When Life Stinks, Do What You Know To Do

When our oldest child celebrated her tenth birthday (over eighteen years ago - ugh!), it hit me like a pie in the face: more than half of her years with us were now in the past. That realization formed a new resolve in me. "No regrets" was my new motto of motherhood. I determined that when her adult years came, albeit way too soon, I would be able to look back and say with utter confidence that I did absolutely everything I knew to do in the best way I knew how to do it and with all my heart and strength. That's also when I began to pray for the man she would some day marry (and the woman our son would some day wed).

It was a simple prayer. I prayed for the two most important things to be found in a spouse: that the man Ami would marry love God and love Ami. Nothing else really matters, although I have to say that we got much more than that in our son-in-law (and our daughter-in-law). In many ways, he reminds me of my own husband: he has a tender heart, he values honesty, and he loves to tease and joke - three of my favorite personality traits.

Today is Brad's birthday, and I want to take this opportunity to thank him and honor him in his love and faithfulness to God, his wife, and his children. Even in this season of extreme difficulty; even when everything within the strongest person would scream to give up, he holds fast, he remains. He continues to put one foot in front of the other and walk out each day.

I read John 21 the other day. Peter had given up everything to follow Jesus, and after years of being with Him, experienced, within a week's time, Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem and His execution as a criminal. Peter and the other disciples must have been reeling. They'd seen Jesus once since His resurrection. They knew He was alive, but they didn't know anything else. They didn't know what to do with themselves. They didn't know what to expect. He hadn't told them anything that they really understood.They had lived and walked and eaten with God daily, and now He was gone. They had nothing. They were empty. The promises seemed unfulfilled. Disappointment probably didn't even begin to describe what they felt. What does Peter do? - The only thing he knew how to do. He went fishing. It's all he had. It's all he knew. It's all he needed to do . . . and then Jesus showed up.

I think that's all God asks of any of us. When it seems like He's left you. When it feels like you're living this life alone. When God is silent - Keep doing what you know to do, and soon, very soon, Jesus is going to show up.

Comments

Resting...Resting?

A few weeks ago, my husband and I had dinner with our daughter-in-law and two of our grand children. My daughter-in-law lost her job a couple of months ago. I wanted an update on current job prospects or plans, so I asked, "What are you doing these days?" Her answer was simple and yet incredibly profound. Resting. (Is that even a word in the American lexicon?) I'm proud of her, and of them, for making the decision that it's time for her to rest. She's been in hyper-drive for all the years I've known her (over 16). That word has haunted me since she spoke it. Resting. What would happen if I...if you...gave it a try? In Psalm 23: 6a, David says Surely goodness and mercy will follow me. In K.J. Ramsey's The Lord is My Courage (page 240), she tells us that our English word, "follow," doesn't convey the power behind the original Hebrew word that David used (radaph). She tells us that radaph means "to pursue, chase, and pers

It's Time to Take off the Sunglasses

Americans have a favorite pastime, and no, I'm not referring to baseball or football. This pastime doesn't cost any money. You don't need tickets, and there's no set game time. It happens every day. You don't need to be physically fit. You don't need special training. We do it at book club, at work, on the road, in meetings, having lunch with friends, etc. You get the idea. What is it? Complaining. We love to complain, and I'm right there in the fray, tearing everything and everyone apart. Sometimes it wears me out. My mom passed away many years ago, and one of my all-time favorite memories of life with her goes back to my summer between high school and college. We worked together that summer. Drove together every morning, bright and early, right into the rising sun. One morning, my mom reached into her purse and grabbed her sunglasses, putting them on just as we rounded the bend on the St. Louis-rush-hour-busy road that put us directly in the sun's pat

One Step

Depending on your source, new businesses that fail within their first twelve months range from 20% to 90%. My own observations over the years (I have no solid data to back this) is that these failures are not from a lack of skill but from a lack of business-sense and of infra-structure. So here I am with my own start-up, and of course, I want it to succeed, but I'm a writer, an editor, and an HR professional. I'm not a small business owner. Oh wait. Yes, I am. Last week, I spent a fair amount of time networking and learning about the business side of things. By Thursday evening, it's fair to say that I was a tad overwhelmed. I had listened, processed, and absorbed as much as I could. It felt like I had walked into a dense forest. Trees grew closely together and leaves scattered the ground. I could no longer see the path. I looked up. I looked around. Nothing but trees and leaves. Tall and beautiful and amazing in their brilliant fall colors but so many of them! I froze.

Real Life Reflections

Search This Blog