You're Forgetting 

Lily, age 4, walked in one morning ready to spend the day at grandma's 

house. She looked around and saw something amiss.

     "You're forgetting," she said, smiling.

     "What is it?" I asked.

     "The gate," she pointed to the stairs. "You forgot to put the gate up." 

Oops! I immediately clicked the portable gate in place so she wouldn't be tempted to run up and down the stairs, not safe for a preschooler.

Very little gets past the sharp eye of a child. Perhaps because their 
minds aren't cluttered with concerns or weighed down with worries.

In the midst of trying times we tend to forget important things, like how 

much God cares about us. Someone may say, "God loves you," and we 

accept it with an anemic smile. Then like other Christian cliches`, it 
slides off without changing the way we  perceive or deal with problems.

Distracted by so many lesser things, we truly do forget the depth of 
God's love. I ran across an amazing verse in the obscure book of 
Zephaniah.

       "The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He 
          will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you in His love, 
          He will rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).

It's like we know God loves us, but when was the last time we heard 
Him sing to us? Ever? The drama and clamor of this life crowds out the 
song we most need to hear. Jesus said we'll always have the poor with 
us. We'll always have circumstances vying for our attention as well.  

So I close my eyes and listen for heaven's song. Because only in His 
song will we begin to know the depth of His love.  



      

    

Making Room for Yes

I actually did it.

"No, I'm sorry," I said over the phone. "but I need to work on my book 

if I ever expect to publish it. I can babysit for a couple of hours 

tomorrow though."

Okay. So it wasn't a clean no. I qualified it with a yes for the next day 

but I said no first, something I rarely do. It felt unusual like a sunny 

morning after a week of rain. It also felt like an opportunity and a 

responsibility.

I said no for a specific purpose and needed to take my work seriously. 

How can I expect anyone else to if I won't? So that day I edited two 

difficult chapters and emailed a publisher asking permission to quote 

one of their books. 

Isn't it amazing that the Creator of heaven and earth invites us to work with Him on projects? It pleases Him when we make those things a 

priority. Saying no to friends, family, and phone calls (sometimes) 

enables us to say yes to God more often. It's one way we can thank 

Him for including us in His plans.

God's thoughts about us outnumber the sand (Ps. 139:17,18). For 

those who rarely walk along the ocean's shores let me remind you, no 

one can count the grains of sand. We can't count God's thoughts about 

us either. So much of His truth exceeds our ability to comprehend. 

  

I recently ordered The Best Yes, wise decisions in the midst of endless demands, a book by Lysa Terkeurst. I have a feeling it's one I seriously 

need to read because most of the demands that keep me from saying 

yes to God come from myself.   

The yellow buses have started circling through our neighborhoods again. 

As kids get back into the school routine, it's a good reminder for us to 
continue learning and growing too.