Lord, what do you want the world to know today?
Lord, what do you want the world to know today?
Lord, what do you want the world to know today?
Lord, what do you want the world to know today?
Lord, what do you want the world to know today?
A New Day...A New Thought.
There have been many days throughout the years where I would ask God this question…
”Lord, what do You want me to know today?”
The replies have always been insightful, but rarely do I grasp the meaning behind it entirely when I first hear the statement.
Well, today I decided to ask this question…
”Lord, what do You want the world to know today?”
The response…
”Be true to You while upholding ME.”
…and as usual, I believe there is a much greater meaning in this statement than I can currently comprehend.
I think moving forward I am going to ask this question more often and post it for us all to ponder the response. It should be interesting at the very least.
When it’s in your ability...
When it’s in your ability to do more...do more.
This phrase has popped up in my thoughts much over the past year.
What does that look like? Well here’s one small example.
As a family we donated groceries for Thanksgiving for Union Gospel Mission. Then we picked up some Samaritans Purse Christmas Child boxes to get gifts for those less fortunate. Those boxes sat in my car for weeks. Then our niece and nephew were sending Christmas care packages to military personnel overseas and we decided to do that too. Then I wanted to encourage 20 different college students by sending care packages to them for finals.
After all that I looked in my car and saw the empty Samaritans Purse Christmas Child boxes and thought...”personally we’ve sent out and given a bunch this season. I’m not going to do these this year.”
A few more days go by and I think to myself...”when it’s in your ability to do more...do more.”
That’s right...I headed to the store to fill those boxes too:)
I’m not writing this to say hey look at us and what we’ve done...I’m putting this out there to encourage everyone...everyday...When it’s in your ability to Do More...Do More!!
Bad Apples
Today as I was going to grab an apple to eat; it’s autumn in Minnesota so that means FABULOUS orchard apples are in abundance! As I grabbed the apple, I noticed it was softer than it should be…sure enough some of the apples I had on the counter had gone bad. I then decided to peel and dice them to make some apple crisp. I’m not one for recipes…I like just ‘winging’ it when it comes to baking (if you have ever enjoyed something I have baked, know you are fortunate…because rarely do I repeat the exact same recipe). So, I grabbed some cinnamon, sugar, lime yogurt (gasp), oatmeal, brown sugar, butter and some caramel.
After I was done mixing and putting it in the pan to bake, it didn’t take long for the house to smell SO gooooooood!! Once the apple crisp came out of the oven I couldn’t wait…I immediately took some of the steaming apple crisp, put it in a small bowl, added some whipped cream and caramel drizzle…and voila...HEAVEN in a bowl!
As I was sitting eating my little scoop of heaven I had an epiphany…What is now tasting Oh SO Good…was once some bad apples. Wow!! That really caught my attention. Sometimes people will just throw out bad apples and not utilize them for another purpose…a yummy other purpose at that:)
That got me thinking about people and how sometimes we will say someone is a ‘bad apple’ because they don’t fit where they are at. They may be making poor decisions or being difficult to deal with. They may not be contributing to the efforts well where they are. Sometimes ‘bad apples’ get fired, sometimes ‘bad apples’ get thrown out of clubs, churches, relationships, schools, etc…
The revelation I had today was that a ‘bad apple’ makes a phenomenal dessert! I think we need to start looking at people differently…don’t toss out the ‘bad apples’ so quickly in our lives. We should look to where that apple would fit better. That ‘bad apple’ may have never meant to be just an ordinary apple…perhaps its destiny was to be a divine dessert and it just needs you to add a few more ingredients to its existence!
A little food for thought today…literally!
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
Notice how it says God causes ALL things to work together for good. He did not say…God causes ONLY GOOD things to work together for good.
So…go make something GOOD out of those BAD Apples!!!
I suppose wherever your eyes focus that’s what you will see. I see the dessert:)
Whispered Words of Wisdom...Let It Be.
Sometimes when the Lord whispers words of wisdom...and says...let it be. I know I need to walk away from a situation or conversation.
In this digital world when we attempt to have conversations over text or email eventually we lose. We lose emotion. We lose intent. We lose connotations. We lose meaning. Basically we just lose.
No thing of importance should ever be conveyed over digital format. When it is in our power to have a face-to-face conversation things go better. Maybe I should clarify a bit. Conversations by typing words can go terribly wrong. If you are not able to sit across a table from each other; the next best option is to FaceTime or Skype.
Don’t allow the digital norm to strip away the human connection. Don’t allow digital interpretation to allow a false narrative.
As the Great Book says...we hear in part and see in part. That is not only true with the wisdom God gives us. That is true in day to day life. We rarely, if ever know the whole situation. Sometimes when we get frustrated or worked up about something it is best to walk away and...Let it be:)
Wisdom is not always in what you know, it is many times found most in admitting what you don’t know.
