February 28

For Today's Forward Day by Day reading, click here.

Hasn't it been fun checking out the "complete set" we all have at the bottom of our proverbial bags? It's better than Christmas! The hits just keep on spinning! It's like being given a complete set of Star Wars action figures for your birthday.

Wowzers. No shadow box left empty. In addition to Luke Skywalker, you also get Lando...Darth...even Yoda. The total set. One of my best friends growing up had such a collection. And I have to be honest that I've been green about it ever since.

Heck, you could even imagine your complete set looking like a Darth Vader shadow box. With everybody peering out of their little cell, ready for action. But my dorky sci-fi side causes me to digress. Moving on...

Over the past week, we've been picking up and inspecting all the tools God gives us in our complete set. We've looked at Self-Control, the hammer called Faithfulness, the wet blanket of Love, the lei-like qualities of Kindness and the bright shine of Goodness. Today, let's very carefully and very sensitively pick up Gentleness. Gentleness is sometimes difficult to find when you're scrambling for it. It's usually at the bottom of the set, and requires a very conscious act to put it to use. They're gloves. Kid gloves. Ever wonder what kid gloves look like, or what they are? Here's a picture:

Essentially they're fine, white leather gloves that ladies used to wear in decades past. I had to wear some the year I made my debut in San Antonio, and I"ll tell you two things: one, they're hard to find; and two, they are very, very hard to put on. But darn it if they don't look beautiful and give your hand a soft touch.

Gentleness is a wonderful tool. It's soothing, it's quieting, it calms, it allows someone to take it down a notch, even to rest...to breathe. Mothers use Gentleness all the time. And any mother would tell you it comes very natural in some situations, but is often a last resort. The screaming, melting down, red-faced, utterly-at-the-end-of-his-rope child will often have Frustration, Yelling, Spanking or Admonishment hurled at them before Gentleness prevails. I can speak from experience here. A soothing, firm back rub or calm, pacifying words and songs prove Gentleness to be a big gun tool.

Gentleness often comes with a touch, but it can be made manifest in tone or with words. Sometimes it's just a disposition. However Gentleness is used, the outcome is always the same: peace.

Next time you're feeling like this:

Decide if you want to respond like this:

Or squeeze into your kid gloves of Gentleness and be more like this:

February 27

For today's Forward Day by Day readings click here.

Goodness. Goodness gracious, it's Goodness. That's our complete set tool de jour. Goodness.

But what in the world does it mean to be good? And what would a Good tool look like? Part of me think it looks like a Halo. A shiny, gold halo that we fasten onto our thick skulls when it's time get off our duffs, defy negative thoughts about why we shouldn't, and just... go for it. Perhaps it's what we pull out when we know it's time to do "the right thing."

Today's reading from John 5, which describes Jesus healing the lame man at the gate, reminds me of another story about Jesus healing an unwalking person. In another chapter, we hear about what it means to be a "good" friend. Jesus is preaching and outside, actually up on the roof above Jesus' head, are these friends. These are some good, good friends — the kind we all want to have in our lives. They want so much for their lame (as in, can't walk, not dufus) buddy to be seen and healed by Jesus that they rig him up in a mat and lower him through the roof and into Jesus' presence. Jesus isn't half as shocked by this circus-like entry as he is compelled by the "goodness" of these friends. He heals the man and forgives his sins.

All of our tools come with some fancy added bonus features. Goodness shines. But it also comes with like half a million other names for itself. As a writer, I've always been taught that good is just a mediocre word. There are so many more descriptive words that can be used to identify something that is good: High quality, skillful, enjoyable, nice, beautiful...the list could go on for many, many paragraphs.

When you pull out your Goodness halo tool today, how will its actions best be described?

February 26

For Today's Forward Day by Day readings Click Here.

If I had two tools to use out of my bag today it would be Umbrella and Raincoat! It is a wet one today in Northeast Florida.

Instead we're going to continue inspecting the contents of our bag's Complete Set and take a look at Kindness. Where Faithfulness is big and hammer-like and Love is a big wet blanket, Kindness is light and lovely. In my mind, I imagine a Hawaiian lei...  real dainty-like and sweet and well received.

I went on a Hawaiian cruise many many moons ago with my grandparents and remember getting "lei-ed" upon arrival. It was such a nice surprise, and having that little piece of sweet smelling beauty around my neck made me feel very special and welcomed. So maybe that's why I think of leis when I think of the Kindness tool. It's sweet, simple and natural and makes people feel...special.

I got lei-ed, in fact, last night....at the dinner table of all places. And don't worry, I'm not talking about THAT kind of lay. Last night, I made what had to have been the worst dinner I've made of all time. The worst. I put some ground beef and onions and a few other ingredients (including too much water) in the crock pot that morning. When I came home from work, it smelled like dog food in our house. But I pressed on, even deciding to forge ahead with serving it to my family...armed with a strainer spoon. I dumped it on top of fritos and tried to call it "my new chili." Thank GOD my family made a conscious effort to use their own Kindness tools at the dinner table. No one fake gagged. No one made a face. Pleaseant conversation ensued. Someone asked non-chalantly where I'd gotten the recipe. Others dug deep for a dry frito. No one took more than a couple of bites. And they complimented the HECK out of my Sister Shubert rolls.

Thanks for the lei, family. Thanks for choosing Kindness over the powerful, but not so helpful, tool Criticism.

In today's reading we see how Jesus uses his Kindness tool to heal the official's son who is sick in another town. Part of Kindness also asks us to use it with words like, "sure" or "of course" or "I'll do it." Kindness is served up with no strings attached, no conversation about what you're giving up to do it. Or how it makes you want to barf. It's just a light, lovely bit of God's love that makes someone else feel special...even relieved.

I'll be praying for everyone to experience a good lei today.

February 25

Good morning! Here's today's Forward Day by Day reading

Happy Monday to all. First, a quick recap: We are born with a fanny pack/purse/bag/knapsack attached to our hip — cool right? Best thing is, God gives it to us all filled up with every tool we could possibly need to do his good work here on earth. Last week, we talked about how it might feel to physically wear this around and thought about what we might call our bag. In addition to the many strengths and talents designed specifically for us, our bag also contains a complete set. This complete set — the same model number for each and every one of his might warrior children — is a very durable, exceedingly wonderful compilation of the following items: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulnesås, Gentleness and Self-Control. For the past few days, we've been inspecting each amazing tool — first, self-control, then the most powerful tool in the set, Faith, and today...let's talk about Love.

Sounds like a good way to ease into the week, right? Love. Easy enough. In fact, today's reading talks about Love and what an important gadget it is. In John 15, Jesus gives us some super simple marching orders. He tells us this tool comes with just one simple instruction, "Love one another as I have loved you." No big deal, right?

Think again, sister-brother. While Faith may be the biggest honkingest and most powerful tool in the set, Love is the most complicated. But like every other tool in the set, it also yields some pretty amazing results.

The Love tool is special because it's double-edged and has some special features. It helps you love people, things and situations you like — but also forces you to love those things you don't, or may even hate. See what I mean about Love being a complicated tool?

I have a saying above my desk that reads, "You need only two loves in your life: for God, and for the person in front of you at any particular time." Perhaps that should be the more easy-to-understand instruction manual for Love. But as plain as it is, those words still look like Chinese letters in many situations where ill will or anger or hurt abound.

While I imagine our Faith tool looking like a big iron hammer, I think our Love gadget looks and feels more like a blanket. Maybe even a wet blanket. Have you ever see someone throw a wet blanket over a fire? Puts it right out. Without oxygen to feed it, the fire goes out right quick. If you can dig down into your bag, grip the soggy soft blanket and fling it on someone you don't feel so chummy about — animosity is extinguished. Problem solved!

Trouble is, the blanket isn't the first tool we want to grab. Usually it's the seemingly more effective tools like Thems Fightin Words, or the similar Gossip Gadget, or the Stuff Stirrer or Snark. I can think of many times I've left the wet blanket where it was and opted instead for a little Icy Stare or the Forget-You or the Screw It. Those tools are far easier to use!

The neat thing about our Love tool is that once you make the choice to grab it and sling it on top of someone, or something, its bonus features are unleashed. When that person or thing is covered in Love, the blanket illuminates three additional tools in its fiber: Compliments, Gratitude and often times, Pity. Those features make Love a whole lot easier to figure out. A great example is my neighbor. She yelled at me several times, like viscerally yelled at me, because my kids were "running wild." Well, I can tell you my kids run but they're not the wild kinds. She also accused them of stealing her 500-pound concrete lions from her front yard. Throwing a blanket on her has been no easy task. I have only begun to explore my tool's added features. But Pity certainly helps put her actions into perspective and gratitude that she keeps her lawn looking pretty helps soften the mood.

Who are you going to slop your wet blanket of Love on today?

Felix the Cat's Magic Bag

In case you're a cartoon visual kind of person, check out this old cartoon from 1959. The same message applies...our bags are full of just the right tools to help us in any situation. And no one, not even the evil moustached scientist, can take it away from us. I would personally love a kangaroo to jump out of mine, but I'm not sure I have been equipped with one:

February 24

Good morning! For today's Forward Day by Day readings click here: Forward Day by Day

Today being Sunday and all, I wanted to pull a little Faith out of the bag. Because just like George Michael sings in his famous 80s hit, "Faith," you've gotta have some.

You'll know faith right away when you're feeling around in your bag for it. Faith's weight and size give its location away every time. Faith is the largest, heaviest and most amazing multi-use tool in our bag. In my mind, this is what it might look like to finally lug ole Faith out of the tool kit::

 or...

 or....

We call Faith in for the really big  jobs. But also for life's little challenges. And 100 percent of the time, it works — maybe not always in the way we expect it to, but it always achieves a positive outcome. Every. Single. Time.

I have been involved with church leadership for the past two years, and am now serving as our church Senior Warden. I have clutched Faith many times, and am holding onto it as we speak. Like many churches around the world, our little All Saints family has been facing some pretty tough financial issues. The more logical, human side of my brain wants to start throwing other tools at it — spreadsheets, finance gurus, pencils, calculators and giant wads of cash. I want to approach these challenges like any other family does — with caution and an abundance of reserve. But our clergy tells us to approach this with that gynormous hammer in the bag. Even when the going seems tough, we are called to step out IN and definitely WITH faith.

I heard that one time during a meeting and, yes, I'll admit...I had big time snarky thoughts. "With Faith, are you kidding me? We need a bone saw to trim expenses we don't have! We need to pull out some seeds to plant a few money trees on campus! Faith? Forget it! This is no job for Faith. This is a job for Brain!"

And you know what happened? Almost the very next day, someone mailed a very significantly sized check the the church office. It helped turn modest expectations for a fundraising campaign into assurance of meaningful success.

Faith achieves a positive outcome. Every. Single. Time.

When was the last time you chunked Faith at a problem? When was the last time you thought to yourself, "if God's with me, who can be against me?" all the while heaving that big hammer out of your pack? Take George Michael's advice. Exercise your rights to Faith.

February 23

For Today's Forward Day by Day Reading click here: http://prayer.forwardmovement.org/the_daily_readings.php?d=23&m=2&y=2013

Welcome back! I hope you've had a nice time mentally exploring the "complete set," otherwise known as the fruit of the spirit, that God has packed for you in that bag of yours. Like mine and your neighbor's and everybody else's in the world, you should see a fantabulous complete set of Love, Joy, Peace, Forbearance (otherwise known as Patience), Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. All that, it it's not even $19.99 with free shipping and handling! This set comes free and is standard order in all of God's children's bags. Awesome.

I took inventory of my set this morning. I was inspecting Self-Control, thinking about how lucky I am to have this particular tool in the set. If you had to visualize Self-Control, a thought process we'll be going through with all the tools in the set, imagine handcuffs...maybe handcuffs with a blindfold. And no, this is not going down some kinky "50 Shades of Grey" road. Imagine how powerless and trust-FULL we have to be if we have handcuffs and a blind fold on. No wonder policemen user them! You can't move, physically react or flip out in handcuffs. Your only move? Trust. And deep breaths.

"Thank you God, for Self-Control," I said to myself this morning, as I bounded down the steps to the breakfast my husband was cooking — just before...I smelled something that wasn't hot bacon. Or coffee.

Poop.

I smelled it. And it wasn't the "Hoof Hearted Ice Melted" joke (this is a good kids' joke they like to play on me. Say it a few times real fast and see what it sounds like) It was poop. As in, dog poop...and by the smell of it, loads and loads of it.  By the way, one of the other gifts God put in my bag was a good sniffer, so I knew what I was smelling was ALLLLLL wrong. After sniffsnoffing around the living room and den, I found the slithering source. It was where it always is: all over our nice, white, wool rug, which now sits in the dining room. Our expensive, only-nice-thing-in-the-house rug look like a chocolate covered ice cream sundae.

(So God also put a healthy dose of the "knack for having things look just right" superpower in my bag, which can be a hinderance if not handled properly.)

I began panting. In a panic, I grabbed for my Self-Control, feeling happy I'd thought about it before coming downstairs.

God put Self-Control to work right away. He remembered what happened five years ago when we came back from a trip to Texas on Christmas night — when the sick cat had gotten locked inside for a few days and had gone bloody pee and poop crazy on this same, expensive, only-nice-thing-in-the-house rug. THAT time, by the light of the dry Christmas tree, I forgot all about Self-Control...and cried, mopped, soaked and sprayed myself into a wild frenzy. It wasn't pretty. THIS time, Self-Control got after it.

I took a few deep breaths, stopped gawking at the expensive, only-nice-thing-in-the-house rug, and went into the kitchen...where my sweet, breakfast-making husband was recruited by Self-Control to take over. After plugging husband into the job, Self-Control also got Stanley Steemer in on the job...and by noon, the whole nasty mess was all but a memory. In fact, things are better than they were before. All the carpets and rugs in the house are clean! Could it be that depending on a God-given tool can leave you in an even better place than before you used it?

Self-Control. Check yours out today and see what stains come out!