Timeless

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As I reread and study scripture I am always left in awe of how men who loved God that walked the earth thousands of years ago scripted what exactly is on my heart. I marvel at God’s creation, at God’s wisdom, realize how fleeting this life and its materials are, and humbly realize the need my life has for a Savior then I sit down and read words God gave Job, David, Paul, and many others then realize what is on my heart is timeless. The same awe and desire for God’s relationship has been in the heart of mankind since God created us. God is timeless. He is the beginning and the end. The words He placed in the heart of these men and several others hold true today. These men were a vessel God used to show generation after generation what kind of relationship we broken human beings can have with our timeless, Almighty Creator. The lives I have observed that have shut Him out have a bitterness of soul about them. The beautiful poetic words of Job chapters 26-28 are a small sample of what I mean. God hears our cries of pain. He wants us to cry out to Him. It is ok for us to ask “why?”. Then God opens our eyes and ears to the whispers of Him throughout creation. His evidence is all around us if we have our eyes open to it. His peace and presence is right there for the taking for all of us if we just open our hearts. He pours out His wisdom for anyone who asks for it.

Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

Bunny Foo Foo

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On the way to church this morning a rabbit ran in front of my car. He made it to the other side of the road safely just as my car reached him then he suddenly did a 180 and went right back across. This time sure I would hit him I pressed on the brake and yelled “Whoa Bunny Foo Foo!!!!!!!!” Much to my relief he narrowly escaped my left front tire. After that I started to giggle about what had come out of my mouth. “Bunny Foo Foo…” really? One morning several weeks ago during the school year I was taking my two daughters to school and heading on to my work. There was a bird sitting in the middle of the road and not moving as my car approached. At that time I stated “Move flower!” Yes you read that correctly. It was a bird and I called it a flower. My daughters were thrilled with my mistake and I had no good explanation as to why the word flower escaped my mouth instead of bird. It made me think of the movie Bambi when he called the skunk flower.
It is in these spontaneous instances that what comes out of our mouths reveals what is truly in our hearts and minds. Apparently lately flowers and bunny foo foo’s are on my heart. You may find that delightful or just plain weird. Personally I am not sure what I think of it, but it is better than something foul. It has not always been the case for flowers and bunny’s to spill out of me. We tend to spill out what surrounds us. There have been times through company I have chosen or just simply who I am around in my work place that foulness and complaining has been a continuous bombardment. As I have been faced with surprising circumstances guess what came out of my mouth. Even when foulness was not integrated into my language within normal conversations in an emergency foulness flew out.
The “Whoa Bunny Foo Foo!” proceeded by our Sunday school lesson today from 2 Corinthians 5:15-21 and the pastor’s sermon from Romans 12:9-13 were all used by God to integrate a lesson even deeper within me. To be in a continuous state of fellowship with God, to be a representative of God’s love at all times, to surround myself with the example of Jesus by studying God’s word and through prayer, and to allow God to work through me through the power of the Holy Spirit at all times. When foulness comes from me it is when I am focused on me. When my focus is on Christ it will be love that flows from my words and actions.
Ephesians 5:1-2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

Powerlessness

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This blog post is coming from a variety of recent experiences all coming together to give one word “powerlessness”. The last couple of days I have taught Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS). The first time teaching since my dad passed in March. I have spent the majority of my 19 years as a nurse in the critical care arena and have been certified in ACLS around 18 of these 19 years. Even with the knowledge and experience we just can’t save everyone. The details of the attempted resuscitation of my father and his hospitalization experience from his surgery have been hard to suppress from my mind. Knowing something was wrong after my father’s surgery to remove his cancer and not being able to pinpoint it or fix it myself has left me with an even greater sense of powerlessness in this life. No matter what our profession we are all limited by our human capabilities, experiences, and what minute amount of knowledge we have obtained. As a healthcare worker I am merely a tool that God uses at times to work His miracles or to bring comfort to others.

In the state of Illinois we are required to pay a fee for an annual sticker for any licensed vehicle driven or pulled along the roads. I had gone to our local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to purchase our stickers. As I waited in line two older men were having a very loud conversation about women. One of the men loudly bragged that he was going to get him a twenty year old. The other man said “Whew, I don’t want no twenty year old.” The first man replied “I got enough money I can get me a twenty year old.” In this moment I was very thankful for technology as I just kept looking down at my phone not wanting to make eye contact with either man. My eyes always give me away. It was hard to stifle my smile and giggle as I thought “Really…” and then “Be careful what you wish for buddy. The kind of love you have to buy usually is not worth having and comes with an even greater price.” When I did sneak a glance at the twenty year old seeker I observed a man maybe about five foot seven inches in stature. He was probably sixty to one hundred pounds overweight. His hair was thinning and his shirt was unbuttoned nearly to his navel revealing thick curly black chest hairs. My eyes had to quickly look at my phone and stay there because even if I could manage to keep from smiling I knew my eyes would not. The word “powerless” came to mind again. His money and arrogance are not enough to hide the fact that he is powerless to life’s normal aging process.

Our lives these days seem to continuously be inflicted by the dreadful diagnosis of cancer. It seems nearly daily another friend or loved one is being diagnosed or having a cancer scare. My fourteen year old daughter had read the book “The Fault in our Stars” and desperately wanted to see the movie. Being certain that I have met my quota for tears in the year of 2014 I didn’t particularly want to cry anymore. Of course doing what mother’s do I took her to see it anyway. It is a beautiful story and now I need to take the time to read the novel. One word that kept coming to mind during the movie was “powerless”. We are powerless to cancer. Even with all the man-made medicines and tests we are powerless to cancer and so many other diseases.

As I continue to think about this word “powerless” I keep thinking more and more of the one who is Power. Not has power or is powerful. He is power. God spoke the earth, the heavens, and life into being. With just one word He can create or destroy. The more I realize how “powerless” I am on my own the more I realize the greatness of the power of Almighty God. It is through God’s power and wisdom that I can do anything of importance.

Jeremiah 10:12 “But God made the earth by his power;
He founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.”

1 Chronicles 29:11 “Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.”

Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”

Remember Answered Prayers

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The amount of answered prayers continues to grow in this teensy life of mine. God actually sustains me moment to moment most days by His answers. One thing I am learning is to never forget those answers. By continuously remembering when God has provided protection, strength, and healing in so many ways I am humbled. As I have been studying through the Old Testament there is so much to learn about answered prayers and forgotten answers to prayers. The Israelite people are a huge example of forgetting where God has brought them. Time and time again God heard their cries and brought them out of slavery and turmoil only for them to forget where they started and who had gotten them out of the depths of despair. In my own life I have learned that God is always faithful to hear my cries. He doesn’t always answer in the way I have orchestrated in my mind. He always answers better than I can ever imagine. His answers always come with tremendous growth in my own faith. The true test as a believer is remembering where God has brought us. Will we allow Him to change us and grow us with His answers? Will we remember where we started and how far He has brought us? Will we see the miracle of His perfect timing and see His beauty even in our darkest times? When times are good will we give ourselves the credit or give all the glory to God? As I study I have found that King Solomon is another huge example of forgetfulness. Both 2nd Chronicles and 1st Kings record the account of God coming to Solomon in a dream and Solomon asking for wisdom to rule God’s people.

2 Chronicles 1:7-12 “That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”

God was faithful to Solomon in His promises. The news and fame of his wisdom carried so far and greatly that even the Queen of Sheba had to check this out for herself. Solomon had a great start, but a not so great finish. He had a weakness for the ladies, hundreds of ladies actually. How the guy kept up with all that girl drama is a mystery to me. Amongst the hundreds of ladies were ladies from all types of backgrounds and countries. God had warned of the dangers with marrying those of different faith. Many of these women came from homes and lands that worshipped idols and not God. His weakness for the ladies led to weakness to be swayed into their idolatry and alas to forget how and why he had the very position of king in the first place. God had given everything to him, life, power, wisdom, material goods, and fame. He forgot where he came from. God is faithful to us and in his promises. It is in our weakness and pride that we fail Him.

As I reflect on the greatest answers to prayer it has been the prayers for protection, for God to help me love others as Jesus does, for God to help me to forgive others as Jesus, for God to lead others to Him, and for whatever I do to bring Him glory, not me. These are the prayers that I have seen His greatest miracles. My continuous prayer is to always remember. To remember that God gave me life and that everything I am and have is and was God’s in the first place.

Beauty from Life’s Deepest Wounds

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When cleaning up the yard this spring I actually contemplated retiring this old planter. If I move it the bottom is going to literally fall out. Actually finding beauty in the rusty decay of this small metal wash basin, I decided to try to make it last at least one more year. As the weather grew warmer a green sprout started to grow from one of the large rusted cracks. It didn’t really resemble a weed so I made the resolution to wait and see what the green sprout grew into. Much to my delight it is one of the annuals I had planted last year. How exciting it has been to watch the bright yellow puffy blooms from last year appear completely unplanned by me. There was enough of a remnant of a root or possibly a seed that survived a harsh winter in this old decaying pot. As I have watched this plant bloom from the brokenness of my old planter it has made me think a lot about our broken messed up lives. No one can escape life’s trials as we all have them. Sometimes it is the consequences of our own choices causing our wounds. Sometimes it is the choices of others that wound us. Then add life’s normal progression of losing loved ones. Learning that this world we live in is not fair is an addition to our brokenness. The amazing thing is that before God even created the world He had each and every one of us planned. Within each of us He planted a seed of His glory. When that seed becomes rooted in Jesus, God’s only Son, there is a beauty that blossoms out of our brokenness. As we turn our broken lives completely over to Jesus’ love and forgiveness. When we turn from our sin and set our eyes on Him. The seed of God’s glory that He planned so long ago becomes rooted in Jesus. That seed then begins to grow and to blossom. As we allow His purpose and plan for our lives to play out there is a beautiful peace that is beyond description. God can turn any ugliness of our lives into beauty. No one is too broken or messed up that God cannot bring life and hope from the deepest of wounds. Eventually this pot will have its final day and will no longer be able to stand. As our bodies will one day take the final breath. It is at that time that if our seed is not rooted in Christ that it dies, forever separated from God. Until our final breath we have the opportunity to accept Jesus and become firmly rooted in Him.

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Isaiah 61:3 “and provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Colossians 2:7 “rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Jeremiah 17:8 “They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Oh Where Oh Where has my Little Sock Gone

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My creative outlet has been focused on a project for Father’s Day and for scavenger hunt clues for a slumber party these past couple weeks so the blog has been a bit on the back burner. A friend of mine just gave me a topic suggestion of lost socks and now after having twelve girls staying in our home for one night there are all sorts of lost something’s around here. Socks, undies, towels, shoes, and swim goggles to name a few random items found so far. My friend is single and still has the infamous sock mystery in her own home she said. Where do these socks go? As a mother I am so relieved that the fashion has changed to the little anklet socks that are bright in colors and do not have to match. In fact you can even purchase socks now that do not have a matching friend. In this household it isn’t always such a mystery of where our socks go with having a dog that loves to eat anything that smells like feet. I shall not mention the other things this weird dog loves. We also find the socks in random places. Pockets of jeans, behind the dryer, in toy boxes, under the couch, in the couch… There are sad little socks lost to never be worn again across our beautiful globe and most definitely across these wonderful United States of America. Sometimes you see a lone sock or even a shoe along the roadside. Now how in the world does that happen? Socks seem so insignificant until you have a blister rubbed on your foot or wear a pair of shoes without socks. Enclosed shoes worn without socks become putrefied very quickly within the Lucas family. The worst smelling shoes award were a pair of soccer shoes and socks that had been worn to play a soccer game in the rain. The shoes and socks were left under the driver’s seat of my car without my knowledge. The next morning it literally smelled like a small animal had crawled in my car, died, and decayed overnight. For the most part losing a sock doesn’t get me too bent out of shape. Now there have been frantic searches for a matching soccer sock on game days that gets the entire family focused on one measly stinky sock. This mother learned very early to always buy at least two sets of each color of uniform socks. Even then that is not always enough to prevent the last minute soccer sock panic.
My friend’s suggestion got me to thinking and studying God’s word more intently on what it means to be lost. It is a Christian term that I know I have been guilty of taking for granted that everyone knows. The Christian terms of being “saved” and “lost” can be quite confusing to anyone who hasn’t been raised in church. As I think of terms we just haphazardly throw around it is no wonder the world doesn’t understand.
In the bible Jesus says in Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man came to seek and to save what was lost.” He made this statement for the benefit of critical on lookers as he called to Zacchaeus the tax collector to come down from the tree and asked to go to the house of this so called “sinner”. When researching this verse I learned something new about my own bible. There is no Matthew 18:11. In all the times I have read the book of Matthew I have never noticed the missing verse. In some scripts this verse Luke 19:10 was quoted here as well, but upon researching original Greek scripts this verse actually does not translate into this section of the bible so many newer translations have simply left it out. It is a process called textual criticism that is a tool in testing the accuracy of the scriptures. In Matthew eighteen the concept of Jesus seeking and saving the lost is there as He tells the parable of the lost sheep. Matthew 18:12-14 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wonder off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.” This discovery brought an even greater discovery and reassurance of how God has protected His ancient word. No other ancient manuscript has been copied so many times in so many different languages yet maintains nearly one hundred percent accuracy despite the fact that “to error is human”. He divinely used human beings to script His word and continues to use us to share and copy it. He has protected this roadmap to life and the history of His plan time and time again through countless efforts for it to be destroyed or to be taken out of context.
The same love and protection of the scriptures God has applies to every single human being. What does it mean to be “lost”? What does Jesus need to “save” us from? God had created mankind to be his friends yet he wanted the love and trust of the relationship to be mutual. For us to have “free will” to choose God’s friendship and to trust Him. Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation to eat from the one tree that God had warned them not to eat from. They had free reign of all the other food in the paradise God had placed them in. There was no pain, sickness, guilt, shame, or sadness. As soon as they had eaten the fruit of the tree God had told them not to the result was immediate. They immediately felt the burden of guilt and shame. They tried to hide from God and started passing the blame from themselves Adam blaming Eve and Eve blaming the serpent. All in all it was each of their own personal choice to do the one thing God their creator and friend had asked of them not to do. From that point on every human being has had this bondage of guilt, shame, and sadness. Not a single one of us is free from our sinful choices. We are a slave to our choices, addictions, bitterness, and selfishness. Our sin has caused separation from God’s love, companionship, friendship, and protection. The Old Testament provides the history of God’s plan to provide the perfect sacrifice to cover the separation our sin has caused. The New Testament reveals God’s one and only Son, Jesus. God in the flesh came to earth and led a sinless life. He was the pure and perfect sacrifice that covered our sins that separate us from God. Once again God has given us the choice. First we must realize that we are lost. We are so much more important than a sock or a sheep as in the parable that Jesus told. To God each and every one of us is worth the pain and suffering endured on the cross. He calls to each and every one of us separately and personally. When we choose to believe and allow Jesus to free us from the pain of our burdens it is the most freeing experience that is possible for mankind. So often we have no idea of the weight that we try to carry and the joy that we are missing. We can choose to become bitter by our circumstances of sins inflicted by others on us or by the consequences of our own sins or we can choose true life through Jesus.
We don’t have to be a lost sock. We can forever be paired with Jesus to fulfill God’s plan for our lives for eternity. It is our choice to continue to carry our pains in this life and to die separated from God forever. Or to start living a life free from our burdens right now and have the promise of eternal life. When death comes for a believer true life begins with no more pain, tears, or sorrows.

Don’t Choose to be a Victim

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We all suffer temptations to all sorts of sin weaknesses. My weakness may not be your weakness and your weakness not a weakness of my own. Through my own observations of human behavior there is a weakness that at some point in time in our lives we all fail miserably when the temptation arises. This is the tendency we have to choose to be a victim. The “I am a victim” weakness starts at a very early age. Hang around with siblings or a room full of toddlers for an hour or two. You will hear “How come she gets that?” “I never get a turn!” “I never get to go first!” “He got more cookies than I did!” Oh yes the comparisons to others and becoming “a victim” starts very young. What is it about us that we have to keep score? Why must we continuously look at what others have and focus on what we do not?
This is a temptation that knows no cultural, physical, age, or gender boundaries. I have been tempted by it and have witnessed others who have succumbed to becoming “a victim” throughout all my walks in life for my entire life. Sometimes the greatest conviction I have is here at home. At home my guard comes down. While at work my focus turns to my patients and their needs. Just the other day I told a friend and coworker that sometimes work is a vacation from my own life. It is a time to completely focus on the needs of others. Helping others in their time of pain and need somehow brings my own struggles into the proper prospective. At home as messes pile up it often seems and actually is a fact that momma is the only one cleaning. As the temptation to turn into “a victim” and fatigue wear me down I will start whining to my family about their lack of consideration and laziness. The conviction that I am really not teaching my children anything when I whine and yell is overwhelming. To teach them it takes even more effort than cleaning the messes on my own. To raise responsible adults it means taking the I-pod away until the mess in the kitchen is cleaned up. It means taking the time to teach my children and sometimes husband how to clean. When I go into “victim” mode all that I am teaching is how to become “a victim” and it builds resentment within my children. Becoming “a victim” decreases our credibility.
Often when we focus on what others have or are getting we are missing the big picture. That person may have had to give up something or have an unseen struggle we know nothing about. The constant comparing and score keeping does nothing but steal our joy. By allowing ourselves to become “a victim” we are applying layer after layer to the wall of bitterness around our hearts.
When our family first moved into the home we currently live in we struggled in figuring out what to do for afterschool care for our oldest daughter then in second grade. My husband worked it out with his boss that he would go into work early and work through his lunch in order to be off work in time to get her picked up from school. This only lasted for about two weeks. A couple of co-workers of his decided to become “victims” they saw him getting to leave work early, became jealous, and complained to the boss. As a result the boss had to tell my husband that since others were complaining he couldn’t let him come in early and skip lunch in order to leave work in time to pick up our daughter. His co-workers chose to only see what he was getting and not what he was giving up. Anyone who knows the man knows he really likes his food! We made other arrangements and it all turned out fine. Just the perfect example of how our human nature will focus on what we are not getting, but miss the big picture of what has been sacrificed.
As God has placed this blog on my heart there has been story after story personally and through social media that has driven His point even further in my heart. Some friend’s dear daughter with muscular dystrophy pouring out wisdom beyond her years how that even being bound to a wheelchair she knows that things can always be worse. God provides her with ways to give back to this world that are further reaching from her wheelchair than she could ever reach on her two legs. An inspiring video of a runner who fell flat in a championship race, got up quickly, came from far behind to actually win the race with just two hundred meters to go reminded me to always get up. When we fall always get up and keep pressing on toward the goal. The only time we are a failure is when we give up. She could have sat on that track, become “a victim” and cried. No she walked off the track as a champion because she got up and finished the race.
There are people struggling and in pain all around us everyday. It is a daily prayer for God to reveal to me not what everyone else is getting in life, but to see the needs of others and how I can give. Asking God to give me the attitude of “how can I give my all and expect nothing in return” actually brings freedom. It frees me from my own tendencies to become “a victim” and prevents the disease of bitterness from consuming my joy. Psalm 71:20 “Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.”
Proverbs 14:10 “Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.”
Hebrews 12:15 “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”

“It’s a Dog Eat Dog World”

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The little black dog is harder to see all snuggled on my lap. One of my favorite pictures of the dogs, my buddies.

What a beautiful Memorial Day morning. As I sat on our back patio reading my bible and drinking my morning coffee the realization of all who sacrificed everything for the freedoms I was enjoying in that very moment was overwhelming. There are so many to whom I owe my humble gratitude Jesus, American soldiers, my parents… My attention then turned to my furry friends who had joined me. Our small dachshund /Lhasa Apso mix dog in the chair beside me and our three legged wonder Yellow Lab dog lying beneath my chair.
Our little dog tends to be more of the family annoyance. She is an extremely selfish and nervous creature. She would eat until she literally exploded. She seeks opportunities to steal any kind of snack from anyone not paying close enough attention. Snappy and grumpy if she is not getting her way her selfishness, her looks of paranoia, and nervous habits often tend to be the center of family jokes. Her choice human happens to be me and she only seems content when near me and/or eating.
Our sweet rescue dog is quite the opposite. Her quiet and peaceful demeanor has made her a true family dog. Completely unselfish in her love and affection for the entire family she shows pure gratitude toward anyone who cares to rub her belly or scratch behind her ears. Her patience with the little dog amazes me. At times I have observed her leave a few bites in her bowl of food for the little one to devour. It took the work of four families to rescue this precious pet. That is a whole other story of God’s timing that I will share sometime.
When the time comes that the little dog passes I am quite sure that I will be the only one to shed a tear for her. Her lack of affection for others and selfishness has not made a great impact on this family. On the other hand when our sweet three legged wonder passes there will be great mourning in the Lucas household.
It is amazing to me how we as humans will feel the loss and mourn for lives of ones who truly loved and led lives of sacrifice for others. When a selfish power hungry dictator, politician, or shrewd businessman departs from this life there actually may be a celebration instead of mourning. Our human response is so amazing in that we long for love and selflessness yet the attitude of do what is best for “me” overpowers and most often prevails.
Jesus was the ultimate example of God’s love. He demonstrated the perfect life of selflessness and sacrifice. The bible clearly provides the knowledge and wisdom of salvation from our selfish tendencies. God’s word reveals the true source of love. Often as I observe the world the two things that seem most hated are Jesus and the Word of God. Maybe like our little dog the world is so content in its self- absorption that there is a nervous fear of letting go of the self -made prison. We miss out on such a blessing in this life when we focus on ourselves instead of others. When we trust in Jesus and turn our selfishness over to Him the love he pours into our hearts is indescribable. Our little dog misses the blessing of enjoying the whole family in her little anxious world. Our three legged dog has this love thing down pat. Don’t let the opportunity to allow Christ’s love to fill your heart pass you by. There is tremendous freedom in giving Jesus more of my selfishness and allowing him to replace it with love. Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves” Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” There are so many verses on human selfishness and on God’s love. It is hard to pick just one or two.

Life’s Great Coach

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As another school year and spring soccer season wind down it seems I can’t help but reflect. My mind keeps thinking of the growth of my own children and others that are growing alongside them in their schools, church, and activities. There has been a lot of parental growth for my husband and I as well. Both of our girls love the sport of soccer the youngest child has been the most consistent in her love and heart for the sport so I am going to use her as the example although we have learned so much through both of them. The oldest daughter has probably taught us patience most of all as we have given her opportunities and have waited to see what she becomes passionate about.
Our eleven year old daughter has consistently played soccer and her like for the sport has turned into a love. A few years ago it was as if a light switch had turned on illuminating a heart and drive to do her best while playing soccer. The tears that were shed with any bump or fall turned into a determination to not be pushed around any longer. The biggest clue that she was maturing in toughness was during an indoor soccer game where her hand became the sandwich meat between the turf and an opposing team player’s cleat. She got up with the look of searing pain on her face. As her mother I was braced for the tears that I thought for sure were to come. They never did. She shook her hand and held it a bit, but when the referee asked if she needed out she shook her head “no”. A look of determination erased the look of pain and she continued to play a well fought game. After the game she ran up to where I was standing and with a light hearted laugh raised three very bruised fingers for me to see. From that point she definitely earned my respect by displaying a matured toughness and resilience.
A lesson for my husband and I has been that we really need to keep our mouths shut. That we should sit back and encourage, but remember the sport is for fun, exercise, and learning to be a team player. It is so very hard when it seems at times the referee is wearing a blindfold or the parents from the opposing team’s voices grate on nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard. Sometimes she will have an off day and we have to remember that we have off days too with work and most definitely as parents. Just recently my husband and daughter had a conversation in which she basically told him that he was wasting his air coaching her from the side lines. She said “I am listening to my coach and teammates I cannot listen to you too.” She has told us that the “way to go’s” are encouraging and ok. This made me think and pray that in life she will listen to life’s true coach, God. If at times we as parents are conflicting with God’s plan or drowning out His voice I pray that they will both have the same determination to focus on Him and not us. I pray that we will be the encouragement on the sidelines in life and provide every opportunity for our children to follow God’s plan. Sometimes I wonder if soccer will be part of the plan or if they will walk away from it. Will He send one or both of our children to a faraway country to teach others about Jesus with soccer as the platform? It may be a direction that we have not even a hint of now. Only time will tell as we see His plan unfold.
Another lesson is that our children’s successes are not about us. It is about them and God’s life for them. We should always have the open mind and ability to allow them to walk away from opportunities even when we see potential. God will lead them and put a passion in their heart for the direction He wants them to take. The sport has taught a lot about trying to keep a balance between God, family, and activities. We continually have to do a value check making sure soccer is not becoming an idol and keep the proper perspective. Soccer is fun to watch, but watching them grow in their relationships with and love for Jesus has been the greatest blessing. I pray they will always listen to Life’s greatest coach!
Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”