This past Sunday was Mother’s Day - the day we pause and honor all our mothers, the women who have influenced and shaped our lives in so many ways. So, I want to take this opportunity to honor my own. I thank God every day for my Mom and our family. I am extremely blessed for the love, support, sacrifice, and example she has been, still is and always will be to me. I would not have the privilege of even sitting here to write a Wednesday Wisdom today if it wasn’t for my Mom and the wisdom she demonstrated all of my life. She truly represents the wife of noble character and is worth far more than rubies (Proverbs 31:10). I was fortunate enough to have a living breathing example in my life of the womanhood described in the Bible.

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Proverbs 31:25-28 (NIV)

Not only was she up early and worked hard and provided love and support for our family, but she was kind, loving, giving, and compassionate. She served others and her church, and she loved people well. Mary Julia Little: you are blessed. I have only begun this journey of being a mother, and I have a LONG way to go. I am just getting a glimpse of the sacrifice and patience it takes to lead your children and love your family well. But the Word teaches us that to whom much has been given – much is expected (Luke 12:48), so I do not take this blessing lightly. I can only hope and pray that one day Addi Grace will arise and call me blessed. For now I will take the “Mommy” and “Mom” and “Silly Bumper Head” and all the other crazy names she comes up for me in this season and continue to learn what love really is. That is the greatest gift of motherhood to me: unconditional love. Each day teaches more about what real love and sacrifice looks like and deepens my appreciation for my mom and for God’s love for us. It was not by coincidence my devotion this week took me through the book of 1 Corinthians. Paul writes to his fellow Christians after hearing of concerns within the church. After reviewing the purpose and importance of the church with them, the spiritual gifts we have received, and how we should be using them, he challenges them (and me!) with the most important thing we all need to do – love.

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13

Lance asked me several times what I wanted to do on Mother’s Day. That’s really a tough question for me. Lots of things I wanted to do: house work, shopping, organizing, craft projects, millions of house projects, fun family day, spa day, read a book on the beach, and can’t forget... SLEEP! But motherhood had a different answer: we were up late into the night on Saturday and early morning on Sunday with a sickly Addi Grace who had caught a stomach bug. All day Mother’s day was spent at home holding, cuddling, and loving my little girl (and of course some clean up and disinfecting too!). Nursing her back to health, watching her every breath, and caring for her every need: just what the Dr. ordered – mom’s love.

I’ve been at a corporate event for my “other” job this week and one of the focuses has been a pending company rebrand. There’s been a ton of discussion about how the digital age has transformed how we all live, and in turn, do our business. One of the speakers shared an incredible stat about how fast we can reach people. He said that it took 75 years for the telephone to have 50 million global users. The game Angry Birds reached the 50 million user milestone in 11 days. The speed at which we gain access to information is staggering, but one of the risks is that our message and meaning can be lost in the noise. And there is a LOT of noise today. Imagine if you could take every piece of the written word from the beginning of time until 2004 and total it all up. Put it in a book. Imagine the size of it. How many libraries would that fill? Since 2004, that amount of content has been duplicated 7 million times. 7 million times. How do you even engage with people when we all have that amount of noise to filter through? I believe that our personal engagement with people is at an all time low. Technology has made it so easy to have superficial and shallow relationships. Facebook has single-handedly ruined the high school reunion market. I believe the main reason people ever went to a high school reunion was out of curiosity. Now that you can stalk your old classmates digitally, the curiosity is dead, and with it, the relationships that follow. We have become a society where we judge people on the width (quantity) of their relationships instead of the depth (quality) of their relationships. Jesus modeled the way to overcome this. His ministry had plenty of width to it. He travelled and spoke with the masses. Because of time and circumstance, he didn’t have time to dig deep with most of the people he encountered. But the way he overcame this was by investing in the lives of his twelve disciples. These twelve men were the way Jesus elected to carry forward his ministry. He often told a parable to the masses, but then would only explain it to the disciples. He explained the “why” behind his teachings mainly in private, and only to these twelve. To take it even a step further, he went even deeper with three of his disciples, Peter, James, & John. He elected to pull these three aside even more frequently, had private teaching sessions, and tutored them on the Gospel. You see, Jesus understood that no matter the width of his ministry, it was pointless without the depth. These are the men that took the Good News and spread it after the crucifixion, and they were only able to do it because of the depth in which Jesus invested in them. I do not want to be known as a person whose relationships are a mile wide and an inch deep. It’s not a bad thing in and of itself, but it doesn’t last. I want relationships that are an inch wide and a mile deep, because it is that depth that allows meaningful, real, and lasting impacts.

This weekend, more than 100,000 people will descend upon the island to celebrate a tradition that began in 1963. Known as the “birthplace of the modern shrimping industry in America” Fernandina Beach will feature a parade, fine arts and crafts, music, and best of all, food! As Bubba described in Forrest Gump, “Shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it.” I don’t know if shrimp will be prepared in every form or fashion Bubba described, but you can trust that it will be a main attraction at many of the booths. Regardless, the weekend generates a tremendous amount of excitement and anticipation for a celebration…around shrimp. Trust me, there is nothing wrong with celebrating shrimp (and I will be the first in line for some coconut shrimp), but I was reminded this week of the feasts and festivals that were declared for God’s people (Leviticus 23). These celebrations reiterate that God enjoys, and promotes, a good party. But before you use that statement as a disclaimer, remember God throws down for all the right reasons! The celebrations were communal and commemorative - they drew people together and kept alive the miraculous stories of how God provided for his people. There are solemn and serious implications of what was, and what is to come - symbolism of sacrifice and triumph, all worth truly reflecting and celebrating. It’s easy to get caught up in the activities this weekend and miss the significance of the shrimp boat designs and nets developed here that radically transformed the shrimping industry and made Fernandina “the source” of shrimp around the world in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Whether you’re looking forward to the parade, the music, the art, or the food (don’t forget the funnel cake and lemonade) I encourage you to pause and celebrate the historical significance Fernandina Beach. Most importantly, as you bite into one of those succulent shrimp, remember the ultimate celebration (and feast) we, as believers, will enjoy one day…

“On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭25:6-9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Who has seen The Greatest Showman? 🙋🏻‍♀️ Who thinks The Greatest Showman is the greatest movie in the past decade? 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m not exaggerating when I say my household has seen the movie at least 50 times and knows every word of the soundtrack. We are even in serious negotiations with our best friends over which character each of us will be at annual Halloween porch party. I mean, it’s SO good! There’s just something about a musical that puts a permanent smile on my face! I digress.... This movie, while full of talent and entertainment, is also full of a few good life lessons:

• Be confident in who you are - and who you were created to be.
• The greatest gifts are sometimes (most of the time) right under your nose.
• Hard work - and not always doing things like everyone else - is so valuable!

Character Jenny Lind alludes to maybe the most important lesson of the movie. She says, “When you are careless with other people, Mr. Barnum, you bring ruin upon yourself.” This line gets me every time! It carries such weight. Don’t get me wrong, Jenny Lind is my least favorite character in the movie, but she brings a valid point and reminds me of the golden rule we all learn in preschool.

"In everything, do to others what you would want them to do to you. This is what is written in the Law and in the Prophets.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:12‬

The way we treat others is so close to God’s heart, and we cannot take this lightly. The message of the Gospel and the way we treat His PEOPLE are our greatest gifts and responsibilities while we are on this earth. We don’t have to listen to Jenny Lind, but we do need to take note to these words that teach us the same thing:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’" “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” Matthew‬ ‭25:34-46‬ ‭

Love God. Love People. Do Work.

As a parent, visits to the doctor are rarely something you look forward to. This year, Addi Grace has battled multiple ear infections that continue to get worse rather than improve. I was anticipating the recommendation for ear tubes, but I wasn’t expecting an adenoid removal. The procedure for tubes isn’t a big deal - but there is another layer of uncertainty and severity with the adenoids. My first instinct, which won’t surprise any of you who know me, is to research, over-analyze, run a hypothetical contingency, and do more research before making a decision (even for dinner, much less a procedure for our daughter). This was difficult. I was texting with my father, who thinks a lot like me, and he finally wrote back: “When my brain says one thing, and my heart another, it’s usually best when I follow my brain.“ That reminded me of a verse I read recently in Mark. Jesus warned us about the difference between our head and our heart. I’m not sure about you, but I have a tendency of paying a little more attention when the words are in red! Jesus was speaking directly to the Pharisees and was clearly upset. “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people will honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”…Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.” Skillfully, meaning there is intentionality to plan how to get around the rules or pick and choose which traditions are the best fit, rather than focus on the purpose and meaning of following Jesus with a pure, undivided heart. He was so frustrated because they were focused on all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons! Trying with their heads to figure it all out but missing the heart of it. Jesus continues and addresses the crowd. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” It’s not the rules, traditions, knowledge, wisdom, what you do, or don’t do that makes you right, clean, and worthy - only Jesus can do that! Then of course, after he left the crowd and was alone with the disciples, they ask him further to explain what he meant thinking he was talking in parables. “Don’t you understand either?” ....“It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” (Mark‬ ‭7:5-23‬) We can’t trust our hearts to lead and guide us. In fact, Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us, “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” We have to ask God to create in us a pure heart (Psalm 51:10). One that follows after Him. We know we can’t lean on our own understanding or we will be caught up in fear, anxiety, and will never step out in faith. We will also be caught up in all the information and miss His purpose. It is a concerted effort of all of our being to fully experience His greatest plan for our lives. That’s the hardest part for me. The head makes perfect sense. It’s letting go with all my heart that’s difficult. So back to Addi and the adenoids - it looks like we’ll lead with the head and follow with the heart.

In the end we know, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬