I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I’m teaching my sons. What kind of legacy am I leaving them? Yes, I’m a scrapbooker, so this is generally something I think about often, but I don’t actually mean “legacy” in that way.
I mean in the way that they view life, God, people, themselves. It weighs on my heart because I’m a very imperfect human with more faults than I care to admit. I fail my sons so often in this area.
I rest on the fact that God knew what He was doing when He blessed us with these 6 amazing young men, but that doesn’t mean that I feel like I’m fully capable all the time.
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The other day, I was in a waiting room, sitting next to a man who was dozing off. But, the interesting thing was, other than his deeper-than-normal breathing and his closed eyes, you’d never know it. Even as he slept, he sat straight as a board, feet flat on the floor, hands folded on his lap.
He didn’t snore.
His head didn’t droop.
He didn’t slouch.
He looked ready and alert, even in his dozing.
And it got me thinking…
That’s how God is.
Sometimes, He may seem “asleep” in our lives. We may pray for something and get no answer.
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“Wait a minute…” Darlene, the inspiration and heart of the place, paused and looked at me. “You write, don’t you?”
I nodded, too overcome with emotion to do much more than mutter that, yes, I did indeed write.
She pointed to the large, cracked pottery vase she cradled in her arms and then motioned to the many more on the shelf behind her. “There’s a story here somewhere, don’t you think?”
Oh yes.
If she only knew…
Just minutes before, we’d come upstairs to discuss the details of my new volunteer duties at Coventry, a place for mentally handicapped young adults to come and learn a skill.
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“But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless. When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” — I Cor. 13: 10-12 (NLT)
Recently, I was reminded of the awkward girl who inhibited this body of mine more than 15 years ago.
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“Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.” 1 Samuel 14:7 NIV
o·bey [oh-bey]
–verb (used with object)
1.to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions of
Obey. It’s a simple word. But doing it is anything but simple. It is a verb – an action word. This word should call us to action. But many times it doesn’t. The Lord is really speaking to me about obeying. I get it everywhere. I hear His words echoing to me from my own words to my children. “I need you to obey me the first time I ask.”
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My daughter has been working on a science fair for the last month. For her project, she decided to test which item biodegrades the fastest: apple core, banana peel, or a cucumber slice. She created three trials for her experiment, and set three plates outside, each with one apple core, one banana peel, and one cucumber slice on it. It’s all been very scientific.
And quite the adventure…
First, after a week of the plates sitting outside, we had some big winds here in California and all three plates ended up in the pool. Needless to say, my daughter had to start her project over.
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“When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.” 1 Kings 8:54
I’ve noticed lately (though I’ve known for years) that I seem to talk to God more than pray to Him. It wasn’t always like this. Before marriage and kids I was a pray-er. A continuous communor with Jesus. But life got busy and my alone times got less and less until now it seems I throw out Twitter-like conversations, a status update with my God.
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“Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.” 1Peter 5:7
I’ve had this condition most of my life. A condition that I am learning to live with. I desire to control things. Lots of things. Not just big things, but little things, important things, and not so important things. I try and give God a hand, all the time.
Hello. My name is Joanne and I’m a control freak.
From what my children wear, to who they will hang out with – where they will go to college, what they will eat, to what political party they will subscribe to.
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