Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:8 NIV
“Come back here!” I scolded my son as he darted across the Wal-mart parking lot.
“But, Mommy I almost caught one,” he told me, referring to the tiny birds always found hopping between the cars looking for cast-off French fries and other tasty morsels. I watched as my seven-year-old crept closer and closer to the bird standing next to our oil covered wheels.
Step. Step. Step.
“Aww, man.” He wasn’t fast enough. The bird darted away in search of a safer place to glean.
Do you ever feel like my son?
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Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Psalm 119:35 NIV
“Come on, sweet girl. Turn your head this way,” I coaxed my newborn baby. As I tried to gently turn her soft head to the left, she tensed up and held her head in the opposite direction. I sighed, envisioning her head forming in the lumpy shape it currently held.
The doctor told me to encourage her to look left as much as possible. She favored lying with her head to the right. “Lay her in the bed so when she turns right, she faces the wall,” she told me.
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But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deut. 4:29 NIV
Have you ever wondered what God’s plan is for you? Have you asked him? For the past couple of days the Lord has been speaking to my heart about the thing I am passionate about – finding God’s plan for your life. Then I came across this verse in Deuteronomy this morning. It all came together.
So often we want to know what God has planned for us, and we pray and ask Him.
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Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58
NIV
“Red Rover, Red Rover, send Jennifer right over” we chanted even as we grasped small sweaty hands even tighter. I could feel my knuckles crushing together but I wasn’t going to let her through. Determined not to be the weak link, I planted my feet just a little wider than shoulder’s width apart. I would not be moved.
Her eyes caught mine, and I knew she was running right towards me.
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As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9 NIV
“You have got to be kidding me,” my husband vented his frustration with the car in front of us doing a snail’s pace. We pulled up to the stoplight, and I read the tag GRAMMY*. “Well, it’s a grandma,” I explained to him. “Yeah, well she needs to at least go the speed limit,” he responded.
I sat back listening to the music, just happy we weren’t late for church, but I could feel my husband getting more and more frustrated with poor ole’ Grams.
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God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him? Job 36:22 NIV
Whirrr went the electric pencil sharpener as I sharpened forty-eight new pencils to dance across pages of white. Each child sat before me with book bags in hand as I called off the items for them to place inside. Book bags packed, new clothes lying out, and lunchboxes waiting to be filled I sent my soon-to-be third grader and Kindergartener upstairs for baths.
As I brushed hair and teeth, I thought it a great time to go over some rules to follow for having a great year.
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Have you ever been struck by the words of a child?
I rushed around the kitchen getting bagels toasted and coated with cream cheese. Pants tumbled in the dryer, the iron was heating, and my hair was wet. Just another Sunday morning at my house. It was my son’s birthday, so the regular rush shifted to ultra speed as we scrambled to fit presents and a sit-down breakfast into our already busy schedule.
“Please say a prayer,” I hastily offered as I tossed plates of bagels in front of my two children. My five-year-old cleared her throat and began, “Thank you for this food and could You help us to get to church on time so we can worship You?
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Are there things on your prayer list that never get crossed off? There are times I pray for things so often that my prayers are out of habit and not out of belief – belief that He hears them and will answer. Have you ever been surprised when God has answered a prayer? I have! Then I wonder about my faith. If I didn’t believe He could answer, then why did I pray in the first place?
I’m reading an awesome book right now called Listening for God by Marilyn Hontz. I highly recommend it. It’s about the different ways we can hear God’s voice.
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