Simple Thoughts

I will share a few thoughts for today.
1) My wife shared something with me that was so simple, yet was a tremendous blessing to me. She shared about how when she was young, she would pray about everything. The simplest and most meaningless things. A school test, a new toy, a new friendship. One time she and her friend were scared so they hid in the closet and started praying for safety. She shared how she yearned for that childlike faith to pray on any occasion. As adults, we have so much more on our plates, yet many a times we are even less dependent on God. If God delights in a childs prayer for dessert after dinner, why would He not listen to the cries of our hearts in our adulthood? "Pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks; for this is Gods will for you in Christ Jesus"

2) Growth REQUIRES struggle or pain. A few weeks ago, my newborn child become very very fussy... Crying more often than usual. He was also hungrier than usual, feeding more often. After some reading, we realized that he was probably going through a growth spurt. Yet sometimes his cries sounded like his simple world was crumbling down. In every phase of life, we come across new struggles and new pains. New faith stretching situations that can make or break our character. It most often happens in big life changes: going to high school, enrolling at a college, being in a relationship, a marriage, becoming a parent, experiencing loss. It isnt wise to compare our hardships with others as it is unique to each one person, but rather to grow from each experience. Introspective reflection is extrememly important to realizing that growth. To align it with the word of God gives you the clues to what He is trying to teach us and mold us into.