Tag: trust

Pick A Box

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Do you have God in a box?

It’s an odd question…an old question.

Usually, we say we believe the Creator of the Universe is too big to be limited. We use theological words like omnipresent, omniscient, omni-something-or-other.

But we don’t live what we believe.

Sometimes we act like our problem is too big for God to handle…or too small for him to care. Or at times, we’d rather do things our way, because he’s too slow. Funny…he never seems to be in half the the hurry I am.

We hold back from letting him help because we don’t want him to “mess things up”. All that means is we only want our way, but don’t look at the mess we’ve made.

We take him out when it’s convenient, when it makes us look good, when no one will be offended.

What if God put us in little boxes and only took us out when it was convenient?

Here’s a couple verses that can help us with this box problem:

5 Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart,
    and do not rely on your own insight.
6 In ALL your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

If we will do this…he will do that.

So either we climb into that God box with our ALL,  or we let him out so he has freedom to fill and lead us wherever we are.

PRAYER: God, sorry about the box thing. This world we live in is so conveniently compartmentalized. It’s how we try to maintain control. Help us to do that hard work of trusting you with our ALL so you can lead us into your best. Amen.

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When Will I See You Again?

7 For we walk by faith, not by sight, (2 Corinthians 5:7)

WP FCWC

I’m at Florida Christian Writers Conference. It’s a great place to be on so many levels. For one thing, the weather here is delightful. I’m also improving my craft, networking, and making new friends.

So, it might make more sense to you when I tell you I walked out on my balcony and prayed: Lord, where will I, when will I see you again? (And then I started singing, “When will I see you again?” by the Three Degrees…it’s on youtube if you need an earworm)

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I love my regular times with the Lord. Morning routines of prayer and attention to the Word can put such a positive energy into the beginnings of my day. If there’s a sunrise or a sunset filling the sky, it feels like God is tapping me on my shoulder reminding me he’s still there.

I have an “unscheduled” personality. When I take personality trait inventories, I come out on the side of less consumed with calendars and organization and with a far greater need to “fly by the seat of my pants.” (Ok, in MBTI terms, I’m off the scale P.)

Maybe that’s why I find it much easier to walk by faith. Sure, I’ve had to learn my God will provide and he has a plan. Trust often comes slowly. But I don’t need to know exactly how he’s going to do it. I’ve read the end of the Book, I know how things are going to end—we win! (Hope I didn’t spoil it for you.)

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Walking by faith doesn’t mean I’m walking blindly. I know how God operates. And I’ve learned I can trust him.

Walking by faith means I expect to see God at every turn, around every corner, in every encounter.

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And when I chose to walk this way, it is amazing what I see!

PRAYER: When will I see you again? Oh God, those words do not come from a doubting heart, but a heart believing you can be found all the way throughout my day. Those words come from a heart anticipating you will show yourself in amazing ways. Looking forward to seeing you.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. (Lamentations 3:25, ESV)

What counsel do you think you might get from Abraham on this? Abe knew the disaster of not waiting on God. And we’ve been paying for it every since.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I told my children to wait for me, to not rush ahead, to trust me. I always had (and continue to have) their best interests at heart.

God is the perfect father. Wait for his timing. Trust him. Seek him. What he has for you is good.

PRAYER: God, our good and loving Father. Grow trust in my heart. Show me most clearly where and how you are working in my life. I want to see you…I seek you. I love you. Amen.

Tantrums or Trust

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. Isaiah 30:18, ESV

I never threw a tantrum when I was a child. I was too afraid to.

When I became a teenager, I remember stomping up the stairs and slamming my bedroom door.

Tantrums usually happen when we don’t get our way. When we’re sure we know what’s best and it’s not happening.

We get miffed when we have to wait.

But have you ever considered how God feels when we don’t, won’t, or can’t receive his grace?

Today’s verse tells us God is waiting to be gracious to us. He has the gifts, the answers, the guidance, the everything we need…but we’re so busy stomping our feet and demanding our way we aren’t able to receive it.

There is nothing attractive or positive about a tantrum. Especially when an adult is throwing it.

Our blessings will come as we wait on the One who is waiting to give us what we need.

PRAYER: Patient and loving God. Forgive us for the tantrums we throw when we think we know best, or when we are frustrated because we have to wait for what we want. Thank you for not giving up on us, for continuing to wait to be gracious to us. Keep showing us mercy. Amen

Wait!!!!

How do you do at waiting?

Me, not so good. I like my instant cocoa and pudding. I count on my microwave. The other night my husband was in a foul mood because he waited over twenty minutes in the drive-thru at Taco Bell.

Over the years, Advent has become a good exercise in self-control; a reminder that I really don’t live in an instant world.

Have you noticed the two separate lines of thinking and behavior as it deals with this season? On the one hand, people complain mightily about how Christmas is creeping further into the year as retailers begin setting up displays as early as September—but then they whine about having to wait for the day to arrive…and be over.

I remember one Christmas our church was going to observe a “strict” Advent. That didn’t go over well. The big beef was having to wait to sing Christmas hymns and songs.

So this Advent, I’m going to purposely focus on waiting. Each day will highlight an applicable scripture passage and a prayer for a specific group who are “waiting.”

I hope you join me and find a blessing as mark the days of this holy season.

Dec 1
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Pro. 3:5-6, ESV)

The biggest deterrent to waiting is the ability to trust. At the beginning of this Advent let’s determine to grow in our trust of God. He has the big picture in view and our best interests in mind. Test him, he truly is worthy of your trust.

Prayer: God of time who is beyond time and over time, walk with us in this Advent season and teach how to trust…and to wait. Be especially near to those who are waiting for someone they love to come home. Amen.

Puzzle Pieces

Sometimes it feels like God dumps a thousand-piece puzzle in the floor of your heart. ~Susan Stillwell

I read this quote this morning and it resonated deep in my heart.

I have ADD. Literally and spiritually.

Here’s what I know about ADD and me. If I am presented with a very large task, I have to break it into small, manageable pieces or it won’t get done. For example, when I know I have to “clean the house,” instead of feeling overwhelmed by the vastness of the task, I consider each room individually, or even parts of each room (making the bed, cleaning the closet, dusting, vacuuming, etc.). I do the same thing when it comes to writing anything over a thousand words.

I’ve always done the same thing with puzzles. I’ve never been a big fan of jig-saw puzzles, even though I used them often as a counselor. In that setting they were a tool. I could learn a lot about a child by the way they went about putting a puzzle together. They were also useful with adults for group activities.

But to sit an work a puzzle was not enjoyable for me.

So when I read Susan’s quote…I felt a heaviness in my heart. My life looks a lot like a 5000 piece puzzle, spread out before me. And I don’t want to put it together…but I don’t want to leave it undone, either.

As I got quiet before the image of the pile, I remembered a verse in Psalm 139: You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me (verse 5).

The best way for me to begin to tackle a large puzzle is to find the edge pieces and assemble the frame. God wants to be my spiritual frame.

The next thing is to find blocks of portions that go together: a house, a tree, flowers, or a quilt. In my spiritual life this looks like finding the identifiable parts like fellowship, worship, study, prayer and making sure those parts are put together and active in my life.

Finally, I have to trust that the rest of the pieces will fit together. It works the same with God in my life. It often takes time and even trial and error to put all the pieces together–but nothing happens until I try.

Then, what seemed overwhelming at first, becomes something beautiful and amazing.

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I wrote all that but somehow I just couldn’t push the publish button.

I was so in my head…so Madame Counselor…so preachy…I nearly made myself sick. (Maybe that’s why I was throwing up in my dreams last night…and my house was overrun by cats…or maybe I should have taken my omeprazole.)

It was truth for me. It is how I do puzzles. When I do puzzles. But I don’t like to do puzzles.

And I don’t like when God dumps a puzzle in front of me. Especially not a 1000 piecer.

And the ones I really don’t like are the ones that are all one color, or designed on both the front and back so you can’t hardly tell where anything goes. And I can’t ever imagine tackling a 3-D one.

I want the 25 piecer, or better yet the wooden frame or cardboard kind that have the pieces outlined. You know, the no-brainer type.

That way I can’t mess it up…and I might get it done. God knows to do that, doesn’t he? He knows I get bored and tend to give up easy. He wouldn’t call me to something bigger than myself…would he?

To be continued…

Hosting Ginger Murphy Solomon

Today is a very exciting day for me!

Today I am hosting my friend, and roomie from last year’s Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer Conference, Ginger Solomon. And it’s a big day for her, too: it’s her birthday! (Follow the links at the end of this post and wish her a special day!)

Ginger Solomon is a Christian, a wife, a mother to seven, and a writer — in that order (mostly). When not homeschooling her youngest five, doing laundry or fixing dinner, she writes or reads romance of any genre, some sci-fi/fantasy, and some suspense. She’s a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, president of her local writing group, and writes regularly for three blogs. In addition to all that, she loves animals, horses especially, likes to do needlework (knitting, crocheting, and sometimes cross-stitch), and loves to sing in the choir at church.

I asked Ginger five questions so you could get to know her:

When you feel discouraged what song, scripture, and friend do you turn to?

When I was young, I went through a lot of things that made me hesitant to rely on people. As my aunt recently told me, I used to keep too much to myself. Not much has changed. So, I don’t really have a friend that I turn to. When I’m discouraged I have a number of songs that I love that help me remember who my Best Friend is. Chris Tomlin’s “Amazing Grace”, and Nichole Nordeman’s “Holy” are among the top. I heard a new-to-me song yesterday from Jesus Culture that made me want to close my eyes in worship, except I was driving at the time. I think “You Won’t Relent” is going to be a song I’ll listen to over and over.

I’ve learned that taking my eyes OFF my problems and putting them on the King of kings and Lord of lords reminds me that what’s happening around me or to me is temporary, but my worship is eternal. My Lord is greater than my problems or my disappointments.

Is there someplace you would love to visit and write about?

Scotland. I have already written two historicals set in castles in Scotland, but I’d LOVE to visit someday and see the places I’ve only dreamed about. When I was doing my genealogy I wanted to find some hint of Scottish in my ancestry, but alas there is none, so far. I am of Irish and English decent, maybe some Italian, but I can’t confirm that yet. Something about Scotland calls to my heart. I love Celtic music and jewelry designs. Those can come from Ireland, but the Emerald Isle does not call to me as much as the Highlands.

What drew you to romance out of all the genre you could pick from?

In real life, I’m practical. Instead of asking for jewelry or roses or candy, I request vacuums, or mattresses (which is what I got for my birthday this year). For Christmas I asked for and received a new food processor. I satisfy my less-than-dominant romantic side by writing about it, or reading it.

Since this is the season of romance, and you write in that genre, what is your best Valentine memory?

Well, I can’t remember any particular Valentine’s Day that stands out (remember, I’m practical), so instead I will tell you about the one time my husband brought me to tears with a single red rose. We were still newlyweds, living in an apartment. I was working full-time and my husband worked part-time and went to school full-time. I was probably pregnant (our first born was delivered one month before our first anniversary) and must have had a hard day at work. I really don’t remember. I think I was fixing dinner and a knock sounded on our apartment door. That in and of itself was unusual because the person would have had to have a key to get in through the locked exterior door. When I opened the door, thinking it was a neighbor, my dear husband was standing there with a single red rose (we couldn’t afford much). It was enough to make me start crying. I still get roses once in a while, just got some this past Valentine’s Day, but I remember that one rose with more fondness than any of the others.

Tell us five random things about yourself that might come up if we were sharing a cup of tea/coffee with each other.

I’ll have black tea, thank you, nothing fancy. I occasionally fancy a cup of Earl Grey. I’m not a coffee drinker, though when I was a child I used to eat sharp cheddar cheese that had been melted in a cup of coffee. Straight out of the cup. I’m not sure that would come up in conversation.

I love horses, always have. I find them to be majestic animals and enjoy watching them perform or simply run around a field. Shortly after we moved to Alabama my dream of owning my own horses came true. God fulfilled my dream even after I’d given up on it ever happening. I no longer own horses because that season has passed in my life, but I still love watching them.

I’d rather be outside reading or gardening than inside cleaning or cooking. When I was growing up I had the responsibility of cutting the grass, chopping wood for the woodstove, and cleaning out the chimney before we needed to use it for the season. I never wanted to learn to cook, sew, or any other domestic type stuff. My husband taught me to cook. I taught myself to sew, knit and crochet — though I have to admit I had a head start from watching my mom, at least on the sewing. She was a professional seamstress.

I’m a visual learner. Do not ask me to read a book to learn how to do something. Show me. Youtube is the greatest invention since the lightbulb, I think. At least for visual learners. Want to learn a crochet stitch – it’s on youtube. Change the door lock on your front loading washing machine — it’s on youtube. Don’t ask how I know that one – and yes, I changed it myself.

Partially because of my childhood and partially because of my temperament, I will NOT approach you unless I know you quite well. I am an introverted introvert. I’d rather sit and watch from the darkest corner than participate, but if you get me to talking/joking, I can keep up with the best of the extroverts. Just ask Tina.

When can we look forward to another book from you?

I have several manuscripts in various stages of progress. One is about ready to be sent to an agent who requested it, another needs a rewrite, and I have two that I’ve just started writing. When any of these will be ready for publication is only known by God at this time.

Here’s the official “blurb” about One Choice“
Cahri Michaels is American by birth, but Belikarian by choice. Being selected to participate in the Bridal March forces her to give up the independent life she’s created for herself. She’s not ready to be anyone’s wife, much less to a man she doesn’t know.

Prince Josiah Vallis despises the centuries old tradition—the Bridal March—that is forcing him to choose a wife from fifty women. Why does it matter that he’s twenty-five and still single?

When Cahri and Josiah meet, sparks fly. Will it ignite a godly love that can see them through or will they be burned, never to be the same?

Here’s my review:
I couldn’t put this book down. The story and the passion were captivating. The passion was more than mere romance—there was a passion for life, for love, and for God.

Happily ever never had so many twists or so much pain. If the Bridal March were on TV it would be a reality show to rival The Bachelor and Secret Princes. The main difference is that the author has made sure that her characters, while obviously dealing with their flaws, fears, and baggage, are also seeking to be honest and compassionate.

The story is called “One Choice” but there are many choices made throughout, with love and forgiveness being the most difficult ones to make and keep.

I’m not sure if the moral of the story is to be careful who you bump into at the grocery, or that love and morality aren’t just for fairy tales. Either way, this is a delightful read and I look forward to reading more from this author.

When I asked Ginger if we could do this she graciously offered to share a devotional thought with us as well.

Faith Without Trust?

Dictionary.com defines faith as “confidence or trust in a person or thing.” But how can you have faith without trust?
I think we’ve all had trust issues at one time or another. At least I have. I’ve doubted people – their motives or their words. And I’ve doubted God. I’ve questioned His love for me. I’ve asked why so many times I can’t even count them.

One thing I have come to understand is that God has always been with me. Even in the darkest moments of my life, and there have been a few, He has been by my side. When I’ve turned away, He has been faithful and remained steadfast in His love for me. No matter how I “feel” or how things seem to be falling apart, God is there.

But even with that knowledge, I have doubts when I’m in the midst of a new trial. I try to place God in a box. The size of which is conceived from what I’ve been taught and the experiences I’ve had, but as Isaiah 55:8 reminds us, “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord.”

We are finite and He is infinite. He won’t fit in my box. Or your box. Ever. He will always be bigger and better than we can imagine.
Cahri, my heroine in One Choice, struggles with trusting God. In the beginning of the book, she wants nothing to do with God, though she continues to attend church so she can keep her job. She is angry and has lost her faith in Him. In her opinion, God no longer deserves her trust. BUT God (don’t you just love that phrase?), in His infinite grace, calls to Cahri even as she’s going through one of the hardest trials of her life. He speaks to her through art, creation, and through her memories. He won’t leave her alone. Toward the end of the book, Cahri finds herself in a situation that forces her to trust God. She has nothing left, but the small grain of faith that her parents planted in her as a child. A grain of faith that has grown because God is THERE. He is everywhere she looks, and she must acknowledge Him.

In the end, she must trust God because she, by herself, is helpless. She must trust Him with her very life.
But then, don’t we all do that every day? On some level, we trust God will continue to provide the air we need to breathe. We trust that the muscles and bones He created will provide movement and support. We trust that the cup we pour our drink of choice in to will hold said liquid. We trust that the laws of physics will remain in place, that the chair we sit in will hold us, that our cars will transport us to our destination.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Heb. 11:6 NKJV)

I think many times we believe that God is, but we fail to believe that He rewards those that diligently seek Him. Okay, maybe you don’t, but I do. I know how bad I am, and how much I mess up (aka sin) daily. BUT God (there it is again) is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all of the bad stuff (1 John 1:9)

In my novel, God protects Cahri from herself, and from others. He is there for her, even when she doesn’t feel his presence. And, as in any novel I write, she has a happily-ever-after.

He’s there for you, too. Every day. And if you believe in Him, trust in Him, have faith in Him, you will have a happily-ever-after too.

Here are some other places where you can connect with Ginger–and I really encourage you to do so.
http://gingersolomon.blogspot.com/
http://writingpromptsthoughtsideas.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/writerGingerSolomon

The Message in the Silence

This morning my daughter posted this on Facebook: Why is it that your kids don’t seem to hear you unless your yelling at them, but then they give you that pouty face that makes you feel sick for having yelled at them so they’d finally listen?! Being a parent sucks!

I will admit that my first thought was to smile, thinking of all the yelling I did when she was my strong willed always right closed minded child. We raise them to be independent and have opinions. We just don’t realize that they’re going to develop those so early and with such strength.

Reading her post got me thinking about my own childhood. My mother wasn’t a yeller. That’s not to say she couldn’t—I received my share of loud scoldings. My mother had three other weapons in her arsenal that often left me wishing she was a yeller. First, she was the master (perhaps even the inventor) of “the look.” No word needed to be spoken; message received loud and clear: cease or die. What was most amazing to me was when she used it on other kids at stores or other public places and they got the message too!

The second tool that my mother relied on was action. We knew that mom would not hesitate to use whatever was at hand or just her hand to make her point. This resulted in my brother getting konked on the head the telephone receiver when was making too much noise while she was on the phone (phone calls were typically fewer and much more important back in the day). Hair brushes, yardsticks, and those stupid paddle ball paddles—looking back I now see why she was always willing to give into that childish indulgence as we checked out at the store. You think we might have put that together better.

But the most effective tool in my mother’s parental arsenal was silence. Silence typically conveyed one of two messages, both extreme. She was either extremely disappointed or so angry that if she said anything she would have exploded. This final weapon was so powerful that it always got our attention and resulted in our praying for the silence to end.

As I am writing this, I am on the mend from a very weird and pain-filled three weeks. I progressed from swollen feet to extremely swollen feet and ankles and pain while walking to nodules all over my legs and arms and in my joints (elbows, wrists, fingers, knees, ankles toes), to fevers and shakes. I’ve had so many blood tests, I feel like a pin cushion—the very nice woman in the outpatient check-in knows me by name. I had a punch biopsy. Standing was so painful. At times I admit I just melted into tears. And I just couldn’t shake the thought: what if this is as good as it gets? I believe in healing, but I know that God doesn’t remove every infirmity.

Now, I realize that my suffering was probably very light compared to others. But it was mine and for a relatively active and healthy person this was intense and scary. Perhaps the was the worst: not knowing what was going on and not knowing how long it would continue.

Getting quiet with God this morning, thinking about my daughter’s post and my pain, I found myself thinking about the times I cried out to God these past few weeks. I began to feel like Malachai: how long, God? Silence. I wanted to be angry, to decry what seemed so unfair. But I couldn’t. Because somewhere in the silence there was a drawing…a calling…a voice…trust me.

At first I thought my pain was God “screaming” at me, me the errant, disobedient child. Punishing. Then it seemed more like a “smack” of sorts to get my attention. But each of those fell short. All my experiences with the silent messages from my mother were good for one thing for sure: they taught me to listen, listen hard, and listen long—for the answer is always there in the silence. At least it has been for me.

But like I said, I appear to be on the upswing. Maybe that’s why Job didn’t curse God when his wife suggested it. She wasn’t evil, she just ached to watch him suffer, and was suffering herself. Hope dies hard. Even if the pain I was suffering was going to be my friend for the rest of the journey, I would have adapted…somehow. And I know that God would have been with me. That was the kind of answer that Malachi got. God let the prophet know that he wasn’t going to like the answer to his question because God was going to use his enemy to bring about His purpose. It was the same message for Jeremiah (read ALL of Jeremiah 29).

I don’t know how it goes for you, but I tend to struggle with trying to fix and control. Trust doesn’t always come easy, but I usually get there. Just like when I was a child. Just like when I dealt with my own children. Sometimes learning is hard, as my daughter is finding. Parenting, too. Just ask God.

20/20 Vision

In the first four chapters of Deuteronomy we find the account of the people of Israel poised at the edge of the Promised Land and their resulting fear. Several times Moses reminds them that God had promised them the land so they should act on the promise. The people lacked the faith to do so. Instead they asked Moses to send some scouts in to the land and come back to report what they saw. The plan seemed to make sense to Moses because he figured that the report would remind them of what they stood to gain and reinforce the need to act on the promise and take the land.

Reading about the tension that was rising between Moses and the people reminded what a difference perspective can make. Moses seemed incredulous that the people were so reluctant to move forward when God, the God of the universe, the God who had parted the Red Sea and cared for their every need in the wilderness, would fail to come through for them now. The people were equally mystified in Moses’ obvious lack of understanding regarding the impossibility of the situation. Sure, the land looked good, but the giants loomed that much larger. The two perspectives couldn’t be more diametrically opposed.

The whole thing sounded like the old proverb that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. God can lead you to his promise, but he can’t make you believe it. The people were looking at the situation through the lenses of “what is” and it resulted in great fear. Moses was looking at the situation and seeing the great potential that awaited them.

What happens when you look at what is going on around you? When you consider the circumstances where you find yourself are you overwhelmed by what you see, or hope for what can be? In terms of MBTI, are you more of an intuitive or sensate? Are fixated on what you can draw from you situation with your senses, or do you find yourself stuck on the potentialities? Certainly we need balance in the two dimensions, but we will always more naturally lean to one response or the other.

So what about God? My first thought was that He must be a strong iNtuitive. After all, the grand quote about God is that with Him “all things are possible.” That, in fact, we can do all things through Christ (God incarnate) who strengthens us. Talk about potential!
But what about those of us who were born in Missouri? You know us, we are the descendants of Thomas: we need to see it to believe it. God created us with our wiring as it is, so there must value to be a sensory oriented person, one who makes decisions based on what ‘is’ not the illusive “what might be.” Here’s what I think. I believe that God created both ends of the spectrum not only so that we would balance each other, but so that we could be more balanced individually. One is no more valuable or “right” than the other. While understanding our personality is helpful to getting a handle on our behavior, it seems to me it would best to understand God better. We need to learn to take Him at His word, that we can trust Him to come through on His promises.

Here’s what I suggest you do if you find you’re coming up a little short in the trust department, if the task God is asking you to face seems full of giants. Flip to the end of the book. It’s okay. God won’t mind. When you read the end you find that we win. Now turn back to Romans, and catch how Paul describes your position: In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:37, NRSV) Oh, and here’s the one I really love. Find 2 Chronicles 20:20. Ezra leads up to this great verse by telling the people in verse 15: Do not fear or be dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God’s. Then he reinforces this with verse 17: The battle is not for you to fight; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf. Then the 20;20 moment comes the next day when they get up and go out to battle, he tells them: Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.

Our dependence on God results in 20:20 vision. So whether you more naturally get focused on what is right in front of you or you jump into all the potentiality of the moment, your vision will be perfect when you trust God and take him at His word. That’s the response that makes the most sense, because if you read on in Deuteronomy you’ll find that it really didn’t go very well for those who gave into their fears. For them it was back out into the wilderness and they never were able to experience the blessings of the Promised Land. And all the possibilities of that kind of experience make me want to be sure I’m holding onto God’s perspective. How about you?

Reflecting:
-Are you struggling with a difficult situation? Are the Giants closing in?
-What promises are you clinging to? What promises do you need to find to hold on?
-You may not feel like a winner right now, but keep reminding yourself that the battle is God’s and he sees you as more than a conqueror!

Lessons on Loosing the Training Wheels–Part One

My grandson turned six in January. The recent warm weather seems to have awakened a piece of his boyhood. Up to this point he has just not been all that interested in bike riding. His cousins’ love for this hasn’t even been motivating to him. Watching all the neighborhood kids ride by the house has not seemed to phase him. So I’m not sure what brought about the sudden interest or surge of importance, but it was imperative that Pepa get those training wheels off and the riding needed to happen. Now. Now, as in instantly and perfectly. It reminded me of my daughter when she was three. I took her to the library to introduce her to the world of books and she promptly looked at me and told me that she wanted to learn to read. Extatic and feeling like I had acomplished my task, I set out to explain how we would learn letters and then words. She wasn’t having any part of that. She stomped her little foot and in a voice way too loud for the library told me, “No Mommy, I want to learn NOW!

So there I was out in our front yard trying to convince the grandson that I really knew what I was doing and that I would not let him fall to the ground and crack his skull open. I’m not sure where he got that idea from.

At first he insisted that I hold onto both the handle bar and the seat. He wasn’t all that comfortable with that but I was able to get him to allow me to let go of the handle bar so he could do the steering. This accomplished two things: it gave him a sense of control but also reinforced his fear of not being in control. Yeah, I know, it confused him too.

In an attempt to ground this in something he could understand, I reminded him of one of his games on game cube where the character needs to jump from one platform to the next while the platforms rock back and forth. To complete the jump the character, directed by the grandson, has to balance the platform by finding that special spot in the center. He got the concept. What he didn’t get or appreciate was how I was loosely holding the seat which allowed for some uncomfortable tippage. I was soundoy scolded repeatedly for everything from wanting him to fall and to fail. In his mind I was crazy if I thought thisbwas going to work. And ultimately, I must not love him if this was how I was going to treat him when he asked for something as simple as just a little help in learning how to ride his bike. I’ll spare all the anger about the stupid, worthless bike that was obviosly horribly defective since it couldn’t follow his directive.

After about a half hour of more excuses than riding, I told the grandson that I loved him very much, but I needed a break and so did he. I suggested we try again another day. I put the bike in the garage and not the garbage, as he suggested. Then I went and sat on the porch where I could lick my wounds, and contemplate my obviously ineffective teaching strategy. But the teaching wasn’t done.

Sitting there, I felt that gentle nudge that comes from the Spirit. You know the one. It’s just enough to help you stop what you’re thinking so you can see it from a diffrent perspective. From God’s perspective. Then with the exhale that comes from a big sigh, I began to see this riding lesson was less about my grandson learning and much more about the imbalance in my own life.  It wasn’t news to me that God had been trying to get my attention, but what he was asking of me and directing me towards seemed so impossible.  I had given up on those dreams.  But he hadn’t.