Faith is

Faith is being guided through a dark tunnel trusting solely in The One Leading the way.

When Push Comes to Shove

She had every reason to be confused, even hurt.  My daughter wasn’t doing anything wrong. She hadn’t pitched a fit or thrown a tantrum.  She was actually behaving extremely well. But I could tell by her eyes  what her mouth hadn’t formed the words to say, Why did I push her?

Shoved more like it, when she didn’t do anything to deserve it. No explanation, no warning, just a push causing her to stumble forward.

No, I hadn’t blown my top, I wasn’t in a hurry, so why did I seemingly punish her with no provocation, her eyes kept asking me.

To protect her.

One thing I do know about my daughter is her irrational fear of bugs and all things creepy crawly. One thing she was not aware of, was that there was a huge one on the other side of the door big enough to induce shock.

Since I was ahead of her, I was aware of the critter that would have frozen my daughter in her tracks preventing her from taking another step. So I gave her a swift push.

Though she stumbled, she landed safely. It was at the safety of our vehicle that I addressed the confusion in her eyes and tended to her bruised  – ego.

While not getting too descriptive, I informed her of the bug that was now behind her, and she then understood that the push was to protect her.

Her Two Cents

It was that time in church again- the part of the service where we are expected to give after hopefully getting something out of the sermon.

“Give what you have purposed in your heart to give,” reminded the deacon in his weekly recital of 2 Corinthians 9:7.

Today, after another weekly ritual of paying bills, I made a purpose to give $2.

As the collection plate came around, I purposefully put my $2 into it.

However, God Had another purpose.  After the sermon, He Continued To Teach me a lesson about giving.

Immediately after I put in my two bucks, my pre-schooler decided to add her two cents, by dipping her hand into my still open purse. She pulled out the first bill she saw out of her sudden “handbag,” and put it into the collection plate as well.

She looked at me happy that she was able to participate in the service, and proud that she remembered to share.

I looked at the collection plate resisting the urge to swipe it back.

That is because the first bill she saw was a $20 bill – ten times more than my original purpose.

My pre-schooler didn’t yet know the difference between monetary denominations, but regardless of my religious denomination, I was still expected to give.

I am aware of the controversy on the church’s position and teachings on giving and its accusations of “fleecing the sheep.”

Despite the arguments for and against, you can’t argue with God’s Word.

`And to everyone who is asking of thee, be giving; and from him who is taking away thy goods, be not asking again’ Luke 6:30.

So glad I didn’t dip my hand back into the collection plate.

We worship a God Who Tells us to give to even our enemies to fulfill God’s True Purpose.

`Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed, and shaken, and running over, they shall give into your bosom; for with that measure with which ye measure, it shall be measured to you again.’ Luke 6:38

I left church with my purse a little lighter, but my heart a lot fuller, because I was happy and proud too.