For the Journey Literature

Since it’s the last day of May, it’s time for another monthly update, and I’m happy to report that I don’t have to begin this update with, “Well, I can’t say I’ve never missed a deadline anymore…” (If you read last month’s review, you’ll understand that.) I did somehow manage to meet my deadlines this month, though I will admit to freaking out a little bit when I thought I was one lesson shy of being ready to print May orders, only to realize there were two months with five Sundays in the summer quarter. Someone, namely me, should have been paying more attention to the calendar…

Other than printing orders, this month, I wrapped up lessons from Deuteronomy and started a new adult study from 1 and 2 Peter. I’m still working on middle school lessons from Genesis and teen lessons from Mark. Also, it had been awhile since the last podcast episode, and since my life was full of inspiration for a new one, I published “When the Journey is Just So Frustrating” this month. You can find it on my For the Journey Facebook page and give it a listen if you missed it.

Monday morning verses for May came from the key verses of an adult study titled “A Few Minor Prophets,” and the 30-Day Devotional study highlight this month was taken from “A Study in Prayer,” which is one of my absolute favorites of the devotional studies I’ve written, which made it almost impossible to choose one devotional for the highlight. (If you missed said highlight, just keep scrolling after reading this update.) This month’s trivia fun was about a man from the Old Testament named Obadiah, a man who hid 100 prophets of the Lord during the reign of King Ahab.

There were also two devotional posts for the For the Journey Facebook page “A Matter of Perspective” and “The Promise of a Better Future” this month, but I think they may have just been for me. May was a bit rough, a bit stressful. I was under a time crunch. Then, there were the hail storms and dealing with the damage from them. As usual, though, the writing kept me grounded. It brought me joy and peace in the midst of all the mess. I won’t deny that ministry of any sort is often a heavy burden, but I also know with absolute certainty that God gave me a most precious gift when He gave me mine, and I’m so grateful for it.

So, that was May. Personally, I’m hoping June is a little less busy, a little less stressful, and a lot more sunshiny. I think that would be really great for productivity. But, God knows best, and we’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

It’s time for another 30-Day Devotional highlight. My fifth one “A Study in Prayer” was originally released in January of 2022, and it is one of my absolute favorites. In fact, it was really difficult for me to choose just one devotional from it for this highlight. Really difficult.

“A Study in Prayer” is so special for me because it transformed my prayer life. In fact, I should reread it at least every year (maybe every six months) because my prayer life was healthiest when I was writing it and shortly thereafter. I needed this devotional study whether anyone else did or not, and I still look back on it so grateful for such a precious gift from the Lord.

As hard as it was to choose, I finally settled on “Seriously Displeased,” which is Day 29 of the study, for this highlight. I hope you enjoy it!

Seriously Displeased

“But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.” -Jonah 4:1

Jonah 3:10-4:11

None of us like to admit it. We feel guilty about even feeling or thinking that way. But, if we’re completely honest, sometimes, like Jonah, we get seriously displeased, even downright angry, with God. Sometimes, we don’t like what He tells us to do. Sometimes, we’re not happy with the things He allows to happen to us. Sometimes, the fact that children battle cancer or go hungry at night and He, in His power, doesn’t put a stop to it rubs us the wrong way. Sometimes, flawed as we are, we get upset with God. Now, hopefully, our frustration, displeasure, anger (whatever you want to call it) is never over His sparing souls from destruction as Jonah’s was in our passage. That is cause only for praise and rejoicing, and Jonah was completely and totally in the wrong for feeling the way he did.

That said, Jonah was right to turn to the Lord in prayer feeling the way he did. He was right to go to God with those emotions and honestly tell the Lord he was so angry he wanted to die.

In our lives, when we’re struggling with feelings of anger and frustration, when we’re not happy with God, we don’t need to respond to those feelings and emotions by deciding to give God the silent treatment. We don’t need to quit praying. Like Jonah, we need to pray when we’re upset with God. We need to honestly tell Him we’re mad and why.

After Jonah prayed, God challenged him to consider whether he was right to feel as he did. God then used a simple plant to work on Jonah’s perspective, to make him see He had every right to spare the people of Nineveh.

When we pray even when we’re upset with God, when we take Him our frustrations and anger, we’re inviting Him to work on our heart. We’re inviting Him to help us see things from His perspective. We’re seeking His help overcoming those feelings we know we shouldn’t have. That’s why it’s so important that we keep praying even when we’re not particularly happy with God.

Pray–even when you’re upset with God.

Well, it’s the end of another month. I have to admit April was not a very productive month for me. I spent most of the month exhausted from coughing so much, so I’ve been napping in my car on my lunch break and going to bed earlier in hopes that maybe some extra rest would help me finally get over whooping cough and subsequent complications. That hasn’t worked, and now I have no idea how I’m going to catch up to meet May deadlines. But, I’m reminding myself that I’ve never missed a deadline in my entire life and trying not to stress about it. (That’s working really well for me…)

Even though the month wasn’t super productive, I did print a few orders, and it was a mix of 30-Day Devotionals, VBS literature, and Sunday School literature, which was exciting. As far as writing Sunday School lessons goes, most of what I worked on this month were adult lessons from Deuteronomy, but I did squeeze in one middle school lesson from Genesis and started a new study for teens from Mark.

The Monday morning verses on my For the Journey Facebook page this month came from key verses from adult lessons from Galatians, and since it was the month of Easter, the monthly trivia was related to Jesus’ crucifixion. The 30-Day Devotional highlight featured my fifth 30-Day Devotional “Comfort from Psalms,” and it was easy to choose a devotional for the highlight this time because the one I used “A Good Scrubbing” is a favorite of mine from all the devotionals I’ve written for the different studies.

It had been a while since I did a blog post other than devotional highlights and monthly reviews for the website, but I did write one this month. It was a convicting post for me, but I definitely needed it. Go check out “Do I Have That Problem?” if you missed it.

That pretty much sums up April, and I’m really praying May’s monthly review doesn’t begin with, “Well, I can’t say I’ve never missed a deadline anymore…” Stay tuned!

So far I’ve highlighted my first four 30-Day Devotionals. I released my fifth one “Comfort from Psalms” in August of 2021. I still love the concept behind it. Life is hard. It just is. But, there is great comfort to be found in God’s Word. There’s far better comfort to be found within its pages than in retail therapy or binging on our favorite comfort foods, or in wrapping up in a warm blanket. God’s Word has the power to comfort our heart and soul, to give us peace even when we’re caught in fierce spiritual battles or going through hard times. So, as the title suggests, the goal behind “Comfort from Psalms” was simply to help others find comfort from the specific psalms chosen for the study.

And, for this highlight, I just had to go with Day 14’s devotional because it’s from a well-known psalm I always love to read and study. Plus, the illustration I used in the devotional to go with the text is special to me because it reminds me of wonderful summer memories from my childhood. So, I hope you enjoy “A Good Scrubbing.”

A Good Scrubbing

“Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” –Psalm 51:2

Psalm 51

Growing up my Mamma always planted potatoes, and digging them was a family affair. We would start early while it was still moderately cool so we could finish before it got blazing hot like it does in the summer in Arkansas. Still, by the time we finished, especially we kids would be covered almost from head-to-toe in dirt and sweat and in desperate need of a good scrubbing.

When David penned today’s psalm, he was in need of a good scrubbing spiritually speaking. He had skipped out on his kingly duties, which led to lusting after another man’s wife, which led to sleeping with another man’s wife, which led to ensuring the man was killed in battle… Needless to say, he was filthy with sin, and the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to him to make him see it, to make him not just see it but feel it.

Fortunately, David knew where to turn for a good scrubbing. He turned to the Lord, acknowledging his sin (verses 3-4) and pleading with the Lord to wash him and make him clean (verse 2), to make him whiter than snow (verse 7), to give him a clean heart (verse 10), and to restore the joy of His salvation (verse 12).

Bringing that to us today, none of us are perfect. Sometimes, like David, we’ll mess up. Sometimes, spiritually speaking, we’ll look like we’ve spent a summer day in a potato patch. Thankfully, we can take comfort in the God who’s able to clean us up. Like David in his day, we can turn to the Lord for a good scrubbing, and He’ll blot out our sins and make us clean.

Take comfort in the God who can clean us up.

I recently noticed I kept running across a certain theme in writing Sunday School lessons. And, since I don’t believe in coincidences, I finally had to prayerfully consider whether God was telling me something. The theme that kept popping up was humility.

First, in writing middle school lessons from Genesis, it was Jacob having to humble himself before the brother he’d wronged. Then, in writing adult lessons from Deuteronomy, Moses, lest the Children of Israel get a big head, kept reminding them they weren’t chosen because they were the greatest or most numerous of the nations but rather because of God’s love and faithfulness to His promises. And, lest they be tempted to take the credit or give themselves the glory, he kept emphasizing to them that the nations in the Promised Land were stronger and mightier than them. It was only because the Lord was driving those nations out for their wickedness that Israel would be able to take possession of their land. Next, I started a new study for teens from Mark and, of course, found myself writing about John the Baptist’s humility. Even with his miraculous birth, his special God-given role that had been prophesied in the Old Testament, and his incredibly successful ministry, John was not prideful at all. He lived and ate humbly.  He insisted he wasn’t even worthy to unloose the shoes of the one so much mightier than him who was coming after him, than Jesus, the Messiah, the one able to baptize with the Holy Spirit. Like I said, the humility theme just kept coming up.

I think, if we’re honest, we all struggle with pride to some extent. After all, it was our first sin. We weren’t content as God created us but wanted the fruit He placed off limits so we would know good and evil like Him. We were, in pride, reaching above our station. And, we all appreciate compliments and words of affirmation more than we probably should. So, it’s not like I was under the impression that I never struggled with pride. Still, I didn’t really want to consider that I was walking around with a major pride problem. I didn’t want to think I had a big head or an inflated ego. After all, how off-putting are those personality traits?! 

As I was soul-searching, I couldn’t help remembering a certain yard-mowing incident from last week. Back in November, I caught whooping cough, and I cannot seem to get rid of the cough. Now, I don’t mean that I cough a little bit each day. I mean it’s not at all unusual for me to cough so much and so hard that I get light-headed multiple times a day. But, my backyard was turning into a jungle. It was a little past time for the first mowing of the year, and I didn’t want to let it reach the point that I had to sweet talk my Dad into bush hogging it for me. 

My mower, of course, hadn’t been started since the last time I mowed the yard last year, and thanks to all the coughing, I don’t exactly have an abundance of energy at the end of the day, so last Tuesday, multiple times throughout the day, I prayed about being able to get the mower to start because I knew I was not going to have enough left in the tank to mow the yard if I also had to tug and pull on the starter cord for 20 to 30 minutes. 

When I got home from work, I could see and hear that Dad was mowing my parents’ yard because they live across the road from me. I went inside to consume some food and caffeine for energy and then went back outside to mow. I got the push mower out of the shed, and it started on the second pull. I was so excited! (Sometimes, it’s the little things!)

I started mowing the backyard, and it wasn’t going particularly well. By that, I mean, I was pushing the mower with one hand while coughing my head off into my other elbow. Still, when my Dad finished their yard and came over and started working on my front yard while I was mowing in the back, I waved him off twice and hollered (between coughs) that I had it. Probably because he could hear my coughs over both of the running lawn mowers, he ignored me and kept mowing. 

I finished the backyard but used the rescue inhaler and took some cough syrup before finishing the side and probably would have hyperventilated or passed smooth out if Dad hadn’t mowed the front and the other side. 

It’s not surprising that this little adventure came to mind when I was soul-searching about a pride problem. I realized that, not only am I almost incapable of asking for help, but I don’t even accept it when it’s handed to me on a silver platter. After all, I had prayed for help starting the mower. The Lord did that and sent help with the mowing too. But, my self-sufficient, incredibly stubborn self received it, well, less than gracefully. Yep, there might be a pride problem there… Just maybe…

Sometimes, I think we’re too quick to dismiss it when similar topics and themes keep coming up in Sunday sermons or Sunday School lessons or our personal Bible study. We choose not to give it much thought because we don’t want to ask ourselves, “Is that for me? Do I have that problem?” After all, if we ask those questions, the yes might be too loud and resounding to ignore. Then, we’d have to face the humbling part–repentance, followed by the super challenging part–change. (At least, we would unless we chose to ignore the Lord’s correction, which is never a good idea.) But, it’s important to remember that the Lord’s correction and His nudging us to address areas where we need to change are expressions of His love for us. Does anyone want to have to admit to and address a pride problem or an anger problem or an honesty problem or fill in the blank with whatever problem? No. Are we better for it when we admit to our faults and failings and address them? Yes. Is it evidence of God’s goodness when He brings them to our attention? Absolutely. Conviction, though admittedly unpleasant to experience, is a gift. And, some prayerful soul-searching and asking, “Do I have that problem?” is never a bad idea. 

“For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Hebrews 12:6

As crazy as it seems, we’re at the end of another month. I’m not sure how that’s possible, but the calendar says it’s so. And I would say it was a fairly productive one.

Monday morning verses this month came from the key verses from adult lessons from Isaiah, and the 30-Day Devotional highlight this month came from “Serving God and Others.” The trivia fun came from one of my absolute favorite books of the Bible–Ruth. However, the question was about Naomi. As much as I admire Ruth, I find Naomi more relatable, so that’s probably why it was about Naomi instead of Ruth.

There were also two devotional posts for the Facebook page this month. I’m not sure which one was my favorite. I needed them both. Go check them out if you missed them!

Early in the month of March, I panicked a little when I realized how much I still had to do if I planned to be able to offer new VBS literature this year. After my momentary panic, however, God allowed me to tackle the most challenging part of VBS literature for me as well as my favorite part in a manner of a few hours one evening. And, a few days after that special blessing, I was very happy to wrap up “Adventures on the Sea” and announce that it’s ready. I did opt for only doing a Super Saturday option this year. (By the way, didn’t the ad turn out super cute?)

I also wrote several adult lessons from Deuteronomy and a few devos for my next devotional study. I’m really enjoying working on the Sunday School lessons from Deuteronomy, and I’m getting very close to the halfway mark on my next 30-Day Devotional, so that’s exciting.

In case you need a laugh… I lost almost a week this month because I was really sick with a nasty stomach bug. During that time, I did attempt to catch up on some proofreading. Now, usually, while proofreading, I catch mistakes like accidentally typing there when I meant their, or sometimes I catch where I accidentally looked over a line while typing the lesson and have to go back to my hand-written originals and find what’s missing. But, I don’t usually find statements of heresy. Well, while typing a middle school lesson from Genesis, I apparently accidentally typed, “Leah gave birth to God.” Even my foggy, sick brain was screaming, “GAD! GAD! She gave birth to GAD! Definitely not God!” You just have no idea how glad I am that I caught that mistake in the proofing stage. No idea.

Hmm…let’s see… I also printed an order and caught up on some typing while watching the World Figure Skating Championships. And, no, I don’t type as fast when I’m watching figure skating at the same time…

Anyway, that was March. Can’t wait to see what April has in store!

Time for another 30-Day Devotional highlight!  My fourth one was “Serving God and Others” and was originally released in April of 2021.  I had a harder time settling on a devotional to highlight from it.  I got caught up rereading parts of the study and remembering the circumstances and situations that inspired some of the illustrations.  So, I wound up spending more time choosing than I probably should have.  I finally settled on the one below probably because I’ve had a very low tolerance for complaining lately.  Thus, I needed the reminder that, as Christians, we are called to love and serve even those who will never be happy and who will always find something to grumble and complain about.  And, even if you haven’t struggled lately with whining grating on your nerves more than normal, I hope you enjoy the read.

Constant Grumbling

“And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” –Exodus 16:3

Exodus 5:20-21; 14:10-12; 16:1-3; 17:1-4

When I read the account of the exodus and the Children of Israel’s wilderness wanderings, I can’t help feeling sorry for poor Moses. After all, he was far less than eager to take on leading his people to begin with and tried, albeit unsuccessfully, all kinds of excuses to get out of it. Then, he had to deal with the Children of Israel’s constant grumbling at every turn.

In the very beginning, after Moses and Aaron’s first encounter with Pharaoh, they were just making everything worse. On the shore of the Red Sea, Moses had brought them out of Egypt just to die. Then the people were starving… Then they were thirsty… At every turn, they should have stayed in Egypt where they had food and water. Slavery was so much better, and it was all Moses’ fault for bringing them out…at least according to them.

Still, in spite of all their grumbling, Moses continued to faithfully lead and serve his people. He continued to take their complaints to the Lord, continued to intercede for them and be the leader God called him to be. Was he perfect? No. Did he make mistakes? Yes. But, he did keep serving even when it was often a thankless job.

Today, our world is full of people who, like the Children of Israel in Moses’ day, grumble and complain a lot. We need to serve them anyway. We need to, in love, strive to do all we can even for people who are never going to think we did enough or did what we did in the right way and who are always going to have a new complaint the next week (or possibly the next day). We need to be like Moses and serve as we’re called to serve even when we feel underappreciated because we don’t answer to those grumbling and complaining about what we did and how we did it. We answer to God, and He’s called us to love and serve even those who make that difficult.

Serve even the grumblers.

I feel like February is always a bit of a whirlwind. It’s a short month anyway and one that includes printing orders for me, so it always seems to be gone before I know it.

Speaking of printing orders, this month’s were printed on a new printer. I don’t know if this is true for everyone or just my less than tech-savvy self. But, setting up and using a new printer never goes smoothly. That means printing February orders was not without its challenges. But, the orders got printed, and I still have hair, so I’m going to count that as a win.

Other than orders, I did make time for some fun VBS crafting on a snow/ice day and am very pleased with the results.

I also worked a bit more on my next 30-Day Devotional. It’s progressing–slowly.

And, at the end of the month, I squeezed in a bit more work on my next Bible Study Guide. It’s also progressing–slowly. That seems to be how everything is going lately. It’s a little frustrating for someone who tends to rush around and run 90-to-nothing at all times, but focus has been a serious struggle lately… I’m praying that improves sooner rather than later.

I had to finish my adult study from the parables of Jesus before printing orders and then started a new adult study from Deuteronomy. It’s the first time I’ve ever written from Deuteronomy for any age group, and that’s always a special experience for me. In fact, both of the short devotional posts for my For the Journey Facebook page this month came about from outlining Deuteronomy lessons. I don’t know which one was my favorite. I needed them both. If you missed them, visit the page and check out “Remembering and Believing” and “Ouch!” I also worked on a couple of middle school lessons from Genesis this month.

There was more trivia fun, and Monday morning verses for the Facebook page this month were taken from the key verses from teen lessons from Romans. I also highlighted my third 30-Day Devotional “In the Waiting.” If you missed that post, just keep scrolling after you finish reading this one.

That just about covers February. Can’t wait to see what March has in store!

My third 30-Day Devotional “In the Waiting” was not a project I undertook with great enthusiasm. And, being honest, it’s the only writing project I look back on with real regret. Don’t get me wrong. The end result wasn’t bad. It has merit and was actually one of my more successful devotionals. But, I still look back on it with regret because I wasn’t quite obedient when writing it, and not quite obedient is the same as disobedient. I don’t like waiting, and it’s a deeply personal struggle for me. Thus, I don’t want to talk about it, and I don’t want to write about it. Hard pass! 

So, as I was writing a devotional study about waiting because I felt led to even if I didn’t want to, there were times I would purposefully change illustrations to be less personal, or there were times when I wasn’t as honest or open as I knew I should have been. And, the few times I was obediently open, I did so begrudgingly at best. That’s why I look back on the project with regret. I can’t help wondering what more God might have had for me in the experience of writing it if I had been more obedient and possibly what more He might have had for those reading it. Needless to say, those wonderings do not evoke warm and fuzzy feelings. (I know, some highlight this is turning out to be…) 

At the same time, I’m sort of glad I have that one project I can’t remember without a twinge of regret because it nudges me to be obedient, to get over myself and follow the Lord’s direction, when the non-sharer, closed-book part of me who’s more open in writing than in conversation but still struggles with that wants to tweak illustrations and hold back, to not be quite honest. Sometimes I need that. I don’t want another project that I know I didn’t go about with the right attitude or write the way I should have. So, I’m genuinely grateful for “In the Waiting.” After all, hard lessons are still lessons.

As with the highlights from “Do You Believe?” and “Standing Strong,” below is one of the devotionals from “In the Waiting.” It’s one that the pessimist in me really needed to go back and reread as I was trying to select one for this post, and I hope it blesses you too.

Days without Hope

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.” -Job 7:6

Job 7:1-21

Recently, I’ve been studying Job in my personal Bible study. Everyone is really familiar with the beginning of Job and of course the ending. The middle, however, sort of gets lost.

Our passage for today comes after Job has lost everything—his livestock, most of his servants, all his children, and his health. It also comes after his incredibly supportive wife urges him to just curse God and die, and after Eliphaz becomes the first of his “friends” to tell him his suffering is the result of some secret sin in his life. Thus, Job is, understandably, in a place of complete despair. His days are spent without hope (Job 7:6). He believes he’ll never see good again (Job 7:7). His spirit is in anguish, and his soul in bitterness (Job 7:11). Even in sleep, he finds no escape, no comfort or relief (Job 7:13-14). And, he’s waiting—but not for things to get better, not for physical healing or any kind of restoration. No, he has no hope of that. At this point, Job is waiting for death. In his complaint to God, he makes the statement: “…my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life. I loathe it; I would not live always: let me alone; for my days are vanity” (Job 7:15-16). Later, he adds, “…for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be” (Job 7:21).

Job honestly thought all hope was gone. He honestly believed he was nearing the end of his life, that he would never know joy or happiness again. But, Job was wrong. There was so much going on behind the scenes that he didn’t know about, and God had a far better ending to his story in mind.

My point: When you feel like your days are without hope, when you’re bitter and broken and tempted to give in to despair and believe things will never get better, choose instead to wait in hope. Choose to believe God is at work behind the scenes writing a better ending. Even when it’s hard, even when it hurts, choose to hope because, as long as there’s a good God in Heaven (and there always has been and always will be), there will never be so much as a single day that is truly without hope.

Wait in hope.

So, January was a month of doing a little bit of everything.  I might have accomplished more if I had focused on one or two things, but oh well.  Instead…

There was some crafting for Sunday School lessons and VBS.  

Sometimes my crafts actually turn out the way I imagined them in my head, and I just love it when that happens! The one above may be one of my all-time favorites.

I also worked on my next Bible Study Guide a little, which is on Ephesians.  Working on it started out a little rough.  The flow just wasn’t there like I wanted it to be, but I’m starting to get excited about it.  So, hopefully, it will continue to progress.

I started my next 30-Day Devotional study “From the Writings of Paul” what feels like forever ago.  Unfortunately, devos has been listed on my weekly to-do list every week since then, but week after week, I haven’t checked it off.  So, it was nice to get back into it again and write a few devotionals this month.  I’m still nowhere close to releasing it, but I’m closer.

You know it’s been awhile since you recorded a podcast episode when the software has completely changed and you have to basically relearn everything.  The episode “When the Journey is Filled with Waiting” published this month was not all that long, but it felt like it took forever.  The English major in me enjoyed the fact that it was inspired largely by a Longfellow poem, but I tried not to be too much of a lit nerd in the episode.  If you missed it, the link is shared on my For the Journey Facebook page, so you can go back and give it a listen if you’d like.

I guess I was a bit of a slacker on short devotional posts for the Facebook page this month.  I only wrote one, but it was a tremendous blessing to me.  If you missed “Keep Turning to the Cross,” go back and check it out.

Most of the Sunday School lessons I wrote this month were adult lessons from Jesus’ parables.  I have really enjoyed writing them and am sort of sad to almost have the study wrapped up, but it’s a good thing because I have to finish it in time for orders next month.

January was also the second month of honoring 10 years of For the Journey.  The Monday morning verses were taken from key verses for adult Sunday School lessons from Psalms.  I do think I succeeded in making the trivia question a little bit easier this month.  And, I highlighted my second 30-Day Devotional “Standing Strong” on the website.  You can keep scrolling after reading this month’s review if you missed it.

That pretty much sums up January.  It was an a-little-of-this-and-a-little-of-that kind of month, and while that seemed to mean less noticeable progress, I had fun doing all the things.