A Week with Me -- Part 5

Last night was just astonishing for me. I looked up on the stage at the Youth Bash where my son, Justin, was playing the bass with Seth, Caleb, and Matt, and Justin was quite a young MAN. He has gotten very tall and handsome and that was not a little boy up there, but this very mature young man -- I am very proud of him.

Tuesday, March 11
Justin is also the source of my prayers this morning as I pray thru the scriptures also. The text was Deuteronomy 1:31 about how God carries His people as a father carries his son. Then I turned over to a similar passage in Malachi 3 (often overlooked because preachers are always focused on the "floodgates of heaven coming open if people tithe." Check this out: (vs. 17)"They will be mine," says the Lord Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. (vs. 18) And you will see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not." Do I carry my son as God wants me to? Do I have that much compassion for him?

I just started talking to God about helping me analyze my relationship with Justin. I have asked for a lot of forgiveness about him being a basketball orphan when he was small (all of the good in him is due to his mother's persistence and teaching), and I have asked many times that God give me the time and character to make sure that he does not become a church orphan as well. I have given him time, but probably not as quality of time as both God and Justin would prefer. I don't sense that Justin resents the church in any way though, so we will just praise God for that and keep on lovin'. I do truly love Justin; I just hope he thinks so.