I have been among the missing for the past 2 weeks in the writing world.  Life, that is L I F E , happened.  There aren’t enough esses in B U S Y  to describe the last 2 weeks.  However, lest you think otherwise, I am NOT complaining.  As a matter of fact, just the opposite.

My family celebrated the first birthday of my first great granddaughter, along with birthdays for 3 granddaughters, a niece and some friends. My first born will celebrate his 50^th birthday the end of this month.

Additionally, my dad’s side of the family gathered in West Virginia at my cousin’s farm for our first reunion in 9 years. We are scattered from *New Mexico to New York* and many parts in between.  Our presence was four generations deep.

Still, my writing, my country blog and this web site, Collateral Grace, have suffered. Do I go to Plan B? or Do I go back to … ? Good question.

I believe that God has a single plan for my life and yours as well. Jeremiah 29:11 reads, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”  Or, how about this translation from The Message, Jeremiah 29:10-11, “This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”

I don’t think that God has a Plan B.

I don’t think God is ever surprised when we do something that is out of His plan.

But, He is faithful and just to forgive …“ Jeremiah 31:34b reads: “…saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Come. Now. Come back to your calling. Just as the prodigal son came running back to his father, it is just and good and right for you to come running back to your Father.  Get on with The Plan.

Father, forgive me, for I have sinned.  Help me to stay on the path and the plan that You have for me. I am praying, in Your son’s precious Name, Amen.

*I just realized a mistake here – we are scattered from Washington State to New York*.  So sorry for this error, Kay.

Smart Phones are among the latest and greatest technology.  There’s almost no end to what they can do (sans wash the dishes).  Some of the new phones are just totally amazing. Need directions to your boss’s home? There’s an app for that!  Need to know how to prepare Saltimbocca? There’s an app for that.  Insert slash pockets in a pair of slacks, throw some pottery or make adobe bricks? There’s an app for that. 

Head to the doctor for migraines or pneumonia or a sore throat? There’s a pill for that!  Coughing, sneezing and allergies? There’s a drug or a pill or a spray for that!

But, what about those other aches and pains?  The one you can’t see? Are you wounded beyond belief? Does your heart hurt? Are you lonely even in a crowded room? Are you so depressed that all you do is hide behind closed doors and hope no one comes by? Are you frustrated, annoyed, irritated or wounded? There’s an app for that!

That app is Jesus Christ, the Rock, the Son, Redeemer and Friend

The late Dotty Rambo wrote and recorded “I Go To The Rock” (you may remember the version that Whitney Houston covered in “The Preacher’s Wife).  The song celebrates who YOU can run to no matter what kind of junk this life throws at you.  In Matthew 11:28 – 30, Jesus beckons, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  Or, read it in The Message translation, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Back in the Old Testament, David was being chased, hounded and running for his life, so he cried out, “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.  I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.  The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.” (Psalms 18:2-4). He knew whom to call on – He knew who the app was.

If you’ve been backed into a corner and you’re holding your heart in your hands, go to the only One who really knows exactly how you feel.  Isaiah wrote the prophecy 700 years before Christ walked out his own broken heart, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3).

I pray that you run, don’t walk, to Jesus. You can do it right now! You don’t need to use fancy language or someone to “go between” – Jesus did that on the cross. If you don’t know where to begin or what to say, a simple, “Help me, Jesus” is a great Conversation starter.  That’s your app!