Monday, July 4, 2016

"The Light"

     It was two in the morning and I was still wide awake.  I walked into my bedroom and my husband had quietly fallen into a deep slumber. The light from the bathroom was still on. There was the soft hum of his sleep apnea machine, but other than that the entire house was silent and dark.  I turned off the bathroom light and climbed into bed, but I still was unable to sleep.  My doctor had recently given me a new medication for restless leg syndrome. It was giving me a slight stomachache. I also have tinnitus (ear ringing) and tonight the ringing had simply become intolerable.  

     Laying there in the dark was making me feel dizzy and nauseous, so I got out of bed and went into the other room.  I turned on the floor lamp in my family room.  As I sat there squinting in the other wise darken room I began to realize that I was in the mist of the busiest moments of God's day in our home.  You ask, huh? 

    As I sat quietly in the soft glow of the light, I thought about how God had kept me awake for a purpose.  Tears began to slowly flow down my cheeks and my heavenly Father began to tell me of all the plans that he had for our family. He gave me the opportunity to be on the ground floor as he whispered the plans that he has to prosper me and not to do me harm.  He reminded me of the blessings that he had already bestowed upon me.  After sitting there for a few minutes the stomachache that I had earlier began to dissipate, and the ringing in my ears became tolerable and suddenly I felt sleepy and joyful.  Full of the joy that only God can bring.

     The next morning was Sunday.  I went to church and a funny thing happened, my pastor was speaking about catching the light before it leaves.  The title of his message that morning was, "In the Church, but not in Christ."  His scriptural reference was from John 17.  Later that evening I went back to that scripture, in John 17:13, Christ says to the Father, "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have full measure of my joy within them."

     It reminded me of the previous night.  Being in the world, but not of the world.  All the busyness of the day had ended and my heavenly Father and my pastor were clearly stating one message,   those of us who are walking with Christ are the light of the world.  So, the next time that you wake up in the middle of  the night don't become dismayed.  Your heavenly Father is calling you to sit at his feet and replenish your light, so that you may walk in the fullness of His joy.  So, go on, and let your light shine.         

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Harvest

     There's nothing like God's timing to get you to see the perspective of things.  If you have read this blog than you know that I write about what God shares with me.  Well most recently, I've had an amazing revelation, I guess I should say another amazing revelation.  This revelation was about my youngest child, Theo.  I've always said that both of my children are free spirits, opinionated, headstrong, sometimes down right pigheaded, but deep down inside their good kids.  I know what you are thinking, can't this be said about  a lot of today's generation?  Yes, it's true, today's generation is a lot different from those of us who are over the age of fifty and who have grown up in the age where rebellion totally had a different face. I am simply stating, that he has had his moments of rebellion, but this was definitely a moment that God had ordained and blessed.

     I've spent a great deal of time praying and asking God that my children would grow up to be individuals that would first of all have a heart for God, be individuals with honor and see the good in everyone.  These are the prayers that many mothers pray for their children, we ask God to watch over them, protect them, keep them out of trouble and allow us to live long enough to see the fruits of our labor harvested in the lives of our children. Both my husband and I have always tried to teach our children to respect their elders and lend a helping hand to them when they can.  Well, yesterday God showed me the harvest that he's producing in the field of my son's life.

    
     Most recently my son started his very first summer job. He's one of the many kids you see at the grocery store pushing the carts back into the store after they have been left in the parking lot. After dropping him off at Karn's grocery store, I ran a couple of errands and decided to go home and relax by watching a movie.  I received a phone call from Theo about an hour before his shift was over, when I asked him if he needed a ride home, he said no, but he told me that he needed me to give someone a ride home and he needed me to come over to the store right away.  At first, I was a little hesitant to honor this request to give a stranger a ride home, but I decided to comply.  I sent him a text that said, if this person is a serial killer that my death would be in his hands.  His response was, "Mom, it's the Christian thing to do."

     When I arrived at the store, Theo was walking a little, white haired lady to my car.  He was pushing her cart, which had several bags and  box that contained forty pounds of meat.  He proceed to tell me that she had called a cab, but it never came.  She had been standing for forty five minutes outside of the store waiting for a ride home.

    I looked into the eyes of my son and saw a genuine desire to want to bless this complete stranger.  I agreed to take her home.  We loaded her groceries into my car and I drove her to her apartment.  Her daughter greeted us and they both proceeded to try to pay me for the ride.  At that very moment my prayers had been answered, a small field of kindness had been harvested.  Without the heart of a young boy I would not have witnessed God's movement.

     So, I am writing this to parents who are praying for God's harvest in the lives' of their children.  Keep praying, and remember that sometimes the  harvest is great and the workers are few, but the harvest will come for our children if we continue to remember the words written in Hebrews 11:1, Faith is the substances of things hope for and the evidence of things not seen.

    I am looking forward to the crops that will continue to be harvested in the lives of both my children. God has great things in store.