OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW

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OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW

Some days clouds prevail. Rain refreshes the earth (if there’s not more than the ground can absorb). While having no sunshine may dampen my spirit, my thoughts drift to Jesus the Giver of both sunshine and rain. Both sunshine and rain provide opportunities to grow.

Opportunities come with good and bad

Gardens produce grows with the warmth of the sun and the moisture of the rain (along with needed nutrients in the soil). In like manner, God gives spiritual growth in good times and bad. If given a preference, we likely would choose sunshine over rain and completion of our plans with no interruptions. Like a rock, God remains the same at all times. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Opportunities from failure

Yet all sunshine and no rain yield a desert like environment. We learn lessons in failure but we miss lessons altogether when we lack problems to solve. Rare is the day when we have no delays. With waiting times, come new opportunities for spiritual growth.

Opportunities in my Life

Beginning in 1999, my husband David labored in Alabama to build our new house and grow food to eat and sell. However, I stayed in South Carolina  with my job.

Also my aging mother lived in South Carolina. As an only child, I felt the need to care for her. After she broke her hip in 2000, I moved her first to a hospital, then to a Medicaid bed in a nursing home. Her hip surgery went well and she recovered. David found a Medicaid bed in Alabama in expectation of us all living in Alabama. Then mom broke her other hip. We saw this as God’s saying He had a different plan for my mom. She went home to heaven in 2003.

Refocusing opportunities

When I give myself to God for His use, my annoyance vanishes as my eyes refocus on God’s better plan. Now He has my attention! God moved me to Alabama in 2010 when I had a new job.   My boss allowed me to take with me to Alabama.

Opportunities for growth within marriage

Consequently, God strengthened our marriage the eleven years David lived in Alabama and I lived in South Carolina. We went to church on Sunday. We read our Bible and talked to each other during the week. I’m told a large battery retains energy better when given a steady, low dose of power. God’s trickle charge of church on Sunday and personal Bible study fed us strength as needed. By these means, God accomplished His purpose and met our individual and family needs.

With the unique abilities and skills God gave each one of us, He can accomplish some task using us as individuals as His specialized tool. “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” (Psalm 32:8)

Keep your eyes open to some ministry God may have for you today. It might be right under your nose!

 

https://youtu.be/ZYkZE8AogDE

Shirley Logsdon

Spiritual Incisions

 

https://www.treadingwatertiljesuscomes.com/2018/02/06/spiritual-incisions/

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About Shirley Logsdon

I am the only child of Christian parents who wanted me to know God personally as they did. One night during church we watched a movie depicting a family in their home accepting Jesus as their personal Savior. I was nine and realized then my desire to make Jesus my personal Savior. With the full support of my parents, I met with the pastor and prayed to receive Christ. A few years later, several of us around the same age began classes for our confirmation to become church members. The privilege of taking communion was a special time for me. . During my teenage years I was outwardly complacent, but was inwardly rebellious. I developed the nasty habit of disrupting harmony in the household by nitpicking at anything and everything. A preacher came to hold revival services at my dad’s church and nailed me silently with looks. This helped me tremendously. I turned a corner and began to respect and obey my parents in attitude and actions. I survived these years through prayer (mine, my parents and friends). The love and tenacity of my parents and God’s grace got me through these years of upheaval. I readily identify with David the Psalmist when he said in Psalm 25:7, “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to Thy mercy remember Thou me for Thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.” Because my parents provided a stable home life for me, when I went to college my Christian values remained intact. After completing my education in 1979, I started working. For a while, I worked at temp agencies, then I did odd jobs. I settled down in a secretarial position in 1986 working for a firm specializing in retirement plan administration. In 2007, I started working for a law firm, eventually becoming a knowledge management assistant in their law library, helping to alert attorneys to new business opportunities. I am a productive citizen of my country in large part because my parents prayed for me and made clear by word and example what they expected of me. I am extremely grateful to God for them. John 15:5 is my life verse: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” I am confronted with this realization every day I live, and it helps keep me on the straight and narrow path. I met my future husband at church. After a few years of our two families getting acquainted, he and I started courting. We married at the church where we met, in the presence of many relatives and friends. We have been married for 29 years. My hobbies are reading, cooking, and canning or freezing what my beloved husband grows in the garden. Also, I thoroughly enjoy writing. While my writing has included poems, most of my writing has been letters to family and friends. I like to share my faith when I write and am fond of adding a Bible verse or two to help focus on the source of our life. Since I am now retired after working 38 years, I can concentrate on keeping up with birthdays. Something else I enjoy is studying the Bible, often with others. Blogging is a new form of writing for me. I am getting my feet wet and I’m beginning to enjoy the experience.

One thought on “OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW”

  1. Beth Brown

    So thankful God led you and David to AL and Fairhaven. Each decision we make is so crucial, but he still directs our path. Great message Shirley,

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