Little Reminders of Love

There are times when all it takes is a little whispered, “I love you” to turn your day around. I know some teenagers that that is all it would take to have their heads spinning for days! I think I had one of those moments where you sense God whispering “I love you”. I don’t mean to say that I have joined the ranks of Joan of Arc and I am now hearing voices, but I had one of those coincident that I would like to think was God answering a prayer that I hadn’t made yet.
Last week within a couple of hours of posting about my bug problem there was a knock at my front door and a man I had never seen before said that he was in the neighbourhood and had just finished spraying my neighbour’s yard for bugs and would I like him to do mine too. The timing was so perfect, that I have to believe it was God providing for me and reminding me that he loves me. My bug battles aren’t completely over since my yard was sprayed, which isn’t all that surprising having watched the way the guy applied it! But I did get a better night’s sleep.
How has God been whispering, “I love you” to you? Are you looking for it?

Sleep Deprivation and Other Distractions

We are battling with the elements these days and I think the elements may have the upper hand, especially at night. Hot season is still in full swing and our air conditioner is less than cooperative, choosing to rattle and bang at will and without forewarning, but I must say that Dave is getting pretty quick at pressing buttons on the remote in his attempts to tame the beast in the night. If the air conditioner was our only struggle, I think we might have the upper hand, but unfortunately we are also waging war against cockroaches that come visiting. I thought we had them under control last week after a lengthy battle that included spray (designed to kill, but really only useful for smoking them out into the open and slowing them down) and many flying shoes. We did succeed in having a few peaceful nights after that battle, but last night they found reinforcements. I almost slept the first half of the night while they seemed to focus on Dave, but toward the wee hours of the morning he was sleeping and I knew why he had been complaining about the bugs!

Not surprisingly the worst nights have been on the days when we have felt like we were starting to make some progress with our ministry. Friends that we have been working with for awhile have started to ask spiritual questions and we invited someone to come and study the bible with us this afternoon. I am so glad that God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness; with the lack of sleep I am feeling pretty weak and I have the additional task of covering Cole’s bible class this week as his teacher is out of town.

To Be Free

The other day we were driving down the street and Dave noticed that the police were “collecting” motorcycles again (which happens on a somewhat regular basis when the police check to make sure that the drivers have their proper papers). He suggested that we go home and tell our house helper that today would be a good day to drive around town. About two months ago, we decided that we didn’t want to be responsible for him losing his motorcycle in a similar manner because we had asked him to go on an errand for us. So we offered to pay for his insurance for the year which allowed him to be able to afford to get the proper license plates and things that he needed. The next time that he came to work for us after getting his plates, he was very excited. He said he just wanted to pull over the next time he saw a policeman to show him all of his paperwork because he knew that they were all in order. He had been driving around the city for three years without having the proper paperwork and living with the threat that he might lose his motorcycle. Dave said it was just like what’s written in the Bible:

5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 Jn 1:5-7

As long as our paperwork is out of order and there are problems in our life we treat God like the policeman—always looking for a back alley or hidden back street in order not to be confronted with the problems in our life. But when we come to him in confession and repentance and clean away all the stuff that we’re trying to hide we’re free to come out of the shadows and experience the fellowship that we both desire.