The Perfect Accessory

By Carin LeRoy –

I received my first piece of jewelry from my grandparents when I was only five years old. One day they took me to the store to help me choose my first ring. I remember being so excited and admiring it on my hand. Over the years family members have given me other special gifts: the opal necklace my parents gave me on my 20th birthday, the diamond band from my husband on our 20th anniversary and the birthstone heart necklace that my children bought me one Mother’s Day. These gifts are special as I wear them to compliment my outfit or adorn my hand.

God has picked out the perfect accessory for us too. In Proverbs 3:21,22 He says, “Preserve sound judgment and discernment , do not let them out of your sight; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.”

With all the characteristics God could choose, what makes these so important that He wants to emphasize our need for them? God desires for us to navigate life well, and that requires good judgment and discernment.

Judgment can be described as the ability to logically compare and understand the best results and outcome, and discernment is the skill to see and comprehend what is not obvious or evident in a given situation. Both of these help us make wise decisions. In a culture where wrong is only relative, the ability to make wise choices has become obscured. No longer is the firm foundation of God’s Word used in making wise choices.

Just as a necklace that adorns our neck is the first part of our wardrobe that people see, so, too, our sound judgment and discernment (or lack thereof) will be the first thing that people notice about us. God’s adornment of sound judgment and discernment give us a life with meaning – not a life with bad decisions and regret. Let’s remember to adorn ourselves with God’s perfect accessory.

PRAYER: Lord, give me sound judgment and discernment. As I make decisions, help me to have wisdom to make right choices for my life. Give me a heart that desires You to lead and guide me each day.

“My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck. Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble; when you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared,” (Proverbs 3: 21-26 NIV).

The Fatherhood Theme Park

By Janet Morris Grimes –

Father’s Day. It gets me every time.

As a child, it was as if I was standing outside the gates to a theme park. I see all the families entering, hand-in-hand. Their Daddy clutches the tickets, counting to make sure he has enough for everyone. No one goes in alone. The lines are long, but the wait just makes it better once they click through the turnstiles of triumph.

Costumed characters welcome them with waves and hugs, their plastic faces etched with permanent smiles. But the smiles of the kids are even wider. Cameras capture a thousand photo moments before they reach the first ride. Even walking, together, is an adventure inside the theme park.

The scent of something wonderful wafts over me. Maybe it’s cinnamon. Fudge? Or corn dogs? Definitely a mixture of all of them; as if happiness were a smell. Ten different versions of carousel music provides the soundtrack to the day. Their day.

Screams of delight ruffle through the tall trees that hide the fun things they get to do. Just enough of a roller coaster taunts me from above. A train of silver buggies crank their way to the top. They careen down the other side, twisting in ways I didn’t see coming. Terror turns to thrill on their faces. They line up to do it again. Just because they can.

The sun drops behind the trees, bringing a breeze that didn’t exist before. Maybe it will cool off the sunkissed cheeks of those who are now leaving. Strollers are filled with too many shopping bags to hold the children who once belonged there. Instead, their parents carry them, asleep, draped across their shoulders. The leftovers of something sticky and wonderful still dribbling down their smushed up faces. They wear hats, or ears, or both; something they didn’t have when they arrived.

There expressions reveal the most perfect of days. Content. Exhausted .Together. As if whatever they anticipated before entering was even better than expected….

Peering through the bars is no way to experience a theme park. It’s impossible. I would have given anything to get inside. Not for the rides, the characters, or the ice cream. What I longed for, more than anything, was to be that little girl sitting on top of her father’s shoulders.

But you have to have a ticket to get inside. And I never had a ticket.

This is what it feels like to be fatherless. No matter how many times you watch, from a distance, you can’t imagine yourself being allowed to go inside.

But you know you are missing out on something wonderful.

PRAYER: Father God, bless the fathers and the families that You created. Give them strength to shine for You. Mend any broken relationships, and thank You for being such a loving father to each of us. It is because of You that we know how to love unconditionally.

No Bingo in June

By Hally Franz –

Did you ever wonder how much money is spent on weddings each year? More precisely, have you pondered how much is spent during the month of June on weddings? I don’t have the answers, but we all know it’s a chunk of change. Weddings are big business!

There are the dresses, the décor, the music and the venues. There are meals, pictures, attendant gifts, flowers and party favors. Some weddings include themes, and some even become part of reality television. While current trends in weddings may be a retailer’s dream, I hope that this year’s June weddings fill life-long dreams for the couples who walk down the aisle (or, the beach, brick road or garden path).

I know a very special June bride. She is the daughter of a dear friend, and she was a great babysitter for my children when they were small. In fact, my 10-year-old daughter, Rosaline, has been asked to be a junior bridesmaid for Jessica, and she is super excited. We had a shower for Jess a few weeks ago. I was remembering the shower, and it occurred to me that there is a certain discord in one of the games that we played that day. I called it Bridal Bingo.

Bingo is a game of chance. It requires no work, preparation or special set of skills or characteristics. Isn’t that the reverse of marriage! Successful marriage is very much related to the work that the partners put into it. And, most definitely, there should be some preparations made prior to the wedding day. Aside from the actual planning of the event, couples must prepare by talking through issues they’ll face as a married couple. They should consider the lifestyle they want for their family including where they will live and worship, whether they will have or adopt children, work and leisure questions, and a host of other concerns. Addressing those topics takes time and energy. Aside from work and planning, successful marriages are built by two partners who demonstrate maturity, generosity, kindness and caring toward one another. Marriage isn’t for the poorly prepared or ill-tempered.

No, indeed! Weddings may be big business, but marriages ought not to be risky business. As for my special June bride, I have every confidence that she and her husband-to-be have taken time to lay a foundation for a successful marriage, as well as an awesome wedding day.

PRAYER: Merciful and Mighty Father, bless this year’s brides and grooms with the qualities of wisdom and kindness, commitment and caring as they begin their lives together, so that their unions may bring honor and glory to You.

“With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2-3 NKJV).

Seize Your Day

By Peter Lundell –

I paid close attention at my daughter’s promotion from middle school to high school. The student speeches were good, and I was struck by these thirteen-year-olds talking about how “time flies.” Oncey they’re adults, they’ll find out how fast it can truly go.

I reminded myself of the commitment I made almost ten years earlier: When my kid’s name gets called to receive her high school diploma, I will NOT sit here and wonder where all the time went.

If time flies, each of us is a pilot. We choose how it flies. Whether we actively decide what we do with it, or passively let things take their course, we determine how time flies—or doesn’t.

But let’s get real, time doesn’t fly at all. Every minute, hour, and year is a set length (even leap year). The “flying” part is entirely our perception. Ask someone in a penitentiary or someone with a terminal illness if time flies. We all have time when it drags, even if temporarily.

So what should we do with these conclusions? The same thing writers have said for centuries: carpe diem—”seize the day.” But in a way that is more life enriching rather than just living for the moment.

Seizing the day is something we consciously decide every day—otherwise the day’s potentials vanish like mist. We make choices deliberately, and fully engage in what we do, rather than drift through life letting things happen to us. We engage meaningfully with people and events around us, and we nourish a caring heart toward them. We live for each moment rather than wallow in the past or pine for the future. We refuse to live in perpetual busyness, and as in the Luke 10:38–42 story of Martha and Mary, we focus on what is most important.

How will you seize your day?

PRAYER: “Lord and Master of my life, each day I live is a gift from You. Lead me to seize it as a zealous steward of time and experience. Open my eyes to see Your hand in all of it. . . .”

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14 NIV).

Starting With Graduation

By Hally Franz –

As May rolls around each year, I take an inventory of the graduations we will be celebrating. This is a light year with only four. In my rural community, the graduation party season is big. Starting by mid-May and running through most of June, graduating seniors spend several weekends on the party circuit checking in at multiple events in a given day.

My own son is graduating from eighth grade this year. I asked if he would like a party, but he declined. I do, however, see this as a major transition for him. He has attended a small Christian school since kindergarten, and he will enter a public ninth-grade building with over 500 students in August. It is a little scary for mom!

Graduations are about celebrating accomplishments and marking milestones. Little guys will stand for pictures on stage after surviving tear-filled days of preschool. Young men and women will cross stages to accept college degrees earned after countless long nights of study. Graduations also represent the beginning of something new. Perhaps it is simply an unfamiliar teacher or school. Maybe, it means leaving home and family to go to an unknown place. It almost certainly involves challenges and change. New friends, new towns and new jobs can all be frightening.

When we begin our Christian journeys, we don’t know what He might have planned for us. We celebrate our baptisms and commemorate the day that we became part of the body of believers. While that life-changing milestone in our spiritual life is joyful, it brings challenges and new territory to face. Like the child moving from one grade level to the next, believers are expected to grow in our faith. We are called to greater responsibilities to serve and witness to others.

As we recognize this year’s graduates, let’s applaud their successes and send them into the next life phase with our hugs, well wishes and prayers. And, when we celebrate with new believers, let’s give our Christian brothers and sisters the same support in their new journey.

Blessed be our 2012 graduates and new Christians!

PRAYER: Gracious God, bless this season’s graduates and new believers, and send them fearlessly into the world to do grand and glorious things on Your behalf.

“Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the LORD gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged”
(1 Chronicles 22:13 NIV).

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