Holding Little Hands

Somewhere between the 3rd and 4th birthdays of both my girls, something magical happened: When out running errands or such, I could just dangle my hand behind me and a little hand would grab it. Before that magical moment, I would always have to search out the little hand and grab it before crossing a street or stepping away from the the car in a parking lot. I remember a conversation with my cousin where I told her that I always held Abigail's hand and walked her to her preschool teacher instead of pulling up and letting her hop out of the car. My cousin told me to enjoy it because she knew from her own experience with her Kindergarten aged son that my days were numbered. I made a point from then on to cherish every time that Abigail let me hold her hand and I began the habit of telling her, "I love this little hand." I braced myself for the dreaded day that my dangling hand would be met with the inevitable "Mom! I'm too old to hold your hand!" that my cousin warned of. Well, Abigail is 8 1/2 years old and it's been quite a while since it has been necessary to hold her hand before crossing a street, but every once in a while she blesses me by grabbing my hand. When she does, I send up a little prayer of thanks and even though that hand has grown to be not so small, I still squeeze it and tell her, "I love this little hand."

Daily Miracles

I am currently doing Priscilla Shirer's new Bible study titled, One in a Million. In this study, the author compares our modern day walks with God to the journey of the Hebrews out of captivity in Egypt to Canaan, the land promised to their ancestors. The title comes from the fact that of the roughly 2 million Hebrews invited to the Promised Land, only two actually entered it. In other words, only one in a million actually reached the intended destination. The author maintains, that of the millions of modern day Christians that go to church every Sunday and hear about the abundant life that Christ promises, very few actually live it.

John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. "

The author compares the wilderness that God's chosen people wandered in to our current trials and struggles. While the Hebrews wandered in the desert they grumbled and complained about their circumstances despite the fact that they had been liberated from slavery and were experiencing God's miracles on a daily basis. At one particularly terrifying moment, the people cried out to Moses: "Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Exodus 14:12).

Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴ The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:13-14)

In this life, when we find ourselves facing an impossible situation or even our every day trials, the author encourages us to be the 4 thing that Moses told the Hebrews to be:

1. Be fearless (Trust God)
2. Be still (Let God do His job)
3. Be watchful (Open your eyes to what God is doing)
4. Be quiet (Guard yourself against complaining)

One of our study leaders gave us a challenge this week. She encouraged us to pray that God would heighten our awareness to His activity and then look for those daily miracles, even those little things that could be chalked up to coincidence. Not only am I going to take this challenge, I am going to take it a step further and look for the blessings in those situations that seem at first to be only negative. I'll keep you posted.