getting lost

Grace and peace on this Lord’s Day Dear Hearts

Today I want to share a few thoughts about getting lost in the quagmire of current circumstances:

“It is impossible to enslave, mentally or socially, a bible-reading people. The principles of the bible are the groundwork of human freedom.”

Horace Greeley

FROM A TEACHER: Yesterday, I shut down class about 5 minutes early and told my students I wanted them to just sit and talk to one another. Several of them immediately opened their laptops and began navigating to their favorite computer game.

I said, "No, no laptops. I want you to have face-to-face conversations right now."

After a collective groan went up, I observed something both wonderful and alarming. For the next few minutes, a couple of tables came alive with conversation. They looked at each other in the eyes and talked with great enthusiasm and interest. It was beautiful to watch and listen to.
However, many students were deflated. They did not know what to do without some sort of entertainment from a device. A couple of them put their heads down and avoided eye contact with anyone. I went around the room to those students and tried to engage with them. Some of them mustered a few words, but most didn't know what to do.

I share this story as a wakeup call for parents, grandparents, and guardians. It's tragic to me that a large percentage of today's youth do not know how to have real conversation, but it's not their fault. It is our responsibility as adults to lead by example and hold our kids accountable. Unplug every day, talk, and listen to your children. Getting lost in a device does not help them cope with and overcome the things they're going through mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. All it causes is isolation and depression. They need relationships; they need you.
I plan on doing it again today.

Our lives are the sum total of many little things that we have said, things we have done, little decisions we have made and our seemingly inconsequential actions. While we may look at the big events as the moments that changed our lives, it is often the little things that determine our futures.
(Luke 16:10) He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
(Mt. 25:23) What we do with the ‘least’ determines how we will approach the bigger things in life. Are we honest in the smallest things or do we only lie now and then? Do we arrive late for work and steal time from our employer? Do we cheat on tests? All of these seemingly little things are actually the building blocks of our futures. Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.
(Gal. 5:9) When we are faithful in the little things, God gives us more. We have chosen faithfulness and integrity over slothfulness. But when we establish a pattern of indifference and laziness in the little things, we are setting a course toward failure and loss. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
(Heb. 3:1-2) Don’t let even a little leaven of flesh and carnal thinking into your life. Allow His grace to provide your strength for every need. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to him that appointed him.

The Little Things by Barry Bennett

It is my fervent prayer that you will find wisdom in these snippets from other writers. I know they have given me some things to seriously consider in the coming week.