Refreshment by Marcia Lee Laycock

Bird of Paradise

It took us almost 5 hours. We had to walk through the jungles of Papua New Guinea to get to an airstrip where we would climb onto a small plane for the flight back to SIL’s mission station at Ukarumpa. I had prayed a lot, knowing that rain would make the trek difficult. God answered my prayers. There had been little rain all week so the rivers we had to cross weren’t flooded and the trail was relatively dry.

We chatted and laughed as we walked, my seven-year-old on the shoulders of one of the national men, my other two daughters easily keeping up using the walking sticks one of the men had provided. We had started out early in the day, but the jungle was already steaming with humidity, making our clothing cling to our bodies and our foreheads bead with perspiration. We used our water bottles often but the tepid water was not as refreshing as the chunks of sugar cane the men cut from time to time. The natural electrolytes in the stalks gave us the energy we needed to keep going.

An astonishing variety of insects kept up a constant buzz and hum and our heads often swivelled as brilliantly coloured birds and butterflies crossed our path. Their appearance spurred us on each time. The men got especially excited when a huge black cockatoo swooped by as we crossed one of the many rivers. The rare bird, they told us, was a good omen.

We stayed beneath the canopy of green, stepping out of it only when we reached the airstrip and realized how that high roof of foliage had protected us from the punishing tropical sun. The plane was waiting for us so there was no time to rest. My husband took off his shoes and handed them to the translator we had been visiting. His were falling apart. We pulled sweaters out of our packs and had them ready for the chilly temperature as the plane reached a high elevation, soaring over mountains and into the clouds.

By the time we arrived at our home at Ukarumpa we were all exhausted and thinking about only one thing – a refreshing shower. My oldest daughter made it into the house first so the rest of us had to wait our turn. My husband pulled out the box of mail that had accumulated while we were away. There was much excitement when we realized there was a “care package” from home, complete with newspapers, letters and photos from members of our Canadian congregation, packages of candy for the girls and many other delights. Suddenly our exhaustion was forgotten and we oohed and aahed over each new discovery. When Kate emerged from the shower none of us were eager to pull ourselves away from that connection to home.

But oh, the delight of that fresh running water! I had been almost ready to collapse when we arrived, but the shower and the delight of watching my family’s excitement over that care package revived my body and soul.

Refreshment. God provided it, in the laughter as we walked, in the delight over the beauty of the jungle and its creatures, in the natural boost from the sugar cane, in the joy of finding mail waiting for us and in the delight of a long cool shower.

“I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” (Jer.31:25). That is a promise God made to the Hebrew people through His prophet Jeremiah. It is a promise He keeps to all His people, to this day. 

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Marcia writes from Alberta Canada where she lives with her pastor/husband and two golden retrievers. She is a columnist with novelrocket.com and her devotionals are widely distributed. She was the winner of the Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her debut novel, One Smooth Stone. It was followed by A Tumbled Stone which was also shortlisted for an award. Marcia's fantasy novel, The Ambassadors, was just shortlisted for a Word Award. Several ebooks are available from Amazon and Smashwords. 

Visit Marcia's website to learn more about her writing and speaking ministry.

When Crumbs are Enough - M. Laycock

Our Bible study group pondered over one of the miracles of Jesus the other night. It’s a passage in Matthew 15 that describes how the crowds followed Jesus to a remote area, bringing the lame and blind and demon possessed before Him. And he heals them – thousands of them. Then the passage says that he had compassion on the people because they had not eaten for three days. So He told His disciples to find food for them. Food for 4,000 people. In the middle of nowhere. No restaurants nearby, no caterers ready and willing to serve, not even a village where they could get a few vegetables and bread. 

 

Of course the disciples are nonplused. They tell Jesus what He already knows. They don’t have the means to feed so many. Then He asks them a simple question. “How many loaves do you have?” (Matthew 15:34) We can imagine the disciples showing him the seven loaves and the few small fish. Then Jesus tells them to have the crowd sit down. I wonder what they thought then. Did they think there was going to be a riot if they did not provide food for so many? Did they think Jesus was foolhardy to make it seem that they could? Why was he expecting so much of them?

The miracle that occurs then showed them, and us, that he was not foolhardy. Neither was he expecting too much of them. He knew exactly what they had and what they were capable of. But this was the God of the universe, the one who created those few loaves and fish. The miracle that occurs then showed them, and us, that even a small offering was enough, when it was put into the hands of a mighty God.

When I published my first devotional book, Spur of the Moment, I thought it would be a very small local effort. I was nervous about ordering 500 copies and I was amazed when they sold out quite quickly. I was even more amazed when I saw that little book travel to some very far away places – places like India and England, Mexico and the South Pacific. Then God started to show me what He can do when a small thing is put into His hands. 

I began receiving letters and emails and even a few phone calls telling me how that small book had changed their lives. 

God had a plan. It was not my skilful inspiring words that can change someone’s life. It was God’s Spirit that moved the hearts of his people through the words in a small devotional book. And sometimes he does it through a mystery or a romance or a fantasy novel. God has a plan to heal and restore, to instil a renewed faith and to bestow joy beyond our wildest dreams upon the lives of His people, through our words. 

So, how many loaves do you have? Does it seem like only a few crumbs in the face of a great need? Be encouraged. Jesus will take those crumbs and make them enough. In fact, He will make them into an abundance of blessing as they are fed to those who hunger for them. 

So offer them up. Then stand back and watch.

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Visit Marcia's webpage - www.marcialeelaycock.com

Download her devotional book for writers of faith - www.smashwords.com/books/view/58017

 

The Truth of God's Love - M. Laycock

“Did you call her?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Mom!” My daughter sounded exasperated.

“I don’t want her to think I’m a hovering, over-protective mother.” I tried to defend my reasons for not calling our youngest daughter who had just moved away from home and begun a new career. I’d been anxiously awaiting a phone call from her telling us how it was going, but had heard nothing.

“But she won’t think that,” my older and wiser daughter insisted. “We all love you and we want you to call. If you don’t we think you don’t love us, that you don’t care.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

I called her that night. She had sent me three text messages that hadn’t gotten through and was very happy to hear from me. Things were indeed going well and she was happy to tell me all about it.

This incident made me think about my lack of communication with God. Sometimes I don't pray because I think my requests are too insignificant compared to the needs of others. Sometimes I hold back because I doubt that He has time for me. And sometimes I'm afraid He might even reject me. After all, I'm a frail and failing human. I know I disappoint Him continually. How could he possibly love me?

These are the lies the evil one whispers. I am prone to believe them. But then I read His word, His love letter to me, and the truth draws me back.

"Consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!" (Luke 12:24).

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands" (Deuteronomy 7:9).

"Praise to the Lord, for he showed his wonderful love to me... (Psalm 31:21).

"Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies" (Psalm 36:5).

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:8).

Over and over again the scripture tells us that God loves us, not because of what we have done, or how holy we are, or how beautiful or how wise, but because we are His children. He is pictured as a bird that gathers her chicks under its wing, and as a mighty God who sends his angels to stand guard over us.

And, as all parents who love their children know, He wants us to come to Him with our heart's cry, to pour out the pain we feel and the joy. He wants to be part of our lives, to help and to guide. He loves us. Even when we fail, even when we disappoint, even when we turn away from Him. He loves us. Period.

"Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord" (Psalm 107:43).

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Marcia Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she lives with her pastor husband and two golden retrievers. Visit her website to learn more about her writing/speaking ministry.