Showing posts with label Lessons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lessons. Show all posts

Friday, May 12, 2023

Learning to Trust in You

 


Some life lessons seem to be just that…a life-long lesson. It’s something that you have to keep learning all of your life, always improving, but never “arriving.” In my life, one of those lessons is learning to trust God with my life. With ALL aspects of my life. Sometimes, more than I’d like to admit, I wonder about my place in this chapter of my life. What am I supposed to be doing? Am I making a difference in the lives of others? Why did God place me in a small town in SW Virginia? Why did I have to start all over again? And the questions continue on and on and on. There’s only one answer that comes to mind. I’m learning to trust in the Lord, even more than ten years ago, five years ago, a year ago, a month ago, a week ago, a day ago, and an hour ago.

I would much rather stay in my safe place, at home, with the ringer shut off. Living life doesn’t allow that. So, I’m learning to trust in the Lord. A song keeps running through my head. It’s Learning to Trust in You by David Meece. Read his words:

There's a father in your sweetest dreamsWho's always there to meet your needsHe never ever let you down
There's a mother in your heart of heartsWho always plays the perfect partShe never lets you hit the ground
This is the need of childrenThese are their tender dreamsAnd oh, how it hurts when they don't come true
That's why I'm learning to trust in YouIn everything I doI'm learning to trust in You
'Cause I know in my heart that You're trueI'm learning to trust in YouBut sometimes it's so hard to do
Father, little children must grow upAnd to grow we've got to learn to trustAnd to trust we've got to cling to You
And when You tell me You will hold me closeIt's the very thing I need the mostBut it's the very hardest thing to do
I've got this pain inside meIt speaks to me loud and clearWhen there's so much to gain there's always so much to lose
That's why I'm learning to trust in YouIn everything I doI'm learning to trust in You
'Cause I know in my heart that You're trueI'm learning to trust in YouBut sometimes it's so hard to do
Keep calling me, drawing me closerDon't let me hold backWhatever it takes I must break through
The heart of a child is brokenBut his time has comeWhatever he lost, I'll find in You
That's why I'm learning to trust in youIn everything I doI'm learning to trust in You
'Cause I know in my heart that You're trueI'm learning to trust in YouBut sometimes it's so hard to do
I'm learning to trust in YouIn everything I doI'm learning to trust in You
'Cause I know in my heart that You're trueI'm learning to trust in YouBut sometimes it's so hard to do
Hard to do, learning to trust in YouSo hard to do, learning to trust, it's so hard to do

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Words for a New Year



The other day I was in a bookstore in Erie, PA and came across the book, Shepherd of Many. It is a book of "lessons" or sayings of Msgr. James Peterson. I knew Father Peterson many, many years ago. As the old year has ended and a new one has begun, I would like to leave with you some of his lessons:
 
~The future will be no more important than today, not in its work or ministry or prayer. No moment is more important or valuable than the present moment.
~God is in charge. I'm the director. I'm only here.
~You have to forgive, not excuse.
~Don't ask about changing the situation. Ask about changing your heart.
~Remember Mary doing laundry pleasing God where she was.
~It takes humility to accept God's gifts and courage to use them.
~God wants your friendship more than your ministry.
~Seek trust, not understanding. When you trust, nothing else is needed.
~You're in God's care. You don't have to rush Him. Stop trying to help Him so much.
~There's a world of difference between the uncertainty that is frightening and the uncertainty that is promising.
 
There are many more lessons in this little book. But, if I learn the ones listed above, I will have learned a LOT!
 
May God be with you and draw you close to Him in this New Year.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Remember Where You Came From

Yesterday & today I have been working on a talk that I am giving Sunday. It is for a Sunday School Class and it is my testimony. And, I am having a really hard time concentrating and staying on task. I find my mind wandering. Sometimes things I write have been such a good part of my life and other times, not so good. When that happens, I get teary eyed and want to walk away from my computer.

The carving pictured above is an Ashante symbol, a Ghanaian symblol. It is "Sankofa" which is a symbol for remembering where you have come from and learning from it. I have learned so much from my life. God has been so gracious and merciful, at times I am overwhelmed by it all.

I think right now, I will thank God for life, His life and keep on typing. And I pray that He will be glorified as I share where I have come from and the lessons tat I have learned from it.