Reconciliation is a beautiful thing.
When two people have been misconnecting...living separate lives while trying to get back...well, that's pretty painful and sad.
But when God, in a moment that could be seen as ordinary and even mundane, brings those same two folks together, and in that ordinary moment, creates an explosion that melds their hearts once again...well, that's miraculous!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Regret
Do you ever look back on your life and cringe a little with the regret you feel over certain things? I don't mean wallow in it...or live in it...but just a little, teeny peak with a feeling knowing that you wish you had done things differently?
I do...periodically. I have been thinking about things the last day or so and so many events come to mind for me. Strange things from weird times in my life. Some as far back as elementary school.
The way I made fun of how the new girl in my 2nd grade class spoke.
The lie I told to not get in trouble.
The friend who wrote and told me we were no longer friends because she felt I slighted her.
The kids I taught my first year of teaching...did they learn anything?
The way I have put my children, so many times, above my husband.
The eyes that no longer twinkle as they look at me for various decisions I have made.
I don't live amongst these thoughts and memories, but they do cause me to regret things I've done (or haven't done) over the years. Sadly, they aren't the only ones on the list and even more sad is that fact that I will regret things that haven't even happened yet.
I do...periodically. I have been thinking about things the last day or so and so many events come to mind for me. Strange things from weird times in my life. Some as far back as elementary school.
The way I made fun of how the new girl in my 2nd grade class spoke.
The lie I told to not get in trouble.
The friend who wrote and told me we were no longer friends because she felt I slighted her.
The kids I taught my first year of teaching...did they learn anything?
The way I have put my children, so many times, above my husband.
The eyes that no longer twinkle as they look at me for various decisions I have made.
I don't live amongst these thoughts and memories, but they do cause me to regret things I've done (or haven't done) over the years. Sadly, they aren't the only ones on the list and even more sad is that fact that I will regret things that haven't even happened yet.
Monday, April 25, 2011
How to Encourage a Loved One?
How do you go about encouraging someone? How would you make someone feel loved, cherished, accepted? When someone you love feels a bit beat up at work, how do you go about making him/her feel wonderful again?
These are my questions for tonight.
These are my questions for tonight.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Jonah and Me
I am ashamed to admit that I was just like Jonah yesterday....not the good Jonah who eventually went and proclaimed the message God had for Ninevah...but the Jonah after the deed was done.
Let me explain:
I had to participate in a potentially difficult meeting yesterday. An incident had been brewing and it was time to have a chat with someone to attempt to correct the situation. The meeting went really well...much better than could have ever been anticipated! What a praise! What a great thing! Right?
Well...later in the day yesterday, I realized that I wasn't right emotionally. It took me a while to put my finger on the whole thing. But then it hit me!...I was mad that the meeting went so well. Apparently, deep down (okay..not so deep), I wanted a different result. I wanted this person to leave the group. I wanted this person to pay just a little (or a lot) for some of the trouble that I felt I suffered.
Wasn't that just what Jonah did after Ninevah responded positively to God's message? Shouldn't he have been thrilled that they realized the mistake they were making and stopped immediately and repented? I have always thought that his reaction was strange. Who would react the way he did?
Well...it was humbling, painful, and embarrassing to realize that I was responding just as Jonah did. I am grieved that I didn't immediately praise God for HIS faithfulness in this situation. It was a near miracle of Ninevah-sized proportions that the time was so very positive and instead of rejoicing, I chose to make it all about me...mope about...and then be a bit angry at God.
I hope I don't respond like that ever again! I am praying that this was a wake up call for me!
Let me explain:
I had to participate in a potentially difficult meeting yesterday. An incident had been brewing and it was time to have a chat with someone to attempt to correct the situation. The meeting went really well...much better than could have ever been anticipated! What a praise! What a great thing! Right?
Well...later in the day yesterday, I realized that I wasn't right emotionally. It took me a while to put my finger on the whole thing. But then it hit me!...I was mad that the meeting went so well. Apparently, deep down (okay..not so deep), I wanted a different result. I wanted this person to leave the group. I wanted this person to pay just a little (or a lot) for some of the trouble that I felt I suffered.
Wasn't that just what Jonah did after Ninevah responded positively to God's message? Shouldn't he have been thrilled that they realized the mistake they were making and stopped immediately and repented? I have always thought that his reaction was strange. Who would react the way he did?
Well...it was humbling, painful, and embarrassing to realize that I was responding just as Jonah did. I am grieved that I didn't immediately praise God for HIS faithfulness in this situation. It was a near miracle of Ninevah-sized proportions that the time was so very positive and instead of rejoicing, I chose to make it all about me...mope about...and then be a bit angry at God.
I hope I don't respond like that ever again! I am praying that this was a wake up call for me!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Interesting Day
We had an interesting day on April 9.
Our oldest turned 21! How exciting! She LOVES her birthdays, but this one naturally had a bigger expectation that went with it. We had been planning for quite a while. She had picked out her lunch place and then some of her good friends were taking her out to dinner. Her main party "function" was happening the next day as several of us went to a paint place in town and painted for three hours! It was so much fun. The interesting part was the morning of her birthday.
As we are getting ready to walk out the door to go to her lunch, we get a call that Ben's oldest brother had passed away. WOW! It was a real shock. He was only 7 years older than Ben. The blessing was that he died in his sleep. It was an apparent stroke. Though Ben's family is not the most close-knit family ever, it was difficult to not be sad, stunned, and introspective.
We went to lunch and celebrated with Bailey and then came home. Ben discovered that he was vascillating between being okay with the news and being much sadder than he ever anticipated being.
Interesting day to celebrate a birth and a death in the same family.
Our oldest turned 21! How exciting! She LOVES her birthdays, but this one naturally had a bigger expectation that went with it. We had been planning for quite a while. She had picked out her lunch place and then some of her good friends were taking her out to dinner. Her main party "function" was happening the next day as several of us went to a paint place in town and painted for three hours! It was so much fun. The interesting part was the morning of her birthday.
As we are getting ready to walk out the door to go to her lunch, we get a call that Ben's oldest brother had passed away. WOW! It was a real shock. He was only 7 years older than Ben. The blessing was that he died in his sleep. It was an apparent stroke. Though Ben's family is not the most close-knit family ever, it was difficult to not be sad, stunned, and introspective.
We went to lunch and celebrated with Bailey and then came home. Ben discovered that he was vascillating between being okay with the news and being much sadder than he ever anticipated being.
Interesting day to celebrate a birth and a death in the same family.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Haven In A Heartless World
I read a quote the other day from Christopher Lasch who once said that "Family is a haven in a heartless world." I love that...but I am changing it a bit.
HOME is a haven in a heartless world.
I want my family to view our home that way. The minute they walk through the door, I'd love to see a visible release of the stress, tension, and problems of the day. I want our home to be an almost magical place of grace, peace, love, acceptance, and the arms of Jesus waiting to envelope.
What is your home like? Do your children enjoy being out of it more than being in it? Do they do whatever they can to escape it or do they rush home to the haven that takes them as they are, but loves them enough to push them a bit?
I want my kids to love being here. I want my kids to come back even when they have moved out. And I want my kids to love it enough to be compelled to create their own haven for their future families.
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