Friday From the Heart: Help Them Fix Their Eyes

I have mentioned before how thankful I am that God put me in a summer Bible study in Philippians. I am excited that the girls are with me as we dig into the really good stuff of His word! I will be honest, we have not been daily diligent with keeping up with our lessons and that used to make me feel guilty.  But now, God shows me His perfect timing and assures me that sometimes our distractions are only His way of giving us what we need on the very day we need it.

So...that said, the girls and I were behind in our lessons this week (there is five days of homework usually 30 mins. to an hour each day). So, Wednesday, we had to cram in as many days as we could. Days 4 and 5 were introduced this way:

"We want you to study what it means to suffer for His sake as Philippians 1:29 teaches. So many of us want to run away from suffering, to avoid it at all cost. We do not realize the awful price we may pay if we are not willing to suffer. Are you wondering what we mean by the statement 'the awful price we may pay if we are not willing to suffer'? See if you can find out as you study this subject of 'suffering for His sake.'"

With that, we crossed referenced many verses, looking them up and seeing what the Bible says about suffering. (Matthew 5:10-12, John 15:18-21, Romans 5:1-5, Romans 8:16-18, 2 Corinthians 1:7; 4:8-18, 1 Thessalonians 3:2-4, 2 Timothy 3:10-12, Hebrews 10:32-36 and a few in 1 Peter - 1:6-9, 2:18-25, 4:1, 4:12-5:1, 5:8-10). As we went through verse by verse I found myself praying for my girls thinking "Oh man God, this is hitting so close to home...help them process all of this". 

I was able to go to the last day of scout day camp with the boys yesterday and the girls went to Bible study with a friend who came and picked them up. I so wanted to go because this lesson really encouraged me and the discussion and video lessons are always just icing for the cake. I also wanted to be there so the girls and I could continue the discussion later. But, I was at camp and they went.

After the day at camp was done, I dropped off four boys and brought my two home. I won't lie, I was exhausted. It is a good kind of exhausted, but exhausted nonetheless. I was tired but coming up to the garage door I saw a note from my Dawn:

"1 Corinthians 10:13 - no trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you can bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so you may endure it."

I was surprised and relieved. God is ministering to my kids and giving them the opportunity to minister to my heart at the same time. I asked Dawn how the teaching was for her on the video and she responded "Mom, it was SO good!" We talked a little more about how God gives us what we need when we need it and God's reason for sometimes allowing "bad things to happen in our lives". I could tell from our discussion that this little piece of that truth was sinking in for her.

That got me to thinking this morning as I had time during my PET scan and MRI. Isn't the main goal in our parenting to point our children in the direction to eventually look to Him for the things they receive from their dad and I? Not only that, but I have to trust Him to supply my children with the things I give them and so much more! So whether I am here til tomorrow, or til they have kids and grand kids of their own, my prayer is that I can lead them to need Him more and me less, praying also for the blessing of someday being able to hold my great-grandchildren and telling them about God's great love for them!