Uplifted in a Broken Down World

Today, I spent significant time within the glass walls of an airport. It was a good smorgasbord of American people – good, bad and indifferent. My choice of focus was the good.

The veteran – a wheelchair delivered him to the gate. He wrenched with pain. Came to learn shrapnel was the cause, and the only cure would be amputation. He had faced war at its worst and somehow survived. He asserted he couldn’t survive amputation. His body was saturated in agony. His heart was grateful, not bitter. His soul belonged to God’s peace, not Satan’s war.

The lady – she too arrived by wheelchair. Irritation flavored her disposition. Her chariot pusher sweetly refused her tip. The employee’s refusal came from a serving heart. The lady’s offering came from a pitying heart. In the employee’s eyes she was helping one in need. The lady’s eyes perceived an indentured servant who needed charity. Sadly, the lady felt boldly spurned instead of humbly served.

It was a three-hour flight with my thoughts revisiting the Beatitudes and how Christ spoke them in 33 A.D., but our lives re-write them in 2025.

33 A.D. on the Mount of Beatitudes – “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 (ESV)

8/25/25 in a USA airport – And God will be seen in them….

Whenever I am thrown off timing for my daily walk, I’ve come to anticipate God’s maneuvering me to be at an inspirational destination at the perfect moment. So it was this past Thursday.

The week the school year started, and the neighborhood scholars were back in clusters waiting for their orange chariot escort to the hallways of learning. My being later than normal, the middle schoolers and my pathways intersected.

The young hearts I observed were joy-filled, kind and polite — not the image portrayed by much of the media. My faith in, and hope for, the future was enthusiastically renewed as I passed each pack of bright, emboldened eyes.

Rounding the bend for what would be my last group, I realized they bringing renewed faith to me should be but half the equation. These young people need assurance too. I stopped and shared.

My words expressed: School nowadays seems backwards. Teachers are considered the intelligent, whose job is to make students knowledgeable; but actually students, standing on this very corner hold the seeds of wisdom the whole world desperately needs. Teachers are worn and disillusioned. The “today” happiness and “tomorrow” dreams shining in your hearts are powerful, God given (and driven) tools that can change downtrodden teachers into uplifted mentors. When you enter your classrooms today do so knowing the lessons needing to be taught will be yours to teach. Not a teacher in this world holds the answers tomorrow requires. Solely, your hearts and souls hold the key to unlock and open the windows of light and enlightenment our world so deeply needs. So good luck and God’s love as you show the world how wise, capable and inspirational each and every one of you are. Thank you for blessing my day and my life.

Their sweet thank You’s hovered over me as I continued my walk, knowing that tomorrow’s footprint is safely held by the middle schoolers crossing my path today. May we all reject Satan’s call to curse today’s media proclaiming evil youth. Instead, pray for God’s future generation who tomorrow can (and will) deliver headlines of “Good News”. “At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children’.” Matthew 11:25 (NIV)

Beyond ready to throw in the towel and explode over life’s vexations, I sought God’s deliverance. I needed escape from Satan’s temptation of feeling angry and sorry for myself. Life was bombarding me with curve balls and stingers. Bitterness was my fear. I’m a soul centered in gratitude and would not lose this.

Focus, Bonnie. Focus, Bonnie. My Gratitude Towel… My Gratitude Towel… I couldn’t explain the calling. I just felt compelled to reach for my gift from Cynthia — my Gratitude Towel. Pulling it from its resting place, I spread it out on my kitchen counter. Woven into the fiber of its core, I absorbed its message — “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more… It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” (Melody Beattie)

These words I yearned to re-affirm as my foundation. Everything, even my current tribulations, needs to rest upon this creed. Next, my hands grabbed hold of the dusty shelves from my curio cabinet which were sprawled out on the slab opposite where I had spread Cynthia’s gift of my Gratitude Towel. Laying a shelf directly on the towel, I began scrubbing it clean. My current attitude needed the same. Just like the glass, it was clouded with worldly smudges.

My heart and soul sensed Cynthia must be reminded how great a gift she had bestowed on me. Too much time had separated us from sharing and caring. I needed to reconnect with my sister in Christ. I texted her: “Do you remember the Gratitude Towel you gifted me. Well, at this moment, it is my most needed blessing. Thank you, again!!!”

Cynthia’s immediate response: “You’re perfect timing. I keep going to tears. I saw a neurologist and oncologist today, then went to Weston ER for immediate testing. I’m waiting to get admitted now. The cancer is non operable and is called Leptomeningeal Disease. It’s the covering of the brain. He says radiation is the only thing that I can do for it. We’ll pray. God knows the plans He has for me. Your prayers mean everything to me.”

The insole of my soul needed realignment. I asked God for refocus. He sent me redirection. A trifle of worldly struggle, I was bemoaning. A precipice, Cynthia was steadfastly placing in God’s mighty power. No longer were momentary setbacks suffocating my journey. How could they be? Cynthia was amidst the gravest of roadblocks, yet trusting God to carry her, while I had temporarily slipped my hand from God’s grasp. Humbly, I wiggled my fingertips back into the stronghold of God’s palm.

What had seemed to me so significant a misfortune, now became a nothing at all. Cries of “woe me” became pleas for my sister in Christ, who has given so much spiritual grounding to so many — including me.

It was God who led me to reach for my Gratitude Towel. It was God who, also, nudged me to reach out to Cynthia. It was Cynthia who led me back to reaching up to God.

Heavenly Father, cradle Cynthia in Your loving arms. Her soul is saved. Please, save her body from worldly suffering. Satan has knocked her off her feet, but he cannot knock her off her knees. She is Yours, and You are hers. And I am deeply grateful for you both.

Current life, in general, and for everyone, is hard. Our world is off its rails, and probably we all feel shipwrecked. However, is God a passive leader; or is He actively navigating our bumper car journey? Unquestionably, I believe the latter. The problem is not our, seemingly, off course direction but the response of our pigeonhole view. Do we only see the negative, or do we broaden our outlook and see God in the distance beckoning us forward?

Recently, I’ve come to understand (and accept) that God shows me what I must overcome to grow me into His vision of “whose” I am destined to be. I, quite the opposite, used to expect God to woah the storm, tow the broken down, mow down the challenges and sew up all my hurts and boo boo’s; for then I would know for sure God’s good and only wants the best for me. Quite frankly, that was the world’s epistle, not God’s gospel.

New perspective is no matter what confronts me, God is behind me and has allowed downfalls for the purpose of building me upward and not to pummel me into a downward spiral. Withstanding and getting beyond whatever the world slings at me can be a battering ram or insight into what I need to overcome in order to fulfill my God given purpose. Looking at challenge, misfortune and hardship through the eyes of what is God showing me to grow me brings wisdom into focus; and my view changes from looking down to gazing up.

God intends for fiery times not to define us but to refine us. I can’t escape hard seasons. I can choose to accept them as mountains God will help carry me over and valleys out of which God will pull me, or I can decide to collapse in surrender. The choice is solely mine to “soul”y make.

I’ve spoken in the first person – me; but each and every child of God has (at one time or another) the exact same landmine over which to maneuver. May all, with uplifted eyes, hearts and souls, choose not to be defined but refined. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NIV)

It’s been a week where the world has not only edged, but also cut deep into, the lives of cherished hearts. Satan was the sole perpetrator. God is the soul perseverance.

Week before last, God crossed my path with a landscaper and his lawn edger/cane. This human’s silhouette contrasted worldly entitlement, laziness and complaining. This week, when lives intertwined with mine, surmounted life and death battles, heavenly light more deeply (and personally) illuminated the reflection of this landscaper’s message.

When seemingly crippled by the diseased and deadly devil of this world, deliverance both on earth and into heaven is ours only by clinging to God. His power alone can uphold and heal the landscape of our broken beings.

Man is weak, but God is strong. Man gives way to leaning, but God never teeters under the weight of carrying man’s burdens. God promises “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Isaiah 46:4 (NIV)

God is the answer to all our needs. The question is are we leaning on, and into, Him?

The heat index was going to soar. Warnings pinged my email and phone. Thus, I raced to start my daily walk. My goal was to be finished with my entire day’s workout before the sun fully rose. As I covered my course, it was obvious I was not the only one to devise such a plan. The landscapers were similarly thinking. Additional manpower joined the regular crews in hopes they, too, could beat the danger zone of the heat advisory.

Walking along the golf course part of my route, I noticed one worker significantly behind the crew. My sense was not that he was outdistanced by the mowers but rather that he was putting the manicured finishing touches on the landscape. He was the lawn edger and precisely (and perfectly) doing his job.

As I gained ground on the man, complete amazement overcame me. This gentleman was older than the norm. I’d guess he was around fifty years old, but this was not what distinguished him. Nor was his gaunt build what separated him from the norm. What elevated him from laborer to superman was his equipment — a lawn edger. My heart sighed in empathy, and my soul gasped in admiration. You see, this mighty man’s occupational tool served dual purposes. It manicured this landscaper’s ability and overcame his disability. He was, in worldly terms, crippled. His lawn edger was, in reality, this man’s cane. Without it, I doubt he could have walked a step.

While most were sheltering inside, this hero was earning a living. The image of mankind today seems defined by entitlement, laziness and complaining. We need to look beyond this common spotlight. Instead, men, such as the landscaper I share, deserve to be highlighted as role model for all mankind.

As I passed my newfound hero, I wished him a blessed day and thanked him for blessing mine. In response, he tipped his sweat drenched head and smiled. Walking away, I didn’t pity him. Quite the opposite, I admired him and thanked God for crossing our paths. The sun’s perspiration no longer absorbed my walk, for a child of God and his lawn edger/cane penetrated me with the SON’s inspiration. “I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13 (NLT)

My Dad was overflowing with God’s wisdom and, at first hearing, puzzling one liners. Dad’s wisdom from God included “nothing we can ever do outdistances God’s mercy and forgiveness”. One of my favorite Dad one liners was “reaching a goal is more about a mop than a map”.

It’s pretty safe to assume all understand God’s mercy and forgiveness, no matter how far we stray, is always but a fingertip away. Our hands, hearts and souls just need to ask for and receive it. However, reaching a goal being more about a mop than a map is shrouded in confusion. My Dad having taught me well its meaning, it’s my privilege to share this now with you.

We can map out our journey to worldly goals or the eternal goal of Heaven; but being human, our mistakes will take us off course and possibly even halt our journey. Not one of us is above, at one time or another, making a mess of our journey. None the less, if we humbly do whatever it takes and “mop” up our mess, then God will lead us back to where our journey forward can, and will, resume. The proud assume they will never have need of a mop. God’s humble kids understand mopping up, not mapping out, often most determines who will successfully reach their destination.

Even now, years away from my Dad’s nurturing, a smile fills my face, and a tear fills my heart and soul as I thank God for granting me my earthly Father, who instilled in me both wisdom and one liners.

As a child, I remember soon as the snow melted and robins began chirping, my Mother would plant our family flower garden. Eagerly, I’d watch the ground, waiting for the first petal to break through the soil. My Mom always chose seeds that bloomed throughout the summer. At first, I thought her smart to plant beauty that sprang forth all season. Eventually, I realized my “smart” Mom was so much more. She was “wise” and determined to plant seeds of “wisdom” in her children.

Come summer heat, our garden not only radiated colorful flowers but also drab weeds. The weeds were fast spreading and threatening to chokehold and cutoff the life of our blooms. Mom and her band of little gardeners would set out to uproot the deadly weeds. As an army, we attacked the enemy and saved our precious family-garden flowers. With the last weed rooted out, our mission was accomplished, but Mom’s lesson just begining.

Once inside, hands washed, and our glasses filled with lemonade, my Mother began pouring into her children. Between sips of lemonade, my Mother declared many good seeds would be planted and flower in our lives. However, just as in our family garden, weeds would endeavor to grow and cutoff the flowers in the bouquet of our lives. Constantly, we would need to weed our lives of destructive, invasive and undesirable growth. If we became too lazy to pull our weeds or too oblivious to recognize weeds overtaking the garden of our being, then our hearts and souls would turn from the reflection of Heaven’s vibrant beauty to the parched vision of scorched and lifeless worldly vegetation.

As a child, this lesson was seeded in my heart and soul. As a teenager, I needed this lesson to pull me through so many weeded patches of life. As an adult, I heeded this lesson to grow in whatever soil God planted me. As a gray-haired Grammy, I pray I deed this lesson unto the hearts and souls of all my grandchildren, just as my Mother did unto me.

Who would send a mountain as a gift to her readers? I would! You ask, why such a strange offering? My answer is that you are ready to set your sights high and climb to the top of mountainous goals.

Most would try to keep earthly paths free of mountains. Not me. I’ve discovered one of life’s most valuable secrets. To offer you a mountain is synonymous with giving your existence challenge. Though peril-filled, the ascent to a mountain peak is a journey never to be forsaken for a level ride. No dream rests on flat terrain. All are found at the top of a mountain.

A life lacking a mountain is deprived of adventure, accomplishment and a goal for your outstretched fingertips to seize. Climbing a mountain isn’t easy, but what accomplishment is. A life centered around the ascent of a mountain will make you dedicated, persevering and, most beautiful of all, capable of hearing the call of your own heart.

I wouldn’t take hardship out of your climb. Only through its presence will you realize the reward of believing sufficiently in yourself and your dream to overcome all obstacles. If hardship isn’t outwardly defeated, you’ll fear it inwardly. Encounter hardship and you’ll know you are capable of overcoming it in any battle.

I know the greatest misfortune I could do you is to shield you from the reality of mountainous trial; for trial is but a door opening to the reality of your dream come true. You are capable of unlocking this door for yourself.

I offer you the wish that God sends a special mountain your way, so you can climb to the top and reach your dream — whatever it may be.

God bless, guard and guide you, always…

In giving and leading us to salvation, Christ chose not to “snap His fingers” and instantaneously reach the end result. Christ shares needed example by personally illustrating that strength and reward of a coveted prize does not come through the “snap your fingers” and receive the unearned presentation of a reward, but through the endurance and marathon of climbing a mountain with fingers “not snapping” but, rather, clawing into obstacle.

Little do we realize we are innately wired to choose the “no snap” process over the “snap fingers” immediate bestowal. However, I believe, that is exactly how we are created. Maybe we can get prospective of whether we are made “to snap” or “not to snap” from Scripture. Christ proclaimed, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”. Matthew 18:3 (NIV)

Recently, I headed to South Carolina to help care for my granddaughter, Rosemary Jean, while her mommy was in the hospital delivering baby brother. Since big sis has developed a love for baking, like any GaGa (Grammy) I packed some little girl baking utensils and what I believed were easy, “snap your fingers” recipes. In complete honesty, they were recipes where I could do the hard work, and Miss Rosemary could “snap her fingers” and put my results into easy, finished, yummy masterpieces. Let me openly admit, this completely backfired. Rosemary didn’t want my “snap fingers” plan. She wanted to, herself, do every step of preparation and assembly of her strawberry pie.

No matter how hard (and softly) I told my little baker that GaGa would just do what was too difficult, and time consuming, for a four-year-old, her reply was the same. “I need to do that, GaGa, because this is MY pie to make, not yours. Thus, the kitchen got messy from floor to countertop, but the reward of personally changing challenge to merit was learned that day — by both Rosemary and her GaGa.

It’s inborn in children to choose to learn by doing each and every step themselves. They don’t desire for someone else to do the hard work and then hand the finished product to them. In this regard, we adults might need to become more like a little child.

Next time I nod my head in disgruntlement, asking Christ why something’s not a “snap” to have rectified, accomplished or received, I’ll remember Rosemary and HER strawberry pie. Whether it’s as simple as making a dessert or as difficult as finding a way through a desert, wisdom and reward only grow through fingers folded in prayer (not snapping and expecting instant success) and grasping Christ’s hand. Challenge cannot grow us if we seek to jump over it and land on the podium. Christ walked, step by step, to the Cross. He did that to save me and you. He could have “snapped His fingers” and avoided worldly suffering and death. He didn’t. How then can I complain when called to walk, step by step, my life’s challenges?