LISTENING & TELLING

 by Judy Richardson 

July 13, 2021 

Our spiritual lesson this past Sunday had to do with listening to others stories and telling our own. It was about letting our life experiences with God inform others who are already forgiven through Jesus Christ. 

I do not believe my spiritual story is completely written. Despite my age, I still feel the effect of being the youngest in my grade from 4th grade all the way through high school. I was barely 17 when I started College. 

Now I am 72 which I reached while visiting Universal Orlando with my grandsons Nate and Connor, ages 7 & 9 respectively. My daughter Pam and son-in-law Dan and my husband were there. 

Beyond praying for the safety of my grandchildren, I was fearful that I wouldn’t be able to keep up. In advance, I walked daily in Bluebird park, up and down hills, logging 2+ miles each day. I began this program a couple of weeks before we went to Universal. I had no problem keeping up. In fact Pam and Dan complained of sore feet and there were days when we logged 7 miles going back and forth between theme parks. 

It was glorious to be in a fantasy world and discover the cute little details built into the Harry Potter world of Diagon Alley and Hogwarts castle. Watching my grandsons react was pure pleasure. 

No doubt prayers helped me enjoy my family through this holiday, but preparation cannot be ignored. I believe that God expects me to prepare properly for the tasks I undertake and he guides me as I experience my life story. No athlete expects to win medals without proper preparation. We don’t want Doctors who only pray before they perform surgery on us. We expect people to be properly trained. 

I want my life story to include preparation and prayer in equal portions. I know that there are many aspects to my story which I cannot control and I leave them in God’s hands. I feel blessed and grateful for the successful stories of my life and I have learned much from my failures. At both times the Lord has been with me and I am grateful for his continuing presence in my life. 

Photo by Troy Jarrell on Unsplash