If you've read my blog in the past (which I know is extremely sporadic!), you know that I love stories. And I love the way that God uses these stories from friends and acquaintances to speak to me in a very personal way. I was with three friends at lunch this week, enjoying the food, the conversation, and the companionship. After lunch, one of my friends shared this story with me:
Her family has been going through a lot recently. While the whole family has struggled, her grandsons seem to have had the hardest time knowing how to handle things. Recently, the boys spent the week with my friend and her husband, even sleeping on the floor in their room because they didn't want to be by themselves.
Every night, the four would spend time on the bed in prayer as the boys called out their fears and concerns before God. Yet, any level of peace seemed illusive. One night, my friend told the boys that they prayer time that night would be different. "Tonight," she told them, "We're not going to pray for the things that are worrying us. Tonight, let's pray for the things we're thankful for, for the blessings God has given us. And then, before we close, we'll ask God to protect us during the night and tomorrow." The boys nodded silently, and then the family prayed together. They prayed as she had requested . . . of their thanks, of the blessings God had given them, of the promises He makes, and ended in praying for His protection through the night.
After the prayer time, the oldest grandson, the one who had struggled the most in handling all the family was going through, looked at his grandmother and said, "I liked that prayer time better." Her response? "Me, too!"
What a wonderful and clear lesson from this child! It's so easy to focus on the negative things going on in our lives that we miss God's promises and blessings. And it is through those that we can find true peace.
Times are tough in our country and our world right now. Churches and families are face tough economic times and even tougher decisions of how to handle the challenges that come with those. And, as I write, the Muslim world has risen up in protest of a film that teachings against the Muslim faith, rioting in the streets, attacking embassies, and even killing representatives of our country abroad. It's easy to focus on the frightening events around us. Peace seems illusive at the moment.
I want to challenge us all to do two things between now and Thanksgiving.
First, listen for the lessons of God that can come so beautifully and simply through a child.
And, second, share those lessons with us through this network, either in response to this blog, or in a blog of your own.
Will you accept that challenge?
Margie Williamson
Community Manager
Comments
Baptism is not a requirement for salvation. The person who is saved may be baptised at the time of salvation or they may wait and be baptised later. Some churches require a person to be baptised by immersion for church membership if they have only been baptised as a child by sprinkling. That would be known as a believer's baptism.
I have a question can you be saved and not be baptised. This the question from my class. thank you I amm looking for the answer
Thank you, Margie, for your thoughtful post and your challenge. It is helping me to reflect more on what I am getting out of our Sunday School lessons. The curriculum is geared toward the children, but the children's relevant questions help me think more deeply about the stories.
Comment by Alain Germain on September 30
This is indeed the right way to go through tough times and yet it's also so easy to forget this simple lesson through which we can find God's peace. I needed that reminder and thank God for the children who show us the way.
hello janice my name is marjorie i am glad to met on this blog i do not talk on the computer very much cause i don not type very well