Category Archives: Eclectic Mix

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It’s So Lovely to Know You

I’m glad to know you, however that happened. I’m grateful for the smiles and laughs we shared even the hard stuff through the years. You’ve made my life better, and that’s no joke.

Every conversation mattered . . . so much.

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I like being thankful. I’m thankful for so much. I’ve been blessed, abundantly blessed, and you are part of that blessing. I’m thankful for your friendship.

God brought every one of my friends to me.

Everywhere I’ve lived, I have had a true friend. This friend is someone I share specific parts of myself. I have learned to trust my friends. I used to think it was wrong to share intimate details of my life. I thought private matters should remain private. I was raised thinking that way, but I have learned there is a right time for everything. That’s wisdom.

I feel privileged when you share your heart with me.

A book I read that really helped me realize that I could and should be vulnerable with people was the book Safe People. I saw myself in that book. I was one who held back from sharing (which makes it awkward for others to share when we hold on tightly to our stories and don’t share what may be helpful–things that we have learned from or are dealing with).

Sometimes, neither of us have anything significant to say.

But that does not matter. What matters is that you are there. You show up. You care. You support me. You love me and I love you. I’ve toned down some. I realize that I can dispense unsolicited advice, as my friends know, but that isn’t always good or necessary. It’s enough to be there for one another. Loving my friends and them loving me is what is essential. Love is the thread that makes the relationship strong. Genuine acceptance is a close second.

The more we become real in our authentic relationships, the closer we can become.

The falseness, the pretending, falls off, slips away, and we know we can risk being honest and saying the truth with our closest friends. Trustworthy friends keep confidences. We also stop hiding. Once we die to our false self we then are able to repair and grow. I read where one man of God prayed every day that God would keep him authentic. He learned to rest in God’s Presence. Slowly God’s glory follows on the heels of pain as He teaches us to enter His Presence. We then become encouragement to others.

As Betty Walthour Skinner said in the book about her life, “I had compassion for them because I had suffered too, and my stony heart had been broken to allow love to enter. I was able to encourage them to use their suffering to end their suffering. . . . Our pain and our cross can and will speak to the wounded hearts of others in God’s time and in His way (The Hidden Life).”

The grapes are squeezed to gather the juice. We are trampled by circumstances before we can become broken bread and poured out wine for others. Our friendship may be a silent one for those who read my blog and don’t interact with me, but it is a friendship, nevertheless. You are beloved by myself and by our heavenly Father. It is such a rich relationship, centered in the Beloved.

God makes every day better.

. . .

I wish you well on your spiritual journey.

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The Gift of Foresight

foresight: the ability to predict or the action of predicting what will happen or be needed in the future.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Definition of foresight

1 : an act or the power of foreseeing : prescience through foresight, she could tell what the outcome would be. 2 : provident care : prudence had the foresight to invest his money wisely. 3 : an act of looking forward also : a view forward.

Practical application.

I’m going to admit something here about myself that I’ve rarely mentioned to anyone. Things occur, decisions are made, and I can almost always predict the outcome of that decision before it happens. I guess this is the gift of foresight. However, what I really think is going on, is I have a broad understanding of human nature, and how it works in the scheme of things. Also, I have some slight em-path tendencies. Also, common sense enters in.

God may have gifted me with foresight.

Foresight is both a good thing and a bad thing. I often know what’s going to happen before it happens. I know personalities and how they react or handle things. For example, I remember when my church was voting on a youth program that costed $600. I also knew the youth leaders, and their leadership style. I knew before we voted that the money would be wasted, the leaders were sort of all over the place (not to disparage them, they did a good job). Yet, I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to rock the boat. The church bought the program. It was barely purchased before the program was abandoned. It wasn’t a good fit.

Since those long ago days, I’ve learned to speak up. But sometimes I’ve dropped the ball, those times I should have spoken but kept silent. I felt the pressure of group-think, where fears of going against the grain kept me from voicing an independent view, where maybe I could have brought more clarity to the conversation. I’ve learned that if you keep silent, people think you are in agreement with those vocalizing and pushing to influence the outcome. In those cases, group-think was not the best solution for the situation. Two or three years later, it proved to be disastrous.

Foresight looks forward to the future. Wisdom, discernment, and forward-thinking benefits from looking at a choice and its possible outcomes–to the institution, people, culture–and if it will possibly cause damage control issues or worse. People can be their own worst enemies. In fact, sometimes the thing may be good but still not God’s will for you, your church, or your family.

Patience is a virtue.

The problem is that people steamroll ahead without giving serious thought to consequences of the choice or action. I think we’d all be better off if we would give serious prayer to decisions before we make them. God’s will is discernible. But sometimes people don’t want to wait long enough to listen for His will. Often, a waiting period is required before God reveals His will. Believers can be too impatient, and believers can do it their own way, impulsively at times. They think their solution is the right solution. Yikes!

Nope, not good.

Most of my ability to use the gift of foresight has a natural flow that impresses me with what’s going on. Sad to say, these incidents rarely are positive. Sometimes I’m down in the dumps for weeks and can’t talk about the issue with many I know. A couple close friends are trusted to handle these concerns of mine. Other times, spiritual warfare comes as a result of a wrong choice, which is never pretty. You can spot it by the confusion of people talking over other people and not hearing each other’s heart.

*I am not referring to supernatural foresight, an ability to foretell an unknown entity without any knowledge of the said event.

Influences and outcomes.

I wrote this post to encourage you as you place your stuff in the Master’s hand. God is not slack concerning His promises. He always welcomes us. Foresight doesn’t matter in the scheme of things, but wisdom does. If God is prompting you, don’t ignore it. Act on the prompting. His Spirit will guide you in the right direction without fail.

Some of the past has included wounding by our fellow Christian believers. Move forward. Let it go. Choose the right thing. Confront the past issue when necessary. Don’t live in bondage to the thing. Welcome God’s healing. Welcome His joy. Trust Him to carry you forward. Find God’s peace that passes all understanding.

God is gracious.

I wish you well on your spiritual journey.