Lifting Up Our Eyes for Mercy on Us All

I lift up my eyes... where does our help come from?

Exactly three weeks ago today, my precious friend Cyd was kidnapped by gunpoint in Afghanistan. She is a humanitarian aid worker among the poorest of poor giving her life away. Lifting our eyes, holding hope that Cyd will be released by her abductors. Day #21.

My close friend, Rebekah, has a cousin who was kidnapped in Mexico and released for ransom this week after being held for six weeks, malnourished and blindfolded the entire time. Unbelievable story. With our eyes lifted, we are praising God for his safe harrowing release.

On July 16th, I lost my eyeglasses. This week, thanks to a secret agent in Houston, I was able to order prescription glasses again. I am so grateful to be able to see like this. So very grateful for literal eyes lifted

Basketball ended this week. The whole season came down to one play that could send us into the playoffs or send us home. Down by one point, two seconds left to play and our coach calls a time out. They set up a play to my son, Britt. Ball is thrown in to Britt, who forcefully drives to the goal and goes up for an uncontested routine lay-up. He is fouled in the back knocking him off balance a teeny bit but it's an effortless play. He's up in the air, the ball heads toward the hoop, rolls around the rim, and pops right back out. He has made that play a thousand times. We lost the game by one point. We lost the season by one play and we're home for another year. No, one play doesn't lose a game or even a season, but one play does win a game.

A seminar I went to asks you: What was "life" to you as a child? What was "death" to you as a child? What do we walk away thinking about the plays of life that mark us? A friend of mine says that children are great observers of life but lousy interpreters. So how will Britt process the whole season on his back? What did I do with it? How will we lift our eyes in this little loss that looms so big in the eyes of a child. My husband always says that we learn more about life from our failures than we could learn from any victory.

I worked full-time this past week substitute teaching. I don't have anything lined up yet for this coming week. My husband is in the process of looking for another job as well. His job building a Christian school has come to an end and there are no contracts on the table. Is this the time to go back into ministry or what does our God want us to do? It is the reality of where we are and whatever our beautiful God wants us to do, wherever He wants us to go...we will. What do we do? Our eyes are lifted to HIM.

The winner of the Love & Lagniappe post is . . .
This morning when I awakened, I lay in bed pondering the events of this week while reading a disturbingly good book called Mere Christianity and the #7 kept popping in my head. So, there. Whoever is #7, send me your address and I'll send you the beautiful prayer journal.

It's lovely Laura, a new friend to me.

Some things have shaken my soul a little this week and this morning as I awakened, God brought to my mind Psalm123:2

I lift my eyes to you.

As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
so our eyes look to the Lord, our God,
till He shows us His Mercy.

till He shows us His Mercy on us all.
Have mercy on me, O God.

May He have mercy on you!