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Saturday, December 27, 2008

Daily Rule

Recently, I was reading a book by Beth Moore titled "Breaking Free". It's been a great journey but one thing really jumped out at me and I thought I would share.

In one chapter she writes about how we need a daily walk with God and we need to allow him to lead us daily and she offers a very interesting illustration which I'll summarize. Imagine going to heaven and stand by God as he shows you what His plan for your life was. I begins with your birth and ends with your death and every day is outlined. You see footprints walking through each day. Most of those days you notice 2 sets of footprints sometimes going in different directions, sometimes intersecting. So you ask God, "are those my footprints every day and the second set of footprints are when you joined me?" God replies, "no the consistent footprints are mine and the second set are when YOU joined ME."

That really hit me. How often we go off thinking we know what is best for our life and we don't consult the one who gave us this life. Sometimes we look back at old hurts, resentments. Sometimes we get distracted and end up in a different direction. Sometimes, we just stop altogether because we can't let go of the past. But that wasn't God's plan for our lives. In the end we may turn out ok but God wants so much more for us. His plan is perfect, even though, to us, with our limited knowledge it may not seem perfect, it is. I want my footprints to intersect with my Father's. That can only be achieved with daily and constantly consulting with him. So my prayer for the new year is that I will have less days where you can see two set of footprints.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Quotes from the Cup

I looked at my starbucks cup this morning and i love the quotes they put on there so I read it. This one was rather profound so I thought I would share it.
Tim Russert from meet the press: "You can shower a child with presents or money, but what do they really mean, compared to the most valuable gift of all - your time? Vacations and special events are nice, but so often the best moments are the spontaneous ones. Being there. Every moment you spend with your child could be the one that really matters."

I asked a friend this past week when my teenage son was having a problem, what do i do to get him to open up to me. He just won't talk to me. He shared that the most wonderful talks he has with his kids are in the car. He has a captive audience. And it made me think about all the times that Ken and I share that are just "ours" and he opens up a good deal during those times. It's times when we "sneak" out at 10pm and get a milkshake or when we sit and "watch" our favorite tv show but do more talking than watching. It dawned on me that the reason that tv show is my favorite is because we talk so much and he really opens up during that time. Maybe that's why he likes it too?

My point here is that sometimes we try and make our time with our kids too complicated. We plan these grand events or take a pry bar and try and get them to talk to us when in reality we have so many moments that are so natural, we could miss them. Sometimes, a simple walk or a trip to the ice cream store, or a story time at bedtime is more important than any vacation or xbox could ever be.