Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Lights from Backstage



In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.   --   Matthew 5:16  


I struggle with finding a way to let my light shine.

My husband and I are raising our two granddaughters. On my other blog I've been brutally honest about the toll this has taken...on me, on my husband, on our marriage, and ultimately, on the girls themselves. But I'm trying my best, and since that will never be good enough, I'm learning to rely on God more and more.

I've always thought that to serve God meant to do something in a big way. I should find a worthy cause and volunteer a large chunk of my time.  I should give huge amounts of money to help others. In general, my life should be about making enormous sacrifices for the greater good.

None of that happened. At least not in the big way I thought was necessary. But in the midst of my learning to depend more on the Holy Spirit for guidance, I received the message that would change my outlook completely. In a quiet moment of worship and prayer I heard Him say, "Just keep doing the tasks you were given, and do them joyfully."

So I'm trying to shine my light, however dimly, to let others know that sometimes our service isn't big and noticeable. Some of us are asked to do our work behind the scenes. But the glory of God will still shine somewhere because we were willing to answer the call. And it doesn't matter if anybody ever knows where the illumination began, only that it reflects the love and goodness of God.




Saturday, June 18, 2016

Fathers

Any time I start to doubt just how much my Heavenly Father loves me, I think about the gift He gave me over 33 years ago...my wonderful husband and father of my children.

The story of how we met and married isn't a "love at first sight" story. We were friends first, although I won't deny that I hoped for something more pretty early on. But when I think of how unlikely our pairing was, it's clear God was in complete control.

As we celebrate Father's Day, I can't help but feel immense gratitude that God sent me the man I so needed, and that this man was willing to go where God led him. My children are blessed, also, that they have such a loving, giving Christian father to guide them through the challenges of this life.

Happy Father's Day to the love of my life and father/grandfather of the luckiest children on earth.