Month: January 2020

Dandelions

Psalms 46:5 God is within her; she will not fall.

I am the mother of 3 boys.  When they were little and all three would tackle me at the same time, I started telling them they needed to be careful with me because I was a delicate flower.  After a while, that became “my thing”.  I was known as the delicate flower.  Now, my boys always knew I was saying that kind of tongue-and-cheek.  Being a single mother, I could not afford to be delicate in any way.  In fact, I’m quite tough.  So today, whenever I say I’m a delicate flower, my middle son says, “No, you’re not.  You’re the Mominator.” 

Recently I read about a flower that reminded me of this contradiction . . . tough and delicate.  The flower is a dandelion.  Dandelions are resilient and can grow anywhere.  I read that they can even grow under a wall, but they will not grow straight under the weight of the wall.  Remove the wall and the dandelion will straighten up after a while.  Isn’t that the same with us?  The enemy will whisper lies to you about how you are alone and not loved.  He will tell you that you are not worthy of God’s love and forgiveness.  But we are like dandelions waiting to grow straight.  If you can identify the enemy and the wall he is trying to build in your life, you can tear it down and grow straight and tall towards salvation. 

Dandelions are also delicate and beautiful.  About a week after they bloom into a pretty yellow flower, the flower turns into a puff ball of seeds which are blown away by the wind.  People also love to pick dandelions, blow on them, and make a wish.  The seeds float through the air and land all over the world. That is what happens when you share God’s love.  You may never know exactly where the seeds will land or if they will take root and grow, but you should keep spreading them.

We should all have a little dandelion in us.  Tough as a weed against the enemy one moment and beautiful and delicate enough to spread God’s seeds of love across the earth the next.

Lord, thank you for creating the delicate but tough dandelion.  Help us to identify and remove the wall in our life so that we may grow straight and tall.  Encourage us to spread your love to all the earth. Amen

Seek Me

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Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Have you ever heard a great song on the radio and you wonder who sings it or what the words of the song mean?  Don’t like music?  Okay, what about this . . . have you ever seen a yummy dish on your social media feed and wonder how to make it?  Jeez, not a foodie either?  Okay, how about this one . . . have you ever heard a news story and wanted to learn more about it?   In all these situations, what would you do?  You would seek an answer, most likely on the internet.  You would search Google for the lyrics to the song, the recipe for the dish or the details of the news story.  Well guess what?  You can do the same thing if you want to learn more about Jesus.

Today there are apps you can download that will put the entire Bible in the palm of your hand.  Devotionals are available at the tap of a button.  Encouraging words are scrolling through your Facebook and Instagram feed with links to all kinds of information about Jesus.  All you have to do is download it, tap it or click on it and you have access to some of the most amazing reading material that has even been published.  The Bible says that if you seek the Lord with all your heart, You. Will. Find. Him.  All you have to do is seek him. 

In Isaiah 55:10-11, it says (in a nutshell) that the words the Lord spoke will not return to him void but will accomplish what he desired them to accomplish.  So, if you read the Bible, the inspired word of God and the actual words of Jesus, those words will accomplish what Jesus intended them to accomplish.  If you seek Him, you will find HIM and his words will not return void.  This is such good news.  I do not always understand what the Bible is saying but I know the words will not return void, so I know Jesus is accomplishing something in me just because I read them.

So, go ahead and download a Bible app. I personally recommend YouVersion.  It has 61 English versions of the Bible including New International Version (NIV), New Living Translation (NLT), New King James Version (NKJV) and even The Message.  You can search for devotions by subjects or set up a reading plan to help you read the Bible.  I’ve got a notification set up every morning that sends me the “Verse of the Day” which helps me get my day started off right.

If you seek Him, you WILL find Him. 

Dear Jesus, thank you for technology. Thank you for the men and women that worked so hard to provide us with the resources we need to seek you and find you.  Amen.

Do I Believe in God or Not?

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

For the last 16 years I have spent my life, morning, noon and night, raising my three boys.  I have worked hard to give them a stable environment where they know they are safe and loved so that they can just be kids.  I’ve tried to expose them to different kinds of sports, music, theater, movies, museums, and food so that they can try everything and figure out what they like for themselves. 

But when it comes to God, I didn’t do that.  I didn’t give them a choice.  I decided that we were going to church on Sunday morning to learn about Jesus and that was that.  Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I made the wrong decision.  Sometimes we must make decisions for our children because they don’t know what’s best for themselves . . . yet.  But at some point, our children are going to have to make up their own minds about whether they believe in God or not. 

The Bible says we should “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  It is my job to share Jesus with my children.  To teach them how to talk to Jesus and how to hear Jesus talking to them through His Word.  It is my job to show them how important it is to have a church family that comes together to worship and learn more about Jesus regularly.  It is my responsibility to bring Jesus into our home and to talk about how Jesus would have handled life.  It is my honor to pray for my children and with my children so that they can learn to pray too. 

But even if you do ALL these things, it is not a guarantee that your child will believe in Jesus.  That’s because it is not what you do, but what the Holy Spirit does in your child’s heart that will bring him or her closer to Jesus.   So, I encourage you to do all those things I mentioned above and more.  Give your sons and daughters every opportunity you can to hear the Word and to invite the Holy Spirit into their lives. 

Dear Lord, thank you for sending your son to die on the cross to redeem us.  Please place a hedge of protection around our children.  May their eyes see, and their ears hear what you are trying to tell them.  In Jesus name, Amen.

It’s a God Thing

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Do you believe in coincidences?  Or do you believe there is a purpose for what happens to you?  God is doing things all around you every day.  He shows up when you least expect it and even when you haven’t asked for it. 

Ten years ago, when my oldest son was in 1st grade, he started having behavioral problems at school.  His grades were also suffering and towards the end of the school year the teacher asked if I would allow him to stay after school a few times a week for tutoring.  Of course, I said yes. 

After the first day of tutoring, a teacher that I didn’t recognize walked my son to the car and introduced herself as his tutor.  We talked a little bit about what she would be doing with him and during the short conversation I mentioned that dyslexia runs in my ex-husband’s family.  She said she was the dyslexia teacher for his school, and she would keep that in mind while she was tutoring him.  After the very next tutoring session, the same teacher came to my car window and said she would have my son tested before the end of the year. 

Typically, a teacher must complete an incredible amount of documentation before they can recommend a child for testing but what typically takes 3 months to accomplish only took us 2 weeks.  My son was tested and started the 2nd grade with the accommodations he needed to be successful.  There is no way I could have accomplished this on my own.  God put that teacher and my son together in the right place at the right time.  This was 100% a God thing.

The fact that my son has dyslexia is not a good thing, but the fact that we were able to identify it so early was.  God can turn every circumstance around for our long-range good.  So, remember, God works in “all things” – not just isolated incidents – for our good.  Pay attention.  Look around.  Notice what he is doing and then thank him for showing up.

Lord, thank you for taking an active role in my life.  Open my eyes to see what you are doing in my life and help me to be a witness to others. Amen.