Happy Friday, Friends!
I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! I am genuinely excited to live this day! 😊
My Mom loved a devotional called, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence by Sarah Young. There were countless times she would call me and say, “Baby, you gotta hear this” and then excitedly read me what was in the devotional that day. Heck, she even did it after she had given me one that my Beautiful Bride and I read every day…knowing full well that we had, or would, read whatever she was going to read to me! 😊
There are a couple of things that have nothing to do with this Happy Friday, however it is on my heart to share them with you.
First, I remember several times I was in a hurry to get off the phone with my mom. I had to run to work, get the boys ready, eat breakfast, etc. There is always something, isn’t there? Now, as I sit here typing this, there is nearly nothing I would not give to hear my moms voice just one more time….to be able to just sit and visit with her. I want to encourage all of us to slow down and genuinely cherish our loved ones. Time is short and we never know when we won’t be able to hear their voice again.
Second, I am struck by the irony; from the time I was a young man my mom would read a devotional to me every morning. She gave me a lot of grace, especially through my teenage years. There were times I barely acknowledged her presence, let alone listen to what she was reading. As I fell in love with My Girl in high school and we eventually got married, my mom would read to us. Slowly, over time, Kath started reading to us when we weren’t with my mom. Now, every morning before I leave for work, my Beautiful Bride pulls out Jesus Calling, the one my Mom gave her – she wrote her a precious note telling her how much she loved her and how she hoped it would bless her as much as it had blessed my Mom…been a long time since I have seen that beautiful, unmistakable, handwriting – and she reads it for us. It was like there was this beautiful handoff from the first woman I ever loved to the woman I get to love for the rest of my life. So very blessed! Thank you, Mom. I love you and miss you so much!
Here is an excerpt from Jesus Calling that my
Beautiful Bride read to me on April 26th:
“If you encounter a problem with no immediate solution, your response to that situation will take you either up or down. You can lash out at the difficulty, resenting it and feeling sorry for yourself. This will take you down into a pit of self-pity. Alternatively, the problem can become a ladder, enabling you to climb up and see your life from My perspective. Viewed from above, the obstacle that frustrated you is only a light and momentary trouble.”
That analogy really resonated with me. Because life is, well, life I encountered many problems over the next couple of days. And clear as day I would visualize a ladder…the opportunity to climb up above, to grow, to overcome whatever was before me, to see things from a different perspective. And, as you would expect, how I went through the storm, how I handled the storm, and how I came out of the storm were vastly different than they would have been had I thrown a one-man pity party. I grew, I became better, and I had peace throughout. So blessed and genuinely grateful!
So, Friends, the next time you face an adversity, what will you see? Will you see the pit and take the path that leads to it? Or will you take a different path and climb the ladder? Each of us will make a choice and we will have to choose over and over again, each time we face a problem, challenge, or difficulty. We have freewill and therefore can choose any path we wish. Each however has its own set of natural consequences…. we are not free to choose those, we simply must live with the outcome of having chosen the ladder or the pit.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families, and please stay well! 😊
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