Pause Before Reacting

Lysa shared the following story:

A few years ago, Art and I hit a rough place financially. Some investments we'd made went bad and we lost nearly our entire life savings. I was knee deep in 3 small children at the time and hadn't a clue that financial danger was looming on the horizon.

That is until Art came home one day and the look on his face spoke of utter defeat. How could we have lost so much? He'd been wise with our finances. He'd done his research. He was a faithful saver. I stood stunned in our foyer that day, as Art told me the news.

There were many different directions my reaction could have gone in the minutes that followed. I was upset. When Art first talked of making these particular investments, I shared with him that I didn't have a good feeling about it. But, in the end, I let him make the final decision.

So many times in my marriage, I've chosen the wrong words - words that were tainted with bitterness, words that were emotionally toxic. But I'm so thankful the Lord had been working on preparing my heart for this moment and instead of reacting immediately with what would have been a disastrous response, I paused.

I was able to wrap my arms around my husband and speak life-giving words into his weary heart. "I love you Art. I loved you yesterday when we had everything. I love you today when we have nothing. I love you for who you are, not what you have."

A few years later, Art and I were on Dr. Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program. On the show Art was asked, "I know you and Lysa had a rough start to your marriage. But what happened that made you know you'd stick by her forever, no matter what?"

Without hesitation, Art recounted my reaction over the lost investments.

I cried.

I realized how crucial it is to always be aware of God's preparation in our lives. Because He stands in our yesterday, today and tomorrow, He sees all. And He knows the perfect way to prepare our hearts for every situation.

When we embrace His preparations, even a girl with firecrackers in her blood like me can have reactions that honor God and breathe life into relationships.


"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1

Where are you looking?

If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner! The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.


The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkably nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.


A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.


There are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. They are struggling about with all their problems and frustrations, not ever realizing that all they have to do is LOOK UP!.

"Growing Pains"

Some days all you can do is breathe.

It hurts when you do everything you possibly can to help some one you care about—and despite everything they walk away with a chunk of your heart, leaving a bleeding hole.

God cries with you.

No matter what, we all have our free agency and he will never take that away even though he shares the pain, and "growing pains" can hurt a lot.

Tomorrow is a new day…

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to his will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with Him forever, in the next.

-Reinhold Niebuhr

Are We Being to Loud to Hear?

I was tired of not being able to find anything in my closet and every time I shoved something else inside, the thought I needed to clean it, shouted at me. I was good at ignoring that voice, reciting in my head a list of more important things needing my focus, instead. But, that messy closet nagged at me. Whenever I would find a few minutes not already filled with another task, a little voice in the corner of my mind would echo the annoying chore was still undone.

How are our hearts like a cluttered closet? Are we ignoring the quiet voice of God telling us what we need to change in our hearts? Are we hanging on to past mistakes, sadness, un-forgiveness, unproductive worrying and even anger? Do we listen to negative self-talk, selfishness, and despair? What kind of chaos is running rampant inside?

We can clean out a disorganized closet, discard broken or un-used items, re-arrange and return things to order. But we can't change our hearts by ourselves.

Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

In this prayer of David's, in the Bible, he was asking for a new heart, a clean heart, and a spirit like Christ's. He knew the only way he could gain a clean heart, was through Him. It is the same with us. We must ask God to cleanse the clutter in our heart, to renew it. He loves us and He will, but we must listen--His guiding spirit whispers.

Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.