Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Hey! And welcome to the Homeschool Zoo! I have long held a love of writing, but getting around to a blog took a while. With a little encouragement from a dear friend, I jumped in! I appreciate you taking this first step with me. As I navigate homeschooling and life with two awesome, inspiring boys and a caring supportive husband and friends, I hope you will join me in what promises to be a candid, blessed journey!
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Our family loves to go camping. And I have learned this summer how God can use a simple family vacation to awaken my deadening senses to His reality. I was sitting along a fishing bank, enjoying the day, waiting for a bite on my line. It was sunny, a cheerful kind of day that had my spirit soaking it up. That's when I heard this voice whisper, "Throw it over there."
ReplyDelete!
I already had my line in a spot I thought would catch a fish. After all, my husband had already pulled a couple out of a spot close to my line.
But this command had a certain 'feel' to it. So I shrugged and pulled the line in and threw it out in the area I heard suggested. As I drew in the taut, it felt like I was hung on a weed underwater something. The pole wasn't even out of my hands. I tugged again, trying to get a little slack in it and hang my bobber again (I was trout fishing). However, the line started to jiggle! That wasn't a weed I was hung up on, it was a fish! Evidently, when I cast my line out in that spot, the fish caught it immediately!
Stunned, I reeled in my first catch of the day!
Now, I learned a valuable lesson; something God, I believe, was trying to remind me of. Was the purpose really so I would catch a fish? I don't think so. I think He wanted to remind me how to listen for His voice, to not follow what I see everyone else doing, but to remind me how to listen for Him whenever He might speak and whatever He might have to say. It was a lesson in obedience. Was the purpose that morning for me to catch that trout? Not exactly. He used fishing to help me see that I have gotten away from listening for His voice . . . and that He speaks often and specific. If I am willing to listen, He has great rewards planned for me.
You see, too often we get caught up in our daily routines. Our lives begin to be lived out for ourselves and the voice of God gets drowned out with us being too busy following the crowd or doing what keeps us comfortable. (like I was busy trying to fish in the same area Tim was catching all the fish!) God sometimes takes us off the popular, beaten paths to experience a blessing He has just for us. And we will miss out if we are not listening. Keeping ourselves open to His voice takes effort if we are not to let Him get drowned out by the cares of this world.