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April 15, 2025
​Good morning, my friends!

In everyone’s life, at some time, momentum slows to a crawl, life stacks up, a sepia-filter seems to overlay everything, and smiling becomes downright exhausting. Mundane . . . uneventful . . . windless and sunless . . . bland. Days on days, limply strung together.

In a sense, nothing is out of sorts–I mean, I’m fine! And though I can’t pinpoint what's wrong, something seems to be missing. I feel devoid of pep and purpose. The joy feels zapped out of my days. It’s an irritating lull that leaves my mouth chalky and thirsty. It’s a vague location, suspended somewhere between
“doing ok” and the “same ol’ same ol'.”

The very first miracle that Jesus ever displayed was at a wedding in Cana (John 2: 1-11.) We all know the story : )! The wedding planner either grossly miscalculated the head count, the bride’s cousin with her 19 kiddos forgot to RSVP, or maybe no one expected all 12 of Jesus’s disciples to join the party. Whatever the reason, the guests quickly guzzled down all of the party wine. They ran dry. Not good! What an embarrassment!

It was at this wedding that Jesus saw the predicament and intervened. As the story goes. . . He made crisp, crystal clear H2O blossom into a rich, inky wine. His power defied the laws of culinary science.
He performed a miracle.

The miracle was unique because it solved a scrumptiously ordinary problem. This miracle wasn't forgiving an adultress, healing a medical emergency, or reviving someone from the dead. This miracle was refilling the wedding guests’ goblets with more punch!

ONE: Jesus is the solution to unmet wants ​
John 2:3 “when they wanted wine. . . “

I like that word “want”! I think the word “want” is what makes this story so relatable. . . think if the Bible had said “need” instead. It’s just not the same. If there was a need, we readers may think, “Well, of course! God always meets our needs!” But Jesus didn't just provide for a need. He met a want.
Wants come in all shapes and sizes . . . Freshly baked doughnuts, sunny days (AKA winter to end), weekend getaways. . .
Or wants could look like an acceptance letter, a visit from a friend that you rarely see, a good night’s sleep, a week cleared of responsibilities. . .
Or wants could even look like . . . a season of loneliness to end, finances to not be soooo tight, a closed door to open, feeling unstuck, answers to health questions, a sense of security . . .
None of these are “needs” per se, because living without some of these things is common. These are unmet or suspended wants.
To an extent, they are longings.
Is longing deadly. . . no. Technically, I CAN live with longing. My heart will still pump and my lungs will still inflate with oxygen. Longing is manageable to live with, but it is tiring. It’s tiring to lug around unmet wants. Doable? Yes! God gives grace. But pleasant. . . ? Not really.
“When they wanted wine. . . “ Who did they turn to? Jesus! They turned to the One Who said, “ye have not, because ye ask not.”
We have the same access and invitation! I have the privilege to unburden my unmet wants to Jesus through prayer.
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TWO: God’s timing and schedule ​
Verse 4 “. . . mine hour is not yet come.”

It is a tough place to find myself stretched across a chasm of inaction. Again, the mundane days. When I want answers, I want a solution to bolt out of the sky and strike the ground before me–something obvious. I want the light to switch to green immediately. I want something tangible!
But usually I find myself without these physical solutions, I find my hands empty for the time being. I find myself in a waiting room. Waiting on God. Waiting on answers. Waiting on peace. Waiting on the next step.
Waiting for a miracle.
Time seems to slowly thaw out. Of course, I’m plagued the whole time too, with thoughts like, “What is taking so long?”, “Am I forgotten over here?” “What if I’m 95, and too old to remember what I’m waiting for in the first place?” or “What if I wait forever,
only to find out the answer was ‘no’ all along?”
Tucked back in the Cana kitchen, Jesus looked at the empty wine pitchers. Then He turned to His mother and the imploring servants, and He said, “Mine hour is not yet. . .”
This answer could have been a letdown. But, He said, “not yet.” Jesus did have a specific hour coming down the pipeline. . .
It just wasn’t that exact moment.
I feel emboldened to ask regardless. You and I can be secure in waiting. Because God always has a punctual schedule to best meet our needs, however He chooses!

THREE: The servants were ready for anything ​
Verse 5 “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”

Mary didn’t let the answer of waiting phase her. She accepted that it wasn’t His hour yet, so she did something productive in the meantime.
She advised the servants to. . .

Be.
Ready.
For.
Anything!
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It was a task that was so vague, yet at the same time, specific enough to fill everyone’s to-do list for 100 years.
When I’m in a "waiting room." I have time to learn, and do,
and experience, and volunteer.
I can learn. . . to read music, jump a car, perform CPR, make bread, fold hospital corners, remove tea stains, barter, give a devotional, get a passport, get a driver's licence, paint a room from start to finish, build a fire without gasoline, cut hair, hem suit pants, clean windows streak-free, build my savings account, improvise, web design, learn how to do without, learn the Heimlich maneuver, take a missions trip, spell Worcestershire sauce, start a business, how to navigate, network, how to be fluent in telling my testimony, how to budget . . . .
I don’t know all of the details of how God wants to use me in the future. AND--since I don’t know, I want to gather as many random skills as possible, to be able to use for His service.
I want to take Mary’s advice, “whatever he saith to you, do it.”
That takes preparation. And if I’m waiting, I have time to prepare.
As boring and mundane as “waiting in the hallway” is, waiting is also a preparation process–so it should not be wasted! I can’t waste time bumming around, pining and withering for my golden opportunity. I need to get busy collecting practice time, experience, and skills!
I can do my best to be ready for anything... or at least try!
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FOUR: All-in Attitude​
Verse 7 “. . . they filled them up to the brim.”

These servants threw themselves all in. They didn’t hold back (in case the miracle didn’t work.) They were all-in!
Instead of meticulously planning my “escape route,” out of the waiting room. Instead of typing up my itinerary for the next chapter. . . I can redirect that restless energy by plunging my
feet deep into the rich soil beneath me.
These servants didn’t hold back their hard work. They expended their energy because they believed Jesus would do something with their efforts. They expected Jesus to use what they were doing for His ultimate plan. They believed He would transform every last
drop of water they added to the jugs. . .
Jesus delivered beyond anyone’s comprehension!

Mark 12:30 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” ​
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FIVE: This all happened behind the scenes ​
Verse 9 “ knew not whence it was:
(but the servants which drew the water knew;)”

Imagine the stimuli happening at this wedding, an excited pandemonium. The rupture of laughter, the clatter of cutlery, the music, the drone of hundreds of conversations, the busy soundscape of the servants working tirelessly to execute the perfect (not-so-perfect) reception. . . The whirling and the twirling. . . the hustle and bustle. . . the current of all the ever-moving guests. In all the flutter and hurry, no one noticed the Carpenter from Galilee stooped over the dusty water jugs. No one noticed the servants hauling buckets and buckets of plain well water. No one noticed that ordinary water was poured into the ordinary pots, but sweet wine flowed out of them. No one noticed the transformation. No one noticed.
Here’s the golden truth. . . God’s work isn’t always obvious and earth shattering. It isn’t always like the walls of Jericho disintegrating into powder, or fire falling out the sky, or the Red Sea bursting down the center like a weak seam that finally gave out, or a valley of dry bones linking up together and forming an army. . . sometimes God works quietly in the background! Behind the scenes. Without flair or pomp.
Some sections of my life in the past five or so years make zero sense to me. Topically, they look and feel like a waste. Some days, I believe that they WERE a waste. . . but over and over I’ve come to the conclusion that there will always be unexplainable events. Events that were providentially allowed, but make no sense. And through faith, I have to accept that
God was working behind the scenes.
I must trust that He is actively working all things for my good.
The guests that drank the wedding wine that day, had no idea that 30 minutes prior, there was no wine. They had no idea that before that sweet grape juice trickling down their throats, Jesus was behind the scenes working a miracle. Amid all the reception chatter, they had no idea that Jesus was transforming a bucket of well water into a refreshment of celebration. The guests had no clue, yet Jesus was working behind the curtain, in the hidden servant’s quarters... working a miracle in the unseen spaces. In every life’s story, there are things (great things!) that happen behind the scenes. God is always working at all times in all places.

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SIX: Jesus’s wine was better​
Verse 10 “. . . the good wine”

This next point is easy to suggest to friends and loved ones, but brutal to live myself! Because it’s a truth that is easy to comfort others with. It’s easy to say “God has got better things in store! He works above and beyond what you could imagine!” That’s easy to say. It’s hard to hear.
Because this mantra is usually a punctuation mark at the end of a closed door, or a disappointment, or a rejection. . .
This is said as a bookend on something unpleasant and devastating (lost job, break up, missed opportunity, friendship that fell apart).
It’s hard to draw comfort from this truth, because in the end, I’ve still lost something. And loss hurts! It absolutely stings!
Yes, I know that God’s ways are higher and better. I know that my surrender of what’s in my hands or heart, will ultimately create the space to accept what God wants for my life. . . but it will always stings to lose something.
I get it. If you’re reading this and God is asking you to trade in your object of interest... I’m not trying to patronize you by saying, "God has better things in store." Surrender is not flippant. It’s not a last-minute flavor switch at the ice cream parlor. Surrender is a grave choice. Surrender takes a lot of grit and a whole lot of resolve!
I won’t attempt to placate or be inappropriately upbeat, because sometimes well-meaning folks can be dismissive of how hard an act of surrender is. . .
Just know that when the finality of your surrender settles in, and your heart splits in half, remember that one day, maybe you’ll be ready to allow a truth to sit with you in the absence.
This truth will gently assure you that you made the right choice. God’s best truly belongs to those who leave the choice up to Him. His wine is better.
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SEVEN: The goal is to make God look good–
every single day! ​
Verse 11 “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory. . .”

Even in the ordinary moments, God still wants to get the glory. Every day that hurts, every day that doesn’t make sense, every morning after a long night of crying, every day that seems like a chore just to be present, every day that I’m tired, everyday that I’m bewildered, bored, senseless, every day I breathe, the goal is this:

Make.
God.
Look.
Good.

Some days, smiling, laughing, and acting upbeat is too much. But making God look good is always possible! It’ll look different for everyone... but there will always be an opportunity to make God look good (it doesn’t have to be pretending to be like a 24/7 giggle-inflated Chick-fil-A worker in braces, either!)
​“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
Whatever you do, wherever you go, whoever you connect with... Make God look good!

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EIGHT: Building belief​
Verse 11 “. . . his disciples believed on him.”

By converting water into wine, Jesus strengthened the faith of His disciples. We will all have unique ways in which God will build faith in our lives. . . random miscellaneous ways. Gideon had his faith increased after eavesdropping on a soldier retelling a weird dream about a barley loaf rolling into the army’s camp. I remember God increasing my faith after getting a free bowl of cereal at 10:00 at night from the hotel breakfast line (no, I didn’t steal it either!) My point is, God increases faith, moment by moment, season by season. In the good times, in the bad times, in the mundane times. . . He is building faith.

I hope that this incredibly scattered, jumbled list of thoughts,
might have encouraged you just a tad.
The mundane can be hard. It’s a different kind of hard than the tragic seasons... but, God still cares! He cares about all of the stages we go through. I hope and pray that one of these eight details may have caused a slight boost, or a glint of perkiness.
Hang in there! God cares about you and is working great and mighty things on your behalf!

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​with love,