Saving the Best For Last

By Pat

I often think of how quickly time goes by, and wonder if, at this stage in my life, I have wasted my youth on things that were not what God would have wanted me to do. I'm certain I have not utilized my God-given talents on God-chosen tasks, and I view the future with resignation, not joy. After all, I'm past my prime. What can I possibly offer God now?

God view us differently. He created each of us uniquely, and He knows not only what our talents are, but when to use them. And unlike flowers, we can bloom at any age, many times, all throughout our lives. Timing is everything, and God's timing is always perfect if we trust in Him and allow Him to use us as He sees fit. The Bible is full of examples of God surprising someone who thought they were past the age of making a great difference in His kingdom on earth. Just look at Abraham and Sarah! Who could have predicted the wonderful turn of events in their waning years, and the impact it would have?

In John 2:1-10, we learn of the first recorded miracle of Jesus: the wedding in Cana. After the wine had run out, Jesus turned water into wine. The master of the banquet didn't know where the new wine had come from, and he called the bridegroom aside to compliment him; "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best for last." (John 2:10)

God is a God of surprises, so never be discouraged that your prime time to serve has passed you by. Who knows what God has planned for your life, and when? Perhaps, like the wine in Cana, He has saved the best for last!

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.

Time For God

By Pat

I admit that it's easy for me to allow my days to sometimes jump into action without having my quiet time with God first. Sometimes it's not my fault, but more often it is. I allow myself to become caught up in the day without first reading devotionals and having a nice, quiet chat with God, and then I find myself in the next day or two (or sometimes more...) trying to "catch up" by reading all the days I missed at the same time. But sadly, I can't catch up. What I have done in reality is to skip what should have been a priority, and in so doing, missed out on beginning my day with a word from God which may have been meant for me at just the right time. I cannot catch up on that.

When Nehemiah wanted to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, he never made one decision, never took one step, without first consulting God. His success was due to the fact that he put God first. He sought him continually and God rewarded that devotion by leading Nehemiah from start to finish. If Nehemiah had not made God's word his priority throughout the project, perhaps there would have been a different ending to the book!

If you skip breakfast, you can't eat it simultaneously with lunch. It's too much. Shoving it all in at once just doesn't work. Eating meals at their proper time keeps us balanced, just as daily devotions and time with God keep us focused. If God gets the best of our day, He'll be more present in the rest of our day!

"The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him." (Lamentations 3:25)

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.

Every Day Life: Time Change

By Lara

Anyone who knows me knows that I abhor time change. I would be perfectly content to live my life within the normal parameters of Eastern Standard Time regardless of the change of seasons. I have no need for it to be light out until 9 PM in June. While I was sitting at my desk today enduring the longest Monday on record in the history of the world, I started to think about the strange occurrences that tend to follow me around that thwart my best efforts to prepare myself for the shock to my bio-rhythmic system.

Last year during time change, I tried to go to sleep early to take full advantage of my extra hour. Part of my problem with time change is my love of sleep. I intended to maximize the time that I could be snuggled under the covers with my cat. I'm sure that I was asleep by 9:45. It was cozy and warm.

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The Do-Nothing Kid

By Michelle (Graceful, Faith in the Everyday)

I'm not one of those overzealous moms – the ones who enroll their kids in every next thing: soccer, T-ball, French horn, yoga for toddlers, Portuguese, Tai Chi.

Don't get me wrong – it's not because I'm self-righteous and virtuous and protective of my children's childhood. It's because I am simply lazy. The thought of schlepping Noah and Rowan back and forth, night after night and weekend afternoons to games and practices and recitals, combined with work and grocery shopping and Walgreens and trips to the post office paralyzes me. Frankly, I'm much too self-centered to spend all that time shuttling my children.

Yet I do strive to involve them in some activities, because heaven forbid, I wouldn't want them to become "nothing kids."

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See The Lite

By Michelle (Graceful, Faith in the Everyday)

I had expectations all right...they just didn't turn out as I expected.

When my pastor first suggested I give up social media for Lent, I balked. "I can't do that," I thought to myself, sitting across from him in the cafe. "It's too risky. There's too much at stake. I can't sacrifice everything I've worked so hard to gain."

I feared the loss. Loss of control, primarily. Fear that readership would plummet, that my itsy-bitsy platform would crumble. But also fear of a deeper loss -- loss of self.

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