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Right on Red – Lori Jones
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We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26b

I was late. The engine idled and my blinker clicked while I maintained an anxious backbeat on the steering wheel. Easing forward, I looked left for oncoming cars, hoping to slide in.

Just before pulling out I saw him on my right; a man-sized torso with boy’s legs. He’d bundled against the April chill, but his pant legs hiked, revealing stick-like shins with translucent skin, lying at an angle like books on a shelf.

With the palm of a misshapen hand he accelerated his automatic wheelchair and lurched down the sidewalk ramp. He stretched to depress the walk button with his thumb; the chair held in the balance as noon traffic raced by.

He looked furtively to his left, and our eyes met. Evidently he’d done this before and was aware that to us “right-on-red” drivers, he was mostly invisible and always inconvenient. When the walk signal switched, he glanced left again and took the plunge into the cross-hatched lane.

I waited obediently as he made his tedious trek across Wisconsin Avenue, although I could sense engines revving impatiently behind me. With coat collar raised against the spring wind, he kept determined eyes down, and I imagined some self-talk ran through his mind: “Keep going, almost there.” I held back the tide of traffic like a dam and considered this man as his wheels turned.

What brought him downtown on this blustery day? He’d ventured out handicapped and alone. Was he lonely, angry or afraid? Speculations at best, but I felt compelled to pray somehow for this man as he took his window of opportunity, and I missed mine.

Or had I? While my foot steadied the brake, I prayed. I offered up the externals, his body which visibly swam against the current of everyday life, and then the internals, which only God knew.

I dwindled down, realizing I had no idea what to pray for, so I simply confessed my presumptions and thanked God for interceding. I was reminded that, while we may not always have the words, God knows our hearts.

As the man reached his destination and I turned towards mine, God brought an understanding of our shared pilgrimage, a glimpse of other-centeredness not soon forgotten.

Lori Jones is a wife and mother of three children. She is a self-employed database designer who works part time in order to balance caring for her family and home with her passion for writing and teaching. Lori is a regular speaker and teacher for Women’s Wednesday Bible Study at Calvary Bible Church in Neenah, Wisconsin. Read Lori’s devotions.

Be Careful! – Lori Jones
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Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Deuteronomy 4:9a

“Stand still!” Anxious bodies fidgeted as I focused.

The first day of school, I lined up my three children on the front porch to snap their picture. Shoulder to shoulder they stood, hair combed and backpacks filled with colored folders, pointy crayons, and #2 pencils.

What do you think I said to them before they left?

“Do you have your backpack? Did you remember your lunch?” Then, as they hopped on their bikes, “Buckle your helmet. Remember to look both ways!”

And finally, “Be careful!”

Why do we say be careful? Because we care.

In Deuteronomy God is about to send His precious children, the Israelites, across the Jordan River to the Promised Land. He instructs them to be careful, to remember what they have seen. With their own eyes, the people saw God perform amazing miracles. He rescued them from slavery in Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and provided both food and water for them as they traveled forty years in a harsh desert climate.

As they enter Canaan, many wonderful blessings await them, but God first warns them, in all the excitement, not to forget how far they have come. As they remember God’s loving care for them in the past, they will trust Him for their future.
With my children off to the start of their school year, I turned, coffee in hand, back to the kitchen. Each new chapter of life gives me pause. It is easy to get distracted with the upcoming, but I am learning to take a moment to remember my history with God and to thank Him for His loving involvement in my family’s life. When I consider our past, I trust God for our future.

As you embark on the new adventures each day brings, carefully reflect on all God has done in your life and commit to trust Him with your future. Why? Because He cares for you!

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Lori Jones is a wife and mother of three children. She is a self-employed database designer who works part-time in order to balance caring for her family and home with her passion for writing and teaching. Lori is a regular speaker and teacher for women’s Wednesday Bible study at Calvary Bible Church in Neenah, Wisconsin.

Read Lori’s devotions

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Lunch Money – Lori Jones
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I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27

When I attended elementary school, our family qualified for the reduced lunch program. For 40 cents I purchased a cafeteria meal while other kids paid the regular 95-cent rate.

Everyone waiting in line had dollar bills. They snapped and folded them. Each child received a nickel in change and plopped it on their tray. The students played with their nickels, spinning and stacking them, but I had no nickel to toss around. I held tight to my coins. A nickel would purchase a lollipop or licorice at the store, but I wasn’t getting anything.

How badly I wanted a nickel. Sometimes I brought two quarters, and got a dime in change. Other times I had a dollar to wave around, but in my 60 cents back—no nickel. There was no increment producing a nickel in change, and any change was expected to be saved for the next day, certainly not pitched around or spent on candy.

In my near-sighted quest for nickels I lost sight of the big picture. I missed Mom working overtime to pay our bills. The lunch program provided a 55-cent savings for our family, which ended up as a $1.10 for my sister and me. That amount, multiplied by five days for 30 weeks comes to $165.00, which in 1979 bought school clothes for the entire year. What seemed no more than spare change actually amounted to a significant savings for our family.

As children of God, we are often nearsighted to His purposes for our lives. When I feel discontented it’s because I’ve lost sight of the bigger picture. I need to stop, take a deep breath, and refocus. It’s an active process that I am learning.

In God’s Word we learn He is more powerful than any shortcoming we have to deal with, and that He lovingly determines what is best. He provides more than any nickel could buy, and He provides in His time.

Have you become nearsighted? Are you dwelling on the detailed view of what seems unfair in your life today? Refocus on the big picture, learn contentment, and obtain peace separate from your circumstances. God loves us deeply and is in control. Nothing is too hard for Him.

Lori Jones is a wife and mother of three children. She is a self-employed database designer who works part time in order to balance caring for her family and home with her passion for writing and teaching. Lori is a regular speaker and teacher for Women’s Wednesday Bible Study at Calvary Bible Church in Neenah, Wisconsin. Read Lori’s devotions