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Category Archives: A Peek at the Father

He Is Already There

13 Dec

“Please Fix Them, God”

We shouldn’t pray for God to fix things or people, but rather we should pray for God to fix us. God is not a genie in a bottle that can be commanded to act by our prayers. We need to reverse the focus of the prayer and realize that God’s answers to prayer are much more powerful when we ask that our own opinions and heart are corrected to come in alignment with His.

The Bible does tell us to pray and that our prayers will be answered yet we often stop there.

A larger truth is that God will not answer a prayer if it goes against His plan.

God can see the larger picture of our prayer. He knows not only how the answered prayer will affect our own life but also the impact it will have on other people’s lives. He knows the past, present, and future and can interweave how the answer to a prayer will impact lives across the varied platforms of time. It is impossible for us to understand how the answer to our prayers looks in the eyes of God. We do not have that ability.

“Please Fix Us, God”

Taking all of this in mind it is easy to see the folly of asking God to fix what we consider an error in someone else’s lifestyle or opinions. The better prayer would be to fix us to understand how to deliver the kind of love that God mandates when he tells us to love one another.

“Please Fix It, God”

Christian ideas and thoughts often fall short and often don’t truly consider all the truths we are taught. I’ve often been guilty of this. Countless times my husband and I have asked God to take care of and be with children and grandchildren. We have prayed specifically, naming the person and often explaining particular situations that we ask God to tend to in their lives. I don’t believe it is wrong to do this, but it too falls short. Down to the depth of our toes we know without doubt that God is aware of the situation since we know that He is all-knowing and all-seeing. We also know that God is constant and that nothing can separate us from God.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39 (KJV)

So why do we pray this prayer? There is nothing wrong with it per se, but it is merely praying for something we are already promised. It is asking for something we already have. We can always show appreciation for what God has given us, but to ask Him to supply what He has already promised to give us is not necessary.

Looking For God

Lately I’ve been praying that my loved ones and I look for God in each day and in each situation since I am sure that He is already there.

 
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Posted by on 13 December 2019 in A Peek at the Father

 

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2:00 a.m. Strangers

13 Dec
Guardian Angel, German postcard 1900

Single-Motherhood

When my son was about four-years old, I was living as a single-mother in a very small house located just a couple of blocks from one of the busiest commercial streets in town. During the day the street carried traffic of shoppers and errand runners who visited stores, banks, and restaurants. At night the traffic changed, and the focus was on a variety of bars and night clubs that were intermixed within the retail market.

Closing Time

One night, at about 2:00 a.m., I woke to loud banging on the door. When I opened the door, an elderly couple was standing there. They were well kept and at first glance seemed very nice. I must admit that I wondered about their intentions at such a time of day. They asked me if I had a son. This caught me by surprise. Yes, I had a son. Then they asked if they could see my son. The conversation felt very weird, but I wasn’t sure what else to say. Of course, my son was sleeping, and of course he was unavailable. Then I saw true concern in the ladies’ face as the man said, “Please, this is important.” No matter how odd I thought the request, I was now intrigued. I felt no ill will and the couple seemed so nice. I asked them to stay at the door and I went to retrieve my son.

I had a visual image already set in my mind of my precious little boy standing in his crumbled pajamas with his hair askew standing in front of this couple. I couldn’t figure out what would happen next. I woke him calmly and told him to come with me. There was someone at the door that wanted to see him. When he crawled out of bed, I was shocked. Instead of crumpled pajamas, he was fully dressed.

I took him to the door and the couple gasped, “Oh my God! Thank heavens!” They then explained that they had been driving down the street and saw a little boy walking by himself. They were concerned so they tried to follow him and make sure he was okay. It became very difficult to follow him as he cut through neighbors’ yards to get home. They were just glad he was home and safe. They seemed more relieved than apologetic. They said they wouldn’t bother us any further as they turned and walked away.

Going to the Zoo

I was wide awake by this time, yet I felt that I was existing in a surreal fog. I sat down on the couch and put my son on my lap. When I asked him what had happened, he told me that he wanted to go to the zoo. The zoo?! I had to really search to decipher what he meant. Finally, I realized that there was a pet store on the nearby commercial street located not too far from where we lived. The zoo!!

The bars and night life along that same street were in the process of closing for the night at about that time. I tried to explain to my son that the zoo was not open but there were many wild animals on the street at this time of day. I escorted him back to bed with instructions to never leave the yard or the house without me.

Entertaining Angels

God watched over my little boy that night. I never did get the couples’ name or story. I did grow in faith and love for a protective Heavenly Father though who gave me this experience to remind me that we never know when we will entertain angles.

Have you entertained angles? Has there been a time that God has protectively watched over you and your loved ones?

 
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Posted by on 13 December 2019 in A Peek at the Father

 

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Baby Steps of Faith with a Manual Screwdriver

13 Dec

Gender Defined Roles15Oct15picb

I grew up in a very traditional home where gender roles were taught and practiced. There was Daddy and Mommy, a baby brother and myself as the big sister. I always considered it most fortunate that there were two adults and two children. There were also two males and two females. Chores were assigned by gender. My chores were connected to tending to the house. They were washing dishes and helping with laundry and dusting and vacuuming. My brothers’ chores were ones around the house like taking out the trash or mowing the lawn or shoveling snow. There was never a question on who did a chore. One only had to determine whether it was the kind of work a guy did or a girl did.

As I matured these boundaries continued and were adopted and taught. When I married my husband, we blended families. Each of us brought two children. He brought two sons and I brought a son and a daughter. This provided four men and two women to split the chores. I never had to mow a lawn, shovel snow, or pick up a tool. It was perfect. I always had a man around the house.

Very Empty Nest

When we purchased our first rental, we formed a real estate rental business. Our first rental house needed some work before we could rent it out. The timing for this purchase was not what I would call ideal. My husband was working in a different state, thousands of miles from home. The children had grown and were faced with demands of work, babies, and school. We were strapped financially. It would cost an incredible amount of money to fix the place up and we had nothing left to spend. I grabbed a screwdriver, a manual screwdriver, and decided to get the job done.

In Over My Head

I was in way over my head, but I saw no other option. Repairs needed to be made. It took me two months of being outside my comfort zone, two months of a very steep learning curve, two months of trial and error, of putting one foot in front of the other and making baby steps to get the job done. I would crawl and tip toe to a finish line only to trip and fall (not literally, but in progress space) and I felt like an infant, growing into a toddler just learning to walk. I wanted to walk. I wanted to run, but I had to take little steps to gain my balance along the way. Each effort made me more confident. I could have given up, and I sure did want to at times, but I didn’t see any other option. I often prayed and there were tears of frustration, but the job did get done and the house did become a rental.

We now own ten units in five buildings as rentals. Two years after we purchased our first rental, we purchased an older home for ourselves. We hired contractors to do huge renovations on the home. In order to be onsite yet not underfoot, I kept myself busy with projects in the backyard. I rebuilt the fence and built a two-story playhouse in the backyard. These projects were outside of my comfort zone, yet I had learned much and had begun to realize that the jobs were doable. Somehow along the way I had become something much different than I ever thought possible. At 53 years old I was a handy woman, and a grandmother, mother, and a wife.

The Screwdriver of Faith

These baby steps of breaking into an unknown world are like faith. They were so scary at first. I was confused and disoriented, yet I began to become amazed with what was possible. I jumped in with no other option (in my mind) than to proceed. I built muscle both physically and emotionally in understanding that the impossible was possible.

When we turn over our fears and begin to trust in God it is similar. We must take those baby steps. We learn, over time, to depend on Him. We may fall and crawl, but we can’t give up. We trust again and again until we get to a point of not considering our fear and just accept.

Upcoming Possibilities

Right now, I have a huge pile of old and weather-beaten fence planks where a garden used to be years ago. In a very rugged way, the wood is beautiful. I’ve been asked by many people what I am going to do with all that wood. I smile and tell them that I have dreams of upcoming plans. I own pink power tools that are just aching to make beautiful projects with that wood. Who would have ever thought that it could come to this?

Faith Building

How has God turned your struggles into faith building exercises? What are your upcoming possibilities?

 
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Posted by on 13 December 2019 in A Peek at the Father

 

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