What Was I Thinking?

I did not think I could do it. 18 hours on a bus. Joined at the hip with 7 pre-teen girls for a week. What was I thinking? I pulled myself together and said...I can do this. I will survive. To make the trip as comfortable as possible we brought blankets, a comforter and a pillow. We packed up the area where are feet were supposed to go so we could make a small bed. Upon completion, it was not what Meredith had in mind. But, it worked. Meredith has several pet peeves. Don't we all. Let me just share one. One of her biggest pet peeves is gum chewing. She rarely chews gum and is highly annoyed when people do. There is no way I could have gone 18 hours on a bus (I am going to try and say 18 hours on a bus as much as I can) without chewing some gum. Give me a break. I must confess, at one point I ask God to deliver her while she was at camp from this bondage. It really bugs our entire family. When Katelyn wants to really get her sister, she takes her gum out of her mouth and starts chasing her. Now that's funny. So really, the only time we had issues was when I decided to chew gum or when I got up and started acting like a fool for the kids. She asked me to sit down several times. I told her when she was sleeping, I was going to put 10 pieces of gum and in mouth and have me a big time. She was afraid to close her eyes. Sweet revenge:)

Back to my question...what was I thinking? Well, I guess I was thinking how much I love and and value my daughter and how I desire more than anything in this world to pour my life into hers. Not just my life, but the life Christ has given to me. It was a joy to take this journey with her. I was so thankful that she got some things this week. Ken Freeman spoke on the power of a parable. Each day he highlighted a different parable. It was awesome. On Tuesday he spoke on the parable of the sower and the soil. You remember the story. The sower sows seeds in different conditions. Some seeds fell along the road and were trampled on, others were sown in rocky soil and when they grew up they withered away because they had no moisture, and some fell among the thorns and were choked out. But finally, there were seeds sown in the good soil, and grew up and produced a crop a hundred times as great. He shared with us that the soil is our heart and how some of us have hearts of stone and thorns. What goes in the heart must come out. It's like the food we eat. If we continue to fill our bodies with food that is bad for us, we will reap the harmful outcome. His word....Proverbs 4:23 "above all else, guard over you heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." It's all about what is in your heart. The more we fill our hearts with the things of this world, the less we want of Jesus. It's just that simple.
Not connecting in worship, feel like God doesn't even know you exist. Is is like you are talking to a wall. Examine what you have been putting into your heart. Most of us, most of the time, put in more bad than good. We just do. Want to get back where you belong? Work on the soil of your heart. Get back into God's Word and let it plow up that hardened ground. Soon the soil of your heart will be fertile again and you will blossom with the beautiful life He desires for you to have.
Meredith got this. And I am grateful to God that she did. An 18 hour bus ride...no sweat. The gum chewing issue...I can live with that. Seeing your daughter grab hold of a life changing truth...all worth it. This is all part of my journey this week.