Father, I am surely blessed! I have friends in so many places, and I’m glad that where I currently work is no exception. Please bless those around me, and if I can be a conduit of that blessing, use me! Amen!
********
Earlier this week, I stepped into our elementary school between routes and saw a boy who has ridden my bus a couple of times this year but regularly gets on and off at a family member’s house. I’ve had to correct him a few times when he’s been on my bus, but it has never been anything crazy out of line. It’s the usual – sit down, stay out of the aisle, don’t play over the seats, please. I do that with many of my kids.
When he saw me, he stopped, turned around, and hugged me. In his short conversation with me, in a roundabout way, he acknowledged he wasn’t the most obedient kid around and that he was doing better, and that I would be amazed at how much he’d improved in his behavior. I encouraged him and said that I hoped that I’d see him soon.
What registered in my heart and mind was that I didn’t think he was that bad of a kid. Yeah, he’s a boy through and through, but that doesn’t make him a bad kid. He is full of energy (most boys are!), but that doesn’t make him a bad kid. He gets excited and probably reacts quickly in certain situations, and more than likely, those reactions aren’t always the wisest…but even that doesn’t make him a bad kid.
My heart went out to him because, without really saying such, he was apologizing to me for being bad and, oddly enough, sounded like he was hoping I would give him a second chance because, for some reason, he felt like he’d let me down.
I have no idea what bus he rides, but I am eager to have him ride my bus again, to assure him that he’s a good and loved kid.
Lord Jesus, I come before You asking…well…asking that You would help me to be quick to love and not so quick to judge or label or to hold to too high of a standard. I honestly don’t think I did that with this child, but I may have done so with others.
As You well know, I have been going through 1 Corinthians 13 – and really, I’ve just gotten started, but I acknowledge that love must permeate my heart, soul, and mind in my interactions with everyone!
Looking into this boy’s eyes and seeing the longing in them – longing for love and acceptance – really took hold of my heart.
Father, how many times have I stood before You like this boy stood before me? I know I can do better, and I really want to, but sometimes I’m as human as human can get. Sometimes, my energies are directed in areas that are not best for me, and I react toward things in not the wisest of ways. I, too, have longed for love and acceptance…and with You, that is what I get. Every. Single. Time.
May I be like my Father. Amen.
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. 1 John 4:7-12 NLT
Dec 20th, 2023, Wed, 7:48 pm
