Generations

They were staying at my house for a week or so becasue they were remodeling....and moving into a new house. Catherine and William (ages two and three) were my early risers...and how I loved hearing those little footsteps tiptoeing down the stairs...They jumped in my bed and would watch cartoons a few minutes and then it was time for juice....and their engines were no longer on idle. Oh what a blessing to have the honor to be an active part of their lives.

But there is a big difference in having the grandkids by myself and having mom around. They are a lot of work...and a demanding lot at that. The hats that parents wear are changed and interchanged more times that we can count....from encourager, to teacher, to leader, to organizer, to cleaner, to disciplinarian to camp director. I often times wonder, after watching my girls, how Mel and I had the energy and with only a limited amount of wisdom and discernment to raise our own kids But then I think and recall "you just do what you can do...and hope that some of the good stuff catches and latches and the not so good stuff is a reminder to be a lesson in itself that they will not repeat."

Generations....we are handed down things from our parents, they from theirs, and we hand things down to our children and they to theirs...we make memories, set goals, and live as we do out of what we have learned along our way. We try to teach worthy lessons, but when it is all said and done...I truly believe it is by example, how we live not so much what we say, that has the greatest impact....on what any of us pick up. These little birds that were living at my house were watching every move. They not only would mimick what we did but also what I said. William would not eat his eggs....but when he saw how gramps ate his eggs, with a bite of sausage attached to the fork with a bite of eggs...William was all over it ... "Gramps...watch"....I can do that too...and his breakfast quickly disappeared. Ok, that is not one of those worthy lasting lessons...but it is a clear and visual picture of children watching those who they adore and making mental notes as to mimick them.

We have an opportunity each day even if we do not speak of JESUS ....to act as he would have us act. To mimic the behavior and the ways of Jesus, our heavenly parent, that we have come to know. We are often so unaware of others who are watching...but sometimes, as I know you too have heard it said: We might be the only bible that that anyone ever sees or knows". And you have to ask yourself...what are they learning by watching....and is it worthy of mimicking....

We have rules and boundaries of God that we have been taught...but we , just as our children, step over them all the time. And we might think we are getting away with it....and get by with it ...but God sees everything that we do...and sooner or later it will catch up with us just as we so often catch up with our childrens' oversteps. We are in positions each day to live by good example...to seek the right way, and do the right thing....to obey and be respectable and honorable and humble to God and also to others. . And those are characteristics that we are called to draw upon....and live by. Those are traits that are worthy to catch and latch onto. If we live by them...then we are living and teaching by example and not just by word.

God is not the only one watching us..it doesn't matter what position or status of life God has placed you in....you are in a position to have a positive influence of someone else who is around you. Family, friends, acquaintances, and even people you meet in the street....and sometimes what we are able to teach is a small lesson that will be passed down to a generation. I know many of the Godly lessons I have learned in my life are those that have been passed down to me..from one generation to another....and those lessons have not all been from family.They are good things, and good lessons that I have latched onto...and incorporated in tnto my life and hopefully have passed and am pssing one to others....not necessarily by what I say but but by how I live. Just thiknk a minute about what you are passing down to others by how you live....and the values that you hold fast...and the priorities that you embrace...Godly ways are ways of value...but to live by them we have to know them...and to know them we have to be on watch and seek to learn them. And once we do, we have to accept the responsibility that God has offered us to live under his influence.

We are all someone's child...but we are God's child first and foremost...and he continues to teach us about life each day that we live it. If we are open to instruction and humbly seek His ways, and submit to His guide, we will find joy and a true peace that overrides the chaos and adversities that we are constantly faced with. God is watching...but we each must know that as God watches us he is loving us and trying to teach us lessons of worth and value...His lessons. And It is through those lessons that we learn to approach life in a faithful and trusting manner....and we are showing others how to do the same.That faith and trust must be in the name of God alone, the make of heaven and earth and the only one who has sole control of universe and everything that is in it....not in man and in worldly seductions....that make hollow promises of satisfaction or success. May we sit at his table and watch Him and mimic HIm in all that he does....and trust in the name of His son Jesus to strengthen us in our acceptance of His ways...and His example.


Philippians 3: 12-16
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the reminder to live each day according to your example. I know that even as I try hard to accomplish this mission, I am completely unable to do it without the guide, support and encouragement, and persuasion of your Holy Spirit.
So, I ask that you keep me focused on what is right and good and continue to give me the help that I need to floow it through. Amen

Praise God wherever you are or whatever situation you are allowed to be in...For His glory will shine through.

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