The peace and Slumber of God

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

This verse was Jonathan's testimony Friday night.

Jonathan left Thursday with his high school basketball team for a tournament in Ottawa. Mark left Friday, to go down and cheer them on, staying with relatives of mine who live in the area.

At some time on Friday, an obviously disturbed man set a minimum of 3 fires around Ottawa destroying at least 10 businesses.

I don't have the whole story, but it seems this man later took refuge in an Ottawa hotel. He happened to choose the hotel that my son and his teammates were staying in. If that were not concerning enough, he happened to be assigned the room RIGHT NEXT DOOR to my son.

At some point on Friday night, a number of police as well as medical attendants descended on this very room in order to apprehend the man who had apparently been badly burned in these fires. 

His screams awakened the coaches who were staying farther down the hall.

Thinking it was one of their boys, they raced to try and reach the part of the hall where my son was but were stopped by police.

As you can imagine, this whole episode would have taken quite a bit of time and a great deal of noise...YET, my son and his team mates SLEPT through the entire ordeal.

They never heard or saw a thing and were spared the trauma that could have accompanied witnessing such an event.

That is the peace of God...and as a mother, I am so very, very thankful.

My Steps are Ordered of the Lord

Over the past week, God has been speaking to me about my future and destiny.

Unfortunately, not so much about destinations and goals or really what I do along the way...but about HOW I walk the path.

I have admitted before, there is a tiny perfectionist that lives deep within me, my hubby has referred to this same "quality" (I do choose to see it as a quality), in our youngest child as our "black and white gene".

There are some great aspects to this quality, but I have come to realize, it can be paralizing as well. I have been known to not try something that I felt I could not do well...you can miss out on a lot with that out look.

What God began to speak to me a week ago, had to do with this. He and I both know that my deepest desire is to follow Him, anywhere, anytime, in any way. I really mean that, and always have. I have often said, I will go any where and do anything, I just need to know that it is God.

True.

Here is the problem, what happens in those (sometimes extended) periods, where He is not telling you the next step? 

Have you ever tried to walk in a straight line towards a particular goal off in the distance?

If you focus on your feet and concentrate on your every step, your path could look very much like the picture of the child's steps below:

You might actually get where you were headed, but the path you take may be filled with twists and turns, even some back tracking.

Thankfully, we serve a patient, loving God who has promised and is faithful "to make our path straight".  He will guide us back to where He needs us to go in order to get us to the place that He has planned for us.

There is another way though. It involves a change in focus. My focus has to be taken off my individual steps...my feet, ME; and set on HIM and the goal HE has set before me.

When I stop looking at the steps and set my sights on Him, 

my path looks a lot more like this:

With my eyes set on Him, I may not know exactly where that path will lead, (and that is difficult for that tiny perfectionist in me), but as I look back, I will see that my path was so much more direct and not a single step was missed along the way.

This week, I am learning to refocus.

Smile! Don't Worry!

I am sure most of you have seen or heard this little British singing sensation, Connie Talbot.

She first makes me cry, just because the fastest thing to bring me to tears is children singing, dancing, acting...pretty much anything that shows the beauty that God created in them.

I had to post this latest video of Connie's as it made me smile and laugh and simply not take life too seriously.

No matter what's going on in your life, take to heart Connie's message, It's Jesus' message to us as well:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Matt. 6:25

I just loved hearing and seeing it through the children here: