Smiley Peace
“The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:26
“Alright,
that’s it! Listen up!” It was the end of another non-stop, chatty day with my
fourth grade students. Boy, did I need God to turn His face toward me and give
me peace in order to walk out the door wearing a genuine smile instead of a
frustrated frown.
Romans
8:6 isn’t the type of verse we tend to seek out, but I believe it holds a key
to times like I had today. “The mind of sinful man is death, BUT the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and
peace.” I could have ended my eruption by revisiting and making the issue
of talkative students worse than it was. Allowing it to eat away at me would
only bring a slow type of death to my inner spirit. Thankfully, because of God’s
Spirit, I practiced self-control.
I
ended my tirade by smiling and calmly stating, “Any questions? Good. Let’s head
on home kids.”
Thursday, May 22, 2014
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A Birthday Spring
“Gather
the People together and I will give them water."
“Spring
up O well, within my soul. Spring up O well, and make me whole.” This much
beloved song was inspired by the verse found in Numbers 21:16. God sprung up fresh,
living water for His people as they journeyed throughout the wilderness.
Everyone
has a season of wandering. We often feel lost, or like we keep going in
circles, wondering when we’ll make it to the finish line. Weariness depletes
the adventurous hope that used to spring
us into action.
It’d
been a downward decline after my mom had her first and only major surgery since
giving birth to eight children over 50 years ago. She always loved getting out.
But by the time she turned 80, she didn’t spring back so easily after being in
the hospital for over a week. She eventually stopped attending family dinners;
wasn’t interested in being out in public.
So
when I asked if she wanted me to bring her something special for her 85th
birthday, her response surprised me. “No, I want to go out to eat.”
“You
do?” I asked wanting to make sure I’d heard her correctly. “Have they fitted
your dentures yet?”
“No,
but I’ve learned how to eat without teeth.”
“Okay.
Where do you want to go?”
“The
place on the river.”
Okay
then, I thought. We’re going early enough. Not too many people out for dinner
at a fancy restaurant at five in the afternoon. “Lord, let our time be
memorable,” I prayed as the day approached.
Not
only did it not rain as originally forecasted, the wind settled down, the
temperate rose to a pleasant 75, and we chatted as mother-and-daughter like we
used to do in days past. My 85-year-old mother sprung into the carefree,
life-loving person she’s been known to be. Her eyes sparkled as a son, then a
granddaughter, and finally a grandson called to wish her a happy birthday while
she sat on the deck of a fine-dining place overlooking the famous California
Sacramento River.
If
only for the evening, the Lord put the “spring” of the joy of living waters
back into the drying bones of one of His faithful saints. I can’t wait to see
where we spend her next birthday!
Thursday, March 13, 2014
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The Evening Blessing (and not the "now I lay me down to sleep" one)
With a few exceptions.
I sit with my kids in bed, ask them to share something they were thankful for during the day, and how I can pray for the following day.
My kids have NEVER wanted to pray audibly - even as young ones, so I never force. Tonight, in particular, I asked one of them to pray and they did so completely silently, until I heard the all clear, "Amen", signalling that it was now my turn to pray.
I did so.
As we traditionally do.
The Lord bless you and keep you, Harper/Zane.
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord turn His face towards you, Harper/Zane
And give you peace . . .
(and I add)
And may you always know how much you are loved by Mommy, Daddy, and God.
And may you hear His voice above all others.
I've tried to change this prayer at certain times, you know, get creative, and yet the new ones just don't stick. And then I came to realize, that this prayer doesn't get any LESS powerful over time, as it is the word of God. And I like this blessing. A lot.
So why change a good thing?
Numbers 6:24-26 is solid.
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
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