Tears for Breakfast

Children can really show you the heart of God. And sometimes the lesson God wants us to learn, we have a hard time receiving, but He loves us enough to keep loving us.

One Sunday, we were eating breakfast and jabbering as we were getting ready for church. My youngest son was noticeable quiet. Now, for those who know our baby boy, then you know that he is usually a ball of energy.

So I asked him what was wrong. He answered nothing, but I could tell that was not true. Finally, as he sat down beside me, I put my hand upon his and asked him again to tell me what was wrong. I could see the tears welling up in his eyes as he tried to hold them back and in a nearly inaudible whisper, he said, "I had a bad dream."

And this is what he said: "In my dream I was following God, but the Devil came along and told me to follow him. I listened to him and I did follow him. But when I followed him, he led me off a cliff, and I fell off the cliff. And now God is not in my heart anymore."

Now for those that know me, now, both my son and I had started to cry. I just pulled him up from the table and into my arms and hugged him tight, reassuring him that it was just a really bad dream, and that God is still in His heart. Sometimes a dream is so real that it is hard to distinguish where the dream ends and where reality begins. But that is why we can't depend solely on how we feel, and we must go back to what God says is true in the Bible. I wanted to reassure him that God is with him even when sometimes we do choose to follow the devil.

Later while listening to K-Love radio, I heard this passage from "Jesus Calling," a book by Sarah Young. It summarized exactly what I wanted to affirm for my son. "You are Mine for all time--and beyond time, into eternity. No power can deny you your inheritance in heaven. I want you to realize how utterly secure you are! Even if you falter as you journey through life, I will never let go of your hand."

It is a message that I know that I will have to reinforce for my son as he grows in his relationship with Christ. But it was also a message I needed to be reminded of as well...that God is with me, that He chooses me, that He knows me, and that He still loves me.

I hope you know that today and that you feel the power of His presence in your life.

To read the entire "Jesus Calling" devotional, look up the reading for March 10. The Scripture for that day was Psalm 37:23-24 and Psalm 18:30.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

My WOW Moment today really is something that happens almost every week. When I go to work out, I'm amazed at what a fascinating creation the human body is. I think I started thinking about this one day when I was mentally zoned out so that I could get through my cardio workout.

The Bible tells says of us in Psal 139:14 that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." The New Living Translation puts it this way, "Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex." That is what strikes me....how complex the human body is.

Now, I know that we all learn about how the body works in health class, but have you ever really stopped to think about the skill and craftsmanship that went in to making you.

When I'm doing my workout I have to remember to hold in my abs, move my feet (without tripping over myself), do some kind of motion with my arms, and in all of this most of the time I have to remind myself to not hold my breath....so somewhere in there, I'm also breathing. But those are the things that I'm thinking about me....things that I'm aware of that my brain is communicating to my body to do.

But think of all of the things that my body does that I don't consciously tell it to do, and if I had to consciously tell it to do, I would have been dead a long time ago. Somewhere in that brain of mine my heart is being told to beat, my lungs are being told to process the oxygen and carbon monoxide reactions that are going on, my kidneys are doing there thing, blood is being pumped to my body, and lots of other stuff is going on that I could not even begin to enumerate that keeps this ole girl stepping.

So each time when I work out, I leave in awe of what God did when He created the human body. And then I also feel extremely blessed that I have the physical strength and ability to work out.

It is really the common, every day sort of things in our lives that God leaves His fingerprint, if we would take the time to look for His presence and His blessings in our lives.

So tomorrow it's Zumba! Yippee. Love it. And I will get the opportunity again to witness God's handiwork in the creation that He loves and has called by name. ME!

Psst....guess what......you have the same opportunity. You are one of God's miracles as well, fearfully and wonderfully made. Just breathe that in and see the awesomenes that is you and then give thanks to God who made you.

Now that's a WOW Moment!