"Yellow!?!?" One of my favorite greetings to hear at the end of the line coming from a sweet lady aged in her years. It makes me laugh every time, but so thankful that some things never change. "Well...Derrica-Do...how are you?"
The next thirty minutes we share recipes, talk about the kids, the weather and things to come. I pray for the right words to say to bring comfort and encouragement for the storm she is facing...in reality the storms we are all facing. I come up short, my words feeling inadequate. And then she reminds me of a story and I am reminded.
"You remember how you told me that story about Reid...riding in the car with you when it was raining really hard?" Her words bring back a simple, sweet little story I had shared with her awhile back. I was driving with the twins through one of those fierce, pouring rain kind of storms. Trying to hide my own fear, I became very quiet, gripped the wheel tightly and slowed my speed. I did not realize the little man behind me paying close attention to my own reaction to the storm. From the back seat comes Reid's trembling voice. "Mom....I'm scared." I reassured him that it was okay...that is was just raining and there was nothing to be afraid of. But...that we should pray. :) That was all Reid needed to hear and with complete confidence he prays, "Dear God. I'm scared. The End."
After revisiting and giggling about Reid's sweet reaction to the storm, she says..."kinda reminds me of all this." And I am reminded.
There are storms.
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 Big storms raging around us. Ones that threaten to steal our joy and our hope. Ones that sneak into our lives through circumstances out of our control and create fear in our hearts. God did not promise that we would live lives without trouble, heartache or disappointments. "In this world you WILL have trouble." We will....it's not written MIGHT...or MAYBE SOMEDAY....it's written as WILL. If you are like myself, this is obvious as I look at the world around me. It seems like almost every day, I learn of another friend dealing with an internal struggle, hardship, illness, devastating news, etc. But do not miss the last part of this verse, "Take heart!" We have hope greater than these storms....hope that shines through the pouring rain.
He gives us peace.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14: 27
Sometimes I wish we could be more like the little kids in our lives. Don't get me wrong, there are many things about being mature in our faith and rich in life experiences that help us to deal better with circumstances outside our realm of control. However, children have such trust and confidence in knowing that God is there....He is listening when we pray...He cares for us.....and we don't need a flowery, fancy prayer when we come to talk to Him. He already knows how we are feeling, but He delights in us coming to Him in trust and confidence...even if just to say "I'm scared." And He gives us peace to calm our biggest fears..our biggest storms.
We need each other.
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:7-12 This chapter in 1 John has been showing up a lot in my life lately. And quite funny... it was the first verse I came to tonight when working on this post. :) God created us to be in community with one another. He created us to help each other, to walk beside one another and shoulder the weight of the burdens we carry. However, it is SO easy to get self absorbed....wear a "nothing's wrong" face....or not want to burden others with our struggles, our storms. But when we are real with each other...pray with/for each other, we enjoy the relationships God puts in our paths to grow us more into who we are created to be. AND-when we do this...when we truly show love to one another, He lives in us and his love is made complete in us. The world will see Him through us... how we love and care for one another through life's storms.
Dear God. I'm Scared. But, I have hope in You. And I'm so thankful for the people in my life that love me during life's storms. Amen. (Or in the words of Reidman....The End.)
The next thirty minutes we share recipes, talk about the kids, the weather and things to come. I pray for the right words to say to bring comfort and encouragement for the storm she is facing...in reality the storms we are all facing. I come up short, my words feeling inadequate. And then she reminds me of a story and I am reminded.
"You remember how you told me that story about Reid...riding in the car with you when it was raining really hard?" Her words bring back a simple, sweet little story I had shared with her awhile back. I was driving with the twins through one of those fierce, pouring rain kind of storms. Trying to hide my own fear, I became very quiet, gripped the wheel tightly and slowed my speed. I did not realize the little man behind me paying close attention to my own reaction to the storm. From the back seat comes Reid's trembling voice. "Mom....I'm scared." I reassured him that it was okay...that is was just raining and there was nothing to be afraid of. But...that we should pray. :) That was all Reid needed to hear and with complete confidence he prays, "Dear God. I'm scared. The End."
After revisiting and giggling about Reid's sweet reaction to the storm, she says..."kinda reminds me of all this." And I am reminded.
There are storms.
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 Big storms raging around us. Ones that threaten to steal our joy and our hope. Ones that sneak into our lives through circumstances out of our control and create fear in our hearts. God did not promise that we would live lives without trouble, heartache or disappointments. "In this world you WILL have trouble." We will....it's not written MIGHT...or MAYBE SOMEDAY....it's written as WILL. If you are like myself, this is obvious as I look at the world around me. It seems like almost every day, I learn of another friend dealing with an internal struggle, hardship, illness, devastating news, etc. But do not miss the last part of this verse, "Take heart!" We have hope greater than these storms....hope that shines through the pouring rain.
He gives us peace.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14: 27
Sometimes I wish we could be more like the little kids in our lives. Don't get me wrong, there are many things about being mature in our faith and rich in life experiences that help us to deal better with circumstances outside our realm of control. However, children have such trust and confidence in knowing that God is there....He is listening when we pray...He cares for us.....and we don't need a flowery, fancy prayer when we come to talk to Him. He already knows how we are feeling, but He delights in us coming to Him in trust and confidence...even if just to say "I'm scared." And He gives us peace to calm our biggest fears..our biggest storms.
We need each other.
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:7-12 This chapter in 1 John has been showing up a lot in my life lately. And quite funny... it was the first verse I came to tonight when working on this post. :) God created us to be in community with one another. He created us to help each other, to walk beside one another and shoulder the weight of the burdens we carry. However, it is SO easy to get self absorbed....wear a "nothing's wrong" face....or not want to burden others with our struggles, our storms. But when we are real with each other...pray with/for each other, we enjoy the relationships God puts in our paths to grow us more into who we are created to be. AND-when we do this...when we truly show love to one another, He lives in us and his love is made complete in us. The world will see Him through us... how we love and care for one another through life's storms.
Dear God. I'm Scared. But, I have hope in You. And I'm so thankful for the people in my life that love me during life's storms. Amen. (Or in the words of Reidman....The End.)
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