Oreo Cookies!

I may have mentioned in past blog posts how the demographics of our little community where we live have changed over the last few years.  When we first moved in during the summer of 2009, the majority of our neighbors were older folks without children.  It was a quiet neighborhood (maybe a little too quiet!) and most people tended to stick to themselves.  But during the spring months a couple of years ago, we began to notice that a change was in the air.  “For Sale” signs started showing up on various houses along with a few “For Rent” signs.

Within a seemingly short amount of time the sounds of children playing came to our ears.  We noticed that the family pool was getting more crowded than the adult pool, and the various playgrounds around the community had kids playing on them!  Now don’t get me wrong here!  I think that this is a good thing!  Both my wife and I love the sounds and sights of kids in the neighborhood.  To me it is the sound of life!  And this morning was no different…

As I sat quietly in my study meditating on the Word in I Peter chapter one, my reverie was broken as the chatter and laughter of two tiny voices wafted through my open window.  Many times in the morning I see one of our neighbors and her two kids going out their door which is visible outside the side window in my study.  Today was different though, in that they never came out.  I could hear the kids playing, but I never did see them.  It must be a stay at home day today!

The children’s squeals of excitement and fun seemed to set the morning ablaze with a sense of energy and expectation of good things to come.  I had to stop what I was doing and just smile at the pleasure they brought to me, along with the memories of happy times.  Their innocent joy was very encouraging to me!

That experience this morning also went right along with what I believe the Lord was showing me in my quiet time with Him.  Isn’t it amazing how He can take something that’s happening at the very moment and use it as an object lesson?  I was reading from I Peter 1:14-17 concerning some of the benefits of living a life that mimics Christ.  The Message Bible simply encourages us by saying, “As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness… Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God.”

God’s way of life, a life that is deeply conscious of Him, allows us to live a life that’s energetic and blazing with holiness…  even when you may find yourself smack in the middle of some of your toughest trials!  And believe me, I can fully attest to this!  When you are focused on Him, you can still face each day with a fresh expectancy, a smile on your face and a grace-filled word of encouragement for others!

I had to make a rather hard decision just about a year ago.  After going through many months of frustration, confusion and repeated hurt, I followed my God-given instincts and decided to let go of a few activities and personal contacts in my life that kept trying to pull my vision off of God’s plan for my wife and I.  I’ve mentioned before that one of the hardest parts of this journey that my wife and I have been on has been the way others close to us have handled the situation.

I shockingly discovered that some folks whom I considered to be strong and mature Christians continually attempted to get us to take our eyes off of how we knew God to be leading us through His Word and onto either potential worldly solutions or what I simply considered as “things” or get us to put God into the same little box they had Him in, while they completely ignored where our faith was!

Their suggestions did not bring peace nor lend itself to a life blazing with energy and an expectation of God’s best for us.  What I heard was fear in their voices, words that were not encouraging, but confusing, and a future that was filled with more “don’ts” than “do’s!”  I finally realized that God’s life, His way, should be totally freeing and not constrictive.  I had so much going on with my wife’s health needs that I just couldn’t take the drain that these individuals and activities where taking from me.  So, I swallowed hard, listened to that small still voice on the inside and with a little hesitation, let go!

And this is new ground!  As someone in the Old Testament said, “I have not gone this way before!”  I’d always been the one people went to!  I’d always been the encourager!  It made me think of the Oreo Cookie technique that my wife shared with me early in our marriage when I needed to correct one of our boys.  She gently took my arm as I went into the bedroom where he was waiting for me and softly suggested that my words be like the famous cookie.  She said to start the conversation off with something positive and encouraging (like the black cookie wafer on top), then talk about the corrections that need to happen (the white cream) and follow it up with closing words, once again, of encouragement (the bottom cookie wafer!).  As I thought on this, I realized that I had been receiving lots of white vanilla cream and no cookie from these folks and activates.

God’s way gives us a choice surrounded with lots of encouragement and grace!  And that’s the way our loving heavenly Father wants us to respond to others!  As I have mentioned many times before, now that I have been on the inside looking out, I will definitely look at and minister to the hurting people that come into my life very different than I did before!  So… why not BE an Oreo Cookie today?  Surround someone’s life with encouragement, love and grace and help them to see life as a blazing, energetic experience that is focused on God!  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What Good Things am I expecting today”?