Surprises are one of my love languages for sure. I love being surprised by anyone. Mostly, my husband of course. The ‘just because’ flowers on a bad day, an unexpected trip to get a coffee or even just a sweet kiss on the cheek when I am cooking dinner. Now after saying all of this… getting surprised by our gracious, merciful, powerful, heavenly father completely takes the cake. I mean, it’s exciting and scarey at the same time. To be reassured that God is listening to you is by far one of the coolest surprises I have and will ever experience.
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“She’s taken some breathes on her own.” Those seven words brought a dramatic and noisy change to the hospital ICU waiting room. My family all cheered and laughed after too many days of careful, cautious smiles to one another. Hope is an amazing and powerful commodity. We cannot conjure it up on our own as hard as we may try. As believers we know that God is good and that He loves our mother even more than we do. So we hung on to that very real and deeply planted knowledge.
A few days later I asked Him where He was because things were not going well for our mom… His answer came swiftly, “As close as your breath.”
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A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver. ~ Thomas á Kempis
I have a box full of cards, notes, and hand-made treasures from my children and grandchildren. There is nothing like those early drawings and words made by tiny hands to express their love. They would never sell at an artist boutique or become literary classics, but to me . . . they’re priceless.
I’ll bet you have similar items. Things precious to you simply because you love for the giver.
When you love the giver the smallest gift becomes a masterpiece.
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Do you live your life in a constant state of go-go-go?
Hurrying from here, to get to there??
Hurrying from this task, to take on a new task?
I’ll admit it-I’m guilty!
I’m a multitasking person & I love having a variety of things on my plate; keeps things lively & interesting for me!
However, with every blessing comes great responsibility and while I enjoy “lively & interesting”, it’s important for me to realize that I have a little one tagging along, desperately trying to keep up. What kind of example am I setting, if I am constantly living in the fast lane & forcing him to run, just to keep up with my fast paced walk?
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My girls were on the stairs.
In an instant I saw my toddler rolling down. She did a cartwheel like tumble and then rolled onto her back headfirst towards the tile floor.
I screamed.
Her daddy sprang into action and threw himself towards the stairs and, in that same instant caught her head in his hand.
I ran to her and held her as she screamed in fear.
In the corner I saw my 5 year old with her head down.
I hugged her and said, “Sister is ok. I know that was scary.”
“I didn’t know she would fall. I didn’t mean to push her,” the tears began to spill as she confessed her truth and fell into my arms in anguish.
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Think back over the lessons experience taught you in your life. If it helps, do this by sectioning off your life: work, formal education, church, relationships, health, etc. Probably, listing 10 life lessons pulled from these areas would not be difficult. For the sake of time and space, let me list 3…
- Small changes over time add up to make a huge difference.
- Focus determines reality.
- You can be right, or you can have relationship.
Has experience taught you these lessons too? While the experience itself exists as uniquely yours, the process followed does not. In all life’s experiences, the process of growth essentially stays the same:
- Do
- Learn
- Grow
- Try again
As Christians, we see God at work in all of these experiences.
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“You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. ~John 13:3
Recently, we have encountered some computer problems. Our computer started doing strange things and ultimately needed to be brought in for a complete overhaul. It started with the screen, then the mouse went crazy, the printer next, our internet connection was lost, and finally the hard drive.
It seemed each time one problem got resolved another reared up in its place. Meanwhile as a one computer family we were pretty much disconnected from much of our online activity. This definitely has its positive and negative points, but one would prefer to choose the way, how, why and when a computer break would happen.
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It’s almost too familiar, the Easter story.
Jesus’ arrest, trial, scourging, crucifixion and resurrection. God’s remarkable story of redemption settles in our hearts, but we often lose the awe.
A perfect man, the Lord Jesus Christ, was wrongly accused by a group of people who felt threatened by Him. They conspired against Him and had Him beaten and executed.
Most Christians understand the spiritual implications of Jesus’ sacrifice, that He
- bore the weight of our cross,
- took our punishment, and
- paid the penalty for our sin.
But we often lose sight of what happened in the physical realm, that the beating Jesus received left Him bloody and unrecognizable.
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