Simple Thoughts Matter

By Anna Cannard –

Have you ever had a simple thought that you shrugged off and ignored? Then my story of “Jonny” may be for you. One day I woke up with a Christian kids’ song playing in my head that I had not heard in years. I laughed at how random it was. Wanting to reminisce, I found it in the CD cabinet. As the songs played, an idea came to mind. I should play this in the car for my child welfare work. It was a simple thought, which ended up being a catalyst in my faith.

Jonny was an intelligent four-year-old who had not developed speech. I took him to therapy twice a week, where they tried unsuccessfully to get him to speak. He comprehended well, but everything came out of his mouth as, “Fuh-huh-zuh-juh.”

We drove to the therapist’s office as three songs played. Then the song I had awakened to that morning played. It added an upbeat tune to 2 Timothy 1:7. The chorus of the song shouted, “Fear not! Don’t be afraid.”

I glanced in my rearview mirror and saw Jonny enjoying this song. The African American child, with forty percent of his body scarred from burns of a fire that killed his entire family, had a bright smile and bopped his head along to the beat. The song ended in silence, then suddenly, to my amazement, he announced boldly, “Fear not. Shh-vuh, afraid. Fear not.”

I was absolutely shocked. The child just said his first words, and they were wonderful first words. He continued saying those words on the remainder of the drive, and the walk into the therapist’s office, stating with greater and greater confidence, “Fear not. Dun, don’t be afraid.” The therapist also gasped when she heard him speak, and speak so clearly.

Two weeks later, as I shared the story with my mom, it hit me that I needed to pray against whatever Jonny was afraid of. Several days I prayed for God to resolve what was causing his fear. Then the phone call came to the child abuse hotline. Jonny’s foster mother had started counseling sessions, and she admitted she took her frustration with her other kids out on Jonny because he could not tell on her. Her counselor, a mandatory child abuse reporter, said the foster mom stated she was afraid she was about to go too far in hurting him.

Jonny was sent to a new foster home that day. His new foster parents were amazingly pro-active with him, and in a few weeks Jonny had tripled his vocabulary and many of his behavior issues had vanished.

Surely God put that song in my head to set the string of events into action. It was God’s simple thought in me to play the CD in the car. He got Jonny to speak, revealing Jonny’s fear, and He was then able to work through prayer for the fear to go away.

It made me become very aware of God’s guidance throughout my day. I’ve had more experiences like this which I will share in future posts. I encourage you to ask yourself what simple ideas have you ignored? Could it have been God speaking? If so, listen. How do you tell if it’s from God?

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things” (Philippians 4:8 NIV).

When Thank You is Not Enough

By Cheri Cowell –

After the last of the three hurricanes hit Florida in 2004, my husband and I opened our home to our neighbors – a family of seven plus a cat and a dog. Their home was uninhabitable with water damage throughout. They were so appreciative and couldn’t thank us enough. We didn’t see what we did as anything special. In our eyes it was a no-brainer. We had the space, and they had a need we could fill.

Last week I also read the account of a man who was just released from prison after 18 years when DNA evidence proved he was innocent. As I read today’s scripture these two unrelated stories suddenly united to illustrate a question that is difficult for us to comprehend. The question? How do we thank someone who has done something so incredible, so gracious, and for which thank you doesn’t seem to fit?

God has provided that answer for us in the parable below. Like the servant in the parable, we have been given an incredible gift. And like us with our neighbors, God saw our need and without a second thought, He gave what He had, forgiving our debt with His own blood. And like the attorneys who fought for the innocent man, God went to battle with Satan to rescue us from life in prison. How do we repay such a gift? The parable says we are to go and do likewise. We extend that grace to others and give our blessings away.

“When some other officials found out what had happened, they felt sorry for the man who had been put in jail. Then they told the king what had happened. The king called the first official back in and said, “You’re an evil man! When you begged for mercy, I said you did not have to pay back a cent. Don’t you think you should show pity to someone else, as I did to you?” The king was so angry that he ordered the official to be tortured until he could pay back everything he owed. That is how my Father in heaven will treat you, if you don’t forgive each of my followers with all your heart” (Matthew 18:23-35 (33-35 above) CEV)

PRAYER: Thank You Lord for the incredible gift of my debt erased by Your grace. Help me receive that gift by extending the same grace to those around me today.

Humble Pie

By Heather Allen –

I was waiting in line at a restaurant, stomach growling and caffeine deprived. But the line was not moving. I turned hoping for a distraction at the window and three men slithered past, sliding nonchalantly in front of me. I opened my mouth and closed it. A miracle took place and I am not sure anyone noticed. I am keenly adept at looking out for myself. I like to call it concern for what is right, but sometimes it is just plain old pride.

On the way to church, my son told me a story. He and a friend had differing opinions on a historical figure. Kids voice the profound without realizing it. My son said while he and his friend disagreed, they were not trying to prove each other wrong. And to him that leads to a good discussion.

We get to church and the sermon is on unity. Similar thoughts to my son’s are being voiced. Pride looks for an argument where humility appeals. Humility is so dog-gone appealing. Humble people are great to be around, relaxed and comfortable in their own skin. It is easier to learn from the humble. It’s easier to be corrected by them too.

Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV).

I lay a weary head on my pillow. Evening is when I think on the world’s problems, grieved most by the way I contribute. Jesus sees how sick and tired I am of my pride. He knows I long to be free of the cords. So during the sanctification process, He offers rest. He is gentle with sad and tired hearts. He offers a blessing for those who mourn for righteousness. He knows my deepest longing is to shed this flesh and live as a sacrifice. He leads with gentleness. Going to Him and resting, leads to humility. I see all I am not in the shadow of all that He is. Human pride falls apart in the presence of true glory.

A Must-See Movie

By Karen O’Connor –

I love the movies, I have to admit. A good story with drama, action, some love-interest, and an intriguing plot that inspires and entertains is just what I look for when I want to spend an afternoon at the cinema.

I like to talk about films with friends too. We trade stories and opinions about what’s hot and what’s not and then recommend our favorites or pan the ones we didn’t like.

As I get older, however, it’s getting more and more difficult to keep the names and storylines straight. The more time that passes between films the less apt I am to remember what I want to share with a friend.

That happened one day years ago before I had access to the Internet. I knew my friend Jane likes historical fiction so I was sure she’d enjoy one of my favorite movies. But as I started to tell her about it, I couldn’t recall the title. So I did the next best thing. Decided to name the female lead, but I couldn’t think of her name either. So then I tried to think of the name of the man she’s married to but his name escaped my memory, as well. Surely I could recall his sister because she was a famous actress a couple of decades ago and she’d written a few books too.

Well, neither of us got very far in the conversation because every time I tried to nail a detail, it dropped out of my mind. Finally, I gave up and promised to call her when all that information came back––even if it at was three o’clock in the morning!

Sure enough, the next day I remembered the female lead’s name. Annette Bening who is married to Warren Beatty whose sister is Shirley MacLaine, but I still couldn’t pull the title of the film. So I drove over to the video rental store in my neighborhood and asked for help.

The clerk, at least forty years my junior couldn’t remember it either, though he seemed to know the movie I was referring to. He then pulled out a book listing all the films available on video within the last two years. We checked under Annette Bening’s name but the list did not include the movie I was looking for––at least I don’t think it did. But then come to think of it, if I didn’t know the name how could I expect to recognize it on a printed list? Oh my, these senior moments are getting the best of me.

Was That Dumb Or What?

By Carin LeRoy –

Recently my husband and I were traveling to meet up in the same location for a conference. I was coming from our home in Florida, and he was coming in from the Midwest. En route, while on a layover my husband called and said, “Well, I missed my flight. I had the time of departure wrong and didn’t leave enough time for the bus ride to the airport.”

“Boy, my husband needs me around to take care of the details for him. How could he miss his flight,” I thought—although I refrained from saying too much to him on the phone. As I sat in the Philadelphia airport for my 4 hour lay-over at Gate 30 sipping coffee and reading a book, people start lining up to board. Walking over to stand in line, I notice the screen says “Phoenix.”

What? I’m not going to Phoenix. I’m going to Rochester!

I realize in a panic that I’m in the wrong terminal. With a bus ride in between, I start heading to Terminal F pulling my luggage and racing through the airport. I had less than 30 minutes before the plane departed. Praying as I ran, I threw my shoes off, grabbed them and ran barefoot down the halls.

Lady sprinting barefoot in a panic through airport = she’s in danger of missing her flight.

Out of breath, I arrive at the gate exhausted and hand the agent my boarding pass.

“Ma’am, the flight just departed.”

I realized too late there was a BIG difference between C30 and F30. While I chided my husband in missing the details of his flight, I had done worse. I had more than enough time to figure out where I was supposed to be, but was blinded by my own stupidity and lack of attention to detail. Texting him my dilemma he wrote back, “Wow, that was dumber than me!”

How many times do we have a self-righteous attitude? We judge others for their actions and think we have it right when we are blind to our own mistakes. That’s why God reminds us in Matthew to take the beam out of our eye before we try to take the speck out of our brother’s. God knows our human nature will scrutinize the faults of others, but neglect to see our own. Let’s remember to let encouragement trump judgment. Maybe there are times for constructive criticism, but scripture is clear that grace and mercy are far better.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to check my own actions before I find fault with others. Keep me mindful that a self-righteous attitude does not honor you, but showing others grace and mercy does.

“Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7: 3-4 NET).

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