loving

Sunday, January 10, 2010 (6:30 a.m.)

Mm. Most Holy God,

Thank You! Really. Truly. Deeply. Thank You!

I never imagined that ‘speaking the truth in love’ (Ephesians 4:15) with my mom yesterday would result in her and I having the best day together that I honestly ever remember.

Lord. You are GOOD! I definitely didn’t see it coming. You planted in me the idea of examining 1Corinthians 13:4-8a together with her. I verily felt held within Your parameters (framework, limit, boundary). There were moments when I felt ready to fly off the handle, but You were there speaking YOUR truth in love to me.

You spoke kindness and goodness and patience into my heart and I was able to practice them. Oh most Holy God, thank You!

Mm. Lord. I read Your Word. And I read in Your Word, about Your Word. Side commentaries reaffirm what happened in Mom’s kitchen yesterday right before our very eyes. “It is God’s will that we love; without love nothing else matters.” Amen! “Love is more than a feeling. It is a choice of behaviors that grows in our life; it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, produced in our life as we yield to God.”

It is Lord! I felt it. I knew it as I was choosing to take a deep breath and hold in the mounting frustration. I asked instead of telling. I listened instead of insisting. I heard her Lord. I actually, honestly heard not only what she was saying, but what she was feeling as well.

Thank You God. Thank You! It is only and all because of Your perfect love for each of us that I could even begin to have such an extreme experience as this. Another glimpse of grace with You! Your perfect, generous, loving grace.

So Lord, this I give to You. My thanks. My hope. My praise. My worship. All my adoration. Asking only for Your strength and power in helping me to give my mom what she wants from me… “A loving relationship.” YOU do it Lord! In and through me.

I love and thank You. Amen.

(351 words ~ 7:29 a.m.)