When I was younger, I often remember walking downtown in San Antonio, Texas, hearing people standing outside on the corner sidewalk with a bullhorn calling all to repentance and to turn our lives to God. I remember thinking that this was very invasive, and, not only that, but loud. I believe that God calls us to declare daily His unconditional love and His mercy, but I do not believe that we need to "shout" it out quite in the same way. As we begin to walk with the Lord, as we begin to know Him better through prayer and reading the scriptures, I believe that He gently nudges us to softly declare His goodness and salvation for all in the little things that we do. When we respond in love to others who choose to abuse us verbally, when we call upon the Holy Spirit to calm our hearts and allow us to "stand firm" and respond in kindness, then we are more effective witnesses to His power to change us to be more like Him.

I was reminded of this during the past week when I had a confrontation with a mother whose child suffers from bipolar disorder. In my teaching experience, I have had many opportunities to supervise undergraduate and graduate students in speech pathology, and, in this instance, I had taken a young lady under my wing, determined to give her a good student teaching experience. Instead, I became the target of the mother's anger when the student broke down and could not take the demands of the student teaching assignment. After I got to hear about how uncaring and unresponsive I was to her child, I was confronted with the fact that the cross on my necklace did little to identify me as a Christian. I was taken aback for just a second and then at that moment, I chose to ask the Holy Spirit to give me the ability to listen, accept and acknowledge the mother's feelings, instead of responding to it personally. I know that this mother was trying to do what was best for her daughter, but she may have been doing too much. I continue to pray for this student, her mother and myself daily. I am also reminded of the scripture that says, "Look to Him to direct your paths, your words, your thoughts, and you will find that He will guide you in all His ways." (Proverbs 3:5-6 paraphrased)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, give us the grace and strength daily to call others to You by our thinking, behaviour and actions which often speak ever so much louder than our words. Amen.

Often I am reminded that we are living in an age of relativity. In this age, we do not seem to hold God's laws as absolute nor look to Him for direction and guidance. How often are we bombarded by people telling us to call the "psychic hotline" for direction for our lives? How often do shows on television present life without respect to morals, telling us to live our lives so that we are "happy" regardless of the hardships and pain that may result for our families and others? It is as if the Ten Commandments are only relevant to some past time, far removed from our modern-day world of instant information and gratification. This is no more evident than in the western world where people have great affluence, time to enjoy, and constantly hear a call to "do your own thing." God calls us all to proclaim His word (the laws written within our hearts and the laws He graciously provided for us through Moses), whether it is convenient or not, and to adopt it as our standard. We are to be the bearers of integrity, righteousness and truth, and always to do so with love. Love is ever giving, ever forgiving and ever responsive to other's needs. Loves opens us up many times to be hurt by those we love and care about, for the sake of building up God's kingdom.

This past year, I have struggled to seek the Lord's guidance in how to deal with my now ex-husband, as I recover from the shock of his adultery, his rejection, and the dissolution of our marriage of 24 years, through a no-fault divorce which he successfully pursued. I ask, "How can this have happened to me?" I tried to live a godly life, and at least three times I sought reconciliation. Twice, I know I tried to reach out to him to point out his shortcomings as a Christian man and husband, only to be told by him to "stop hitting me over the head with your Bible." I now know that my part, my ministry, calls me to be a woman of integrity, godliness, forgiveness and love. I am to be kind, compassionate, considerate, patient, gentle and encouraging, not so much in what I say, but in how I live these truths. Living and doing what Jesus asks is not easy, but we are to do it nevertheless. God places us in situations where we must grow and develop His God-given gifts to us. However, we must not forget that we cannot do this without first going to Him daily to be nourished, fed, equipped, and refreshed for our ministry. One of my friends often tells me that God wants us to grow where He has planted us. Through prayer, fasting and humbling ourselves each day before the Lord, we will be able to hear His voice and know how and when to reach out to others to evangelize. But for now, I am ever mindful that, in my life at least, I am to be but one example of God's standard. Will we endeavour to provide that example to others? St. Francis of Assisi once said, "Tell everyone around you of the great love of God. When all else fails, use words."

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to listen and to seek you daily, so that we can be examples or standard-bearers of integrity, love, righteousness, truth, godliness and forgiveness. Feed us daily for our unique ministry to others, and help us to reach out to others, preaching and living Your Word. Amen.

Jeremiah 31:16-17 – (NIV) This is what the Lord says: "Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded," declares the Lord. "They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future," declares the Lord. "Your children will return to their own land."

It has been just a short time since my husband of 24 years initiated and successfully extracted a divorce from me, shattering my life and separating me from my two teenage sons. My youngest child, a multihandicapped daughter, has remained with me. Through this time of transition and trials, I have learned much from God's word and from the support of His people. After the anger, rejection and loneliness, comes God's healing love. What has the Lord taught me? The Lord reminds me that in spite of all that has occurred, I am still their mother. Not only does the Lord call me to pray for my husband's salvation, but also for the salvation of my children who are now living with their father.

Even though, every once in a while, I find myself questioning my Lord's directives and the world seems confused, I know that I should want to pray for them. I know in my heart, through His Word and through circumstances, that I must be burdened to pray for my children. The passage above brings me great comfort and joy knowing that God's promises extend to our children if we but continue to pray and live, to the best of our ability, the Gospel message of love in our own lives. We must remember to become burdened and fight for those whom God places in our care. Though Satan may have come and stolen our husband and family from us, if we continue to pray earnestly, with forgiveness and with confidence, then all will be reconciled to God our Father in His time. This great work of intercessory prayer he has called all of us as parents to do. We are to stop weeping and walk with faith, "praying constantly and with thanksgiving" that our children will also come to know, love and live with the Lord.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to become burdened to pray daily for our families, especially the children you have entrusted to our care. Help us to live and extend your message of love and hope as models for our children, and to bring Jesus, through us, to touch our children's lives. Amen.