I have a bedtime routine with my younger daughter to lie down and pray with her each night then I sing to her. While she pretty much prays the same prayer each night, she made up the rule that I had to change my prayer each night. Rather than discuss the fairness of her rule, I embraced the challenge. However, I had been praying “please let everyone sleep,” “help everyone stay asleep,” “don’t let anyone get out of bed,” “please help mommy sleep.” With two girls someone is bound to wake up and I’m not the type who runs well on little sleep. Well, a few weeks ago, for some reason (unknown ... Read the Post
Burdens and Yokes
I came across this in a Bible study recently. The study guide brought out the idea that a yoke harnesses two oxen to a plow—not one. Jesus’ yoke partners us with Him. We are no longer carrying our burdens alone. But the more I thought about this concept, the more I realized that this is no ordinary partnership. We are not giving the fullness of our burden to our friend or our spouse. When we are in these relationships, we at most enjoy an equal partnership or equal sharing of our burden. When we share a burden with Jesus, we should be giving the burden to Him. We shouldn’t be carrying it ... Read the Post
Failure
I’ve been thinking about failure and success a lot lately. I decided to do a little research into what kind of failures successful people have had. I started with the Hall of Faith found in Hebrews 11. Here we find Noah. We all know how he was chosen by God to build the ark because he was the only righteous man on earth, but did you know that he accidentally got drunk afterward? Or what about Abraham? He had faith and obeyed when God told him to go, even though he didn’t know where he was going. Yet Abraham lied to the Egyptians that Sarah was his sister instead of his wife. Jacob is listed ... Read the Post
The God Picture
Lately I’ve been trying to teach my older daughter about a bigger picture, like when I tell her, “As soon as you finish those sentences, you need to start alphabetizing your spelling words.” Then I go do a chore, giving her enough time to complete the first task and start on the next. When I come back to check on her, I find that though she finished the sentences, she did not start on her spelling words. Instead, she ran off to play with her younger sister. I ask her what she is doing and what she is supposed to be doing. She knows the answers. I explain to her that if I can’t trust her ... Read the Post