Monday Monday <3

Good morning to you wherever you are!

We are sitting under heavy skies dripping cold rain and marveling that there are summery clothes fresh from the weekend piled in the laundry bin.

Ah the Midwest is running all kinds of weather patterns for us the last few days.

I have a series cooking in my head that I hoped to kick off this week, but it’s still half baked…so I come to you this morning with just a few thoughts gleaned from my quiet time instead.

Yesterday we heard a sermon about being intentional in our conversations in the home and the church – consistent and constantly – reciting the goodness of our God and His faithfulness in both settings WHILE building relationships that are based on the fruit of all that He is doing, has done and by faith, we believe He will do.

To be purposefully looking for how He is at work around us and through us and in us and how He shows Himself Sovereign and yet stoops down into each of our lives with such fatherly love.

At least that is what I got out of the sermon.

And I chuckled to think how recently I had the opportunity to have such a conversation with our Graham as I drove him across town from his swim lessons.

He had told me a little about his favorite games in P.E. class but his voice was trailing off as he would intersperse his narrations with long yawns.

His eyes were drooping in my rear view mirror and I knew he needed to last just a little bit longer to get his supper down and bath taken and so I launched into a story about a how I never was a fan of P. E. but I had ended up teaching it for a whole year once.

As I shared about this season, I reminisced about how hard it was. I had been recruited to sub for just two weeks early in the school year until a new P. E. teacher was hired. But no one ever applied for the job.

Week after week, month after month, and finally with a petition from the principal when my days for subbing limit had been reached that I be able to continue since the kids had gotten used to me, I lugged a bag of props and lesson plans and rosters of names between two schools.

I dealt with behavior issues that were beyond description and all the while had done some kind of damage to my back that rendered me in extreme pain.

Many days after work, I would lie helpless on the couch with ice and tears while our family pitched in around me.

It was a season where I relied on God every single moment of every single day and as I poured out the story to this little fellow who thinks a perfect day of school would be one long gym class, I certainly had grabbed his attention.

We were nearing home when my story finally wound down and I shared with him one last part of my memory from this season.

On the last day of teaching, as I started up the sidewalk to the most challenging of the two schools, for just a moment I felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness. And then God’s strength flooded me and I heard Him whisper…that would have been you all year, without ME.

Well, I figured I had at least kept him awake though he may opt to ride with his mom the next time we were taking two cars because …poor kid…what was he going to do with all of that?

But of all things…later as we were finishing getting pajamas on and wrestling three active boys into bedtime mode I heard him tell Emmett, in his own words, the story of the time Lola had needed God every day.

My story…of God’s story…being retold from big brother to little brother.

Let’s not quit reciting what God has done.

He is faithful.

Our little stories are part of His-story.

What’s your story?

Blessings on this Monday as you go out there and recite His goodness … yesterday, today, forever <3