Did you ever just want to scream at someone: your kids, your friends, your spouse, anyone , to say “Wake Up”! Why can’t you see clearly? That’s what I feel right now. “Why can’t all this wisdom I’ve gained change YOU?!?”

Think back to when you were in your late teens and someone tried to impact some truth on you. How did you react? I know what I thought…they’re clueless. They just don’t get it. I remember my father’s “Haroldisms”, as we called his words of wisdom. Back then, I didn’t get it. Today though, they resonate clearly. I remember a friend’s father repeating over and over, “Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God.” At the time, I thought he was annoying and irritating, but now those words are seared in my mind. I also remember watching a Godly woman demonstrate what a Christian wife and mother should live like. Qualities that I aspire to today.

In this week’s sermon, Pastor Nate discussed being prepared for judgment day when Jesus returns. He shared, “My desire is that you would just wake up.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it was just that easy to “wake up” or that easy to “wake up” the ones we love?

If any of you are parents of a child entering adulthood, you can understand. You love your children and want the best for them but you aren’t in control when it comes to changing their hearts. In his sermon Pastor Nate noted how preparedness is not something you can transfer to another person. Each individual has to make up their own mind. It comes down to their choice, not yours.

That’s a tough place to be when you love your children so deeply. I’m learning through this season in my life that I’m not my children’s savior, Jesus is. And sometimes God has to rock our kids hard, in order to wake them. So as a parent, you may need to get out of the way and let your child be woken up.

Reflecting back over the last 20 years, I realize God didn’t just bring me out of my sleep all at once, but gradually, awakened me. So while you may just want to scream at someone to “Wake up! Jesus is coming!” You may just need to quietly continue to plant the seeds.

How can you plant seeds to help others to gradually “wake-up”?

Blog entry by: Sherry Engel

What do Candy Lightner, Donna Whitson, Bill Wilson, and Robbie Parker all have in common?

Candy Lightner – lost daughter in a drunk driving accident - founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Donna Whitson – daughter kidnapped and murdered - co-founder of the Amber Alert
Bill Wilson – suffered with alcoholism - co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
Robbie Parker – lost a daughter in Newtown shooting - a light to others during the tragic loss of his child

All of these people experienced extreme pain and sadness. All of these people turned their sorrow into love in action.

Every single one of our lives is full of hurts of one kind or another. There is no one exempt from brokenness. So situations come into our lives. We experience pain. We have scars from that pain. What do we do with those scars? Do we just cover them up? Do we become bitter and angry? What we do with the pain we’ve experienced is pivotal.

Baron Batch, Pittsburgh Steelers running back puts it this way.

“God gives us scars sometimes to remind us where we’ve been and more importantly how he’s healed us. Once we have those scars we can show people and say, look, this is what God’s done for me. “

Pastor Nate’s message last week taught how we should Love All. He defined love as a big deal, in action, with a specific target. We can easily become overwhelmed by pain, either our own or by the world’s. We can’t fight the fight for every single battle that exists. God created us with limits. But as Mother Theresa put it, “If I look at the masses, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.”

Look around you. Look at the one. Who is hurting? Who is hurting like you’ve hurt? How could God be calling you to Love All through your scars?

Blog entry by: Sherry L. Rhone-Engel