Hands

I miss my Aunt Linda. She had great hands. The thing I noticed about her before she was laid to rest was how beautiful her hands were. I can remember when I was a little girl her saying that I was lucky because I still had young looking hands. I remember thinking that I hope my hands look liked hers when I am older. She had life in her hands. So much that they had been through, yet so beautiful. My grandmother and my mother have great hands as well. Hands tell a story I think.....

October 13, 2008
A Woman's Hands
Sharon Jaynes

Today's Truth
"She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy." (Proverbs 31:20 NIV)

Friend to Friend
On a shelf in my living room sits a black and white photograph of a young girl that was taken in the early 1900's. Her hair is pulled back with an oversized bow peeking from behind the edges of her head. Her dress is typical of the times with puffed sleeves and a brimming lace collar resting on her shoulders. She isn't smiling and she appears to be somewhat awkward, timid, and I dare say, even afraid. This is a picture of my grandmother Anderson on her wedding day. She was fourteen-years-old.

As I gaze at this amazing woman who bore twelve children and then miscarried eleven others, I am always drawn to her hands. Hanging uncomfortably at her side, are hands that seem much too large for her petite frame. "Anderson hands," my mother calls them. I surmise that God must have known this little lady would need a big heart and big hands to embrace all that life would send her way.

Like my Grandmother Anderson, all of us mothers need big hearts and big hands. Our hands grip the bed rail in pain in the delivery room; then gently caress a newborn for the first time. Before long, those hands are changing diapers, washing bottoms and faces, cleaning spit-up, wiping tears, rocking sleepy heads and placing babies in a crib. Then they are holding a toddler's chubby hand and grabbing him to keep him out of harm's way. Tossing a ball, preparing holiday dinners, setting a festive table, tying packages for birthday parties and Christmas presents. Coloring and cutting out shapes in workbooks. Picking up leaves and bugs for collections. Pushing a swing and letting go of a bike as a child first learns to peddle on his own. Sewing party dresses and mending torn baseball jerseys, washing scraped knees and spooning out medicine. Holding the sweaty palm of an awkward adolescent while dancing around the den, tying the knot of a neck tie and pinning on a boutonniere for a first party. Writing letters to children away at camp or folding hands in prayer asking for the Lord's protection while they're away. Tightly grasping the steering wheel while chauffeuring children from one place to the next or gripping the seat as a teen learns how to drive herself. Hands that wave goodbye as a son drives off to college and hands that adjust a cherished daughter's wedding veil. A mother's hands are loving hands, disciplining hands, grieving hands, protecting hands and providing hands. They embrace the child and then, when the child is ready, she opens them and lets them go.

Let's Pray
Dear Lord, thank You for holding me always in the palm of Your hands. I pray that today, I will use my hands for good: to help a child, to give a hug, to pat a back, to cook a meal, to touch with kindness, to caress with love. I lift up my hands to praise you and fold them in prayer to intercede.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.

Now It's Your Turn
Go back and think of all your hands have done over the past week. Make a list of how you have used your hands to love others.

Make a list of how the touch of other people has encouraged you over the past week.

Proverbs 14:1 says that the wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down. What are some ways that we can tear our house down with our own hands? Are there any destructive uses of your hands that need to be eliminated?

Think back to all the ways your own mother loved you through her hands. You may even want to write a list or even write her a letter of thanks.

Making Your Heart Sit Down

This was a devotional I read this morning...

October 9, 2008
Making Your Heart Sit Down
Mary Southerland

Today's Truth
Psalm 90:12 Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom. (NLT)

Friend to Friend
Every minute of every day is either wasted or invested. Since the Bible contains over 400 verses about time, we can safely assume that time management is important to God. In fact, it is a spiritual discipline. We not only need to view time as an eternal investment, but as an immediate one as well. One of the most valuable investments we can make is to spend time in solitude.

I once read an African proverb, "Lord Jesus, make my heart sit down". Solitude is deliberately and diligently setting aside time to "sit down" at the feet of Jesus. It is in those still, quiet moments of solitude at his feet that we can more clearly hear God speak and gain strength and wisdom for the journey ahead. In order to practice solitude, we must learn how to budget time.

It's been said that women must balance their time more carefully than men because women don't have wives. The fact is we are all responsible for how we spend the time God has given us. Time is a precious gift! Every morning we are credited with 86,400 seconds. No balance is carried into the next day and every night erases what we fail to use. If we use it in the wrong way, that time is lost forever and cannot be reclaimed. Un-budgeted time gravitates to our weaknesses, is stolen by others or wasted on the unimportant. We must budget time, just as Jesus did.

Luke 2:52 "Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" (NIV).

At the age of 12, Jesus traveled to Jerusalem with his parents for the annual Passover Celebration. When his parents began the long trip home, they did not miss their son at first and when they did, assumed he was traveling with friends. Jesus was found in the temple, teaching. My first reaction would probably have been pride in the fact that religious scholars and teachers were actually listening to my young son. I would most likely have encouraged Jesus to continue, basking in the looming recognition and acclaim. Instead, Jesus returned home where, for 18 to 20 years, he simply grew. Luke 2:52 tells us that Jesus grew mentally, physically, spiritually and socially. In Luke 3, Jesus begins his ministry, the most powerful ministry ever known. In other words, Jesus Christ budgeted his time wisely, resulting in a balanced life of fulfilled purpose. We can live the same kind of life if our priorities are right.

Set priorities: Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that "there is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven" (NLT). We either set our life priorities or allow circumstances and other people to set them.

Schedule priorities: There is a right time and a right way to carry out right priorities. Ecclesiastes 8:5-6 warns, "For a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight" (NASB). We must schedule time for solitude. We must set aside portions of each day to spend with God.

Stick to priorities: The apostle Paul teaches us to "make the most of every opportunity" (Ephesians 5:16 NIV). Every challenge will either wreck our priorities or affirm them. Right priorities stand firm in the face of change.

One day, we will all stand before the Father and give an account of how we invested our time. Today, examine your time management habits in light of eternity. Initiate schedule changes that honor God. Make a new commitment to invest your time wisely.

Let's Pray
Father, I recognize my need for time alone with You. I lay down my schedule, my agenda and anything else in my life that would keep me from that time. Please forgive me for the way I often squander away the minutes, hours and days of my life. Give me the power to invest time wisely and wisdom to live a balanced life.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.

Now It's Your Turn

Choose to practice solitude - today.
Select a place to spend time in solitude -- today.
Lay down your agenda.
Focus on Him and listen for His voice.
Memorize Psalm 37:7 "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him." (NIV)
Ask yourself these questions and use the answers to shape a plan for regular solitude:
Why am I afraid of silence?
What is the greatest obstacle to solitude in my life?
What steps do I have to take in order to remove those obstacles?
What do I hope to gain from time spent in solitude?

More From The Girls
Learning to rest and be still before God is so important to our spiritual growth, strength and maturity. It won't just happen. We have to carve out time to spend alone with God in solitude. Time spent in solitude allows our heart to be still before God. Solitude filters through all of the voices in life and seeks out God's voice above the rest. I encourage you to read Psalm 23 every day this month and find time each week for solitude. The book and/or CD, Escaping the Stress Trap, will be a helpful tool as you learn to make your heart sit down