I GOT IT RIGHT!

From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from His dwelling place he watches all who live on earth - He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. (Ps 33:13-15 NIV)

I got it right today! Thursday's crumpled heap in the floor told me so! Oh, not in so many words, but in so many giggles, smiles and little ways. From the way she helped clean house without any complaining to the way her ponytail bounced in the breeze as we rode the bicycles down our country road. As she ran the imaginary bases and I chased the balls she'd hit into the tall grasses. In the happy way she kept score as we kicked the soccer ball like a couple of Olympic athletes. Oh, I had moments of journaling and studying in the chair on the deck as the wind chimes gently rang and the hummingbirds waged their aerial tactics battling for the feeder, but today everything was in harmony - for a change.

God is good that way to His children. And He was proud of us, too, I know. I saw His wink in the setting sun as it slipped into the horizon.

Learn From Me?

“You hurt my feelings!” yelled my daughter as she crumpled into a sobbing heap on the floor. It started innocently enough. Like most of my days since becoming a mother nearly eleven years ago, the day had been filled with meeting the demands and needs of others: an eight-hour workday in a hectic real estate law department and the second shift at home as cook, secretary, homework assistant, housekeeper … well, you know exactly what I mean – any day in the life of a mother. And I was desperate for a little time all by myself to unwind with just a little crafty piddling. Handling fabric, needle and thread can be a retreat, like any craft or hobby you truly enjoy, and I wanted the experience, no, I needed this experience all to myself.

So moments earlier I’d tiptoed past my daughter, who was busy on the laptop, into my sewing room and began to cut border strips for a pillow top. Minutes later, having barely gotten started, I’d been discovered in my hiding place. Wanting in on the fun, my daughter begged me to let her cut the strips with the rotary cutter, a new gadget for her. Not wanting to share and frustrated because my solitude had been compromised, I’d snapped “This is why I tried to sneak in here without you knowing it!” Hence, the crumpled sobbing heap on my floor.

I was still anxious and frustrated, but more emotions started to creep in – guilt and shame. As a parent, it is my responsibility, and it should be my honor, to let my child learn from me and work alongside of me, but I so often discourage it, even resent it, yet my heavenly Father never treats me this way. The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him (Lam 3:25 NLT). He actually invites me to come alongside of Him and learn of Him! (Mat 11:28-30) What an awesome God we serve!

I believe God calls me to time alone to study His Word, seek Him, worship and thank Him. I believe He also calls me to be a loving, teaching, patient mother to my daughter. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it (1 Thes 5:24 KJV). If He calls me to it, He will see me through it!

Heavenly Father, thank You for always being there for me. Help me to find a healthy balance between time with others and time alone. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

How Big is Your Battle?

Read 2 Chronicles 12:1-7
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Chron%2012:1-7;&version=50;



How big is your battle today? Let me put that another way, how vast does the army seem that threatens against you? Huge? Consider the battle facing King Rehoboam in 2 Chronicles 12:3. 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and people without number loomed because Jerusalem had transgressed against the Lord. Can you imagine peering around the wall of the City and finding such a mass waiting to overcome you? It was bigger than the Verizon crew that follows their cell phone customers on the commercials! Don’t we all experience trials that seem comparable?

The good news is that deliverance IS possible! Although we usually desire a complete deliverance, it is the partial deliverance that allows us to grow and learn from our trials without being consumed by them. In verse 6, the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and the Lord responded by granting them “some deliverance.” The Lord required they endure the trial to teach them the difference in serving Him as opposed to serving the kingdoms of the nations.

We have a similar choice: we can choose to serve our sins or we can serve our Lord. Making the wrong choices will result in trials and struggles that may be avoided if we properly prepare our hearts to seek the Lord. (2 Chron 12:14 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Chron%2012:14;&version=50;) No battle is bigger than our God.

NOTE: Post inspired by Bible Study The Way of Cain at Absolute Truth John 17:17 (See Link at Left)