Life is how I react to it

WHERE: Blackmer Lake behind Kent Denver School with unobstructed views of the mountains.
Park here at Kent Denver School and make your way to the lake behind the school.

WHEN: Anytime, but sunset is expansive. Lots of places for picnics!

BLESSED SPOT: The bench on the south side of the lake

“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.”

I bought an electric bike and with it came a dose of humiliation. I had been a road biker in the past, and this decision to add some power to my ride made me feel old and weak. But, it was the only way I could keep up with my powerful and strong partner. In the past I had always lagged behind and continually wanted to throw my bike off a cliff or stomp it into scrap out of frustration. I was no fun to ride with. So I welcomed the Trek Allant 9+ into my life. On a ride down the cherry creek bike path we were nearing a family and slowed to pass them safely. Just as I was passing the wobbly toddler peddling a tricycle, a man in his late 50’s snuck beside me and with contempt and a sneer in his voice said “Sheesh, get a BIGGER battery lady.” I knew some shaming would happen—but from an adult-sized bully? I was flaming inside. I wanted to catch up to him and poke him in the eye, tell him he was a body part, and put him right in his place. For the next couple miles I rehearsed several well-crafted zingers I could sling at him if we caught up. But what I kept remembering was Chuck Swindoll’s statement “Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.” Uggg, no fun—but he was right. I could have joined jerk ranks with him and slashed him back with my condescension, or chose to ignore this behavior and focus on what God might be teaching me.

We are entering a new phase of C19 and division is starting to creep back into our lives. We are beginning to pick sides on whether we stay at home or open the state back up. What had felt unified is starting to feel divisive. Facebook and Nextdoor are full of competing rhetoric and the inspiring stories are fading into arguments. I am reminded once again of what Swindoll noted. It is even more important that we choose to love instead of defending a fruitless point, give grace instead of choosing a divisive side, or just choose to focus on gratitude instead of resentment. How we react (or don’t react) makes all the difference.

God has shown us such grace and such endless mercy—without our request. I know he doesn’t always agree with the positions I take, the things I say to others, and the contempt I harbor toward people I don’t agree with. But, he just keeps loving me and renewing my unending allotment of grace every morning.

A prayer framework

As I have been thinking about this I was reminded of a verse that I have meditated on in the past. A passage that is a wonderful framework for prayer. I am inviting you into how I pray this passage…

“So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing others.” —2 Peter 1:5

Good Character:
“God, I am selfish when I want to be loving, I am contemptuous when I want to be graceful, I am quick to anger when I should understand someone’s story. Please provide me opportunities to grow my character and reminders when I am going off the rails. Help me be aware of the blind spots that diminish my character and mile markers to remind me when I have grown.”

Spiritual Understanding:
“Lord please provide me with your comprehension, with a mind that is equipped to decipher the difference between truth and lies and fact and fiction. Wisdom to understand your will and a heart to pursue your plan for me. Show me when I need to open my eyes and my mind, and when I don’t understand someone—help me consider their perspective.”

Alert Discipline:
“God, keep me aware, wide-awake, and seeking after you. Remind me of the work you are doing in me, the places I am likely to fall, and the temptations I need to yield to you. Thank you for refining me and sifting the crap from the keepers.”

Passionate Patience:
“Keep me diligently moving forward, taking the next step, and trusting you. Please show me signs that I am on the right path. I know I don’t know the end game, but I am choosing to trust you as I go forward. Remind me to be patient toward others around me and help me to recognize their potential vs. their shortcomings.”

Reverent Wonder:
“God I am so in awe of what you create and how you must have enjoyed anticipating our excitement as we experience the world around us. Everywhere I turn you have placed a scavenger hunt of wonders for us to find. I am sorry when I take your designs for granted. Thank you for loving us through the creation of wild nature and the mind-blowing critters calling it their home.

Warm Kindness:
“You tell us to not only be kind—but have warm kindness. Help me to authentically, genuinely, and NOT to gut-out my kindness toward others. Instill in me your empathy, a true care and concern for my neighbors, family, and friends. Help me be the cheerleader when there is booing all around me.”

Generous Love:
“I can be stingy Lord, my first inclination is to keep that extra thing to myself, to save the money that should go to a neighbor, or hold back on showering someone with lavish love. Help me be generous in how I speak into someone and help me be generous in how I receive love. Thank you for loving me unconditionally.”

My Prayer for you

As you sit here, I have circled this spot in prayer. Walked around and around praying that you see the best in yourself and in those around you, that you are filled with wisdom that could only come from God, that you are excited to chase after a mysterious and good God, that you are willing to risk taking that next step (you know the one), that your childlike sense of reverent awe is renewed, that you feel warm kindness towards you, and that God’s love for you is overwhelming.

Take a few minutes to absorb your lovely surroundings—this is an oasis trapped in the city. Close your eyes and listen to the birds, the way the breeze sounds filtering through the grasses, the lapping of the water on the shore, the faint sounds of laughter… Open you eyes to take in the magnificent view of the mountains, the cattails waving at you in the wind, the way the trail loops the lake and disappears around a corner, that bird swaying on a reed… Feel the sun on your skin and the wind on your face and know God is speaking through his creation. What are you hearing?

“Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious - the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.” —Phil 4:8

This spot has been prayed for:

You to seek after being your best you.
That you recognize that God made you perfectly in his image
That you would feel empowered to take the next step you feel God prompting you to take
That your childlike awe and wonder would be renewed
That kindness would be showered on you today
That you would feel God loving on you
That you would not be divisive
That division would be bridged between the ones you love and the neighbors around you

Things you can do:

Write a comment, prayer, or request below
Use 2 Peter 1:5 as a framework for your prayer this week
PRO TIP: Bring a picnic and go to this patio (Schaden Dining Hall) to watch the sunset - a wonderful HUGE patio with no one there! Or bring a blanket and go to the soccer field across from the lake and take in the magnificent view.
Take a walk on the Highline canal, or just around the Kent property - well worth it!
Remember God is bigger than C-19 and this too will pass!

My Favorite Meme of the Day