Grace-period

Many people want to hear from God.  They go to church and pray fervently.  Some spend great chunks of their lives meditating to clear their minds in hope of communing with the divine. Still others visit psychics or religiously monitor their horoscopes. I do believe God speaks, but I think the more important issue is: How do we respond when He does?  I mean, I think God speaks in all sorts of ways, just not always as clear as we would like.  Fear, obligations, insecurities make us second guess whether we REALLY heard God say what we think He did.  Or maybe Satan simply hisses, as he did to Eve "Did God really say...."  As our small group has being working thru the old testament, I came across two examples of how I can respond to God when I do hear from Him.  The first is Samuel, and the second is Saul. Samuel is the son of Hannah.  Her heartfelt prayer for a child was answered when she conceived Samuel after suffering for many years with infertility.  Amazingly, she gave

There is a saying, "Bloom where you are planted." I don't know who said it, but I am sure I would not like them. I first heard it when I was a child, and at that time, I knew I could not bloom in the family to which I was born. Then as a young adult, I heard it again, and again, it didn't seem to apply. It echoed the hopelessness of my life. Nothing had ever, nor would ever, it seemed, go right for "blooming." Best I hoped for was survival. Now, well, I am perhaps not quite so cynical or hopeless. And perhaps now I get the concept. I am who I am, where I am, and no one else is or could be. That is actually good news. Did you ever go to a big conference where there are powerful speakers that ignite in you the desire to do great things? I hate them, well, not so much the conferences but what they draw attention to. They remind me of my mediocrity, as well as my lack of achievements in my half a lifetime on this earth. I wallow in this for a while-how I