I have been young and now I am old. Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing.
Turn away from evil and do good. So shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice. He will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever. But the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom and his tongue speaks justice. The law of his God is in his heart. His steps do not slip. (vs. 25-31)
It is helpful to be older. To have a cache of experiences under my belt that reveal the faithfulness of the Lord. When a person is young, life stretches out before her as a clean slate upon which each she writes a story. We trust our God at first with shaky legs, uncertain of His ability or desire to take us up. It is faith with a lot of guessing. Relying upon Him with a not so small amount of sleeplessness lest He doesn't come through. I now have a long road to look back on, and it is not straight. There are many detours. Lost jobs. Gained employment. Unfaithfulness. Faithfulness. Births. Deaths. Joys. Sorrows. Heights. Depths. Travels. Moves. Friendships. Wrong turns. Right turns. U-turns. The destination, however, has always been the same. Him.
Why has He loved me? I am certainly so flawed I don't deserve it. The answer: He has chosen to. I am His child because He chose me to be His. In light of that relationship, I am still being shaped into someone that bears a reasonable resemblance to my Father. I am righteous by virtue of my adoption. Therefore, I am never forsaken by my Abba. All that is mine, including my children and my wealth, belong to Him. Forever. All that I have is on loan to me. I should never hold on too tightly to anything here. I have been blessed in order to share generously. And I have been generously blessed. Especially with my children.
I am this week in Alexandria, Virginia, with my oldest daughter and her family. Let me tell you who she is. Breadmaker and Boo-boo healer. Taxi driver and homework sheriff. Fitness buff and storyteller. Dishwasher and gourmet chef. And....Super Woman. At the park on Sunday afternoon after church, her boys and their dad decided to launch a favorite rocket. So we chose a large grassy knoll and parked our lawn chairs and blanket to enjoy the spectacle of space. Two great send-offs encouraged a third as we all cheered along with the kids playing soft ball and soccer on adjacent fields. Whoosh! Up into the air went the rocket carrying shuttles on its sides. Up, up, up it soared. Shuttles disengaged. Parachute opened. The gentle wind suddenly picked up. Oh, no! Down onto the roof of the far-off restroom floated the rocket. Gone forever minus a tornado lifting it from its cradle in the flattened center of the rooftop. Everyone circled the building hmmmming and thinking.....Just leave it there.
The boys were disappointed...particularly the biggest of them, their dad. He wanted to get the rocket back for his kids. So, Heather puts her foot into her husband's hand and is boosted onto the composition roof to fetch the wayward missile. Victory! Rocket in hand, she moves to the edge of the roof and hands it down. Cheers!! Joy!! But now we must figure out how to get Mommy down instead of the plane. Ooops! In all the bravado of retrieving, descending was overlooked.
Soccer mommies are looking our way wondering why this one is on the roof of the restroom. What in the world!!! My daughter, someone's mommy, is sitting on the edge of the roof with just me and her husband to help her down. To the rescue come two big soccer dads. Jump! We'll catch you! Into the arms of her husband and the brawny guys in baseball caps catapults my baby. Her babies cheering her on. And everyone is in love with her for fetching a $10 rocket for her men. Children are a blessing.
My oldest grandson asked me at dinner the other night if I thought I would see his children some day. I sure hope so! He is ten. That would make me......oh, well. I will be more wrinkled then but no less excited about the blessing of my children.
On the other coast are a son and daughter being just as remarkable in their daily lives. No big splashes as yet. Vanessa leading two congregations into worship on Sunday and encouraging her friends in Christ. Will protecting Hollywood, his own life out there every day. I don't have enough room to fully express this blessing of children. I can only glimpse how the Father must love us when I examine the depths of love I have for my kids.
Of course, our children have journeyed with us through many of the years of our lives. Hopefully, along with our mistakes, they have seen when we got it right. When we chose to do the right things instead of the expedient ones. That on those occasions when wisdom dripped from our lips and justice untangled our tongues, they were listening and watching. That, even though we are flawed and they recognize that more and more as they mature, we have loved our God. We want to please Him though we don't always. We cannot make the choices for serving the God we love for our children, but by His grace, we can lead them to the door of His house where there are pleasures forever more. Loved and accepted by the Beloved Father Who will never leave them or forsake them.
Turn away from evil and do good. So shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice. He will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever. But the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom and his tongue speaks justice. The law of his God is in his heart. His steps do not slip. (vs. 25-31)
It is helpful to be older. To have a cache of experiences under my belt that reveal the faithfulness of the Lord. When a person is young, life stretches out before her as a clean slate upon which each she writes a story. We trust our God at first with shaky legs, uncertain of His ability or desire to take us up. It is faith with a lot of guessing. Relying upon Him with a not so small amount of sleeplessness lest He doesn't come through. I now have a long road to look back on, and it is not straight. There are many detours. Lost jobs. Gained employment. Unfaithfulness. Faithfulness. Births. Deaths. Joys. Sorrows. Heights. Depths. Travels. Moves. Friendships. Wrong turns. Right turns. U-turns. The destination, however, has always been the same. Him.
Why has He loved me? I am certainly so flawed I don't deserve it. The answer: He has chosen to. I am His child because He chose me to be His. In light of that relationship, I am still being shaped into someone that bears a reasonable resemblance to my Father. I am righteous by virtue of my adoption. Therefore, I am never forsaken by my Abba. All that is mine, including my children and my wealth, belong to Him. Forever. All that I have is on loan to me. I should never hold on too tightly to anything here. I have been blessed in order to share generously. And I have been generously blessed. Especially with my children.
I am this week in Alexandria, Virginia, with my oldest daughter and her family. Let me tell you who she is. Breadmaker and Boo-boo healer. Taxi driver and homework sheriff. Fitness buff and storyteller. Dishwasher and gourmet chef. And....Super Woman. At the park on Sunday afternoon after church, her boys and their dad decided to launch a favorite rocket. So we chose a large grassy knoll and parked our lawn chairs and blanket to enjoy the spectacle of space. Two great send-offs encouraged a third as we all cheered along with the kids playing soft ball and soccer on adjacent fields. Whoosh! Up into the air went the rocket carrying shuttles on its sides. Up, up, up it soared. Shuttles disengaged. Parachute opened. The gentle wind suddenly picked up. Oh, no! Down onto the roof of the far-off restroom floated the rocket. Gone forever minus a tornado lifting it from its cradle in the flattened center of the rooftop. Everyone circled the building hmmmming and thinking.....Just leave it there.
The boys were disappointed...particularly the biggest of them, their dad. He wanted to get the rocket back for his kids. So, Heather puts her foot into her husband's hand and is boosted onto the composition roof to fetch the wayward missile. Victory! Rocket in hand, she moves to the edge of the roof and hands it down. Cheers!! Joy!! But now we must figure out how to get Mommy down instead of the plane. Ooops! In all the bravado of retrieving, descending was overlooked.
Soccer mommies are looking our way wondering why this one is on the roof of the restroom. What in the world!!! My daughter, someone's mommy, is sitting on the edge of the roof with just me and her husband to help her down. To the rescue come two big soccer dads. Jump! We'll catch you! Into the arms of her husband and the brawny guys in baseball caps catapults my baby. Her babies cheering her on. And everyone is in love with her for fetching a $10 rocket for her men. Children are a blessing.
My oldest grandson asked me at dinner the other night if I thought I would see his children some day. I sure hope so! He is ten. That would make me......oh, well. I will be more wrinkled then but no less excited about the blessing of my children.
On the other coast are a son and daughter being just as remarkable in their daily lives. No big splashes as yet. Vanessa leading two congregations into worship on Sunday and encouraging her friends in Christ. Will protecting Hollywood, his own life out there every day. I don't have enough room to fully express this blessing of children. I can only glimpse how the Father must love us when I examine the depths of love I have for my kids.
Of course, our children have journeyed with us through many of the years of our lives. Hopefully, along with our mistakes, they have seen when we got it right. When we chose to do the right things instead of the expedient ones. That on those occasions when wisdom dripped from our lips and justice untangled our tongues, they were listening and watching. That, even though we are flawed and they recognize that more and more as they mature, we have loved our God. We want to please Him though we don't always. We cannot make the choices for serving the God we love for our children, but by His grace, we can lead them to the door of His house where there are pleasures forever more. Loved and accepted by the Beloved Father Who will never leave them or forsake them.
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