Everlasting Place
  • Home
  • One way
    • Proof
  • Sadie Sparrow
    • Sadie Sparrow Excerpt
    • Author Chat
    • Articles
    • Book Reviews
  • Memoir
    • Memoir Excerpts
    • Reviews, interviews & endorsements
  • Blogs
    • Eternal eyes: a blog about forever
    • Golden years: a blog about the elderly
  • Old folks
    • Planting tips for Christians
  • Messages from Chris Carrillo
  • Library
  • Bookstore
  • Contact

The epitome of childlike faith

5/21/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
I think often of the divine admonition recorded in Matthew 18:3-4, where Jesus is quoted as saying, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
 
Become as a little child again? How I would love to do that—to be able to rest fully in my parents’ love and strength. To feel no need (or ability) to contribute anything to our perfect lives together. To do things for them, even clumsy or useless things, just because I loved them so and wanted to make them happy.
 
I suppose this is especially hard for us female baby boomers, having been so thoroughly brainwashed by the likes of Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem. They taught us that it’s my way or the highway, that anything less than total independence is tyranny, that we were fools if we let anyone influence our thinking or decision-making. It takes some doing to drive that sort of worldly wisdom out of a formerly feminist heart, and I’m not quite there yet. Maybe I won’t be this side of heaven.
 
Ah, but I once knew a woman who possessed something very close to childlike faith in the God of the Bible. Her name was Joan. After I was saved, she and I spent a great deal of time together at the nursing home where we both volunteered.
 
Joan prayed more frequently than anyone I’ve ever known. Much of the time, she kept up a running conversation with God in her head. She thanked Him for all she found good in life, which was just about everything. She told Him how beautiful this or that aspect of His creation was. She brought ailing friends to His attention, and was careful to lift up those who were in desperate need of salvation.
 
But most of all, Joan asked God for help with just about every decision she made. She invited Him to help her choose the clothing she’d put on that day, and to direct her driving, and to let her know which friend to phone first that night. She asked for guidance on which book of the Bible to study that day, or that week.
 
Joan even asked the Lord to tell her which type and brand of cereal to buy at the grocery store.
 
I went along with most of this, thinking it all just a little eccentric and a lot charming. But I drew the line in the cereal aisle. What possible difference did it make to God whether she purchased Cheerios or Shredded Wheat?
 
I hadn’t thought of this for ages. But today, checking out the cereals at Aldi’s, I remembered Joan and this humorous little habit of hers.
 
And then it struck me: The Lord probably didn’t care what cereal she bought. But I’ll bet He cared very much that she so valued His opinion. I’ll bet He loved the humility and submission that were inherent in her request. And I’ll bet He smiled every morning when she poured out a bowl of the cereal of the week, and thanked Him gratefully for meeting her every need.
 
I’m always looking in Scripture and biographies and amongst my brothers and sisters in Christ for models of godliness to emulate. And I see a great deal that is surely pleasing to Him.
 
But while standing there today in the cereal aisle, I had an epiphany: God had given me a dozen years of close fellowship with a woman who epitomized the kind of faith I want most desperately. And all I could do at the time was smile indulgently at her.
 
Talk about missing the forest for the trees.
 
Joan went to be with the Lord several years ago. I miss her, and she’s one of those I most look forward to seeing again, beyond the sunset.
 
In the meantime, I thank the Lord for bringing us together. And I ask Him to help me be a little more like her with every passing day.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Kitty
    Foth-Regner

    I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, a freelance copywriter, a nursing-home volunteer, and the author of books both in-process and published -- including Heaven Without Her. 

    Archives

    December 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Care to subscribe?

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from tracie7779, Luci Correia, Maxwell Hamilton, giardinaggio, Doug1021, Angel Xavier Viera, Damian Gadal, Reboots, leoncillo sabino, mRio, HikingArtist.com, guymoll, csath07, Guudmorning!, fred_v, homegets.com, ishaip, jinxmcc, freeparking :-|, CallMeWhatEver, BryonLippincott, simpleinsomnia, csread, nicephore, Doug Beckers, mandydale, berniedup, tontantravel, h.koppdelaney, Jill Clardy, anieto2k, NASA Goddard Photo and Video, QuidoX, Ryo | [ addme. ], ShebleyCL, TinyTall, proggy-yahoo, Infiniteyes, Genista, kippster, Speculum Mundi, HerPhotographer, Tauralbus, megallypuff, harshxpatel, Waiting For The Word, CoreBurn, Gordon Chirgwin, {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester}, John McLinden, Patrick Feller, jikatu, Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors, byzantiumbooks, bizmac, H o l l y., Peter Blanchard, sheriffmitchell, Tony Webster, hectorir, City of Overland Park, luis_cunha, Sam Howzit, bertknot, QuotesEverlasting, iturde, ejmc, VARNISHdesign, Cimm, Good Book Reader, Renaud Camus, banjipark, romana klee, 00alexx, erix!, branestawm2002, amsfrank, m01229, cbcmemberphotos2477, rhode.nel, Veronique Debord, joshjanssen, zenjazzygeek, h.koppdelaney, Laurel Mill Players, quinn.anya, *ErinBrierley*, Ben Pugh, Photographing Travis, BarnImages.com, anees.waqas, swambo, Alan Miles NYC, glenngould, Patrick Feller, davecito, wade in da water, Endre Majoros, France1978, dainamara, theseanster93, insightpest, eliduke, volker-kannacher, cogdogblog, Editor B, poshdee, brewbooks, J D Mack, ThomasKohler, mayeesherr. (in West Bengal!), TEDxHouston, Ms. Phoenix, PBoGS, Eselsmann™, Inside Guide To London, ShironekoEuro, Tom Anderson, flequi, cogdogblog, njaminjami, Search Engine People Blog, ShanMcG213, Julie Edgley, randihausken, pescatello, Waiting For The Word, moriza, Iain Farrell, Arizona Parrot, digitalmindphotography, enjosmith, www.WeisserPhotography.com, STC4blues, Holidayextras, Randy Roe, goprogresswent, BenDibble, kstoyer, Rennett Stowe, williac, ImNotQuiteJack, Life Mental Health, Jose Antonio Cotallo Lopez, gruntzooki, electricinca, adactio, miheco, Zemlinki!, bnilsen, chispita_666