Flying just nine doors down

Charles L.

Originally posted on June 18th on Proverbs 31 Ministries by Karen Ehman

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.’” Mark 12:30-31 (NIV)

In the two years since we’d moved into our new neighborhood, I’d seen her on my walks. Sometimes she was rolling her trash can out to the curb. Or in her front yard watering her flowers. I’d smile and say “Hi” for a brief second.

After all, my neighborhood is big; my life is busy. So I’d pop my headphones back in and keep walking to my house, just nine doors down.

Awhile back, there were flashing lights, sirens and all things alarming in our neighborhood. A fire, maybe? … I thought as I drove into my neighborhood, returning from an errand-running venture. My mama’s heart raced. My 12-year-old son was home alone. Had he burnt some toast and set the smoke alarm system blaring? Or worse?

As my car approached, I saw it was not my house, but another house nine doors down. Relief for my soul.

And though the rescue vehicles were parked in front of my nine-doors-down neighbor’s house, no fire appeared to blaze there either.

Must have been a false alarm, I reasoned to myself.

Two days later, I heard the awful news. No fire. No smoke. Just a terribly saddened soul.

You see, just nine doors down, something happened in the mind of my nameless, flower-watering, smile-and-say-hello fellow human being. Something told her this life wasn’t worth living anymore. And she agreed.

Now her heart no longer beats. Her flowers still grow, but she can’t water them anymore. I can still walk by her house, lost deeply in the Jesus-music blaring on my iPod. Staring straight ahead. Rushing to the next thing on my to-do list for the day.

Nine doors down, there will be no more hand-waves. No smiles as I stroll by. And no more thoughts of, I should stop and find out her name. I haven’t really met this gal yet. If I’d reached out and befriended her, would she have seen Jesus in our friendship?

Could we have walked the neighborhood streets together? Maybe gone for coffee to get to know each other a bit? Would a glimpse of the perfect God in the life of an imperfect me perhaps beckoned her to have a relationship with Him, too? Would she have found God’s purpose and peace instead of finding a way to end her emotional pain?

God only knows.

I am a woman who wants to love God, but so often I am too busy to really love the people He puts plainly in my path. But this love, as today’s key verse declares, is more important than all the sacrifices we could make.

I cannot beat myself up. But I can do something. So can you. We can pause, permitting God to tap us on the heart, gently interrupt us and rearrange our day.

We can go deeper … beyond a hurried “Hi!” to an authentic, “How are you?” When God knocks on our hearts, we can knock on their doors.

Will you do it? Will you try? Then once you’ve reached out, leave the results to God. Our job is obedience. God’s job is results.

Trust me, it is AWFUL to get to know your neighbor through the tales and tears of her relatives at a memorial service. I wish I had made the time and gotten to know her personally.

May we all respond to those taps on our hearts today and not ignore them. God just may use us as He saves a life.

After all, remember it isn’t that far of a walk … just nine doors down.

Dear Lord, I want to be aware of the times You tap my heart, asking me to reach out to someone. May I pay attention and respond, so they might know You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
James 4:17, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (NIV 1984)

Proverbs 3:28, “Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you’ — when you already have it with you.’” (NIV)

- See more at: http://proverbs31.org/devotions/devo/just-nine-doors-down/#sthash.0JG8BAAs.dpuf

Flying turning worry into worship

I love this website Proverbs 31 ministries. I have written about it before.

This post especially spoke to me. It is by Karen Ehman

"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." Proverbs 31:25 (NIV)
 

I think I have the worry gene. And I'm sure I got it from my mother. She passed down her aqua blue eyes to me, her slightly-crooked smile and her tendency to worry.

This trait didn't show up when I was younger. In fact, when I was a teenager, I thought it strange that my mom couldn't go to sleep until I got home. Then, I had teenagers of my own, and now I do what she did: sit on the couch appearing to watch television, while my mind rehearses the quickest route to the hospital, or perhaps even plans a funeral.

Before I had children, I didn't understand the stories my mom shared about her concerns for my health. When I was a toddler, she took me to the doctor because I kept falling when I walked. After observing me play in his office, he assured her that my mind was working faster than my legs. I wanted one object and headed toward it, but then changed my mind and wanted something else.

You'd think the story would have calmed my own fears when I became a mom. Not so. When my first-born was more than a year old and not yet crawling, I was certain something was medically wrong and headed to the doctor.

Today, I find endless reasons to worry. Kids. Marriage. Finances. Health. Relationships. The future. If I let my thoughts run wild, I can concoct all sorts of terrible scenarios, all starting with "what if." What if my husband gets laid off? What if my aging parent needs to move into a nursing home or live with us? What if I get sick and can no longer care for my family?

Over time, I've noticed something about worry: 99% of my past dreads never came true. However, I spent oodles of time fretting about them. How I wish I could redeem that time, to do something productive instead! What if I had turned my worry into worship?

Contrast my attitude with the woman in today's key verse, Proverbs 31:25 says, "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." No weariness in her thoughts and actions. She laughed at the days to come! Not in a careless sort of way, but with a confidence that came from God.

Because she wore strength and dignity due to her faith in God, she had a smile on her face and a chuckle in her heart when considering the future. She trusted in God, whose faithfulness in the past assured her He would work out circumstances in the future.

This has happened many times in my life. Often, things that concerned me have turned out to be blessings instead. For example, when our son was in third grade, we discovered he had severe dyslexia. Oh, the time I spent worried about his academic progress! Even fun milestones for other children were cause for fretting. Would he pass his hunter safety course? His driver's ed written test? And what about college?

God used my son's learning disability to grow my faith. As I learned to turn my panic into fervent prayer and praise, and trust God's plan and timing, my relationship with God strengthened. Plus, we saw our son grow stronger and more confident as he overcame each cognitive hurdle.

That's just one way God worked in me to replace my worry gene with confidence in Him. Each time I've turned worry into worship, I find it easier to laugh at the days to come, like my Proverbs 31 sister.

God knows my future as well as He knows me. My job is to seek to know Him more as I place my future in His hands.

Oh, and to laugh a little more often.

Dear Lord, help me turn my worry into worship, believing that You alone know the future. May I rest in Your loving arms, knowing You have my best interest at heart. In Jesus' Name, Amen.