"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." - Zephaniah 3:17
The image I have in my mind when I read this scripture is that of a big, strong father holding his newborn child. The child is upset, the father is soothing the child patiently and gazing at this tiny, angry bundle with absolute adoration.
Infinite patience, immeasurable love, complete joy.
My patience is never what I want it to be. I was always asking God for help with patience until I read an article in which the mother being interviewed said that when we pray for patience, God gives us situations in which we can practice our patience. Not exactly what I was asking for! I have found myself to be more patient as the years pass, so maybe by the time I'm 70, I will have the patience required to raise a family! But patience is a kind of faith. It is faith that the next moment can be better than this one, and so if we can hold on just one more moment, and then another, then we may experience the patience we have asked for.
Our love for our children can be overwhelming. I remember looking at Kate as a newborn and feeling like my heart had grown too big for my chest. I just loved this little wonder so much, it didn't seem possible that there was room in my heart for anything else. And then Brooke came along and there was even more! I think of my own mother and father, who love me, but still fail me at times. We are told that as much as we love our children, God loves us even more. How comforting to know that even when our parents are incapable of soothing our hurts, God's love will sustain us.
We sing a lot at our house and we always have. My mom made up little songs all the time about whatever we were doing, and I have done the same thing with my girls. Now Kate does it, too. We just love to sing! When we find ourselves singing is usually when we are at our happiest. Reading that God rejoices over me with singing again brings to mind the delighted parent, just pleased as punch with His beautiful children. He watches us with delight as we make our way through life and sings at the moments when we bring Him joy, when we are living our lives to His glory and raising our children to follow Him.
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." - Ephesians 3:16-19
What makes you sing? How can you be an example of God's love in the life of someone who needs it? What can you do to be more patient with your spouse, your children, or yourself?
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Monday, September 12, 2011
New Day
I'm writing devotionals for my mom's group at church, probably for the next month. It has been my creative outlet and I am learning more about my faith as I write. Here's yesterday's:
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." - Isaiah 43:18-19
Today is an important day in our nation. We remember the events of September 11, 2001 and all of the destruction that has occurred as a result of those terrorist attacks. We should never forget the people who died that day nor the heroism of the victims and the survivors. Their names will be written in history books.
But that's not really what inspired this devotional. The past that I'm dwelling on today was stirred up by a picture of a wedding in Austin this weekend.
A man I have known since we were four years old (which is really weird considering I have a four year old!) got married yesterday, and his wedding was attended by several other people that I have known for most of my life. They took a picture of this group at the reception and posted it on Facebook. Ah, Facebook, the perpetual high school reunion.
Looking at this picture, I suddenly had these thoughts of, "What might have happened if..." If I had dated that one boy, even though my so called friends would have made fun of me. If I had gone to a different college. If I had stayed working with this group of people instead of moving on to a different job that summer, maybe I would have been in that picture.
It can be dangerous to dwell on the past. If this, then that, but where do we end up? If that terrorist had missed that flight, then what? If I had gone to a different college, then what?
This is an age old concept, the idea of the road not taken. The problem with the "road not taken" exercise when you are married with children is that it erases those faces. And who am I if I am not Tommy's wife and Kate and Brooke's mother?
The reality is that the hypothetical "road not taken" doesn't exist. We live at the intersection of Destiny Road and Free Will Avenue. The choices we make along the way dictate the life we live, but God's role shouldn't be ignored. He wants us to look to the future, not to the past, no matter if it is a past filled with happiness and promise or a past filled with sadness and regret.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
So God doesn't want us living this life that He has given us with one foot in the present and one in the past. He wants us living in today and seeking Him! We need to let go of the "what if" and the "I wish" so that we can truly seek God with all our heart and receive the blessings that He has shared with us.
What are you grateful for in your life today? What choices can you make today to have a positive impact on your family's future? What things in the past can you let go of so that you can start seeking God with all of your heart?
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." - Isaiah 43:18-19
Today is an important day in our nation. We remember the events of September 11, 2001 and all of the destruction that has occurred as a result of those terrorist attacks. We should never forget the people who died that day nor the heroism of the victims and the survivors. Their names will be written in history books.
But that's not really what inspired this devotional. The past that I'm dwelling on today was stirred up by a picture of a wedding in Austin this weekend.
A man I have known since we were four years old (which is really weird considering I have a four year old!) got married yesterday, and his wedding was attended by several other people that I have known for most of my life. They took a picture of this group at the reception and posted it on Facebook. Ah, Facebook, the perpetual high school reunion.
Looking at this picture, I suddenly had these thoughts of, "What might have happened if..." If I had dated that one boy, even though my so called friends would have made fun of me. If I had gone to a different college. If I had stayed working with this group of people instead of moving on to a different job that summer, maybe I would have been in that picture.
It can be dangerous to dwell on the past. If this, then that, but where do we end up? If that terrorist had missed that flight, then what? If I had gone to a different college, then what?
This is an age old concept, the idea of the road not taken. The problem with the "road not taken" exercise when you are married with children is that it erases those faces. And who am I if I am not Tommy's wife and Kate and Brooke's mother?
The reality is that the hypothetical "road not taken" doesn't exist. We live at the intersection of Destiny Road and Free Will Avenue. The choices we make along the way dictate the life we live, but God's role shouldn't be ignored. He wants us to look to the future, not to the past, no matter if it is a past filled with happiness and promise or a past filled with sadness and regret.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
So God doesn't want us living this life that He has given us with one foot in the present and one in the past. He wants us living in today and seeking Him! We need to let go of the "what if" and the "I wish" so that we can truly seek God with all our heart and receive the blessings that He has shared with us.
What are you grateful for in your life today? What choices can you make today to have a positive impact on your family's future? What things in the past can you let go of so that you can start seeking God with all of your heart?
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