Distractions

"Distractions may hinder, but once the heart is committed to Him, the attention will return again and rest upon Him like a wandering bird coming back to its window." Tozer

We are wanderers... we get side tracked with the everyday things in life and begin to wander... suddenly we find ourselves in a dark valley and wonder how we got there... we feel alone.  We begin looking around for some familiar thing, some comfortable thing that feels like home... but it just doesn't seem right....

When I was a child I was a wanderer.  When we went on school field trips none of the parent chaperones ever wanted me in their group because I was always the one that got lost. I remember getting lost at The Detroit Zoo, at The Henry Ford Museum and several other places.  It was a sickening feeling as a child... to suddenly look up and there be a sea of faces around and none that you know.  I would start to cry and of course someone that worked there would find me and bring me back to my group.  Now as a parent I have taken my children to these places and I am always so cautious of where they are.  I've told them all my horror stories of getting lost, so I think I have instilled a sacred fear in them.  As a parent it is a different kind of sickening feeling... the thought of losing a child...

When I say lose a child I don't only mean in the physical sense but also in the spiritual sense... they both give me that empty feeling... a feeling I hope and pray I will never know.  There are so many people lost out there today... lost and hopeless.  But they don't have to be... Jesus is there ever waiting with open arms to gather them into His fold... to protect and give meaning to one's life. 

Only He can fill the void that leaves one feeling empty and without meaning...
If you have wandered away... if you are lost and don't know where to turn... if you're struggling with the cares of life... Jesus has all the answers... He is your hope... call unto Him and He will answer... like the wandering bird coming back...

Until next time,
Jean


     

Wings and Roots...

 

"Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible." Corrie Ten Boom

 

I am sure most of you who know me think you know where this might be going by the title... well kinda.  The other day when my two CSA work share ladies were here we were chatting at the end of their day and one happened to mention how the other says we have to give our children 'wings and roots' both at the same time...  I thought that was very inspiring, especially when two of the things I love most have wings and roots.

Our children start out as helpless little creatures that need us to survive... food, warmth, nurturing, shelter and protection.  Without us they would simply and most assuredly die.  As parents or caregivers we attempt to give these things to our children with utmost care... we love them and want only the best for them.  When they are small we try to teach them things... first with physical movements such as rolling over to crawling and then finally to walking and running... speech comes into play next as well as the ability to feed themselves... but still they need us completely during these formative years.  During the younger years we are also teaching them about Jesus and our faith... this is the time when the roots are growing deeper and when fed the right things will grow healthy and strong... these are the roots in their life that will help them along in the years to come...  when we give them their wings...

As our children become young adolescents and young adults the roots we have given them as small children should hold them firm during the trials and adjustments they will face at this time.  Their wings will form and they like young fledglings coming out of the nest will want to try them and see how far they can fly safely... coming back regularly and each time going out a bit farther... Eventually they will settle into a state when they have their belief system and hopefully a deep faith of their own. This faith is a personal decision that must be made by each one individually... a time of choosing roads they will travel... a time of growing and maturing.  The roots we have helped grow will help them with the decisions they make now...  What are we feeding the roots is the question we as parents must all face and realize that one day we will be accountable for...

It takes faith to let go of them... to trust that they will make the right decisions... to look away when you want to grab hold... smile and trust when you want to cry and protect...
But He is bigger than anything... stronger than anything... and ever true...

           

 

"That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."
1 Corinthians 2:5

Until next time,
Jean


Kindness...

     
"And be ye kind one to another..." Ephesians 4:32a

As a professing Christian I believe that it is of utmost importance that I show the love of Christ in my heart through my attitudes, actions and words.  If I want to be a proper witness to my husband, children, friends and strangers, I need to be able to have that love reflecting in all I say & do.  I understand fully that I will fail and that with those failings, repentance and apologies may be required.  I believe this is one way to show that love... admitting when I am wrong. 

Recently Evan has been enthralled with a certain story in one of our Bible story books about a little boy and showing kindness... "Kindness always comes back" is what we are reading.  Sometimes it's not easy to show kindness, especially when we have been hurt or had a wrong done to us... but Jesus teaches us otherwise.  When Aaron takes something away from Evan, and he gets cross, I like to remind him of this story and the kindness that will come back if he just talks to Aaron.  It is hard for this little, almost five year old to understand that statement... especially when his two year old brother just snatches his toy away. But kindness in words and deeds need to be shown so the character can be built while little.  It is a difficult lesson for children and adults alike, but one that will always reap what is sown.  Evan's natural human reaction is to retaliate and get even, it's his toy and he want's it back... but this is not the nonresistant life that we are looking to teach and live by.  I want the children to learn that it is better to give than to receive... that they need to turn the other cheek... to give their coat as well as their cloak... this is what Jesus taught... to love our enemies... to forgive...

Cheerfully showing the Lords kindness, long suffering and compassion will always be returned.
Until next time,
Jean
     

Life is a Training Ground

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness."   Matthew 5:6

"There is no way that any of us can talk ourselves into getting a "longing for God." Spiritual desire and hunger must come from God Himself! It cannot be whipped up."  Tozer

This was a quote from one of my daily devotions today that struck me. As I thought on this I became so aware of how blessed that I am to have that desire deep within my soul.  So often I have felt as that hart on the mountainside panting after the water brook, my soul has longed after Him. 

I remember as a youth, before I would have been a professing Christian yet still knowing and fearing God, although in a different way... I had a longing for Him... I just didn't know how to get to Him.   I remember as a small child talking to Him in the storms. So childish was I when I would ask Him questions and ask Him to answer in one lightening and two claps of thunder... then I would know the deep secrets I was asking of Him... but He always seemed to answer.  He never dismisses a child... one looking to Him for reasurance.   I remember driving after my grandmother died and wondering why... I was angry with Him back then...

...but after a long journey He brought my soul home to Him...

Now my life is a training ground... one where there are valleys and plains along with the mountain tops...  It seems like it's been a long time since I drifted in the clouds... but I know they are there... waiting for me.

"But it is a different story when we consider the spiritual life. No one but God through His Spirit is able to stir up spiritual desire among us. Those who have accepted a common state of spiritual living and have no deep desire for Him will never be stirred by human means." Tozer

Until next time,
Jean

Expectations and Thankfulness...

Life is filled with expectations that don't always pan out...

When we experience tribulations and trials what do we do?  Do we turn to the Lord, but when He doesn't answer us as quickly as we think He should or not quite how we wanted to we turn to ourselves... the world around.... God says in Isaiah that His ways are not our ways, and our time is not His... can we trust in that?  

When a child is born it is a demanding creature... it needs to be... it is totally dependent upon the caregiver for food, warmth and all of it's basic human needs.  It has to be able to let us know when it needs changed and is hungry... Children as they grow older still can be demanding and they still  have expectations.  They expect that when they wake up in the morning they are going to have clean clothes to put on, toothpaste to brush their teeth, warm water and soap to take a shower and a nice fuzzy towel to dry off with... then they will expect to have a nice breakfast waiting for them and of course a cheery 'good morning!'  Their lives are filled with expectations that are more than likely fulfilled  by their parents.  Younger children have no concept of how any of these things get there, they simply trust that they will be.  As they grow older they start to understand that dad and/or mom 'work' for all this stuff and hopefully are learning to not so much expect, but more appreciate and be thankful that the stuff is always there....

The teaching of this thankfulness can be the real job at hand... teaching children to understand how things are acquired needs to be shown through both example as well as practice on the parents part. 

It is like that as well with our Heavenly Father... in the beginning of our christian walk things are a bit easier and things come a bit more quickly. As we mature and we are not such babes in Christ, the trials become a bit more... this is to help us grow in trust and faith...  growing pains can be difficult, but we must believe 'that He will never give us anymore than we can bear and He will always make a way of escape for us...' 

Trust builds faith, faith builds trust,
Until next time,
Jean