We leave tonight for North Dakota. The trip will take ten days. Not thinking I will be able to blog on the trip, so talk with you when I get back. Have a great week!
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It is October; this month brought back a scary memory.
It was a normal shopping trip with four little ones in tow. After picking up some toothpaste I headed for the toilet paper. After skimming the Charmin row, I realized my oldest was missing. Back track, quick!! This wasn’t the only time I misplaced a child, but with rumors of abductions increasing around Halloween, I didn’t mess around. When I couldn’t find my beauty by the toothpaste, I headed right for the front of the store. There was no way I was going to let someone sneak my six year old out of that store! Thankfully the staff moved quickly too. An urgent coded message was given throughout the store. Then they announced my daughter’s name and told her to come to the front of the store. After a few desperately cried out prayers, an elderly woman walked up to me with my daughter by her side. Thank you to her, thank you to God and thank you to the store. What a relief to have all my little ones with me again. Once the emotional reunion was over, my daughter said, “I did what you told me and that Grandma helped me.” Oh, how thankful I was that we had talked through what to do if separated from our family. We had talked through and role played this scenario. We told our children to look for an employee, a mother with children or a grandma looking women to ask for help. We had told them to go up to one of these three and say, “I can’t find my family, will you help me please?” There is no need to fill the practice with fear. We know that at times parents and children lose track of each other and we wanted our children to know what to do. We did cover abduction too. We told our children that if anyone ever tried to pick them up and take them somewhere to yell and kick with all they’ve got. Without over fixating on the topic we even told them to scream, scream, scream if someone had a gun. That if they go with the person it is hard for us to find them, but if they scream chances are much higher that someone will intervene. We have all felt shyness at some point or another, but some children have a real tendency to be timid. It is these children that we need to help through their natural bent to experience what God wants of them.
II Timothy 1: 7 in the KJV says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear”… II Timothy 1:7 in the NAS says, “God has not given us a spirit of timidity”… So shyness is not a character trait from the Lord. Timidity is fear. So now what? Let’s read the rest of the verse. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline.” What does God give us that we want our children to live by—His Spirit. His Spirit gives us power, love and self-discipline. What is power? God’s power works like my hairdryer. By itself it is not very powerful, but once I plug it into a power source it is able to do what it was created to do. Doing something in God’s power verses my own strength is like the difference between a hand saw and a power saw. In my own strength I may get it done, but afterwards I am exhausted and have only accomplished a small amount. What is love? Well, love is not selfish, according to I Corinthians 13. When we are feeling shy we tend to only be thinking about ourselves. Our own feelings are what we yield to. If we love, we will think of the other person and what their needs are. By focusing on the other person and not ourselves, we can overcome shyness with love. What is self-discipline? Self-discipline is denying ourselves and not living by how we feel. Is self-discipline easy? No. Just like exercise, school work, or getting out of bed in the morning, self-discipline is needed to accomplish the necessities of life. God has given us His Spirit to help us be self-disciplined and do what is needed and right. We can choose to not be shy; rather we can discipline ourselves to love others. |
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