Looking into the Crystal Ball

“Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”  So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son” – Ruth 4:12-13

Throughout time God has been involved in the little things of romance and love.  If you have experienced love in your life, consider where God’s hand has been in it?  What brought the two of you together?  I look at my own love story and see the patience of the Lord in it.  I first met my wife after a high school dance.  She was the date of my best friend (Paul) and after the dance a group of us went to a local restaurant for cokes and to hang out.  During that event, Lisa spilled an entire coke down the front of my only suit.  Unbelievably apologetic she and I had our first real conversation, after all she was there with Paul.

Our second encounter came during a Volleyball game.  My girlfriend was on the high school team, and they were playing at another school about 30 minutes from our home town.  I called up Paul to go with me.  He showed up and Lisa was with him, so I piled into the back seat.  We made it to the game late and had missed the first set of the match, in which my girlfriend was playing.  She didn’t play in the second set, and as the third set was beginning I watched as she took the floor with her team.  Just then Paul leaned down and whispered in my ear, “We gotta leave, Lisa has a curfew of 9 o’clock and she can’t be late.”  Seriously?  I’m just about to watch my girlfriend play volleyball and we have to leave because his girlfriend has a curfew.  Imagine the look I got from my girlfriend as she watched me and my best friend walk out of the gymnasium that night.

Skip ahead 2 years.  Paul swings by to hang out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in June, 1985.  We hop in his car and cruise through town a few times listening to Credence Clearwater Revival and the Beachboys cassette tapes, when he pulls into Lisa’s driveway.  I give him a curious look, “What’s up?” He and Lisa hadn’t been dating for a few years, but had remained friends all along.  “I just want to stop in and say hi.  No big deal.”   Well, he was my ride and I had nothing better going on that day.  We went inside and exchanged hello’s with Lisa and her friend, before they proceeded down the hall, leaving Paul and I sitting at the kitchen table drinking Mountain Dew.  When they came out, you could say the rest is history.  Lisa was stunning when she came back down the hallway.  Paul recommended we all pile in his car and hang out for the day. 

From that night; June 29, 1985, Lisa and I have been together.  We were married 2 years later, and God has blessed us with 5 incredible children, two awesome sons-in-law and 5 beautiful grand children over the last 34 years.  Did God have all of this in mind when Lisa spilled coke on my new suit after that Christmas dance in 1982?  Does Paul realize that he was part of God’s incredible plan of creating this wonderful family who live for the Lord? 

God’s hand was definitely in the marriage of Boaz and Ruth.  Ruth was born a Moabite, a natural enemy to the Israelites of that time.  She married into the Israeli family of Naomi.  An accident took the lives of her husband, as well as her Father-in-law (Naomi’s husband).  This left Naomi and Ruth widows together.  Tragic as this was, God had a plan.  Because she was not Israeli, Ruth was not obligated to remain with Naomi.  She chose to though, out of love and compassion for this woman who had become like a mother to her.  Ruth traveled with Naomi back to Bethlehem, her home-town.  There, through the work of God’s hand and Namoi’s persuasion Ruth meets Boaz.  In due time they receive the blessing to be married and God’s plan begins to take shape.  For you see, from this couple came a son named Obed.  In Matthew 1 and in Luke 3 we see the following lineage laid out for us: “Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.”

From a Moabite woman, widowed at a young age, with a heart and compassion for serving the needs of her mother-in-law; God brought forth the grand-father of King David.  From King David we are unbelievably blessed as a people who serve God the Father.  Through his lineage came the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and our eternal salvation.  As a widow, she felt lost and alone and needed the companionship of Naomi.  As a mother, she set in motion the events that would forever change the world.  All unbeknownst to her, but all within the Sovereign planning of the Lord.  As you look at the one you love today, realize that God brought you together for a purpose to change the world.  You may not ever live to see the result, but great things will happen for those that are within His will.

 

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We do not always see Your ways unfold before us.  We are blind by emotions and feelings that cloud our perspective.  Yet in the midst of our confusion and chaos or emotion, Your finger is at work.  You bring two people together for Your purpose and change the world, because it is within Your will to do so.  Bless us in our relationships and bless the Mothers as they raise strong Godly children in today’s world.  In Your name we pray – Amen

© Sondove Enterprises, 2019
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://sondove.blogspot.com
If you would like to be added to the email distribution please click here: Daily Thoughts 

I Want to Know You

“Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."”  – John 8:19

 

Her eyes are brown.  She loves the hiking in the mountains and reading a good book while hanging out at the beach. She is a mother of 5 and “Mi-Mi” of 5.  If she could save one beautiful little girl in Haiti, she would do everything should could to make that happen.  She likes to sleep in, yet she’s up at early in the morning to help get her 3 children ready for school and take them.  She runs the school, a non-profit Parent-partner school for 82 home schooled children in and around the Woodlands.  She enjoys her coffee with lots of Pepperment Mocha cream, or a caramel macchiato from Starbucks.  She loves Jesus Christ with everything in her heart and goes out of her way to help others each and every single day.  She has led bible studies, mother’s of pre-school groups and been the teacher of our 3 home-school children.  She wears the hat of a nurse, a chauffeur, school administrator, teacher, coach, and a banker.  She likes Moscado, White Zinfandel from Australia or the Napa Valley and an occasional beer, but most of the time would rather have a tall glass of sweet ice tea.  Her favorite restaurant is Saltgrass Steakhouse, where she likes her steak well done with no pink in the middle.  She also loves baked ziti from Olive Garden if the mood for Italian strikes her.  I love it when she laughs, and I can tell when she is going to cry.  She loves everyone with the same unconditional, what you see is what you get, love.  The incredible woman I refer to is my wife of 31 years - Lisa.  This is the woman I love and I know her very well (or so I think).

We all have relationships with others that can be described in deep details.  You know your spouses, family and friends very well.  You know what makes them laugh and what makes them cry.  You could tell any person you meet on the street how special these individuals are to you.  We spend time with them, learn about their idiosyncrasies and habits.  We are willing to invest in a certain few individuals because we care about them and we want to know them more.  I’m sure you will agree with me in this matter as you look back at those in your life and begin to think about the deep details you know about each of them.

So, I have established that we are all capable of knowing someone if we chose to.  It takes work and effort and a desire to know them.  It takes time, not just studying about them, but spending time with them and learning first hand.  So, with this in mind I can honestly stand here and say with full sincerity; I don’t know God?  Don’t get me wrong.  I know He is my Lord and King and has provided me salvation by His grace through His Son Jesus Christ.  Now, having acknowledged that, I continue to struggle daily with wanting to know Him more.  Accepting God is a statement of faith, trust and belief; but knowing God takes work.  Just as in any relationship, the more you put into it the more you will get out of it. 

If I put 1 spend 3 hours a day with my kids and 3 additional hours a day with my beautiful wife, 2 hours commuting to/from work and 10 hours at the office with my co-workers and try to get at least 5 hours sleep each night that leaves 1 hour a day with my Creator.  Plus add Sunday church service and the occasional Wednesday or Saturday night and I am getting somewhere south of 500 hours a year with God almighty.  We are given 8,760 hours in a given year.  This means I am spending less than 6% of my time getting to know the Lord.  That just doesn’t seem like a plan to build a relationship now does it.

I have the desire to know Him more, but has it become important enough to actually do something about it?  That is the question that is posed for all of us to address.  I propose that the majority of us are in this same boat.  We get swallowed up in the busyness of the day and all of a sudden God is getting our leftovers rather than our first and best.  Today we have homework.  I would like to ask you to take an index card or a piece of paper and write down everything you know about God.  Put it somewhere in a prominent place that you will see everyday.  This will remind you daily of who it is that you serve.  Now, try to add to that list each day.  Can you spend enough time in the Word each day or on the internet learning about God and strengthening your relationship with Him to add one item a day.  I promise you as you learn more about Him your relationship will become stronger, because you see He’s already done His part of the assignment and knows everything about you.  The gap in this relationship rests on your shoulders, not His.



Prayer:
Almighty God,
We want to know You and serve You.  Please forgive our busyness as we allow the daily tasks to steal from our time with You.  Strengthen us Lord, to see You in a more fruitful manner and learn more from You and about You daily throughout this year.  Help each of us become more aware of our relationship and focus our attention on You, for it through You that we are given life.  In Your name we pray – Amen



© Sondove Enterprises, 2019
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://sondove.blogspot.com
If you would like to be added to the email distribution please click here: Daily Thoughts

I Want to Know You

Make 2014 a year for sharing

“Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."”  – John 8:19

Her eyes are brown.  She loves the hiking in the mountains and reading a good book while hanging out at the beach. She is a mother of 5 and “Mi-Mi” of 3.  If she could save one beautiful little girl in Haiti, she would do everything she could to make that happen.  She likes to sleep in, yet she’s up at 6:45 every morning to take on the days activities with the 3 children.  She enjoys her coffee with lots of Peppermint Mocha cream and two sugars, preferably Seattle’s Best or Dunkin Donuts.  She loves Jesus Christ with everything in her heart and goes out of her way to help others each and every single day.  She leads bible studies, mother’s of pre-school groups and teaches home-school.  She wears the hat of a nurse, a chauffeur, a lead contractor for our new home construction and the banker in our home.  She likes a glass of White Zinfandel or Muscato and an occasional beer, but most of the time would rather have a tall glass of sweet ice tea.  Her favorite restaurant is Saltgrass Steakhouse, where she likes her steak well done with no pink in the middle.  She also loves baked ziti from Olive Garden if the mood for Italian strikes her.  I love it when she laughs, and I can tell when she is going to cry.  She loves everyone with the same unconditional, what you see is what you get, love.  The incredible woman I refer to is my wife of 26 years - Lisa.  This is the woman I love and I know her very well (or so I think).

We all have relationships with others that can be described in deep details.  You know your spouses, family and friends very well.  You know what makes them laugh and what makes them cry.  You could tell any person you meet on the street how special these individuals are to you.  We spend time with them, learn about their idiosyncrasies and habits.  We are willing to invest in a certain few individuals because we care about them and we want to know them more.  I’m sure you will agree with me in this matter as you look back at those in your life and begin to think about the deep details you know about each of them.

So, I have established that we are all capable of knowing someone if we chose to.  It takes work and effort and a desire to know them.  It takes time, not just studying about them, but spending time with them and learning first hand.  So, with this in mind I can honestly stand here and say with full sincerity; I don’t know God?  Don’t get me wrong.  I know He is my Lord and King and has provided me salvation by His grace through His Son Jesus Christ.  Now, having acknowledged that, I continue to struggle daily with wanting to know Him more.  Accepting God is a statement of faith, trust and belief; but knowing God takes work.  Just as in any relationship, the more you put into it the more you will get out of it. 

If I put 1 spend 3 hours a day with my kids and 3 additional hours a day with my beautiful wife, 2 hours commuting to/from work and 10 hours at the office with my co-workers and try to get at least 5 hours sleep each night that leaves 1 hour a day with my Creator.  Plus add Sunday church service and the occasional Wednesday or Saturday night and I am getting somewhere south of 500 hours a year with God almighty.  We are given 8,760 hours in a given year.  This means I am spending less than 6% of my time getting to know the Lord.  That just doesn’t seem like a plan to build a relationship now does it.

I have the desire to know Him more, but has it become important enough to actually do something about it?  That is the question that is posed for all of us to address.  I propose that the majority of us are in this same boat.  We get swallowed up in the busyness of the day and all of a sudden God is getting our leftovers rather than our first and best.  Today we have homework.  I would like to ask you to take an index card or a piece of paper and write down everything you know about God.  Put it somewhere in a prominent place that you will see everyday.  This will remind you daily of who it is that you serve.  Now, try to add to that list each day.  Can you spend enough time in the Word each day or on the internet learning about God and strengthening your relationship with Him to add one item a day.  I promise you as you learn more about Him your relationship will become stronger, because you see He’s already done His part of the assignment and knows everything about you.  The gap in this relationship rests on your shoulders, not His.

Prayer:
Almighty God,
We want to know You and serve You.  Please forgive our busyness as we allow the daily tasks to steal from our time with You.  Strengthen us Lord, to see You in a more fruitful manner and learn more from You and about You daily throughout this year.  Help each of us become more aware of our relationship and focus our attention on You, for it through You that we are given life.  In Your name we pray – Amen

© Sondove Enterprises, 2014
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://sondove.blogspot.com
If you would like to be added to the email distribution please click here: Daily Thoughts

While I'm Away

I will be unavailable to send out your Daily Thoughts for the week of September 3^rd.  So please take time to review some of the most popular Daily Thoughts of the last year.  These rank as the top 5.  

God is Love – period Jan 7, 2012

Jesus – Words from the Cross #2 Apr 3, 2012

An Esther Moment Jan 23, 2012

A Man of Courage Jan 16, 2012

Get Out of the Way Jan 24, 2012

 I hope you find these uplifting throughout the week of my absence as I will be on vacation with my beautiful wife celebrating 25 glorious and blessed years together.  

 Find peace each and every morning and joy each and every night and you will live a long and prosperous life.  But the more you choose to hold her hand and dance under the stars at night the longer you'll have a happy wife. 

 

© Sondove Enterprises, 2012
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://sondove.blogspot.com