Do you talk to God?

The other day I was out walking on a nature trail, talking to God, telling Him how beautiful the birds and the trees and flowers are. Just inhaling the serenity of my surroundings.(This doesn't happen often so I was absorbing as much as I could.)

I glanced over to my right and a tree caught my eye. It just jumped out at me. The tree was straight at the trunk and about a fourth of the way up it begin to curve to the left then around to the right and straight up again. The tree was as tall as the others, it simply had a big curve near the bottom of it.

Have you ever seen a tree like that? One that has grown around power lines? Or one that was curved this way and that? I would like to think you had. If not then keep a look out because they appear everywhere. I digress.

When I spotted this tree on my walk, God spoke to me. (No I'm not crazy) He explained that a tree will grow straight up but sometimes there is an obstacle in its way or sometimes it gets trimmed back by outside forces (in the case of the power lines). Does the tree continue to grow in the direction of the obstacle or the direction? No. It grows around it towards the sun. And then He whispered, "That's what you must do. You must grow around your obstacles. It will not be easy and it may hurt but you will find your way and you will stand stronger than the short, growth stunted person that you were."

All I can say is WOW. Here I was just walking along, communing with God, and He throws this life changing message my way. Have you talked to God lately? Not a formal prayer but more like a phone conversation between two friends. Perhaps all you do is pray and you forget to wait quietly for the answer. Take a moment and listen. It just may change your life.

Proverbs 20

Lord, Direct my thoughts and my dreams. Direct me to the path you have chosen. In Your Name I Pray, Amen

Proverbs 20:4,7,11,13,20,21

Again I am reminded to renew my integrity (or to find it) and to not be lazy. I must remain patient and diligent. I must not rush things. Blessings are not rushed, they are cultivated. My children are young now and they try my patience even on my best days. But I must remember that God entrusted them to me to raise up to love him and to be intelligent, productive, God-fearing members of society. It is my job to train them, to teach them right from wrong and all the life skills that they will need in their future. I am equipped with this knowledge and I know that God will continue to guide my hands when need be.

Proverbs 16

Father God, Thank you for the many blessings you have given me. I come to you with a sense of peace. I focus all that I am on you. I pray for guidance. Guidance for my day and my life. In Your Name I Pray, Amen

There are too many verses in this chapter that spoke to me. I mean too many for me to put them all here. So I will list them and then have my say.

Proverbs 16:3,7,9,18,21,24,32

I have learned that I must look to God to show me the way that he wants me to go. If we let God direct our path then we will have peace and wisdom.

We must speak with kindness and compassion, not with ager or judgment. Harsh words only wound and harm people (especially my kids) and nice words will help heal their souls and their bodies and help them to learn instead of be angry like mommy. I need to be slow to anger. Be patient. They say be careful what you wish for. I used to pray for patience, now I have four kids, a dog and a gecko (yes like on the commercial). See I thought that God would just bless me with patience. Nope. He simply keeps adding to my plate until I figured out that patience was inside of me all along. He just wants me to use it. Whenever something happens that makes me angry I have to take a deep breath and realize that whatever it is normally is a result of something I didn't do. Are the kids extra cranky this morning? Did I try to wake them up at the same time I should have so that they don't have to rush to get out the door? Are they whining at me at dinner time? Did I wait too late to make dinner? Or did I not give them an adequate afternoon snack?

So the next time you lose your temper, remember, stop, breath, and think. What did I do to contribute to this situation or my anger level? What could have I changed before or during the event to keep my temper in check? These are questions I'm going to be using quite often.