An Interesting Talk

At SAMmy's this morning I was teaching about how we are not supposed to be shoving Jesus down people's throats - nobody likes that; it benefits no one! We are supposed to "Make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." (Colossians 4:5-6)

I just think more people than not find it offensive when Christians who probably mean well, try to manipulate others into accepting Christ. I find most people to be pretty interested in spiritual matters. I mean, have you seen the covers of women's magazines lately? The articles advertised are full of things I'd consider to be spiritual matters - anything concerning life and death I'd consider spiritual...I see articles on how to live longer, stories about how somebody escaped death, a near-death experience, a miracle cure or a deadly disease. And then there's spiritual concepts like faith, hope, peace, love, joy and faithfulness. We apparently find all sorts of spiritual issues interesting!

If we talk to our friends about what God's doing in our lives, what He's convicting us of, what He's challenging us to do, what He's pointing out in Scripture...don't you think they'd find that interesting? (Peculiar, maybe - especially if they don't know Him - but, interesting!)

Personally, right now, God is dealing with me about a myriad of things! One thing, is that I need to be having more fun with my kids. Now, I'm all about fun. But, my kids are no longer toddlers...they are teenagers. Having fun with teenagers is a whole different ballgame. A mom (at least this mom, with these teenagers) has to be nosier, more aggressive/assertive. I've tried it recently - sat them down and TOLD them what we're doing. I've pried stories about their day from them and listened intently, sometimes having to read between the lines. With my son, this is like pulling teeth! With my daughter, I have to really concentrate to keep up. I've had to be less sensitive myself, forgive easier and be more selfless with my time when they are around, because they'd rather be with their friends and I will take any scrap of time I can get! I'm going to be the best mom of my teenagers that I can be. They are just entering their teens and I don't want to regret how I handled this. This is what God has revealed to me - because I have been really frustrated lately. "Everyone should be QUICK TO LISTEN and SLOW TO SPEAK and SLOW TO BECOME ANGRY." James 1:19 You know what's funny? He told me the same Scripture when they were toddlers. I'm finding a lot of parallels between teenager-hood and toddler-hood. The terrible twos vs. the terrible thirteens, they struggle between wanting to be independent and wanting to hold your hand, anger/tantrums, etc.

God is SO RELEVANT, and He always has the answers. That's why it's so important that we are out there making the most of every opportunity. If we just live our lives, it's bound to show that we love Jesus. Somebody's bound to ask a question that will give us permission to answer honestly...and the answer will contain Truth with a capital T. :)