Fill the Gap - Have a Little Faith

The chaos in the hallway with hustling and bustling scrubs and intercom attention flowed through the door as it was left partially ajar from the 5am nurse visit. Another day on the seventh floor of the heart wing had become another day away from my baby girl, and the snuggles we were supposed to be sharing at home. I hit lows a lot as I was trapped on that 7th floor, with nothing but a hallway to walk around and a window to gawk out, as a long, brutal winter became a much anticipated spring. Moving around was still a monitored process as I had just escaped the ICU and the feelings of residual chest tube wounds, along with sawed sternum rang loudly as I would even shift the smallest amount. Holding my baby was a challenge the small amounts of time she was brought from Ludington, 2 hours away, and I felt as if I was missing her entire 1st month of life. I felt jipped. I felt enormous amounts of "why"? I felt as if the precious moments of the one shot I had at motherhood  was slipping out of my fingers, and nothing I could do would make it come back. But I had to learn to have faith in those moments, and that is precisely one of the things God was teaching me.

I think controlling our own fate is something we all do as humans in one way or another. We find life not to be fair, yet we don't see the path ahead, or the bigger picture of what God is trying to prepare us for, prevent us from, and teach us in those awful, frustrating times in life. If I had it my way in that time, I would have made mothering a newborn as a more positive experience. It wouldn't have involved colic, the open-chest surgery, and the not even able to pick up my baby for 8 weeks after my surgery. But God's plan was different. And as I reflect back, I still don't always see the bigger picture or reasons, but I know I'm a different person today because of that season.

We read that Ruth "happened to" be gleaning in the field that belonged to Boaz. And not only this, but she happened to be there when Boaz was there, which was probably not often as Boaz was a rich man, who probably owned many fields and had many workers. Luck? Coincidence? Absolutely not. Ruth's faith and promptings from God had led her to Bethlehem, a place where as a Moabite, she would probably face much ridicule and no future, and by God's prompting, she gleaned the fields of the man she would one day marry. Ruth's newly acquired faith in the One true God got her off the couch, out of the house, out of her state of moping, and into the field where her future would begin once more. 

Proverbs 16:9 tells us this was God's hand, as it reads, "In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." And in Ruth's case, we find out that she indeed becomes the lineage of Jesus - a far grander plan that finding a husband and future in another land with hopeless outlook for her origin. 

God took care of Ruth and Naomi is so many ways. In fact, Ruth gleaning the fields tells us that her and Naomi were probably desperate for some food, and Ruth, taking care of her mother in law went out to do what she had to do in taking a risk. Eventually, becoming favored in Boaz's eyes would not only take care of Ruth and Naomi in his wealth as family, but it would take care of us all in leading to the birth of our Savior down the family line one day. God's plan is perfect, and in the midst of the hopeless circumstances of life, He has so much more beyond those frustrating moments that you can't even comprehend.

Nothing could have prepared me for that circumstance, yet looking back I realize more and more God had been preparing me all along, and even in that moment, He was preparing me for more of life's curve balls to come. 21 days in the hospital, and months of recovery at home were actually some of the best ways God could have taught me to look up and know His plan is more powerful. I can't even tell you how close I felt to God in that "rock bottom" moment, and I often long for that type closeness again, as I strive to figure it all out. I remember that having faith in the impossible moments create possibilities. May we all strive to see this when rock bottoms come. 

Scripture to Read:

Ruth 2:1-9, Matthew 1:1-17

Questions to Ponder:

Have you ever felt at the "rock bottom" of life? Why?

How did God show you a grander plan, if He has revealed it to you yet? If not, ask yourself how could "rock bottom" be a grander plan?

How do we have faith to move along despite our circumstances? What can you remember from Ruth's story to help you?

Fill the Gap - Stop Waiting, Start Serving

I keep wanting to write a book. I have no idea what it would be about or what it would entail, but I know I want to...someday. I keep wanting to travel more. The list I have to visit is long, and expensive, but I know I want to go see places in this world that are beautiful. I hear this theme over and over again from people. They want to have kids but they want the right career first. They want to travel, but they want a spouse first. They want to serve in the church, but they want to find time first. Let me be the first person (or the 100th) to say that waiting isn't the answer. Life passes quickly, and if you don't follow through with God's prodding when it comes, you might miss it. We have a God of second chances, but not necessarily a God of second opportunities.

Ruth, having moved to Judah with her mother in law heeded an opportunity and stepped out in risk to see what kind of life God may have for her now, knowing full well that a husband may not be in that picture. But she chose a land where God was worshiped, not another god. We read a parable by Jesus in Matthew 25 about 3 servants who are given their master's wealth to keep safe while he is away. The first servant gets 5 bags of gold to be entrusted with and returns to his master 5 more bags when he returns. The second servant gets 2 bags of gold and returns 2 more for his master. And the final servant is entrusted with 1 bag and returns the same bag, gaining no more to his master. The master is infuriated with this servant, saying he did nothing to further his wealth. Jesus uses this parable to challenge us to use what we have to further His kingdom.

We can sit on our hands and wait for "the right moment" or we can get up now and go. We have all been given an ability, words, gifts, desires, goals for a reason. God wants us to stop waiting around for us to have more money, find Mr. or Mrs. Right, land the right career, find the time, and just jump. Consider the valuable bags of gold you have been given, whether in something as simple as a smile and warm welcoming spirit, to words just longing to seep out onto a page in a book. Now is the time. Sign up to volunteer. Write the book. Go on the trip.

We build our character best in Christ when we are actively participating in His work. In order to fill the gaps in your life and know what He is calling you to do, well...you have to do something. I used to fear doing things. I want to believe that this is why I never went away to college, but stuck around locally. It worked out and ultimately, God's plan happened here, but I often wonder what that life would have been like. I feared a new place. I feared people. I still fear people sometimes. I got to a point though, where I found myself at home in serving our students - Jr. and Sr. High ladies specifically. I found a love for playing guitar and joined the praise team - talk about a step for me! I tapped into my love of traveling and joined a mission team to the Dominican Republic and since have been tied there with connections and more trips. I was able to find my place in God's plan and find where I belonged, whether or not I had a man next to me. Eventually, obviously, the man came along, but not because I was pining alone in my bedroom for him. I made a life for Jesus first, allowing Him to show me the gifts He put in me and use them to find my place for His glory. If the man never would have come, nothing would have changed in my heart in terms of serving the Lord, but now I serve alongside my guy and we challenge each other to tap into those gifts.

Start living. Stop waiting. Find what you can do NOW to be an active participant in God's plan, desiring first to expand His kingdom before trying to fill the voids of your heart. A quote I love  by Reggie Joiner is the following:

"Don't wait until you feel like it to do something. Do something in order to feel like it."

Serving God will give you a whole new, enriched energy and sense of belonging in this world with purpose. A purpose that far exceeds anything we can cook up for ourselves! Ruth went after it. And we will get to see more of her story as we plug away at this series more. God blessed her for her faithfulness in mighty ways, and He wants to use you to do awesome things for His glory too! Just get over the gaps you feel and fill them with His plans for you.

Scripture to Read:
Ruth 2:1-3, Matthew 25:14-30

Questions to Ponder:
How did Ruth take a risk and serve God by taking care of her mother in law?
What are some things God has put on your heart to do? How do you know they are His desires?
What are you going to do in order to serve God and furthering His kingdom rather than waiting for "the right time"?

Fill the Gap

I recently saw this post by TobyMac. We can post these words all day ourselves because they sound good, but the fact of the matter is there is life-changing truth in these words if we fully embrace them and strive to apply them. As a woman who used to be a teenage and college-aged girl, I couldn't embrace or understand this for the longest time, and would wish for a man to come into my life to fill the gap, fully convinced I was sold out for God. The scary thing is that in the midst of my personal pining, I realized I wasn't even close to allowing God to have the reins of my life, especially in that area. One day, it clicked though for me. I remember wrapping up the study "Lady in Waiting" with some of my high school ladies and thinking about how I would be okay with or without a guy in my life. I'm not saying this is the "magic formula" but not much later my husband entered my life, and I didn't even think we were dating, but hanging out! That is how much I had clicked that switch off, and had found so much joy and peace, and satisfaction in Jesus. No one else entering my life could cause that kind of joy.  

But after a summer of fishing, baseball games, and just late-night faith talks, I knew this guy was the one. He was attracted to my faith, and I was so blown away by how much he challenged me to dive into God, not into him. That's what made it clear for me. He didn't provide the joy Jesus gave me, but he complimented it. He didn't "complete me", but he complimented my relationship with Jesus.

You see, we try to fit so many different people into a role that only God can fill. We are unfair to our friends, siblings, significant others, parents, loved ones, etc, because we expect them to fix the problems and the gaps that only God can fill and fix. We expect people to bring us a joy and a peace that only comes from God. So for the rest of February, I would like to take some time to consider what it looks like to allow God to fill the gap you think only a human can fill. Or the ones that you may be already trying to fill with a human.

I want to challenge you to give it all to God. This sounds like your basic, Sunday sermon here, but truly, right now, write down the things in your life that are frustrating to you at the moment. The things you can't let go of. Maybe it's finances. Maybe it's a career path you want to be on. Maybe it's finding a spouse. Whatever it is, let's find ways to let it go. Let's consider the things God can give us that those things or those people can't.

Consider Ruth for a moment with me. We read right off the bat that her, her mother in law, and her sister in law had all lost their husbands in a land and people frowned upon by God's people, Moab. Naomi's son's had married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth, and as Naomi decides to return to Judah, to make amends with God in her homeland, she urges Ruth and Orpah to stay in Moab, as she has nothing else to offer them, and knows full well that Moabite women would have much difficulty creating a new life for themselves in Judah. Orpah goes home, but Ruth insists on going with her mother in law, risking her future at getting another husband, living in a new land that didn't accept her people, and serving a Good that wasn't that of her people. Ruth chose to take a risk. What do you need to let go of in order to allow God to come in and fill the gaps?

Another powerful example from the Bible is when the woman came, broke her alabaster jar for Jesus, and anointed His feet with the perfume. This box represented her future, for they were meant to be broken at the feet of a fiance/future husband, as well as her wealth, as it cost much money of the woman's family to give this as her dowry. This woman gave it up for Jesus, showing that He was her Hope and future.

So the question that remains as we look ahead to this series, is are you willing to sacrifice your plans to God, allowing Him to guide you where He would like you to go, despite where you would like to go? As we move along the next week or so we'll consider how we fill the gap of our hearts with Christ, and how we do that, based on Ruth's story.

Scripture to Read:
Ruth 1, Luke 7:36-50

Questions to Ponder:
What is something you want so badly?
How can you come to a place of knowing that only God can truly satisfy you?
What does it look like in your life for you to abandon everything you have/want to God? (Whether than means that you can't place expectations on your loved ones that only He can fill, etc.)

Agape Love - Never Fails

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

- 1 Corinthians 13

We have spent February so far looking at attributes of agape love. Many of the characteristics we talked about may seem daunting and hard for you, and that's ok, because the final piece in those descriptions of agape is that is never fails. No matter how many times we fall, fail, or flounder, we will always have God's loving arms to run back to. He will never give up on us and will always love us, even if we don't love Him back. The definition of agape love is that. It is unconditional. This is a type of love that can only come from something bigger than us, and the greatest example by far is a God Who sacrificed for us. What other God is there who has done such things?

So as we wrap up this little series on Agape, let's consider one more time the words in 1 Corinthians 13 as a whole, because if one thing is clear, it's that without love, unconditional love, you get no where. You can possess all of the power and faith in the world, but still hit a wall without love.

We misuse the word "love" and give it a definition that doesn't fit. We have turned the word "love" into meaning to "accept", "affirm", or "approval", when that is not love at all. Agape love doesn't love because of what you do, but it loves because of of who God is. It loves because of the will it has to love, without strings attached. We fall off the wagon over and over and God still loves us, even if He doesn't agree with what we are doing. This world has made about earning and affirming.

The other day, my currently, kid-scissor-happy daughter cut a hole in our couch. I wasn't home, and I heard about it through a text. I can't lie, there was a moment I was utterly infuriated, but there wasn't a second I considered that I would ever stop loving her. I don't accept what she did. I don't affirm what she did. I don't approve of what she did. But I still love her. So why do we run around in this world thinking if we don't "accept", "affirm" or "approve" of one's behavior as an adult, that we don't love them? Or that we shouldn't love them? We've all cut a hole in the couch, so to speak, yet people still love us.

So if love is not affirming, or accepting, or approving, then what is it? It's 1 Corinthians 13. And if we are to actually grab onto this scripture like we truly mean it and we truly want to live it, then what? We read that without love, we have absolutely nothing. Without love we don't make a difference at all. Without love, we are simply annoying. And I hate to say it, but I know Christians like this. So why are we so afraid to love?

Why do we stand outside of the places we disagree with, or around the people we disagree with, making a statement, when we could be in relationships with those people we don't agree with or who have done something we don't agree with? What makes the bigger impact here? Picketing, marching, t-shirt wearing, and tract flailing, or taking time to understand a person and love on them despite the shame, despite the things we disapprove of in their lives, despite what other people say? Isn't this what Jesus did? Could you imagine if God's love was approval, acceptance, and affirming behaviors we do? None of us would be in His love. Why are we so afraid?

Love never fails. Not only in the sense that it never gives up, but in the sense that it is a solid "strategy". Without it, we are exclusive and we aren't difference-makers. Agape never fails. Unconditional, Christ-like love never fails.

Scripture to Read:
John 13:34-35, 1 Corinthians 13

Questions to Ponder:
How did Jesus love people who weren't "accepted" by society? How does Jesus love people who aren't always "accepted" by Christians? Name some examples. How does this speak to you?
What is a group of people that you don't agree with at all? How can you show love to someone you don't agree with? What difference does love and a relationship make?
Does your logic of love match up God's logic of love for all people? What needs to change in your logic?

Agape Love - He'll Never Stop Loving

There are days I feel like people will or want to give up on me. The swings of depression that I get are not only frustrating for the people around me, but they are a giant elephant in the room that no one knows what to do with it or approach it. The scary thing is I don't really know either. I just have to wait it out and let it slide by until I come out of it and wonder when the next dip will come. I continually think about how people could possibly continue to deal with me when I'm in those moments, but they keep loving me for who I am, despite the low times. And I know that God is always there, loving me through too. His love is perfect, and that is why agape also perseveres.

There is a song that goes "Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me...and on, and on, and on, and on it goes..." It is ironic because this song seems to repeat over and over, much like that songs that never ends. But that is exactly how God's love is for us. It goes on and on and on and on. It never gives up. Love endures all things, and God's love endures forever. (Psalm 136)

James 1:2-4 says "Consider it pure joy, brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." 

What this tells us is that persevering through any trial, even those in love, will not be in vain. Persevering is to remain, to not run. It isn't easy to make it through hard patches. Consider some things to remember when those times come:

- Lean on God. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to not trust our own understanding, but to lean into Him and everything will become clear. When we try to make sense of things, nothing makes sense. When we use our own earthly perspective to unravel the knots of the mess we are in, we lose perspective. When we consider bailing from our hardships, whether in life or in relationships, we are bailing on what God is calling us to do. If we can just remember that God's got it and simply follow His leading, we can handle the hardships with a little more hope.

-Let go of your plans. We all know that life never goes as planned, so why do we try to live like it will? We need to remember to allow our time, resources, etc. to be flexible. We can never see a crisis coming, but we can try to roll with what we can in not grasping too tightly to things, including the things we treasure most. The only thing this world can't take is your faith if you truly have Christ in your life. Cling to that like your life depends on it. 

- Those hardships won't last forever. They will feel like they are going to last forever or that they are, but we can hold onto the hope that this world isn't the end all. (Remember our conversation about hope yesterday?) We can look forward to a reward for our suffering. (1 Peter 2:18-20)

On the flip side of persevering in love, we need to remember to give all we have to Christ. There may be days we just don't want to serve anymore or carry on with our faith anymore because it feels like a lot, but we need to remember His love is light. It doesn't mean life is light, but He will carry you. A poem by Jill Briscoe inspires me as we consider carrying on in our faith without ever stopping. Half of "All the Way Home" below:

"Saw a cross alone, discarded
Lain at rest against a wall,
Who'd lain down such a holy symbol?
Who'd abandoned life's 'faith call'?

Then a voice so dear - familiar,
Asked a question - pierced me through,
Who is it that you're expecting
Carrying it home for you?

How could I lay down that crossbeam?
How to think that no one saw?
Who did I expect to lift it 
Carry it to heaven's door?

'Jesus, Jesus, please forgive me,
Carried Thou your cross for me,
All the way to hell to save us,
Help me carry mine for Thee!'

I'm no hero - special woman
Just a lady, old and gray,
But my cross, Lord, I will carry,
Home, Lord, home, Lord - All the way!"

Love endures through all things. No matter how hard something gets, persevere on. Nothing shows love to a hurting person more than sticking around through the hard times, shameful times, and less than wonderful times.

Scripture to Read:
James 1:2-4, Proverbs 3:5-6

Questions to Ponder:
Have you ever wanted to quit at loving someone, or carrying on with a hardship?
How can you rely on God in times that are hard?
How does knowing God's got it and has a grander plan beyond what we can ever see help you in getting through the struggles?

Agape Love - Always Hopes

My husband and I are football people. We love to get home from church, plop on the couch together and turn on whatever game we can get on our 3 stations. We challenge each other in fantasy football, along with other friends and family members. One hangup in our marriage, however, is that he is a Green Bay Packers fan...and I'm a Chicago Bears Fan. We live in Michigan (so we needed good teams to route for...) One thing that I've always thought was interesting was that even if my husband's team is behind in the fourth quarter, he still watches, and hopes, and says "they could still pull it out." While I usually taunt him and roll my eyes, it is something I've always admired and considered as evidence of his loyalty to his team. I think the same goes for agape love.

One thing I have come to learn over the past few years is that nothing can rob me of the hope I have in what will matter most in 100 years. Circumstances can really drain. Don't get me wrong - I am one of the worst worriers I know. I worry about tomorrow way more than I should, but when push comes to shove, I know that I could literally lose everything I have on this earth, and it won't change what I will have when I'm no longer on this earth. There is something much greater, more eternal, and more dependable than anything this world has to offer...because of love. Love gave me this hope. Love created the way for me to throw away the worries and know I'm secure for eternity.

Love always hopes, because we can't help but hope for a positive outcome for those we love. What if we started hoping for a positive outcome for all that we encountered though? Even the people we may not know, or those we may not even like? Not only would our hope change the way we think about people, it may even change our hearts towards people. Hope has the ability to leave a legacy.

We read countless accounts in scripture where people hoped. They hoped for a child. They hoped for a promised land. They hoped for a Messiah. We also read that in one way or another, God showed up. He always shows up, either filling our hopes, or making an impact even deeper than our hopes. The legacies left and the love that prevailed because of hope carries with us even to this day.

Gideon was no exception. He was hiding in the bottom of a wine press when God sound him and told him that he would be sent to save Israel from the Midianites. Gideon argues, claiming his clan is the weakest. In fact, Gideon is so unconvinced that he tells God to convince him, more than once. And when Gideon if finally on board, God takes the tiniest army surrounding Gideon of 300 and defeats a Midianite camp with 135,000! (Judges 6-7) There is hope if you feel weak. There is hope if you feel defeated. There is hope when you feel at a dead end. God will provide a way. Just have hope.

No matter how dark and unknown life gets, the position of hope will not only carry you through those situations, but it will leave a lasting ripple in your heart and for others who are in similar dark, unknown hallways of life. Your hopeful attitude is one that could change someone's mind, someone's heart, someone's view of faith. God can shine through you if you allow Him. Give Him the credit for your the hope you have in all times and in all circumstances. That is a type of love that has incredible value for now and eternity.

Scripture to Read:
Judges 6-7, 1 Corinthians 13:13

Questions to Ponder:
Why do faith, hope and love go together? Why is love the greatest?
When has been a time you felt completely hopeless? What has that shown you about getting through the next hard time?
How does hope look beyond a circumstance?

Agape Love - On Rock Climbing, Gas, & Trust

Rock Climbing was something I just loved to do. There is something about it that causes a rush as you have to rely on equipment, your body, and the person at the bottom holding the other end of the rope. In fact, I loved it so much, I worked ropes courses at the camp I worked at for 3 summers in a row, and was part of a "climbing club" that would go as far as 40 miles just to climb each week. I learned a lot about trust in those times, and taught a lot about trust in those times. I have learned that trust comes in all shapes and sizes and any possible area of life. Today, we'll consider trust in love and how it applies to that of agape.

We read in Exodus 18 that Moses had an issue with being over burdened by the people he led once they reached the wilderness. We read how his father in law, Jethro advises Moses to delegate others to take the burdens of disputes and duties that Moses is handling himself, as Jethro sees how unhealthy this is. Moses fortunately takes his father in law's advice and appoints "capable men, who fear God and are trustworthy." Without trust, Moses wouldn't have been able to raise up a team to help him. We do need to consider some things, however, as we hand out our trust to people. Moses didn't just hand out the duties to anyone. He trained them with the values of the decrees and instructions on how to live and behave per God's instruction, so that they could discern disputes and handle conflicts that arose. We need to have similar judgement when allowing people our trust.

I have a hard time letting go of things that are on my task list. I like to do things myself because I know it will be done the "right" way. If I do it myself I know it gets done. If I handle it myself, I know the outcome. If I handle it myself, I feel valued. But this isn't showing that I trust anyone. I don't allow anyone else to take the reins now and then and show they are capable and gifted. For this reason, I don't practice and strive for the characteristic of trust in agape love.

There is something to be said of a relationship that can find love from trust though. If you are in a relationship, friendship, small group that can say anything because they have earned your trust and you have earned theirs, it is powerful indeed. You can say things and hear things and know it is out of love, not for hurting, and that is gold. This takes time, and this is a weird balance at first. Marriage takes time and work, and trust is highly required. You can't stumble around a marriage too long without sharing truths about your spouse with them, or the whole thing is frustrating.

I chuckle a little because I think of when my husband and I first started dating. There is that awkward first few weeks, months, maybe days for some people where you just can't fart in front of them. It's painful, but something is holding you back from just letting it out. (Just me?) When you finally get comfortable enough to just do it, it breaks so much tension. But there is some sort of trust that comes with it. You know that you can be "gross" in front of them and they won't think you're gross or run because they think you are. Someone will "fart" in front of the other at some point in a marriage. Is there enough trust there to just be honest? Nothing spells great love than someone who can see you at your best and your worst. Talk about trust!

The translation of the word "trust" in this trait of agape means to "think to be true, to believe all things, to be persuaded of, to credit, to place confidence in". I love this definition because it insinuates that trust isn't just handed over. It takes credibility and proof. God doesn't want us to be dumb with our trust, but He wants us to give people the benefit of the doubt, especially when they have proven to us before they are worth our trust. People need to give a little to gain from someone. If the relationship is one-sided, it probably isn't a good relationship to be in. I also love the translation that uses "believes all things" rather than trusts. It's the same thing, but in so many words. Can you believe the best in people?

This concept can be taken a little more lightly for every face you come across though. When we interact with people day in and day out, no matter how well we know them, we can strive to see the best in them, and not peg them as a negative description right away. At the 2019 Women's IF:Gathering, Angie Smith shared to try and think toward every person you see, "I love you." Before anything else, say those words in your head about them. You don't have to hand over full trust to someone right off the bat - again, dumb. But try not to see them with a shadow of the doubt, but rather with the benefit of the doubt. They can choose to prove you wrong or right, but believe in them before dismissing them.

"When we look for what's best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does, so in appreciating our neighbor, we're participating in something truly sacred." -Mr. Fred Rogers

How can you believe the best in people today? I know many will crush your spirits, and disappoint you, but how can you strive to see the good in someone? Can you hand a task over to someone who has shown you that you can trust them? Consider this topic today.

Scripture to Read:
Exodus 18, Proverbs 3:5-6

Questions to Ponder:
How does someone prove themselves to you in terms of earning your trust?
Who can we put our trust in at all times, even when people may fail us?
Why does it take trust to delegate a team or relationships around you?