I just recently read a great book about a family who sold everything they owned to travel the states in an RV with their 4 children. Their mission? In a nutshell, to love God first, love others, and inspire people to discover their passion and serve others. It is an intimate look into their lives and their hearts. Not only did it inspire me, but it also challenged me to take a deeper look at all my existing relationships, both past & present, and evaluate my role in each one of them.
Let me explain. First, this family are friends of mine, Jay & Beth Loecken. I met Beth 21 years ago and we instantly became friends. I believe it was a divine appointment by God because she has been an inspiration to me ever since. We spent 2 years growing as friends, before she met & married her husband Jay and moved away. I moved too. But we kept in touch.
In their book, Beth shares intimate details of her life and after reading them I was brought to my knees. I never saw past the surface. But God is using her story to ignite in me a deeper desire to see & know people more intimately; To dig past the surface, past myself and past all my superficial problems, so I can care less about monetary things and more about people and eternity; So I can see deeper into the lives of others and have real relationships...the kind we were made to have...with others and with God.
How many of us say to each other, “How are you?” and don’t really listen to the response? Or when we’re asked, we don’t really answer honestly? So many of us have relationships that we call intimate or close, but are they? We get together with friends, share coffee, go for walks, concerts or “a drink” together, package it up, tie it with a pretty ribbon and call it a relationship. How many people have we done this to? How many have done this to us? Do we really know them? Do they really know us? Are we really listening? Are they really listening? Do we really see into their lives? Do they really see into ours? How deep and honest are we willing to be with each other? Are we digging or just scratching?
Haven’t we also done this very thing with God? We go to church, read the Bible and pray. Hmmm...scratch, sniff...voila! Relationship. Nope, that’s called religion. “I’m a good person”. Nope, that’s not a relationship, either (and we’re not all that good). Just as much as we want real relationships with people, God wants a real relationship with us. If we are going to achieve this with either or both, we have to dig deeper; ask more questions; listen more; talk less; give more; take less; others more; self-less...we’ll only get as close as we are willing to be; with each other and with God.
Recently, a client in my chair asked me “how do you pray? Is there a certain prayer you have to say?” I replied, “do you have children?” She said, “yes”. I asked, “would you want your children coming to you everyday with a memorized script of words and that was all they spoke to you?” Her reply was obviously “no”. I think my point was made.
"Many will say to me, on that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast our demons in Your name and done many works in Your name?' And I will say to them, 'depart from me, for I never KNEW you..." Matthew 7:22,23
Scratch & Sniff and you’ll only smell...
Scratch & Sniff and you’ll only smell...
or “Taste and see that the Lord is Good.” Psalm 34:8
P.S. Order the book, it is very inspiring! Here’s the link:
Dear sister, I did not even know you had a blog, enjoyed your post!
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