Do you know someone who doesn’t know how to listen? I became acquainted with a kind man who worked at a grocery store I frequented. Every time he saw me, he would stop what he was doing and head my way.
All in Challenge
Do you know someone who doesn’t know how to listen? I became acquainted with a kind man who worked at a grocery store I frequented. Every time he saw me, he would stop what he was doing and head my way.
Several months ago, a broken sprinkler head under high pressure sent muddy water spraying across the front of our home. The deep front porch took the brunt of the filth, with windows, shudders and our pretty red door dirtied.
Are you ready for something new? Do you need a fresh start, a new direction, a renewed spirit? Do you feel like you have a slow leak in the abundant life to which you were called?
Our children are stepping into the adult world day by day. Our daughter is finishing college, and our son has just graduated from high school. They are asking big life questions: Where do I go to college? What do I study? Who do I marry? What is my life work? Most recently, our son asked, “What do I need to be a good husband and father?” These are heavy questions that demand wisdom and courage.
“Mom,”, my 18-year-old son, soon to be a graduate, whispered, “I don’t know what to do. I need to you tell me what to do.” There was such desperation in his voice and everything in me wanted to figure this out and fix it for him. In reality, it was not a big thing. But in the moment, it was urgent...especially to him. Hadn’t we spent the last eighteen years teaching him how to weigh things with Scripture, to consider others involved, to seek God’s face and to lead by serving? Yes, we had. But my boy was needing some handholding as we talked through options, obligations and expectations. He came to a perfect decision, and I was grateful to still have opportunities to pour into him.
I have always considered my fleshly nature to be stingy. Generosity is not a trait that flows naturally through me. As the Lord is growing me into Christ-likeness, I have begun to look for ways to be gracious and generous to others.
When her baby brother was born, our 2 ½ year old daughter had a rude awakening. Suddenly, she wasn’t the only child. Her parents’ attentions were divided, and in the early days, the division did not seem fair. For almost a year, when referring to her brother, she called him ‘the boy’.
As a child, I sang, “His Banner Over Me Is Love” with much gusto and hand motions. My own children would dance around their rooms with this proclamation.
I pulled into the rest area and looked around. The people I observed were as varied as the vehicles. Where were they all going? The adventurist in me began to imagine several possible scenarios. For some reason we had all converged in that one location at precisely the same time. Momentarily, we each would continue on our individual routes.
Do you like to please people?
Most of us do… it just seems right somehow.
What about pleasing God? I want to… but look at this truth…
I don’t forgive easily… do you?
When things are peaceful… it is easier to forgive.
But what about in a storm of life?
We don’t use the word watchman much in present-day-terms, nor do we really appreciate the concept of someone whose entire job is to look out, ahead, in front of….to just observe. In reality, a watchman’s role is broader than this simple definition. There is purpose in the watching.
I have older teenagers at my house, so the laundry is never done! They take things off and put things on multiple times a day for any event or change of emotion. They take the school clothes off and replace them with hanging-around-the-house clothes until friends drop by…and this necessitates yet another change. And of course, when they take something off, it must be dirty! All these changes and choices are very intentional.
While babysitting one day, my daughter observed the older child chiding his younger sibling. He opened the cabinet and said, “God is watching you!”
At the wedding reception of my daughter and son-in-law, friends and family united with us to celebrate. I hoped to acknowledge each guest personally. There were just too many people and too little time to visit. The responsibilities as mother of the bride pulled me away as well. The reception was a blessed event, but it was not a time to enjoy a good heart to heart conversation.
I thought my word for 2022 would be contentment. The more I contemplated, the more I realized my word would be discontentment. I am not content with staying where I am spiritually. I want to know God more deeply. I want to pray more intentionally for my nation and family. I want to increase in loving and giving.
Tomatoes, when they need pruning, have little growths (sucker shoots) that spring up between the stem and branches that becomes another stalk. This little shoot is in constant competition for nutrients with the original plant. It might result in more tomatoes, but each one will be smaller. The bigger the shoot grows, the more cumbersome it becomes and more effort it takes to keep it staked.
One of the fun adventures I got to enjoy with my daughters as a Girl Scout Troop Leader was our camping trips. We had many opportunities to camp in a scout’s backyard, camp by the lake, and even camp at SeaWorld in San Antonio. On each of these trips, one of the most essential items to have was a flashlight.
My girls loved playing hide and seek when they were younger. The thrill of finding the perfect hiding sport with the hope of outsmarting the seeker created a fun game for the whole family. Hide and Seek may be a fun game to play with family or friends, but we can never play it with God.
My husband and I had invited several of our neighbors over for dinner. Glancing around the dinner table this verse came to my mind.