a fact when we had a message to get across. We knew when we had to listen and we made every effort to understand. How often do we do that with the Holy Spirit? How often do we make every effort possible to fully understand what He is trying to tell us? More likely, as we frequently did with Natasha, we just nod our heads like we get it, and go on with life not completely getting it. - Donna August 2^nd, 2010 Recently our family was given the gift of hosting a child through the relief organization ABRO (www.abro.org). I never expected to do this. In fact, years ago when the program came to our church, I remember thinking that it was a great program and that I admired families that got involved, but I just knew that it wasn’t an opportunity for us. So, I have to tell you, it completely surprised me that neither Mike nor I hesitated when we were presented with the idea of hosting a child. It seemed to be a given that, “Of course we would.” In the five months leading up to the children arriving in the United States I never got anxious about the cost or the logistics. God had granted me peace; and I can tell you 100% it was God because normally I am a freak about money and organizing! It was clear He wanted us involved because my usual anxieties never appeared In our Sunday school class we recently discussed the concept that every action has a reaction. If it is an action that we choose, someone reacts to us. If it is an action someone else initiates, we react. And it is the same with Holy Spirit. If He initiates an action, we react; even if sometimes that reaction is non-action. I believe that the offer to host a child was an act of God and for once, we reacted in a God honoring way and He blessed the trail that we walked with Natasha, our child from Belarus. - Donna July 2010 Each of us has something that we do to escape from the chaos of our day to day life. Some of us have more than one something. My husband loves to go fly fishing and play with his garage toys. For me, I like to scrapbook, shop for antiques, read suspense novels and garden. But I also have another little treat, I love to get pedicures. It is my pampering time. These mental time outs for me are a great way to sit and reflect on what is happening in my world and a time when I can reassess what I’m doing on a daily basis and how I am honoring or not honoring God. The last two times I went to get a pedicure this wonderful girl had done my toes. It turns out that I met this young lady when she was about 15 years old. Our church sponsored her family in building her family home through Habitat for Humanity. This young lady came to the United States from Vietnam at a time in her life, when, if she had stayed in Vietnam she would have gotten married and begun having children. She has lived here for ten years now. She finished high school at the age of 21 and then began college. Her English is so amazing that you can not tell that it was not her first language. Her life, to me, is just such an awesome example of Christian strength and perseverance. So I was amazed when she began telling me about her planned trip back to Vietnam this summer. At first she jokingly told me that she was going back to look for a husband. But after all the joking around about being way too old to marry in that culture, she got to the root of her trip. See, she feels like she has lost a part of herself here to the American culture. She will spend 8 weeks this summer in an orphanage working with parentless children from her own village. Her hope is that she will sense God’s direction for her life. She hopes that when the distractions of her American life are gone, she will find the trail that God wants her on. That when she returns to college in the fall, she will have stripped away her wants and have God’s needs as her guide. June 7, 2010 Every June parents and children finish the chapter on a full year of growth and learning. If you don’t have children of your own in school right now, certainly you remember the final days of your own school year. We clean out our desks, throw out old work, get rid of the backpack and pencil pouch that is in shreds. We finally put away the long sleeved shirts and pants. We sign yearbooks and celebrate the year that has passed. I find this celebrating bittersweet. There are so many emotions and feelings wrapped up in it. My three year old is getting so big already. He just finished his second year of preschool. He is so vocal, active, and has an amazing personality that is all his own and all boy! In the past few weeks he has been emptying his dresser and he keeps finding the few little things that I saved from when he was an infant. He came downstairs this past week with this itty bitty hat that he had worn and asked me if he would ever be a baby again so that he could wear the hat. His face was filled with mixed emotions and finally acceptance as I explained that he would not be a baby again. When I chose to follow Christ in my life, I chose to close the door on one chapter of my life. I chose to close the door on a lifestyle that was much more self-centered and frivolous, to say the least. I am so happy to find myself looking back over the past years and knowing that I would never go back to a life without Christ. I don’t have those mixed emotions about being a Christ follower. I live a life of genuine love, faith, and hope; so much more than acceptance. God is truly amazing! “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 - Donna June 14, 2010 For over ten years I have been volunteering and working in children’s ministries at my church. I have read over, taught, and written many Sunday school lessons, children’s church lessons, and weekday camp lessons. But in those ten years, I don’t ever remember finding the story from 1 Kings 3: 16 – 28 where the two women are arguing over the baby and the king gives the order to cut the child in half. This isn’t one of my favorite teaching stories or anything like that. I was just reading over Acts 6 for my adult Sunday school class and the 1 Kings’ story came to mind. (I never said my mind doesn’t disconnect quite often!) I have to admit, until I found it in the Bible, I wondered if it was Biblical or if it was just a story my teachers taught me when I was young. Then, once I found it, I began wondering why we no longer teach it; or at least I haven’t seen it come out in the main children’s Sunday school curriculum over the years. And then I wondered if we have had a shift in our society, values, or fears that stops us from presenting some of the strong and difficult lessons that God has provided for us in the Bible. This story is one that I clearly remember learning in Sunday school as a child. I don’t remember the day, the time, or any supplemental project that went with it. Clearly I didn’t even remember the reference. I do remember the life lesson though. I have brought that lesson of true love and human value into my adult life. I understand the feeling of love for someone that is so strong you would rather give that someone up than to see them destroyed. That is the love that Abraham showed when he brought his son to the altar (Genesis 22). And it is also the love God showed us when He led Jesus to the cross (Luke 22:42). - Donna June 21, 2010 Have you ever stopped to think about where God would like you to be, what He would like you to do, what His plan for your life might be? I know that God has an ultimate plan for each and every one of us. The thing is, He will not force you to stay with His plan. He will not stop loving you if you never even come close to His plan. That is how incredible He is. He gave us free will in life so that we can make our own choices about how we live each day. God’s ultimate desire is that we use our free will to choose Him and His ways; but it is our choice. Many of you who are reading this have made the choice of a relationship with God. Some may still be on the fence. But I think you will still get the question that I’ve been contemplating for a few years now. See, I get distracted constantly by opportunities, good opportunities, God opportunities. People ask me to help out with this and that. It feels like I am in a constant state of making choices between which good thing to get involved with and I’m constantly trying to find balance. It isn’t bad to be in this position. I like having choices to make, but it is frequently frustrating because I would like to be able to do it all and I know I can’t. Doing too much is not God honoring, nor is it good for my family or the people who are asking. But it is still hard to try and figure out what opportunity will keep me closest to His plan. Just recently a woman asked me if I was going to get involved in a small group for couples. A couple of weeks ago a good friend asked me to facilitate another adult Bible study. I was asked to be on the PTO, assist with a summer camp at church, and who knows what else; I think I’m blocking it! So, how do you choose what opportunities, knowing that the choices are all good ones, are the God things that He would have you personally do? - Donna June 28, 2010 When Donna posts a Trail Marker I sometimes think, “Easy squeezy, I can answer that.” Unfortunately, when I sit down to make what is in my head make sense on paper, it is never “easy squeezy.” That’s a good thing because it is important that we, as Christians, know what and WHY we believe what we believe. Last week Donna wondered how one knows or decides which opportunities to serve should be seized and which should be passed to others or even left unclaimed for a time. (I know, all you Type A’s just made a collective gasp!) My answer is “vision” and “passion.” At some points in our spiritual journey we must share a locked glance with Jesus, Himself. This is relationship - where we see the greatness of Jesus Christ and, through the Holy Spirit, we see our “sense of purpose” or our “calling” in Him. We are given gifts and abilities but what we choose to do for the kingdom is decided not so much on what we are capable of doing as what we “must do” in answer to that dominating sense of purpose. I have a learned and studious friend, gifted in many areas but she often says, “I can’t NOT talk about the Word.” She has a passion for scripture and it’s daily application, not just for herself, but for ALL people. She doesn’t do the lecture circuit or facilitate multiple Bible studies, she brings the Word into everyday conversations… during PTA, at the grocery store, at her daughters’ soccer games. She is in reality a Leave A Trace poster child! She is talented in many areas but what sets her on her feet and keeps her going is sharing the Word, her passion. When Donna and I discussed the conundrum of gifts and service, her husband reminded us of Nehemiah who, when in the process of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, was asked four times to stop and attend a meeting to discuss his intentions. Yes, it was a trap, and Nehemiah knew it, but each time his response was, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:3 NKJV) Nehemiah knew his purpose and NOTHING would separate him from it, not meetings, not attacks, not weariness. He had a vision of God’s will for his life. So, when trying to decide whether to take on one more activity, committee or position, consider if it will advance the call God has made on your life. I’ve always experienced a peace or calmness when my decision aligns with what I know of God’s purpose for me. It doesn’t mean I have the entire map in front of me, but it means I have a sense of security in God’s hand and provision. He will make sure His plan is fulfilled, you can’t “mess it up,” but you can “busy” yourself (even with good things) to the point that your passion wanes and your vision loses its focus. - The Other Donna May 31, 2010 I do not think that God is about to strike me down. But, I do wonder though, just how upset He gets when we make promises and only partially keep them. Isn’t that what Ananias and Sapphira basically did wrong in Acts 5: 1 - 11? They promised to give all the proceeds from the sale of their land to the church. They then changed their minds, which in itself was fine, and then they lied about it. Instead of just saying that they had decided to keep some of the proceeds from the sale for themselves, they each told Peter that the money they were giving the church was the full amount for the sale of the land. They pretended that they were keeping their promise. A few months back I stepped down from a secretarial position on a committee because it was just one more thing. I was completely honest with the committee chairs and told them that it was just not feasible at that time for me to continue. The funny thing is, is that they still keep thanking me for stepping down. (I was doing a great job, so stop snickering!) Why do they keep thanking me? I was honest. I made a commitment, but when I could no longer fulfill that commitment, I was honest enough to tell them instead of trying to pretend. -Donna “Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your ‘Yes’ be yes and your ‘No’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” James 5:12 May 24, 2010 Have you ever really taken the time to assess where your heart is? I mean really assess? Are you open and willing to accept anything that Christ sends to you? Are you willing to love Him no matter what? Are you willing to go out into the world and tell others about Him knowing that you will be ridiculed, snubbed, and laughed at? I’m not really asking this of you, I’m asking it of myself. And I have been asking this for a while now. Am I willing? Am I open? Am I bold and ready? Donna and I are beginning this ministry, so I guess that means that I am stepping out willingly, at least to some extent. But wow, is it ever scary! I guess Jesus never said that it would be easy. Instead He said that He would be with us throughout; pick us up when we are down; and encourage us to go forward. In my Sunday school class we have been reading and digging deep into the book of Acts. The first 4 chapters go well with the self-examination I have been doing. Here we have this first group of believers, led by the disciples, who are facing odds beyond our comprehension. Jesus has just been killed in front of them. The government is against them. The religious leaders are against them. The people are against them. Yet, it is with profound boldness that they go out into these very groups and declare that the man that was just killed on the cross is really alive and well because He wasn’t just a man, He is the Messiah. This is truly amazing boldness and faith. - Donna “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 May 17, 2010 I have had the privilege to kneel with both of my children as they accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and became “new creations” in Him. However, I’ve never “lead” anyone to Christ, a phrase I’ve often heard but can’t quite “picture” in my mind. Is it a single event? Is it the fruit of a growing seed planted and nurtured by the Holy Spirit? Is it spontaneous? Does it ever have anything to do with us? I presented these questions to a group of Christian friends and confessed my hidden fear. I have no problem telling about the incredible ways Jesus has worked in my life, how He has saved me, changed me, strengthened me, brought me joy (in tough times and easy ones). But, I’m embarrassed to admit, I sometimes hesitate to proclaim His promises to nonbelievers. God has never let me down and I know He never will and I asked my friends for direction and confidence. The answer was actually pretty simple. “Pray big,” one of my friends said, “and expect God to do big things.” I was reminded in Sunday school this week, as we studied the 4^th Chapter of Acts, of Peter and John’s response to the Sadducees when they were commanded to stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus. They said, “…Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20) Upon their release they went back to the believers and prayed, “…enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29-30) So, that’s my model this week…proclaim what I know and PRAY BIG! - the other Donna May 10, 2010 "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost" Matthew 18: 12-14 My prayer this week is that I can be encouraging to just one person. Not everything has to be done in big numbers, big groups, big ways. Large things can be accomplished in small ways too. - Donna May 3, 2010 Why is it that one seemingly small thing can send you over the edge? I think everyone knows what I'm talking about, it could be the person in front of you at the checkout counter when they have 100 coupons and the scanner isn't working right; it could be the person in the parking lot waiting for the closest parking spot even though there are a TON of spots 20 feet down the lane. My last straw this past week was the check that I misplaced. I had it in my pocket. I remember thinking that I needed to put it in my wallet or I would end up washing it. I'm really confident that the check is somewhere in my house. But I did go to the grocery store and to a friend's house that evening, so it is possible that it is laying out there where someone, not honest, could pick it up. It was midnight when I realized the check wasn't in my pocket, nor in my wallet. So of course I didn't sleep well. Then I spent the next day searching the house for it. I still haven't found it. So you may be wondering what this has to do with trail markers. Well, the whole time I was searching for the check I was praying "God help me find the check." Then I was asking myself and God, "Am I worshipping an idol because I'm so obsessed with this check?" Then I would move on to being angry with myself because I was letting this lost check ruin my day and my family's day ~ because of course if mom's not happy, no one is happy! There are so many lessons that I can take out of losing this one little item. We could talk about Jesus and the parable of the lost sheep. But that wouldn't be exactly right because a lost soul is a whole bunch more important than my little check. We could also talk about the prodigal son, but again, not quite right. We could talk about worshipping idols. That is closer to my obsession, but still not quite right. Those ideas aren't right because they aren't where my peace finally came from. My sense of peace finally came from confessing that I had messed up to the person that gave me the check. When I look back at that very long day, from midnight on, I think that confessing was my worst fear; that act of asking for forgiveness. Why is asking for forgiveness such a huge deal? I think of my about to be teenage son and see on his face every time he messes up this enormous struggle to fess up to what he has done and say sorry. Then here I am letting my whole day be ruined and me ruining quite a few other people's days because I'm stressed over explaining that I messed up. The lesson God reminded me of today comes from the book of Matthew, Chapter 10, verse 19. In this part of Matthew, Jesus is teaching the disciples about what will happen when they go into the world. He is explaining that many times they will be under extreme pressure to explain themselves and their faith. But, through it all they should not worry because His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, will be with them and give them the words to speak. I'm not saying that my worries were from public persecution, but from self persecution because I screwed up. If I would have just taken a deep breath and remembered that God would give me the words to explain myself, that He would be with me in times of stress (as well as in times of celebration), and remember that forgiveness is a lot easier to give than to ask for, I would not have had such a horrendous day brought on by my own self. - Donna
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Trail Markers

If you have ever gone for a walk or hike in a State or National Park you may remember that not only is the path worn down by others traveling over it, but there are also markers attached to the trees to help you stay on the right path. All of the different paths that cross are marked with different colored blazes. As you walk, you not only enjoy what God has made, but you keep an eye on the markers along the path.

Some paths have an increased intensity, some are easier. Some paths cross water and some come to a dead end and you have to go back to where you started. At different times paths cross and you have a decision to make. Do you want to take the easier path? Are there obstacles along one path that you just don't want to deal with? But at all times, all of the paths are clearly marked so that you can find your way, if you are looking.

Christ does the same thing for His followers. He marks the path out for us. If we choose to, we can follow His path, or we can go out on our own and create a new one. That is the wonderful gift of free will that God gave us.

Archives from 2010

We would love to hear from you about how you have Left a Trace on the world or about how someone Left a Trace on you! Email us at leftatrace@leaveatrace.net

December 3, 2010

Recently I read a devotional that I take issue with. A question was raised in the devotion that basically asks, “Can you serve the Lord without your health?” My answer is a resounding, “YES! You can!” But that is not what the writer wanted me to say. I get it. I know what she was saying. I know because I have a food addiction and I’m not truly healthy. My blood pressure is fine. My cholesterol is fine. But I eat my emotions. When I’m tired, I eat. When I’m stressed, I eat. When I’m happy, I celebrate, by eating! Luckily I don’t do this every day or all day. But I do it enough that my body is not at its best. And my eating takes me away from honoring God. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 it says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” If I rely on food for comfort and happiness, I am not relying on the God who created me.

So here is the conundrum, I’m not healthy, but I can serve the Lord. I am not promoting ill health or inactivity here, because, yes, I know that I can serve Him better if I am at my best. (And I am working hard at becoming healthier!) But I am here to tell you that God wants us however we are. He loves us with our addictions and our problems. He loves us no matter what we look like whether or not we are healthy.

Many of us serve the Lord in a sick body. I can do it. You can do it. And you can do it well. It is true that when we are healthy we can serve with greater endurance but unfortunately I think that often when we are healthy we forget to endure for the Lord. God will use our ill health to bring us closer to Him and to His will.

Today I want to remind you that no matter what your health is, you can honor the one who came to this earth in a lowly manger. You can share Him with someone today through the simplest of acts; whether a smile, a whisper, a tear or a nod of friendship. You can give the gift of Him because He gave himself to us.

November 21, 2010

So you have an idea of what it would mean to leave just a bit of your faith in the world. So here is the question, "Could a 3 year old leave a bit of his faith on others?" My little one does. We were at a store a few days ago and someone asked him what his name was. He says, “Nate.” They then asked if he knew how to spell it. He says, “With the cross that Jesus died on.” (That is how his preschool teacher describes a “t.”). A while back as I was reading a book he started pointing at words and asking, “Does that say God?” Over and over again he asked. He was looking for God in a book, called the Bible. Today when I told him we were going shopping, he asked me if he could get a lolli. But it wasn’t just any lolli he wants. He would like one that is red, yellow, black and white, because that is precious in His sight!
Talk about leaving a bit of your faith! Small children and their wonderful words about the love that they know and feel is amazing!

November 9, 2010

How does God see worldly time? In studying creation I have come to believe that when it says that God created the world in seven days, it means seven days. I think that because a day is defined by the rising of the sun and that relates to the rotation of the earth and I believe that the earth has always rotated at the same speed and etc and so on. So a day to me means 24 hours. Now, don’t go off on a huge tangent disagreeing with me here. The girls in my accountability group go off on that tangent enough all the time. In the scheme of things it is more important to just believe that God created the world than it is to know how many days or hours it took him. The main point is that when God created the world, he also created worldly time which is defined by the rotation of the earth on its axis. But God doesn’t physically exist here. God’s Spirit resides in us; Jesus lived here and knew our time. But God is different. His time is eternity. His time is infinite. His time is something that we can not put our hands and heads fully around but we know that we want to be there, with him.

One question that frequently comes up in discussions with my friends is how God, who is so big, who has existed for infinity can possibly be concerned about the now. I can’t say that I have even a little bit of understanding of how he does it. Nope. Not even a little bit of the “how.” But I do think I can grasp that even though he sees the ends of infinity, he is focused on the here and now of the earth. He is now with us. He is now wanting a relationship with us. He is now loving us, encouraging us, carrying us. Now is the time that for us to live for Him. Now is the time for us to do for Him. Now is the time to forget what happened in the past that ties our hands, keeps us bound and stuck. Now is the time to forget all the yuck of the past that slows us down. Now is the time to forget what we want tomorrow to be. We need to live for Christ now. We need to ask ourselves what we can do now.

November 3, 2010

I just had this image come to my mind of a conveyor belt. Kind of like the one at the grocery store where your food slides down to the end for the bagger. But this one isn’t moving. Instead it is stacked with all of the things that I want to accomplish today. Exercise, eating right, errands, messages, friends, kid school projects, a bit of work, guitar lessons, meals, party planning, and I’m sure there is more, but I have to stop thinking or I am going to become extremely depressed. (Now you are probably thinking of all of the things on your own to do list for the day. Sorry about that.)

I have to tell you that lately I have had this mantra running through my mind, “One day at a time. One day at a time.” When someone asked if I was ready for my daughter’s birthday party, my answer was, “Nope, I have 24 hours.” When asked what I was making for our Sunday school class’ lunch, my answer was, “Chili, I think. But that isn’t until Sunday, so I still have time.”

So, back to the conveyor belt that isn’t moving. That is where I am picturing all of these “to do’s” piled up high for me right now. And it looks to me like the pile is going to get higher. At the end of the day my conveyor will be filled and moved to tomorrow where more will be added and just a few things will be plucked off and put away.

The nice thing is that some of the fun things that I know I have to do have already been put away; things that really don’t need to be done for weeks. But they were fun after all, so I went ahead and did them when I had a spare moment.

If I think too much about my conveyor belt and how full it is getting, I can really get bogged down. I begin to worry that something won’t get done. Or someone will be disappointed. These things aren’t the things that I’ve said yes to and over committed myself. I’m talking about the daily stuff.

When my husband asked me if I was ready for something this past weekend I said to him “One day at a time.” The thing he was asking about wasn’t until the next day. He responded by reminding me that that is actually Biblical. In Matthew 6:34 it says “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Luke reiterates this concept in Chapter 12 verses 22 – 26.

My conveyor belt has begun moving again because there are plenty of things that can be done tomorrow; things that don’t have to or need to be done today. Today I will focus on today. The things that need to happen today. And what doesn’t get done? Well it can be done another day, if it is still important then.

- Donna

October 19, 2010

I have a group of Christian friends that I meet with regularly to discuss God, Jesus, and life. We call it an accountability group instead of a Bible study. There is a long explanation for that but one of the main reasons is that at any given moment our conversation can take a flying leap far away from the topic proposed for the day to someone’s personal joys or worries. The best part is that throughout this somewhat convoluted conversation we somehow manage to keep Jesus at the center of it.

One of the best moments I can remember from meeting with this amazing group of women is the time when a couple of us dragged ourselves in to the coffee shop. We looked and felt like we had been raked over hot coals by this world. It struck all of us at once that normally when we are feeling done in by kids, school, housework, regular work, and social stuff we normally crawl under our personal “rocks” and hide for a while. But when it comes to our accountability group, all of us throw off our personal burdens and gain strength from the Rock we have built our foundations on, Jesus.

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

2 Samuel 22:2-3 “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.”

- Donna

October 12, 2010

So many of us love to people watch. I can remember times in college when we would sit on the dorm steps and see who would walk by. Now, one of my favorite places in our little town is the coffee shop. There is a lot of comfort there with so many familiar faces and you are quickly drawn into the community as you watch what is happening around you. When I pick up a newspaper I go to the human interest stories to see what others are doing. My parents added a screened in front porch to their home so that they “could see what is happening in the neighborhood.”

As you are people watching, have you ever tried predicting what someone would do when you are watching them? If they drop something on the ground, do they pick it up? If they are in a rush, do they acknowledge the people they know walking by or do they keep their eyes to the ground? When someone stops to talk to friends, do they become completely oblivious to everything else?

It is often quite easy to predict what someone else is going to do when you have observed them for a while. I can pretty well guess that my oldest will forget to practice his trumpet after school no matter how many times I remind him. (Yet, he still loves to play it and be in the band!) I guarantee that if I walk into an office supply store with my daughter she will desperately need another notebook. And if my three year old sees a toy commercial for a truck or action figure on television, he will say to me, “Mom, I could want that for my birthday.”

Have you ever thought about watching God the same way that we watch people? Many times I have been involved in conversations where people ask “How do I know that God is talking to me… telling me to do… teaching me…?” I have finally come to an answer that is comfortable for me. If you watch God in the world, watch Him by reading his Bible, you will know. God’s character stands out when we see him. God loves us. God forgives us. God only does what is ultimately good for his people. God will discipline us, but he will not harm us. God wants everyone to know him. God wants to comfort us. God encourages us. God wants to help us through tough times. God is generous. God is consistent, faithful, and all knowing.

This list can go on but the point is, when you wonder if God is speaking to you, asking you to do something, encouraging you to move forward or to stop, ask yourself if what you think God is saying falls in line with God’s character that you have seen and watched.

- Donna

October 5, 2010

As I was on my way to pick up my son from school a few weeks ago I saw an interesting “dance” take place. It began at a stop light where there are three lanes of traffic coming up to an intersection. There is a left turn lane, a right turn lane, and the lane in the middle going straight through. Someone in the right turn lane really meant to go straight. So they pull over close to the straight lane and assume that they will be let in. When the light turned green everyone began across the intersection, including the person in the turn lane. Because there are actually two intersections designed this way, I've seen this many times in our little town. And this is where sinister little me says, "you committed to the right turn, you need to turn right." (I think Jerry Seinfeld could have made an episode out of that.)

What I found so interesting was the reaction of the driver that was forced to let the right turn lane car into the straight ahead lane. A reaction that I’m sure I have had in the past myself. First was the beeping horn as we crossed the intersection. Then the right turn guy decides quickly to turn into the store on the opposite side of the intersection, which makes straight lane guy swerve aggressively, and needlessly, around right turn guy. Then straight lane guy laid on the gas and took off. He must have been going at least 50 mph in a 35 mph zone and coming up on the school. When he gets around the bend he slams on his brakes, because right there is the police officer waiting to direct traffic at the end of the school day.

To summarize, straight lane guy went from waiting at a light (daily life), to annoyance (beeping the horn), to anger (swerving and speeding), to frustrated (police) all in about one minute because of someone else's error in judgment. Why is it that our first reaction to someone else’s mistake is annoyance? Is that how we expect other’s to react to our own mistakes? It makes me think of the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant from Matthew 18: 21 – 35. We are forgiven by God for innumerable sins that we commit, yet when it comes to us having to forgive someone else for a mistake in judgment, or the smallest of infractions, we often react quickly, negatively and without charity.

September 2010

Have you ever had a time when one word can just throw you for a loop? Or maybe a time when that one word was the tipping point in an already stressful situation. What if you are a leader or administrator? You have God given characteristics. You take action when action is needed. You like to get things done. You like to initiate, which means, “to cause or facilitate the beginning of.” To show initiative means, “to have energy or aptitude displayed in action or initiation.” You are a person who does not like idleness. If something needs to be done or said or asked, you do it. But what if you are mistaken as an instigator? To instigate means, “to goad or urge forward.”

Look at that again, initiate means to cause the beginning; instigate means to goad or urge forward. Close, aren’t they? They both cause movement. The difference lies in the intention behind the action. Is your intention to push forward and get a reaction, no matter the outcome; to just start something? Or is your intention to get the ball rolling; to begin a process toward whatever end may be?

God gave me the gifts of administration and leadership. There are days when I really wish he hadn’t given them to me because I also take controversy straight into my heart. In this world administration and leadership go hand in hand with controversy. There is always someone who will think differently of me. That means that there is always someone who will take my initiative as instigation. The heart of the matter lies in intentions. What is my intention when I am leading? Do I have God’s will in my heart or am I pushing through with my will?

In the books of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel you will find wonderful examples of this battle between intentions. Does David purposefully instigate his taking over the kingdom from Saul? Saul sees David as an instigator, wanting power. Saul’s son Jonathon sees David as taking initiative in his God given path of life. Again, the true heart of the issue lies with intentions. Does David want power for himself or for God? Is he in line with God’s will or is he following his own will?

August 23, 2010

On Wednesday, children in North Carolina head back to school. So I can’t help but think back over the summer and remember the experiences that we have had. And we have had a lot of experiences this summer! From hosting a child from Belarus to camping in Virginia, canoeing in Minnesota, and having a summer that has to go down as one of the hottest in the south, we have HAD a summer.

My daughter went to an overnight, away camp this summer. This was a first for her. I knew she wouldn’t have any issues and she didn’t. She is such a confident, self-sufficient young lady she could probably be the director of the camp next year. She could have done it this year if she had been asked!

Of course on the way to camp we were feeling some nervousness. I was worried that she would bound through the camp with her boldness and not stop long enough to enjoy or allow others to enjoy. I’m sure her nerves were more of the kind that young girls have ~ Would she have friends? What would she eat? What if she got hurt? So is it not just like God to remind me just who my daughter is? That she is His and He will take care of her.

I have told you before that I believe that the Holy Spirit orchestrates a lot of details in our lives to help us see Him working. When I think about it, the whole day is taken up with Him arranging details. It began with our faucet breaking the day before. When my husband went to fix it, it turned out we needed a new one. He bought a new one, installed it, and the new one broke, at night, after store hours. So back he went the next day, the day that we were all going to drive to Camp Tekoa. That is how I found myself driving to camp with Abby, without the rest of the family.

As we got in the car, I noticed that we needed gas. But I got distracted and didn’t stop at the gas station two miles from our home. I had a quarter of a tank, so it wasn’t desperate; I just knew I would have to stop at some point. When we got twenty minutes from home, Abby realized that she had forgotten her flashlight and pillow. Luckily we were at an exit on the highway where I happen to know there was a Walmart. We stopped, got a new flashlight and pillow, which happened to be on sale and cheaper than I expected. Then we were back to driving and the GPS said we would still make it to camp during drop off time.

I knew that at any time I would need to stop and get gas. For some reason (that would be the Holy Spirit prompting me) I did not stop at the 20 or so exits that I could have to get gas. Nor did I get gas at the station right beside Walmart. And it is absolutely against my nature to not fill up on a long trip. I was panicking for my husband on another trip this summer when I knew he was running low on gas and I wasn’t even in the car with him. The “funny” thing about that is that I somehow knew not to stop yet. So when I finally pulled off the highway at this little exit in the middle of no where, to get gas at this little station with just two pumps, of course there had to be a reason. And of course the reason was one of those things that is WAY out of my comfort zone.

A car pulled in right behind me. A woman was driving. A man got out of the passenger seat. Of course he spoke to me. And of course all of my instincts to run and freak out are going off. He asked me if I had Verizon for my cell service. I lied. I made up some story about not knowing my service carrier because it goes through my husband’s work. At this point I am near panic, but he is about 20 feet away from me, so I didn’t dive into the car and drive away with gasoline pouring on the ground like I wanted to. And of course he didn’t believe me that I didn’t have a clue about my cell phone service. He finally explained that he wanted to sell the phone so that he could get money for gas. I said no thank you and he went inside the station.

At this point is when I started hearing voices. All those debates on whether or not you should help the person on the side of the street or if you are going to get mugged. In one ear I “heard” my friend who works for the police department start going crazy telling me that it is a scam. The phone had to be stolen. They were just begging for money. I should get in the car and drive away as fast as possible. And so on. But I “heard” my other friend, who is a nurse, in my other ear saying that you can’t know. It could be legitimate and it is not up to us to make the determination, we just need to help if we are able to help.

When the man came out of the station, he once again engaged me in conversation. My instincts to run are still on high. The girl inside did not buy the phone either. Now, I don’t do this. I have only once before given someone “on the street” money. But I leaned into the car and pulled all my cash out of my wallet, a whole three dollars. And I gave it to him. He walked into the station paid for three dollars of gas. The woman pumped the gas. And that is when my daughter who is watching this whole interaction, finally speaks up and asks me what is going on. I give the short, quick answer and what does she do? She pulls ten dollars out of her pocket and tells me to give it to them. This is her money that a neighbor gave her for watering plants while they were on vacation. What am I to do?

So, I gave the woman the ten dollars and tell her that it is from my daughter. Then I say “Have a blessed day.” The woman begins crying and says thank you while just looking at the ten dollar bill. I hurry to get into the car and drive away, trying really hard to not look back. Why? Because I did not want to know (well I did want to know, but knew that I shouldn’t want to know) whether or not they used it to get more gas. Abby then proceeds to quiz me for the next hour on how far they could possibly go on ten dollars worth of gas. She is wondering whether or not they will be able to make it to their home. I battled with skepticism, fear, anxiety, leading of the Holy Spirit, and whether or not I should have looked back.

I’ve come to the conclusion (this is where you will say, “no duh.”) that I will never be able to fully reconcile this experience in my human mind. I fully believe that I was led to that gas station by the Holy Spirit at that exact moment in time. Whether it was for the benefit of me, my daughter, or for the people in the car, I will likely never know. But God had a plan. I was part of that plan and I did the best I could at the time to fight against my world formed instincts to run away.

- Donna

August 16, 2010

Бабочка (Ba-ba-cha-ka) ~ that is butterfly in Russian! It is one Russian word that after this summer I will probably never forget. Butterflies are such an awesome symbol of the resurrection. Whenever I see one floating on air around my backyard it is like a silent prayer of peace to me.

I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that this summer while Natasha was staying with us I saw more butterflies than I have seen in total all my life. I’m not exaggerating either! There were butterflies in the backyard almost every day. They were around when we were camping in the mountains. There were hundreds of butterflies along the trail when we were horseback riding and one even flew across the lake when we were boating. I even have a new butterfly bush growing in one of my gardens that I did not plant and guess what ~ it always has two or three butterflies on it.

I could just pass all of these butterflies off as just a coincidence of nature. Maybe the rainfall and sun mixture was just right this year for the butterfly. But I’m not going to. My heart falls into a great sense of peace when I see these butterflies. I am choosing to believe that God is communicating with me. I believe He is reminding me that His resurrection does not have borders. His word is for everyone, no matter what language we speak, where we live, or the amount of money in our wallets. He died for us all.

Natasha is home in Belarus now with her two sisters and her mom and dad. It is difficult to communicate at this point because we must use snail mail. But for now, I feel peace whenever I see another butterfly floating around the backyard. They remind me that even though she is on the other side of the world, she is safe in God’s hands.

- Donna

August 9, 2010

While Natasha (the child we hosted through ABRO) was staying in our home there were times of complete frustration and anxiety. Most times it was because of the communication barrier, being that she speaks only Russian and we only speak English. There was often a message that either she needed us to understand or vice versa. And I have to laugh every time I think about it because there are times when I would just nod my head like I knew exactly what she was telling me and move on. I can only imagine what she is telling her parents about us right now because she has to believe things about us that are totally incorrect.

People constantly ask me how we were able to communicate. I now do know about 20 Russian words and I have to admit that Natasha has over 200 English words. But we began by drawing lots of pictures and using our Russian ~ English Dictionary. Then we moved on to the online translation programs that are now all across the internet; which worked even better once we got Russian alphabet stickers for our computer keyboard so that she could type back to us. At that point a lot of the frustration disappeared.

Looking back at this process I can’t help but think of God trying to speak to us through the Holy Spirit. There is a huge language barrier there and it is even more than with us and Natasha because we knew for a fact when we had a message to get across. We knew when we had to listen and we made every effort to understand. How often do we do that with the Holy Spirit? How often do we make every effort possible to fully understand what He is trying to tell us? More likely, as we frequently did with Natasha, we just nod our heads like we get it, and go on with life not completely getting it.

- Donna

August 2^nd, 2010

Recently our family was given the gift of hosting a child through the relief organization ABRO (www.abro.org). I never expected to do this. In fact, years ago when the program came to our church, I remember thinking that it was a great program and that I admired families that got involved, but I just knew that it wasn’t an opportunity for us.

So, I have to tell you, it completely surprised me that neither Mike nor I hesitated when we were presented with the idea of hosting a child. It seemed to be a given that, “Of course we would.” In the five months leading up to the children arriving in the United States I never got anxious about the cost or the logistics. God had granted me peace; and I can tell you 100% it was God because normally I am a freak about money and organizing! It was clear He wanted us involved because my usual anxieties never appeared

In our Sunday school class we recently discussed the concept that every action has a reaction. If it is an action that we choose, someone reacts to us. If it is an action someone else initiates, we react. And it is the same with Holy Spirit. If He initiates an action, we react; even if sometimes that reaction is non-action. I believe that the offer to host a child was an act of God and for once, we reacted in a God honoring way and He blessed the trail that we walked with Natasha, our child from Belarus.

- Donna

July 2010

Each of us has something that we do to escape from the chaos of our day to day life. Some of us have more than one something. My husband loves to go fly fishing and play with his garage toys. For me, I like to scrapbook, shop for antiques, read suspense novels and garden. But I also have another little treat, I love to get pedicures. It is my pampering time.

These mental time outs for me are a great way to sit and reflect on what is happening in my world and a time when I can reassess what I’m doing on a daily basis and how I am honoring or not honoring God.

The last two times I went to get a pedicure this wonderful girl had done my toes. It turns out that I met this young lady when she was about 15 years old. Our church sponsored her family in building her family home through Habitat for Humanity. This young lady came to the United States from Vietnam at a time in her life, when, if she had stayed in Vietnam she would have gotten married and begun having children.

She has lived here for ten years now. She finished high school at the age of 21 and then began college. Her English is so amazing that you can not tell that it was not her first language.

Her life, to me, is just such an awesome example of Christian strength and perseverance. So I was amazed when she began telling me about her planned trip back to Vietnam this summer. At first she jokingly told me that she was going back to look for a husband. But after all the joking around about being way too old to marry in that culture, she got to the root of her trip. See, she feels like she has lost a part of herself here to the American culture. She will spend 8 weeks this summer in an orphanage working with parentless children from her own village. Her hope is that she will sense God’s direction for her life. She hopes that when the distractions of her American life are gone, she will find the trail that God wants her on. That when she returns to college in the fall, she will have stripped away her wants and have God’s needs as her guide.

June 7, 2010

Every June parents and children finish the chapter on a full year of growth and learning. If you don’t have children of your own in school right now, certainly you remember the final days of your own school year. We clean out our desks, throw out old work, get rid of the backpack and pencil pouch that is in shreds. We finally put away the long sleeved shirts and pants. We sign yearbooks and celebrate the year that has passed.

I find this celebrating bittersweet. There are so many emotions and feelings wrapped up in it. My three year old is getting so big already. He just finished his second year of preschool. He is so vocal, active, and has an amazing personality that is all his own and all boy! In the past few weeks he has been emptying his dresser and he keeps finding the few little things that I saved from when he was an infant. He came downstairs this past week with this itty bitty hat that he had worn and asked me if he would ever be a baby again so that he could wear the hat. His face was filled with mixed emotions and finally acceptance as I explained that he would not be a baby again.

When I chose to follow Christ in my life, I chose to close the door on one chapter of my life. I chose to close the door on a lifestyle that was much more self-centered and frivolous, to say the least. I am so happy to find myself looking back over the past years and knowing that I would never go back to a life without Christ. I don’t have those mixed emotions about being a Christ follower. I live a life of genuine love, faith, and hope; so much more than acceptance. God is truly amazing!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1

- Donna

June 14, 2010

For over ten years I have been volunteering and working in children’s ministries at my church. I have read over, taught, and written many Sunday school lessons, children’s church lessons, and weekday camp lessons. But in those ten years, I don’t ever remember finding the story from 1 Kings 3: 16 – 28 where the two women are arguing over the baby and the king gives the order to cut the child in half.

This isn’t one of my favorite teaching stories or anything like that. I was just reading over Acts 6 for my adult Sunday school class and the 1 Kings’ story came to mind. (I never said my mind doesn’t disconnect quite often!) I have to admit, until I found it in the Bible, I wondered if it was Biblical or if it was just a story my teachers taught me when I was young. Then, once I found it, I began wondering why we no longer teach it; or at least I haven’t seen it come out in the main children’s Sunday school curriculum over the years. And then I wondered if we have had a shift in our society, values, or fears that stops us from presenting some of the strong and difficult lessons that God has provided for us in the Bible.

This story is one that I clearly remember learning in Sunday school as a child. I don’t remember the day, the time, or any supplemental project that went with it. Clearly I didn’t even remember the reference. I do remember the life lesson though. I have brought that lesson of true love and human value into my adult life. I understand the feeling of love for someone that is so strong you would rather give that someone up than to see them destroyed. That is the love that Abraham showed when he brought his son to the altar (Genesis 22). And it is also the love God showed us when He led Jesus to the cross (Luke 22:42).

- Donna

June 21, 2010

Have you ever stopped to think about where God would like you to be, what He would like you to do, what His plan for your life might be? I know that God has an ultimate plan for each and every one of us. The thing is, He will not force you to stay with His plan. He will not stop loving you if you never even come close to His plan. That is how incredible He is. He gave us free will in life so that we can make our own choices about how we live each day. God’s ultimate desire is that we use our free will to choose Him and His ways; but it is our choice.

Many of you who are reading this have made the choice of a relationship with God. Some may still be on the fence. But I think you will still get the question that I’ve been contemplating for a few years now. See, I get distracted constantly by opportunities, good opportunities, God opportunities. People ask me to help out with this and that. It feels like I am in a constant state of making choices between which good thing to get involved with and I’m constantly trying to find balance. It isn’t bad to be in this position. I like having choices to make, but it is frequently frustrating because I would like to be able to do it all and I know I can’t. Doing too much is not God honoring, nor is it good for my family or the people who are asking. But it is still hard to try and figure out what opportunity will keep me closest to His plan.

Just recently a woman asked me if I was going to get involved in a small group for couples. A couple of weeks ago a good friend asked me to facilitate another adult Bible study. I was asked to be on the PTO, assist with a summer camp at church, and who knows what else; I think I’m blocking it! So, how do you choose what opportunities, knowing that the choices are all good ones, are the God things that He would have you personally do?

- Donna

June 28, 2010

When Donna posts a Trail Marker I sometimes think, “Easy squeezy, I can answer that.” Unfortunately, when I sit down to make what is in my head make sense on paper, it is never “easy squeezy.” That’s a good thing because it is important that we, as Christians, know what and WHY we believe what we believe. Last week Donna wondered how one knows or decides which opportunities to serve should be seized and which should be passed to others or even left unclaimed for a time. (I know, all you Type A’s just made a collective gasp!) My answer is “vision” and “passion.”

At some points in our spiritual journey we must share a locked glance with Jesus, Himself. This is relationship - where we see the greatness of Jesus Christ and, through the Holy Spirit, we see our “sense of purpose” or our “calling” in Him. We are given gifts and abilities but what we choose to do for the kingdom is decided not so much on what we are capable of doing as what we “must do” in answer to that dominating sense of purpose. I have a learned and studious friend, gifted in many areas but she often says, “I can’t NOT talk about the Word.” She has a passion for scripture and it’s daily application, not just for herself, but for ALL people. She doesn’t do the lecture circuit or facilitate multiple Bible studies, she brings the Word into everyday conversations… during PTA, at the grocery store, at her daughters’ soccer games. She is in reality a Leave A Trace poster child! She is talented in many areas but what sets her on her feet and keeps her going is sharing the Word, her passion.

When Donna and I discussed the conundrum of gifts and service, her husband reminded us of Nehemiah who, when in the process of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, was asked four times to stop and attend a meeting to discuss his intentions. Yes, it was a trap, and Nehemiah knew it, but each time his response was, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:3 NKJV) Nehemiah knew his purpose and NOTHING would separate him from it, not meetings, not attacks, not weariness. He had a vision of God’s will for his life.

So, when trying to decide whether to take on one more activity, committee or position, consider if it will advance the call God has made on your life. I’ve always experienced a peace or calmness when my decision aligns with what I know of God’s purpose for me. It doesn’t mean I have the entire map in front of me, but it means I have a sense of security in God’s hand and provision. He will make sure His plan is fulfilled, you can’t “mess it up,” but you can “busy” yourself (even with good things) to the point that your passion wanes and your vision loses its focus.

- The Other Donna

May 31, 2010

I do not think that God is about to strike me down. But, I do wonder though, just how upset He gets when we make promises and only partially keep them.

Isn’t that what Ananias and Sapphira basically did wrong in Acts 5: 1 - 11? They promised to give all the proceeds from the sale of their land to the church. They then changed their minds, which in itself was fine, and then they lied about it. Instead of just saying that they had decided to keep some of the proceeds from the sale for themselves, they each told Peter that the money they were giving the church was the full amount for the sale of the land. They pretended that they were keeping their promise.

A few months back I stepped down from a secretarial position on a committee because it was just one more thing. I was completely honest with the committee chairs and told them that it was just not feasible at that time for me to continue. The funny thing is, is that they still keep thanking me for stepping down. (I was doing a great job, so stop snickering!) Why do they keep thanking me? I was honest. I made a commitment, but when I could no longer fulfill that commitment, I was honest enough to tell them instead of trying to pretend.

-Donna

“Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your ‘Yes’ be yes and your ‘No’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” James 5:12

May 24, 2010

Have you ever really taken the time to assess where your heart is? I mean really assess? Are you open and willing to accept anything that Christ sends to you? Are you willing to love Him no matter what? Are you willing to go out into the world and tell others about Him knowing that you will be ridiculed, snubbed, and laughed at? I’m not really asking this of you, I’m asking it of myself. And I have been asking this for a while now. Am I willing? Am I open? Am I bold and ready? Donna and I are beginning this ministry, so I guess that means that I am stepping out willingly, at least to some extent. But wow, is it ever scary! I guess Jesus never said that it would be easy. Instead He said that He would be with us throughout; pick us up when we are down; and encourage us to go forward.

In my Sunday school class we have been reading and digging deep into the book of Acts. The first 4 chapters go well with the self-examination I have been doing. Here we have this first group of believers, led by the disciples, who are facing odds beyond our comprehension. Jesus has just been killed in front of them. The government is against them. The religious leaders are against them. The people are against them. Yet, it is with profound boldness that they go out into these very groups and declare that the man that was just killed on the cross is really alive and well because He wasn’t just a man, He is the Messiah. This is truly amazing boldness and faith.

- Donna

May 17, 2010

I have had the privilege to kneel with both of my children as they accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and became “new creations” in Him. However, I’ve never “lead” anyone to Christ, a phrase I’ve often heard but can’t quite “picture” in my mind. Is it a single event? Is it the fruit of a growing seed planted and nurtured by the Holy Spirit? Is it spontaneous? Does it ever have anything to do with us?

I presented these questions to a group of Christian friends and confessed my hidden fear. I have no problem telling about the incredible ways Jesus has worked in my life, how He has saved me, changed me, strengthened me, brought me joy (in tough times and easy ones). But, I’m embarrassed to admit, I sometimes hesitate to proclaim His promises to nonbelievers. God has never let me down and I know He never will and I asked my friends for direction and confidence. The answer was actually pretty simple. “Pray big,” one of my friends said, “and expect God to do big things.”

I was reminded in Sunday school this week, as we studied the 4^th Chapter of Acts, of Peter and John’s response to the Sadducees when they were commanded to stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus. They said, “…Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20) Upon their release they went back to the believers and prayed, “…enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29-30)

So, that’s my model this week…proclaim what I know and PRAY BIG!

- the other Donna

May 10, 2010

"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost" Matthew 18: 12-14

My prayer this week is that I can be encouraging to just one person. Not everything has to be done in big numbers, big groups, big ways. Large things can be accomplished in small ways too.

- Donna

May 3, 2010

Why is it that one seemingly small thing can send you over the edge? I think everyone knows what I'm talking about, it could be the person in front of you at the checkout counter when they have 100 coupons and the scanner isn't working right; it could be the person in the parking lot waiting for the closest parking spot even though there are a TON of spots 20 feet down the lane. My last straw this past week was the check that I misplaced. I had it in my pocket. I remember thinking that I needed to put it in my wallet or I would end up washing it.

I'm really confident that the check is somewhere in my house. But I did go to the grocery store and to a friend's house that evening, so it is possible that it is laying out there where someone, not honest, could pick it up. It was midnight when I realized the check wasn't in my pocket, nor in my wallet. So of course I didn't sleep well. Then I spent the next day searching the house for it. I still haven't found it.

So you may be wondering what this has to do with trail markers. Well, the whole time I was searching for the check I was praying "God help me find the check." Then I was asking myself and God, "Am I worshipping an idol because I'm so obsessed with this check?" Then I would move on to being angry with myself because I was letting this lost check ruin my day and my family's day ~ because of course if mom's not happy, no one is happy!

There are so many lessons that I can take out of losing this one little item. We could talk about Jesus and the parable of the lost sheep. But that wouldn't be exactly right because a lost soul is a whole bunch more important than my little check. We could also talk about the prodigal son, but again, not quite right. We could talk about worshipping idols. That is closer to my obsession, but still not quite right.

Those ideas aren't right because they aren't where my peace finally came from. My sense of peace finally came from confessing that I had messed up to the person that gave me the check. When I look back at that very long day, from midnight on, I think that confessing was my worst fear; that act of asking for forgiveness.

Why is asking for forgiveness such a huge deal? I think of my about to be teenage son and see on his face every time he messes up this enormous struggle to fess up to what he has done and say sorry. Then here I am letting my whole day be ruined and me ruining quite a few other people's days because I'm stressed over explaining that I messed up.

The lesson God reminded me of today comes from the book of Matthew, Chapter 10, verse 19. In this part of Matthew, Jesus is teaching the disciples about what will happen when they go into the world. He is explaining that many times they will be under extreme pressure to explain themselves and their faith. But, through it all they should not worry because His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, will be with them and give them the words to speak.

I'm not saying that my worries were from public persecution, but from self persecution because I screwed up. If I would have just taken a deep breath and remembered that God would give me the words to explain myself, that He would be with me in times of stress (as well as in times of celebration), and remember that forgiveness is a lot easier to give than to ask for, I would not have had such a horrendous day brought on by my own self.

- Donna

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