Footprints in the Sand

One of my favorite poems is Footprints in the Sand.  This has always been a source of encouragement to me, and I was thinking of it today.

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed He was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from His life. For each scene He noticed two sets of footprints in the sand. One belonging to Him and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of His life flashed before Him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of His life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of His life.

This really bothered Him and He questioned the LORD about it. LORD you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.

The LORD replied, my precious, precious child, I Love you and I would never leave you! During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.


This represents to me, that no matter what, God is there.  There are so many times when I think that the stress of life is overwhelming me, that I ask God, "Just carry me."  And He does!  How comforting to know that He is there.  There are many people in life that feel so overwhelmed with grief, stress, whatever, and they don't have the strength of God to carry them through.  That is so sad to me!  We need to do all we can to share the same hope that we have with the world!  Don't put yourself "in a bubble" and miss out on all the opportunities you have to share hope.  Don't live your life "going through the motions"--get out there and share!  

SLOW DOWN!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, maybe it's just me, but it seems like my kids are growing up WAY too fast!  I was getting my oldest (who is 2) dressed the other day, and thought "Is it normal for a 2 year old to wear a size 4?"  I mean, I am not in any way a large person (height-wise, we won't go the other direction), and Caleb is average as far as men go, so WHY is my 2 year old an Amazon-woman?!  It made me think of the times to come.  She starts school (WHAT?!) in a year!  My baby is going to go to "the big pink school" and learn to read, color in the lines (although she does a pretty good job now), and probably a bunch of other things I haven't even started to think of.  SLOW DOWN!!!!

My son is rolling over now, starting to sit up, and trying his hardest to get into anything he sees his sister getting into. I mean, seriously, I just held him in my arms yesterday, right?  He is small for his age (still in 0-3 at almost 6 months), but he is so so sweet and the one word I think I can use with him is joyful.  He is just so happy (now, thank the Lord), and I can tell he is going to get into just as much trouble as his sister.

There is nothing that we can do to slow down time.  My dear friend Sarah (Heart Revelations) said it in one of her posts, that she wishes sometimes she had a fast-forward button.  She then went on to say that who knows what she would miss in the times she fast-forwarded.  Very true!  But some times I wish I had BOTH...a fast forward AND a slow down button (is there such a thing?).  


Although we can't have those amazing buttons that would give us what we want, we can take advantage of the times we do have with our children.  One of the verses that has really been my encouragement with the kids is Proverbs 22:6-Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.All I can do is take the time I have with these precious children, teach them right, and then trust that they will do the right thing as they grow older.  It may be faster than I want, but at least I know that I did the right thing in getting them on the right path.  

Lord, take my children's lives and mold them into what YOU want them to be. Guide me as I teach them what they need to know to live godly lives, for YOU.  Give me patience (because you know I really REALLY need it) with them, and help my love point them to Your love.

Pray?

How many times have you heard that word?  Pray...such a simple word, but how many of us have just thrown the word around as a simple answer to something.  Yes, it is a simple answer, and it is something that is needed, but really, do me take it seriously?  It is so easy to tell someone to pray, especially when life is going well for you, but do you ever wonder how the person you are telling to pray feels?  Of course they are praying!  When you are in a situation, and it's not looking good, sometimes the last thing you want is someone telling you the obvious--pray.  I've been guilty of that.  Someone pours their heart out to me, and I say, "Well, just pray about it".  I know there's nothing that I can do about it, so I give the answer that eases the guilt off of my mind.  But there is something I can do.  I can pray for them as well.  I can ask them how they are doing, and I can look around to see if there is anything special I can do for that person to ease up some of the pain or stress.  As Christians, we know we are supposed to pray for things.  But on the flip side, as Christians, we should go out of our way to look for ways to encourage a brother or sister who we know are going through something.  That in and of itself would probably go a long way in helping ease some of the "burden" that person is carrying.

Another thing that's been on my heart concerning this issue of prayer is when you tell someone you will pray for them.  How many times have you said that to someone, only to totally forget about it?  That person really needs that prayer you promised (because hey, we all could use every whisper to God we can get), and you let them down!  Think about it that way!  I probably am guilty of this more often than not, sad to say.

So here's my challenge.  Really think about the next time you tell someone to pray.  Think about a different way you can uplift that person.  And pray for them yourself.   And the next time you tell someone you will pray for them, do it!  It takes a minute to tap a reminder in your phone if it's for a certain time, or just stop right there and pray for them!  Can you imagine what a reaction that would get!  I can imagine how I would feel if I asked someone to pray for me, and right then and there they prayed with me!

Rethink that beautiful word, pray.  And go out there and do something about it!