“I need Mom,” two year old Timothy whined as I hefted him onto the countertop in the bathroom to help him brush his teeth. “I know baby. You’re so sleepy. Lolly’s here,” I replied in my most soothing voice. “I need Mom,” he restated, oblivious to my efforts at consoling him. “Mom’s here, buddy, but she’s getting her shower now. Lolly will tuck you in,” I continued, steadily proceeding with his bedtime routine. He was nearly past comforting when I kissed his forehead and placed him into his race car bed. He kicked the covers I offered away so I switched off the lights and started my prayer. He was asleep before I said amen. Almost five year old Thomas had taken my cues perfectly and we silently snuck out of the room and across the hall to read two chapters in his latest chapter book series, The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls by MJ Thomas.
Their mom, my daughter, Caroline, is entering her third trimester. Thomas and Timothy will have a baby brother by September. Her doctors visits shifted from once a month to biweekly so she is traveling my direction less but I’m still guaranteed to see their family regularly as I go for her scheduled appointments. Living two hours away means growth spurts in the boys are glaringly obvious and I work a little harder to reestablish routine when we are together. Like every relationship, ours is a work in progress. I don’t get to take part in as many of the everyday activities that I share with my in town family but I’m learning to make the most of each opportunity.
“Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.
Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.”
Colossians 4:5-6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/col.4.5-6.NLT
I still find it incredibly ironic that after researching over the course of several months and having prayed for several years, God led me to write under the banner of Proverb 15:23.
“Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!”
Proverbs 15:23 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.15.23.NLT
I searched for a web page, specifically a dot com, that came directly from scripture and pointed always to God in Jesus through His Word. I regularly find myself mulling over past conversations for days, finally stumbling on the perfect response or the best scripture long after the opportunity has passed. I appreciate the irony from the perspective of Jesus, who said, “without Me you can do nothing,” even as I remember His promise to teach and remind me, while giving me words to say in the moment. (John 15:5, John 14:26, Matthew 10:20)
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you.
For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”
John 15:4 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.15.4.NLT
I am called to faithfully steward a gift entrusted to me by my gracious Heavenly Father. He has been patiently teaching me by His indwelling Spirit and His Word for nearing five decades. He continually prunes away what is unproductive and any growth, any increase is His.
“After all, who is Apollos?
Who is Paul?
We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News.
Each of us did the work the Lord gave us.
I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.
It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering.
What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.
The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose.
And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.
For we are both God’s workers.
And you are God’s field.
You are God’s building.
Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder.
Now others are building on it.
But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 3:5-11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.3.5-11.NLT
“Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.
Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you.
I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.
Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”
Galatians 1:4, 8-10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.1.4-10.NLT
Paul masterfully explained and defended the Good News as revealed to him by Jesus on the road to Damascus and in the days, weeks and years that followed. Paul testified that he trained as a Pharisee under Gamaliel, the same expert in religious law who defended Peter and the apostles before the high council after they were arrested for refusing to stop teaching in the name of Jesus. (Acts 5) God leveraged Paul’s education, his logical mind, and his passionate pursuit of truth to change the entire known world but not in the way Paul expected when he left Jerusalem for Damascus with letters in hand authorizing him to bring Christians to trial for their faith in Jesus. God rarely does things the way I anticipate or expect. Still I praise Him for not giving up on me and for accomplishing infinitely more than all I could ask or imagine through His power at work in me. (Ephesians 3:20)
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”
Isaiah 55:8-11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.55.8-11.NLT
Spring drought when April showers were meant to bring May flowers followed by unseasonably low temperatures and heavy rains in summer reminds me that God alone holds the key to the storehouses of heaven. (Psalm 135:7) He is sovereign over the elements as He is sovereign over everything. We are all a work in progress, created anew in Christ Jesus as God’s masterpiece so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10)
“But now you have been united with Christ Jesus.
Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.”
Ephesians 2:13, 18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.2.13-18.NLT
“So be careful how you live.
Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.
Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.
Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 5:15-17, 20 NLT
A Fitting Reply 