Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may know your truth. Give me an undivided heart to revere your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me, you have delivered my soul from the depths of hell.
~Psalm 86:11-13
I pray that God give me His eyes, His heart for others. Especially strangers, the ones I quickly judge when I see them in a store because of what they wear or how they respond to their children or others. The ones who drive slowly in front of me when I have places to be. Ones who treat me poorly or who exercise little or no compassion or empathy. Ones who make choices that I would never make.
Give me Your heart for those who have not, who are hurting and can't seem to better their situation. Ones without families, or worse, with families that are abusive and/or tragically broken and doing more harm than good in the lives of the members caught up in the vicious cycle created and perpetuated by that living situation or less than desirable circumstance.
Sometimes it works, but many times, I fall victim to my selfish first inclination of judgment or prejudice. Or I react with retaliatory anger and pride. I remind myself that this type of growth is a process, and that God loves my attempts and knows my heart when I behave in a human, worldly manner. But my Master also provides fodder for my desirous endeavor: he gives me angels to adore, to pray over and watch with wonder.
In all the ugliness that may be exposed on the internet and through social media, I postulate that one gets out of it what they put into it. Specifically Facebook. (Ok, this deep and meaningful blog post just slammed on breaks and changed direction, but hear me out.) I can exercise full control over most of the functions of FB. I can add, block, or hide users, as well as controlling what they see about me (so long as I stay informed about the nearly daily changes the developers like to make).
And so I try to "like" pages that are scripturally fruitful or encouraging, even inspiring. Disclaimer about my choices: In a world where I believe Satan has a multitude of everyday mechanisms to quietly and sneakily seep into my mindset, I combat this phenomenon by only inputting positive stimuli. It means that I might not relate in conversations about the most popular TV shows or songs or artists, which can kind of sting when the ladies are huddled having a good, honest, harmless laugh about some ridiculous thing that happened on The Bachelor last night. To me, however, I know myself. I know how easily manipulated I am, how little self control I have. And this is the best bet that I have come up with, and I am very satisfied with the results. It means that during the hours at night when I've been tempted to sit in front of the TV, I am instead reading to, or playing pretend with, or practicing writing or Italian with my kids. So I'm cool with the tradeoff. I do not judge (rather I am slightly jealous of) moms who watch awesomely hilarious TV shows or listen to (ok, its often better) secular music. I see the value in a little fun. I do not think my choices are better or that anyone else should follow my lead. I wish I had more self control and was stronger at battling worldly stimuli, but alas I stink at it. Rant over.
Back to FB: I have found some fan pages for some really amazing little people. Some babies and toddlers and young kids who struggle with disease. Their families and/or loved ones set up pages for them for a number of reasons; to raise awareness or fundraise for particular illness/cause, to keep family and friends who live far away abreast of progress or regressions, and perhaps even to vent or as a therapeutic means to unload some of the heaviness that comes with caring for someone with special needs.
Whoa, God has allowed some of these guys to make a lasting impact on my life that I will never forget. I believe that each one has changed me in some way. I have certainly become more informed about diseases like Cardiomyopathy, Krabbe Disease, and Muscular Dystrophy, among others. But learning about these children and their families has been such a blessing for so many reasons. The parents always demonstrate such grace and often positive perspectives despite their circumstance. They have such grateful hearts, it puts to shame any 'problem' I may face. These brave children's limitations always seem to come with some extraordinary capabilities, some overcompensation of senses, or communication, or maturity. It is truly amazing and humbling to see how these universally binding relationships metamorphose, adapt, and evolve. It gives me hope and fills me with wonder and joy at the whole rotten thing. These families who deal with a harsher reality than mine daily, are probably closer to the real meaning of life.
That is to say, every emotion must be felt deeper when it is hinged on or framed in light of a shorter life expectancy. Or every moment of joy must ring brighter and be more exquisitely monumental than could be appreciated by a "normal" healthy family's. Every time they slip quickly into the despair of "why us" or think of life "after"...must bring about such harmonizing closeness of spirit with our Maker. The gifts are there. These parents seize them, cling to them, and share them with us. For that I am truly grateful. I feel like I know these children. I look forward to reading about how their day is going. I weep when they have down times, and praise God for the joyous moments.
I am connected. I love those with whom I have never even been in contact. And I realize, that this is the answer to my prayer. Teach Me Your Way, O Lord. And thank You for allowing me to experience Your love.
And so I try to "like" pages that are scripturally fruitful or encouraging, even inspiring. Disclaimer about my choices: In a world where I believe Satan has a multitude of everyday mechanisms to quietly and sneakily seep into my mindset, I combat this phenomenon by only inputting positive stimuli. It means that I might not relate in conversations about the most popular TV shows or songs or artists, which can kind of sting when the ladies are huddled having a good, honest, harmless laugh about some ridiculous thing that happened on The Bachelor last night. To me, however, I know myself. I know how easily manipulated I am, how little self control I have. And this is the best bet that I have come up with, and I am very satisfied with the results. It means that during the hours at night when I've been tempted to sit in front of the TV, I am instead reading to, or playing pretend with, or practicing writing or Italian with my kids. So I'm cool with the tradeoff. I do not judge (rather I am slightly jealous of) moms who watch awesomely hilarious TV shows or listen to (ok, its often better) secular music. I see the value in a little fun. I do not think my choices are better or that anyone else should follow my lead. I wish I had more self control and was stronger at battling worldly stimuli, but alas I stink at it. Rant over.
Back to FB: I have found some fan pages for some really amazing little people. Some babies and toddlers and young kids who struggle with disease. Their families and/or loved ones set up pages for them for a number of reasons; to raise awareness or fundraise for particular illness/cause, to keep family and friends who live far away abreast of progress or regressions, and perhaps even to vent or as a therapeutic means to unload some of the heaviness that comes with caring for someone with special needs.
Whoa, God has allowed some of these guys to make a lasting impact on my life that I will never forget. I believe that each one has changed me in some way. I have certainly become more informed about diseases like Cardiomyopathy, Krabbe Disease, and Muscular Dystrophy, among others. But learning about these children and their families has been such a blessing for so many reasons. The parents always demonstrate such grace and often positive perspectives despite their circumstance. They have such grateful hearts, it puts to shame any 'problem' I may face. These brave children's limitations always seem to come with some extraordinary capabilities, some overcompensation of senses, or communication, or maturity. It is truly amazing and humbling to see how these universally binding relationships metamorphose, adapt, and evolve. It gives me hope and fills me with wonder and joy at the whole rotten thing. These families who deal with a harsher reality than mine daily, are probably closer to the real meaning of life.
That is to say, every emotion must be felt deeper when it is hinged on or framed in light of a shorter life expectancy. Or every moment of joy must ring brighter and be more exquisitely monumental than could be appreciated by a "normal" healthy family's. Every time they slip quickly into the despair of "why us" or think of life "after"...must bring about such harmonizing closeness of spirit with our Maker. The gifts are there. These parents seize them, cling to them, and share them with us. For that I am truly grateful. I feel like I know these children. I look forward to reading about how their day is going. I weep when they have down times, and praise God for the joyous moments.
Beautiful !
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