Vivid Brushstrokes: The Overlooked Reality of God in Our Everyday Lives

ISBN

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

The Seashell Discovery

Anchors Aweigh

Parts is Parts

You Can Pack a Load in a Backpack

Don’t Lose Your Balance

How Much Do You Weigh?

Puree Mine Please!

Whoa, Mule

What Do the Specs Say?

From Beginning to End

Carry Me Over to the Other Side

Manage Your Time Well

Beware of Danger – Keep Out!

Growth and Strength Through Unity

Quick Change Artist

Where’s the Drain Cleaner?

Whose Imprint is On That Coin?

Which Direction is the Needle Pointing?

Make Sure the Concrete Sets Up Before You Walk on It

Is It Real or Is It Memorex?

What’s Behind the Curtain?

Bulls Eye!

A Life That Reflects God

Did You Hear That?

Swing the Door Open Wide

Don’t Be a Dumbbell, Use a Dumbbell!

Why Wallow in the Garbage?

Emergency Power Outage

Wipe Away Mistakes

I Can See Clearly Now....

Strain Out the Undesirables

Don’t Forget to Floss!

Don’t Skimp on the Materials

We Jumped the Gate to Keep From Wearing Out the Hinges!

You Missed a Spot!

All That Glitters is Not Gold

I’ll Never Ask Directions Again!

Do You Communicate With Your Hands?

Hard Hats are for Soft Heads

Home, Safe Home!

When All Else Fails...

I Itch Every Time I Touch Fiberglass

Oh, What a Relief It Is

I’m Puzzled

Don’t Stick a Label on Me

Okay, Let’s Keep It on the Level!

Just Turn on the Light!

Beacon of Safety

Put Da Pedal to the Da Metal!

Up Close and Personal

You’ve Got Mail!

How Soon Do You Want to Eat?

Events Worth Remembering

A Reflection on You

Mold Me, Make Me

Brick by Brick....

Bon Voyage

Are You in the Book?

Are You Flexible?

Pruning is not for Prunes

Whatever You Do, Finish the Race!

Living on the Razor’s Edge

May I See Your Ticket Please?

Do You Like to Just Kick Back?

Don’t Hang up Your Fishin’ Pole

What a Lifesaver

Harness Up!

Spiritual Sandpaper

Your First Line of Defense

Heavenly Gardening

If You Intend to Use a Knife, You Must Sharpen It

Do You Have a Good Roof Over Your Head?

Let Jesus Be the Helmsman

Cut Off the Water!

Take Cover Immediately

Don’t Cry over Spoiled Milk

Stairway to Heaven

Super Glue to the Rescue

How Far Can You See?

God Don’t Run No Halfway House

Set the Thermostat at One Temperature and Leave It!

He Won’t Leave You Hanging By a Thread

The Record is Secure

Timing is Everything to God....and Us!

And the Church Rolls On

It’s Time For a Retreat

God is Always There To Give Us a Lift

Getting Nowhere Fast!

Ever Been on a Treasure Hunt?

A Great Tree Can Weather the Storm

It is Time to Change Direction

Would You Drink From a Dirty Glass?

Apply Some More Pressure....

Wall Builders Don’t Just Build Walls of Stone

Tear Down that Wall!

Get the Dirt Out!

Come on In and Rest a Spell

Open the Blinds

Open Up Your Windows Wide and Let the Fresh Air In

Can I Borrow Your Pen?

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge my high school English teacher, Mrs. Sheila Lynch, who unknowingly laid the groundwork for my writing development as a student in her eleventh grade English class. The late Dr. Chester R. Young, my college History professor and adviser, was instrumental in improving my writing, grammar, editing and proofreading skills through his instruction in an undergraduate research course.

Most of all, I credit my wife Sandra with encouragement and support throughout an effort that required many months of evening and weekend work, while balancing two jobs and completing a graduate degree at the University of Alabama. She was very understanding despite the limited time we had to spend together during those months.

Introduction

I recall vividly walking a motel parking lot as a security guard in the wee hours of the morning while God gave me inspiration to write this book. The weather was unfavorable to say the least, with many nights of freezing temperatures and even cold rain, but my fellowship with God in those times warmed my heart and filled my mind with topics to write about.

At other times, ideas came to me as I was driving on my evening delivery job. On those occasions, I scrambled to jot down the ideas while negotiating lane changes and stop lights in rush hour traffic. Sometimes all I had was a paper napkin or other scrap of paper lying in the seat to scribble down the main thoughts. But in those moments, it was as if God was saying here is the material I am giving you, now take it and write it down. And so I did.

The original idea for this book was spawned about ten years ago when I was surveying my collection of seashells packed in an old plastic five-gallon bucket. Looking at those shells quickly took me back to our last trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where I had painstakingly collected the seashells. I was careful to pick out just the right shells, in hopes that they would make suitable pieces for some craft projects I envisioned. While I mused about the morning walks on the beach that produced the collection and studied the variety of shells I had brought home, a story began to form in my mind. Later that evening, I put pen to paper in formulating those thoughts into a rough draft, but for some reason laid it aside for several years.

In the spring of 2012, I came across that essay when I was looking through some paperwork. I read it over again and began to make revisions and additions to the copy. All I had in mind was to finish the essay, but then God had something else in mind. He began to take that story and enlarge my vision about writing similar stories in the form of analogies, even parable-like illustrations. He showed me how spiritual precepts could be drawn from ordinary items in everyday life.

I have written the book in analogy form for the purpose of edifying believers and opening the eyes of others to God’s timeless truths. I begin each story with a natural object, describing it in a story or anecdote and then follow up with a spiritual parallel and a scripture verse at the conclusion. The book can be helpful for devotional purposes or it can be applied in teaching object lessons to youth or adults.

The main import is that God's world is replete with illustrations to get our attention and teach us His truths. He is constantly painting pictures from his palette of many colors in brushstrokes of truth that we observe in everyday objects. This book is but an example of those many pictures.

01

The Seashell Discovery

Like many landlubbers, I have a favorite pastime when I go to the beach – that of collecting seashells. I like to retrieve them for their individuality and usually try to incorporate some of them into my craft projects. But one morning as I was walking along the beach observing the shells, I began to muse over a real life illustration set before me. How characteristic of people are these salty little mollusks!

I considered how many millions of their kind were strewn along the shore. And though many of them were similar in appearance, they were much like snowflakes, each having their own unique and distinct appearance. As I was struck by that concept, the analogy began to broaden into a deeper comparison between seashells and humankind. I was experiencing the déjà vu from earlier awakenings of youth where I discovered that life’s simplest and clearest illustrations abound in nature.

First of all, I observed that seashells are tossed about in a turbulent sea, and then cast upon the shore to bear the heat of an unrelenting sun. Some shells survive intact, while others are shattered; some are made rough by the sand and sea; some come forth smooth and seemingly untouched by the elements; still others are buried in the sandy seashore, enduring an incessant barrage of ocean waves.

Each of the shells I examined had a different texture, some rougher and others smoother. I surmised that seashells, as they are pounded about in the surf and thrust into the gritty sand, reminded me of humans, who tend to react differently to their own environmental stimulus. Thus when adversity strikes, some people accept the circumstances and come to terms with the situation gracefully. Their outward appearance may be smooth, but only because their life has gone through a refining process to smooth out the rough spots. The exterior of other individuals has become hardened and rough, allowing the world’s imprints to remain unaltered, producing deeply riven scars.

Then there are the broken shells. They almost seem useless, having no value. That’s the way we sometimes look at people who are disabled or elderly. We seem to overlook them as we do the broken shells, moving on to find the perfectly whole ones. But it is these very shells that I find of greatest interest simply because they are not perfect and they tend to create a unique appearance. Many forgotten people of this world are passed over who have the most unique personalities and gifts to offer and it is our loss when we ignore their value.

Oh yes, and how about the plain shells? These common ones that seem to have little or no color are often cast aside as we search for the beautiful ones. Without doubt, we all enjoy finding a rare shell or conch with vivid colors and shapes beyond the norm. But don’t we sometimes look at people that way? Doesn’t our society glorify the beautiful people and exalt the stars of this world? What about everyday workers and housewives? Their existence is extremely important, yet they are forgotten in all the fanfare of the rich and famous! Don’t be deceived by those who look common to the eyes, for their personality and their mind may be rich with enthusiasm and replete with wisdom. There is no such thing as a common person, for everyone has gifts and unique traits to share.

Next time you go to the beach, collect some of these shells. With a good mixture, you will see in them a true picture of humanity. And you will discover that the plainest shells, like people, may turn out to be most interesting; the broken shells show people in their uniqueness; and the textured shells mirror people who have had difficult lives, some being refined and some remaining rough and bitter to the stimulus of life. But the greatest of all mysteries is this: no matter what scars we have on our lives, how broken and useless we appear to be or how ugly we are in the sight of the world, God can transform and use each life for His Glory!

02

Anchors Aweigh

As a young sailor on board a Navy ship, I remember the first time I ever saw an anchor being released. I was standing on the ship's bow near the anchor chain which was connected to the anchor through a tunnel-like hole in the side of the ship.

When the command was given to set the anchor, the pin was knocked out with a sledge hammer and the huge anchor chain began to flail up and down across the steel deck with a deafening roar. (Anchors on naval vessels weigh several tons and are connected to a long, heavy link chain about ten inches or more in diameter). Then there was a huge splash below as the anchor entered the water and sunk to the ocean floor. What an experience of sight and sound!

With the anchor in place on the ocean floor, the ship was steadied and could not float away in the surf. Without an anchor to stabilize it, the ship could have floated aimlessly out to sea for many miles from its original position.

Many inexperienced sailors of small boats have found themselves far out at sea when they failed to set anchor before they went to sleep. A ship or small boat can travel many miles in a few short hours when pushed along by large ocean swells unless an anchor has been set to prevent movement. And when a boat is sitting on the ocean without any landmarks visible, it is very difficult to detect how fast or how far the boat has moved from its original position.

Christians need an anchor and that anchor is God and His Word. As long as we are securely tied to Him all the time, we will not be moved in our faith and convictions. But if we are not vigilant and our lifeline to God is not secure, we can easily drift away into the waters of sin and into the influence of Satan. In the same way that distance is difficult to assess by looking across the water, a believer can move away from the moorings of his faith so imperceptibly that he does not realize how far from God he has drifted.

In recent years, many believers have been duped by so-called scholars and theologians who say that the Bible is not altogether trustworthy and true. Many in theological circles have accepted the premise of theistic evolution, the idea that God created the earth over thousands or millions of years instead of six literal days as the scripture teaches.

Others believe that the Bible is authoritative only in certain areas of scripture, but all of it is not totally accurate. Biblical miracles are treated as fanciful stories with rational explanations. For example, some theologians see no evidence of a worldwide flood that occurred in Noah's time; they do not believe God held back the waters of the Red Sea while Israel passed over on dry ground; that Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes or that Jesus literally walked on the water.

The rational mind of man and his intellectual egotism causes him to cut loose the moorings of his faith and be drawn away from trusting God's Word. Some people have