Lent - Day 30

“For the Lord is good, His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5)

I’m spending a few days up in the north Georgia mountains with some good friends, just to get away from schools, jobs, traffic, bright lights and the confusion of the everyday world. We’re in a cabin perched high on top of a mountain with a 360-degree view of God’s creation. From our deck, you can see a lake shimmering through the trees, hear and see birds all around that are different from the ones at home and watch the squirrels and chipmunks playing in the leaves and undergrowth. It’s a good thing.
The one thing that has been a source of discontent is that there is no cell service here. Not even one bar. Not a single G (as in 3G or 4G in sight). We’re incommunicado since there are no telephones in the cabin and, certainly, no wireless signals for email or web-surfing. It’s been years since I haven’t been able to pick up my Blackberry and call anywhere I wanted, whenever I wanted, send an email, check on facebook, all those things that I’m realizing make up my day. During the night, I did hear a beep from my phone over on the dresser and almost broke a leg scrambling out of bed to see if a signal had been found. Surprising, a momentary signal must have gotten through because several emails and text messages had uploaded, but this morning…back to nothing except a sporadic beep or click indicating a brief moment of connection. Can’t trust it. Can’t depend on it.
As I was falling asleep last night, one of the last songs I remember playing on my iPod was a contemporary ballad version of “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” I realized that it is a wonderful thing that God is the epitome of faithfulness. His presence is with me, everywhere, everyday, no interruptions in service and no problems in connecting (except on my end). I think that at this point in my Lenten journey, I needed to realize that. A lot of changes have occurred in the last 30 days. And. For. This. Time. I needed to be reminded that God is always faithful to His promises to me. When Lent ends and I finish up with this trip, I want these changes to be permanent. I want to stay receptive to God and his workings in my life as I have become.
You have held me accountable….not necessarily by words, but by the fact that I am writing every day. And some of you have commented if I have said or done things opposite of what I have written….for example, during a fierce game of “Mexican Train” (dominoes) last night, I got a bit carried away with my verbal use. Of course, it was close to 1 a.m., and I’m not at my best after 10 p.m., but, one of my friends reminded me of a previous day’s journal. I apologized to them, felt terribly guilty, apologized to the Lord and now apologize to you. Oh, I don’t mean I let loose a string of profanity, that’s not it…just made a few inappropriate comments for a Christian (in my thoughts).
So for today, know that God is faithful to you. Always. Forever. He is always on your side.

Blessed be the name of the LORD!