I'm Marching with my Commander's Cadence

It’s another glorious morning. I’m owning it. With one air-bud in and the other ear listening to God’s creation greet me with a cheerful “Good morning”, I know I’m on point. With that one ear open to the sounds around me, I hear the cadence of my walking. It was almost like I was marching – 1-2-3-4.

A memory flashed through my mind of my oldest grandson at the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, TX and our visit down to see him. It was during such a painful time for my husband who, in the next month, would be diagnosed with kidney cancer, and a few months later, pass on. But oh the pride and joy Papa had this day when he saw his oldest grandson in his regal march and cadence with his fellow cadets.

I know there’s something to be said for a great military cadence! I read that besides physiological effects, cadences produce significant physical effects. Singing a cadence while running or marching helps soldiers keep their heads up, take deeper breaths and exhale more forcefully. All that increases oxygen to the lungs and gives the body more energy, which makes their unit healthier and better prepared for the physical feats and tests they had to take. Maybe, I'm feeling some of that today!

To even compare my little walking steps to a military cadence is ridiculous, but on the other hand – in the light of my purposeful listening for my Commander’s voice, maybe not so much. The military listens for their Commander’s voice and so do I. They are “at ease” or are “forward marching” and so am I. I’m either in a “be still and know” stance or I’m moving on with the next task my Commander gives me.

This morning I hear the words “march on”. Usually, I’m power-walking, but this day my march becomes a stroll as I see this dear lady, using her walker, coming toward me as she has many times. In my community, social distancing is a really big deal. We are supposed to stay 6-feet away from each other on our walking paths, so, we always kept our distance.

Typically, Helen (I ask her name this morning), and I just nod at each other with a “Good morning” greeting. But this morning I know I must stop and intentionally speak to her. I ask if she has had surgery and she says: “No, I’ve had a form of muscular dystrophy and couldn’t walk at all, but I’ve purposed to not settle for that, so I walk. Before I could just barely walk in my home with my walker but I didn’t want to stop there. Now I do what I can outside." I tell Helen she blessed me with her courage.

I’m so glad I listened to my Commander when He said to me “At ease”! I get it. Sometimes He wants me to slow down to speak a good word to a neighbor and sometimes He wants me to get on with my day. Oh, how I desire to ebb and flow with Him – in q cadence of the stillness, the easy-does-it times of a slow pace and the forward march times.

I'm Walking on Sunshine.....Even in the Rain!

Last week my daughter and I were at Panera Bread having a great time of "girl talk". The sun was shining brightly when we went in, but all of a sudden we could see the winds blowing fiercely, dark clouds looming and then a torrential downpour of rain came. Yay! We needed that rain! Here in Texas -- it's been a blistering hot summer, but we've been blessed with the occasional rain shower that has sure helped our thirsty lawns. I've learned not to complain about the heat, the cold or rain, because, here in Texas, it's subject to change daily. We might as well....go with the flow!

Isn't that like our personal "climates", too? One day we are bright with a sunny disposition. Things are going our way -- even the lights are turning green before we get to them. And, another day, it's cloudy, rainy with thunderstorms overtaking us. The thrills of that "shout-hallelujah" victory can be overtaken by that "woe is me" agony of defeat.

It's inevitable that there will be ups and downs in our lives. Country Music singer, Lynn Anderson, made the song "Rose Garden" famous. The lyrics were: “I beg your pardon. I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, there’s got to be a little rain sometime.”

When we read the writings of the Apostle Paul, we might think that he and Lynn Anderson were singing the same song. Paul had plenty of suffering to talk about, but he also talked a lot about the peace of God. He was talking about a calm that comes because of God's love for us. The calm that comes even when the storm clouds gather. Paul even had the audacity to tell us to "rejoice in our sufferings"! He said in Romans 3:3-5 "We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Are you kidding me? We're supposed to rejoice in our sufferings -- from being hospitalized because of an illness, to going through a divorce, to face bankruptcy, to dealing with a loved one's death, to losing a job. Really? We are supposed to rejoice in those sufferings? Paul didn't mean for us to go "Hip hip hooray! I've lost my job; my husband passed away; the creditors are taking my car!" No, no, no. Instead, he meant that suffering is a part of life. No matter how many times we complain that life is not fair, Paul wants us to know that suffering (a little rain) is the part of our lives that helps us grow to those hope-filled people of character and determination.

What Paul wanted so desperately for us to know, is that our God loves us so much that He promised never to leave us alone. Yes, the rain comes AND suffering comes, but with God, we'll receive patient endurance. And patience leads to character. And character leads to hope. And hope will not disappoint us. That's a mighty fine recipe for pulling us from the darkest of times, to the sun-shiniest times EVER. That's when we'll be singing "I'm walking on sunshine (whoa oh)! And don't it feel good!"