surprises – Grits with Grace

Family, forgiveness, friends, Grace, gratitude, heaven, prayer, Scripture, sovereignty of God, thankful

Sand Through an Hourglass

Posted on September 16, 2024September 13, 2024 by Dewayne Taylor

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.” Ephesians 5:15-16

The thief has struck again. Without anyone noticing a thief has been stealing from us all. It happens every day and no one does anything to stop it because they can’t. Slowly and almost without notice the thief takes from us. Who is this thief? It is time itself…the calendar.

The day of the year with the most daylight hours is around June 21st. It is known as the summer equinox. On that day the tilt of the earth allows the northern hemisphere to be closest to the sun allowing the maximum number of daylight hours. On June 21st sunrise occurs at around 5:32 am in our town. Fourteen hours and forty-six minutes later it sets at 8:19 pm. From that time forward, slowly, and surely the amount of daylight hours began to recede.

You ask, “How much?” Well, today the sun will rise at 6:38 am and will set at 6:58 pm. If you do the math, you will discover that will give us 12 hours and 20 minutes of daylight. Amazingly you will find that the thief has taken over two hours of daylight from us. And each passing day he will take another few minutes. Finally, someday in the near future, we will get up and wonder why it is still dark or why the sun is setting so early. The answer is the daylight thief. Like sand through an hourglass, he steals away the amount of light we have each day.

I find all this pretty fascinating. As the days and weeks march by, it reminds us that fall is coming. Before long the leaves will be changing colors and falling to the ground. Soon our thoughts will turn to cooler temperatures, beautiful mums, and Thanksgiving. On December 21 the process will all reverse. We will begin to gain back those precious minutes of daylight, and it will remind us of the promise that spring is on its way.

The amazing part of all of this is how subtly it all happens. It is true of the calendar and the hours of daylight we experience, and it is true of so many small things in our lives. We take in a few too many calories and before long we wonder why our clothes are tighter. Humidity? I mean they do call it the air you can wear. We miss a few days of exercise and wonder why our energy level suddenly drops. We miss a few days talking with our Dearest Father and wonder why He feels like a stranger. We miss our time with the Book and find ourselves bumbling our way through life. Sigh. It is all too familiar and all too predictable.

The secret, I believe, is to be aware. I have an Apple watch that tells me more than I need or want to know. One of the things it tells me is the time of sunrise and sunset. A few days ago, the sun was setting at 7:45 pm and I knew that meant before long it would be setting at 7:00 pm. Sure enough, it is. Whether it is exercise or calories or prayer or reading the Book, if we pay attention, we will have fewer surprises and consequences. I like what Moses said. He wrote, “Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.” You know, wisdom to watch what we eat and how much we exercise. Wisdom to stop and talk to God and read His Book. Yup…good, good advice.

Paul, one of the writers of the New Testament, put it another way in Ephesians 5. He said we should make the most of every day, not living as someone who is foolish but as someone who is wise. He goes on to say we should do this because the days are evil—or full of difficulties and challenges.

The fact is if God grants us a full day of life, we all get 1440 minutes—no more, no less. The hours of daylight may change, but time has been set for eternity. 1440 opportunities to make the most of life, to get it right. And, because we are imperfect humans, we can use some of those minutes to talk to our Dearest Father about our warts and failures. We can snuggle up close as He whispers assurances of love and forgiveness. We can just rest and know…that He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Family, friends, gratitude, life, loving others, Scripture, sovereignty of God, thankful, Trials

The Sky Was Indeed Falling

Posted on March 10, 2022March 9, 2022 by Dewayne Taylor

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Matthew 25:13

The clock was ticking…and I didn’t even know it. Getting older is, well, interesting. It certainly has its perks…like you mess up and people just give you that knowing nod, you know, the one that says, “We’re gonna give you a pass on that because you are old(er).” Of course, sometimes they are not understanding, and they give you the “what for”. One of the things that is just a bit difficult are the things that you lose. You know sometimes you lose your mind, sometimes you lose your hair, sometimes you lose your teeth, sometimes you lose your vision and sometimes you lose your hearing. Wait, what did you say?

Well, I can speak from personal experience on a couple of those things. My hair is retreating and my hearing, in a least one ear, is well, less than. One of favorite hearing tests is the fact that I can cover my “bad” ear and still hear our clock ticking at 25 feet. If I cover my good ear…not matter how close I get…I can’t hear a thing. One time I put my face up to the face of the clock and still couldn’t hear a thing. But here’s what is strange—it’s not every sound, but only certain frequencies. I can hear most voices (except my wife’s), most music, and most other sounds. Of course, some things you just can’t hear—or see coming. That happened a couple of years ago. A clock was ticking, and I had no idea.

My wife called me one Wednesday afternoon. She sounded a bit frustrated—you know like that tone wives have when they ask their husbands to take the trash out for three days…well, it was kinda like that. Just a little edgy. But this had nothing to do with the trash. Instead, she said, “Dewayne the ceiling in the middle bedroom has fallen.” I said, “What?” She repeated what she said and yes, I had heard her right. It turns out that over half of the plaster ceiling in the spare room was now laying on the bed and floor. I said I was on my way! When I got home, I found out that she was not kidding or even exaggerating. Water-soaked plaster and blown insulation covered the bed and the entire floor. What a mess! How do you even begin to clean it up?

As it turns out…it was not a fluke. We have an air conditioning unit in our attic for the upstairs. When the company installed it, they build a small platform where the overflow pan would sit. The pan was there in case the primary drain clogged. So, unknown to me, the main drain clogged, and the pan began to fill. The pan also had a drain but, in this case, it just wasn’t enough to handle the excess water. As it filled with water the platform slowly, ever so slowly, began to tilt. As it tilted, the water in the pan spilled over the edge and onto the attic floor, seeping into the ceiling. Slowly, surely, over a few days, and believe it or not, without a drip, the ceiling continued to absorb the water until it had enough… and the insulation and plaster fell…big time.

One lesson I learned, is to make a trip to the attic on a regular basis and make sure everything is working. Pour some bleach in the drain to kill any algae and make sure the drain isn’t clogged. Two, understand that there are clocks ticking that we don’t hear…can’t hear and when the straw breaks the camel’s back—you’ve got yourself a dead camel.

Life is filled with surprises and with some, all the preparation and all the good intentions in the world, can’t help you avoid them. But we can do what we can do. It never occurred to me to ask God why He allowed that ceiling to fall. I mean, I know He loves me and I’m sure on that day He wasn’t mad at me. The bottom line is… I didn’t do my part. My part was to make a trip to the attic every once in a while, and check things out. His part was to help me not lose my cool during the mess. And, amazingly, even though I didn’t do my thing…He did His. He sent friends to help and now in the summer when the air is running, I make an occasional trip to the attic.

You know, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure—or several pounds of wet insulation and plaster. So, thank you Father for helping me grow in patience and shrink a little in frustration. Thank you for being faithful and for always being there. I know, “You’ve got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Family, gratitude, life, sovereignty of God, Trials

Watch Out Below

Posted on February 23, 2021February 22, 2021 by Dewayne Taylor

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Matthew 25:13

The clock was ticking…and I didn’t even know it. Getting older is, well, interesting. It certainly has its perks…like you mess up and people just give you that knowing nod, you know, the one that says, “We’re gonna give you a pass on that because you are old(er). Of course, sometimes they are not understanding, and they give you the “what for”. One of the things that is just a bit difficult are the things that you lose. You know sometimes you lose your mind, sometimes you lose your hair, sometimes you lose your teeth, sometimes you lose your vision and sometimes you lose your hearing. Wait, what did you say?

Well, I can speak from personal experience on a couple of those things. My hair is in full retreat and my hearing, in a least one ear, is well, less than. One of favorite hearing tests is the fact that I can cover my “bad” ear and still hear our clock ticking at 25 feet. If I cover my good ear…not matter how close I get…I can’t hear a thing. One time I put my face up to the face of the clock and still couldn’t hear a thing. But here’s what is kinda strange—it’s not every sound, but only certain frequencies. I can hear most voices (except for some reason my wife’s), most music, and most other sounds. Of course, some things you just can’t hear—or see coming. That happened a couple of years ago. A clock was ticking, and I had no idea.

My wife called me one Wednesday afternoon. She sounded a bit frustrated—you know like that tone wives have when they ask their husbands to take the trash out for three days…well, it was kinda like that. Just a little edgy. But this had nothing to do with the trash. Instead, she said, “Dewayne the ceiling in the middle bedroom has fallen.” I said, “What?” She repeated what she said, yes—I had heard her right. It turns out that over half of the plaster ceiling in the spare room was now laying on the bed and floor. I said I was on my way! When I got home, I found out that she was not kidding or even exaggerating. Water-soaked plaster and blown insulation covered the bed and the entire floor. What a mess! How do you even begin to clean it up?

As it turns out…it was not a fluke. We have an air conditioning unit in our attic for the upstairs. When the company installed it, they build a small platform where the overflow pan would sit. The pan was there in case the primary drain clogged. So, unknown to me the main drain clogged, and the pan began to fill. The pan also had a drain but in this case, it just wasn’t enough to handle the excess water. As it filled with water the platform slowly, ever so slowly, began to tilt. As it tilted, the water in the pan spilled over the edge and onto the attic floor, seeping into the ceiling. Slowly, surely, over a few days, and believe it or not, without a drip, the ceiling continued to absorb the water until it had enough… and the insulation and plaster fell…big time.

It was a sloppy, no fun, you’ve got to be kidding me, mess. And then, of course, we had to repair the ceiling. It took us a couple of hours to clean up the mess and a good friend helped me repair the ceiling. We also had someone come in and properly rebuild the platform so it would not give way again. In two or three weeks the whole thing was a memory. It was a learning experience for sure. One lesson I learned, is to make a trip to the attic on a regular basis and make sure everything is working. Pour some bleach in the drain to kill any algae and make sure the drain isn’t clogged. Two, understand that there are clocks ticking that we don’t hear…can’t hear and when the straw breaks the camel’s back—you’ve got yourself a dead camel.

Life is filled with surprises and with some of them, all the preparation and all the good intentions in the world, can’t help you avoid them. But we can do what we can. It never occurred to me to ask God why He allowed that ceiling to fall. I mean, I know He loves me and I’m sure on that day He wasn’t mad at me. The bottom line is… I didn’t do my part. My part was to make a trip to the attic every once in a while and check things out. His part was to help me not lose my cool in the midst of the mess. And, amazingly, even though I didn’t do my thing…He did His. He sent friends to help and now in the summer when the air is running I make an occasional trip to the attic. You know, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure—or several pounds of wet insulation and plaster. So, thank you Father for helping me grow in patience and shrink a little in frustration. Thank you for being faithful and for always being there. I know You’ve got this. Bro. Dewayne