Real Life Reflections

She heard the loud rumble of the street sweeper before she saw the massive machine's steady progress towards her. At eighteen months, she was understandably frightened. She sensed danger. She sensed power far greater than hers. She turned to run, but my daughter grabbed her little hand and stopped her. "Look at me." She told the frightened toddler, but the toddler refused. Her fear was too great. Her only thought was that of getting away, getting far away from that thing, that monster coming at them. My daughter persisted, "E, look at me." She squatted down to be at her level and turned her ward so that she had no choice but to look. The child stopped struggling and looked straight into her guardian's eyes. Having her full attention now, my daughter said to her, "You are okay. You're okay. The street sweeper is not going to get us. It is not going to come up on the sidewalk. We're safe. It will come close to us, but it won't hurt us. You...

I read a devotional this past week that I'm sure was meant to encourage, but had quite the opposite effect. The writer said that if we aren't close to God, it's all our fault. The author ended there: if you're not close to God, it's your fault. He gave no words of hope or grace. My husband and I have dear friends that we've had for thirty to thirty-five years - since high school and the early days of our marriage. We consider these people dear friends - not just friends, yet we don't talk to or see any of them on a regular basis. When we get together with them now whether individually or as a group, it's as if no time has passed. We are as comfortable with each other as we had been when we would see each other daily. Our hearts were knit together years ago and neither time nor space can unravel them. So it is with God. He isn't bound by time or space, so although we may turn our eyes from Him; although our lives may get hectic and we may get stres...