The Plumbline

Do you remember being in school as a kid and looking forward to that last bell of the school year - when you knew school was out for those summer months and you were going to 'luxuriate' in all the fun and games summer offered? It was different hearing that final bell at the end of the school year than all those bells announcing the end of a school day, wasn't it? It had a sense of 'freedom' or 'liberty' that you were excited to embrace. It meant you were going to be able to sleep in, frolic in the pool, have sleep overs, and even perhaps enjoy a family vacation somewhere. If you were honest, you almost were giddy with excitement at the possibilities laid before you with all that freedom at your fingertips! I wonder if we feel that same sense of anticipation and almost 'giddiness' with our freedom in Christ - the place where we lay down all the stuff that burdened us and then launch off into a new found freedom. It is a place where we find ourselves ...

Honestly, there are times in this world when I feel like I am talking and I don't think anyone is even listening - not a human, not an animal, and not even God. There have been times as a mom when I was saying something to two very blank faces staring back at me in what many would call their looking at you, but we don't hear a word you say kind of face!  There have also been moments when I have tried to just engage someone in conversation, only to find they have never been listening to a word I said because their answer is so totally different than the question I asked! I chuckle now at some of the things mom answered when she heard something so totally different than what I ever said or asked, just because she was hard of hearing and in the early stages of dementia. We've probably all been in this situation at least once where we find ourselves chuckling over what we thought we heard, but it was totally different than what was spoken! Thank goodness God is really listening...