The Secret Ingredient

For years I have had a saying which I tell my family.
Whenever they compliment my cooking, sewing abilities, gardening skills or thoughtful deeds, I always say, "well, you know it is special because it was done with love."

This is true- the special added secret ingredient to make anything more exceptional is to add an extra dash of love to it.

We should remember to say a quick prayer for the recipient, a prayer of thanks for God given talents or praise to the Lord for the desire to do this special thing.

Counting our blessings never hurts!

Likewise, our loving heavenly Father has added this "special ingredient" when He made you and when He made me.

He made us in His likeness, with a special measure of love.

The One who created everything has added this beautiful "secret ingredient" into the lives of His children.

How blessed we are!

by Marion Smith

Touches of Tenderness

My child's feelings are hurt. I tell her she's special. My child is injured. I do whatever it takes to make her feel better. My child is afraid. I won't go to sleep until she is secure. I'm not a hero. I'm not a superstar. I'm not unusual. I'm a parent. When a child hurts, a parent does what comes naturally. He helps.Moments of comfort from a parent. As a father, I can tell you they are the sweetest moments in my day. They come naturally. They come willingly. They come joyfully.

If all of that is true, if I know that one of the privileges of fatherhood is to comfort a child, then why am I so reluctant to let my heavenly Father comfort me?

Why do I think he wouldn't want to hear about my problems? ("They are puny compared to people starving in India.")
Why do I think he is too busy for me? ("He's got a whole universe to worry about.")
Why do I think he's tired of hearing the same old stuff?
Why do I think he groans when he sees me coming?
Why do I think he consults his list when I ask for forgiveness and asks, "Don't you think you're going to the well a few too many times on this one?"
Why do I think I have to speak a holy language around him that I don't speak with anyone else?
Why don't I let my Father do for me what I am more than willing to do for my own children?I'm learning, though.

Being a parent is better than a course on theology. Being a father is teaching me that when I am criticized, injured, or afraid, there is a Father who is ready to comfort me.

There is a Father who will hold me until I'm better,

help me until I can live with the hurt,

and who won't go to sleep when I'm afraid of waking up and seeing the dark.

Ever.

And that's enough.

From The Applause of Heaven Copyright 1990, Max Lucado

Receive God's Hope

"Come near to God and God will come near to you." James 4:8

Your toughest challenge is nothing more than bobby pins and rubber bands to God. Bobby pins and rubber bands?

My older sister used to give them to me when I was a child. I would ride my tricycle up and down the sidewalk, pretending that the bobby pins were keys and my trike was a truck.

But one day I lost the "keys." Crisis! What was I going to do? My search yielded nothing but tears and fear. But when I confessed my mistake to my sister, she just smiled. Being a decade older, she had a better perspective.

God has a better perspective as well.
With all due respect, our severest struggles are, in his view, nothing worse than lost bobby pins and rubber bands.
He is not confounded, confused, or discouraged.

Receive his hope, won't you?
Receive it because you need it.
Receive it so you can share it.

Originally printed in A Love Worth Giving by Max Lucado

God Gets Into Our Lives

I do not live anymore – it is Christ who lives in me. Galatians 2:20

You have leaves to rake. A steering wheel to grip. A neighbor's hand to shake. Simply put you have things to do.So does God. Babies need hugs. Children need good-night tucks. AIDS orphans need homes. Stressed-out executives need hope.

God has work to do.
And he uses our hands to do it.
What the hand is to the glove, the Spirit is to the Christian….

God gets into us.
At times, imperceptibly.
Other times, disruptively.

God gets his fingers into our lives, inch by inch reclaiming the territory that is rightfully his.

Your tongue. He claims it for his message.
Your feet. He requisitions them for his purpose.
Your mind? He made it and intends to use it for his glory.
Your eyes, face, and hands? Through them he will weep, smile, and touch.

Originally printed in Come Thirsty by Max Lucado