Are You Going to Listen?

Invite her to church.

I heard it several times. I don't know her. I only see her in passing when we're both out walking our dogs. We chat about the weather and about our aging chubby friends (the dogs....ha ha).

Invite her to church.

The voice kept prompting me.

But I don't even know her name, I prompted back.

Which, by the way, is an excuse I thought was pretty valid. I mean, usually that kind of invitation is given to someone you at least sort of know. I didn't even know her dog's name. So we were pretty much strangers.

And neighbors. So there's that.

I was pretty proud of myself for shying away from an invitation due to now knowing her. But you know God, He's got this great sense of humor.

I visited the salon and guess who was checking out as I walked in?

Yep. Her.

She looked at me and said, "Aren't you the lady I see when I'm walking my dog? What's your name?"

I told her my name and then she replied with hers.

I just know God was up there watching and laughing because now I had no excuse.

I told my friend Melissa about my mission that I now had to fulfill. I watched for the Woman With A Name the next time I walked. And the time after that.

I finally saw her again. I quickly got out my phone and sent a text to Melissa who would hold me accountable. I approached the Woman With A Name and greeted her by name and then invited her to church.

It wasn't as scary as I'd thought it would be.

Yes, even a veteran PW can be timid.

She hasn't joined us yet but when she does I will greet her by name.

God knows me well enough to know that I will listen eventually. I'd like to think I can handle situations the way the heroes in the Bible did, but I find myself more often like Jonah as he's scheming ways to get out of going to Ninevah. That didn't work well for him. I'm still learning.

What has He been telling you to do? Are you going to listen?

Comments

Small Changes: Peanut Butter and Jelly

I eat the same thing for breakfast every single day. Most people think it's weird, I just think of it as fuel to get my day started. I was never big on cereal, mostly because I don't like milk. Other than a little splash of it in my tea I don't drink it.

I start my day with an organic brown rice cake with peanut butter and jelly on it. It works for me. The peanut butter provides protein and the jelly provides the yum.

I prefer the Lundberg Farms brown rice cakes. Brown rice is a good carb, white rice is a bad carb. White rice has no nutritional value and turns to sugar in your system. Brown rice is a whole grain and is a much better choice.
I get the lightly salted ones. I find these in the organic food section of my favorite grocery store.

Now, let's look at some peanut butter and jelly. For the peanut butter I just chose Skippy because it's a brand that everyone is familiar with. I prefer the natural peanut butters, but if you don't like the texture of them and …

Small Changes: Shredded Cheese

Today we're not just talking cheese, we're talking shredded cheese. This is the time of year when everyone has a party or picnic to go to, and most of the time you need to bring a dish of some kind. Many of these dishes call for cheese.

Sidenote: I'm so in love with cheese that I have to restrict it from my diet 99% of the time. I cannot be trusted with the creamy goodness that is cheese. Colby. Cheddar. Mozzarella. Gouda. Gorgonzola. Monterey Jack. Cream. Pepper Jack. Sigh. I love cheese, but it does not love me. It tempts me ever so. Today at lunch I splurged and order chicken parm. I only ate about half of it and that should last me several months. My body works much better when I stay away from cheese and dairy in general. Though, surprisingly, ice cream does not affect me in a bad way. Hmmmm.....

Anyway, back to cheese. Many recipes call for shredded cheese and the food industry has listened and provided a myriad of choices in the shredded cheese department and they hav…

It's Not A Blessing if you Had to Sin to Get it

Pretty strong words but also very true. I once heard a man say his girlfriend was, "A gift from God."

Except she wasn't because she was still married to someone else. Glenn wiggled in and turned her head and snatched her away from her husband and children.

How dare he think God had anything to do with that.

He doesn't work that way. If you want His blessings then you need to walk closely with Him. He will never bless sin. He can't. He is unable to. Sin is what separates us from God.

Glenn may think he is living a blessed life as he runs on emotions and feelings but nothing like this will prosper. In the end it will lead to destruction.

It already has. The family he destroyed will never be the same.

Suzanne Schaffer

Search This Blog