Do we allow God to bless?

I found myself in a challenging position yesterday as Emily arrived at the door asking if she could come in for a visit. Emily lives next door with her brother Mitchell and their grandparents. She is in the second grade and loves to stop by for unexpected visits. Emily’s unexpected visit’s last anywhere from 10 seconds to 1 hour and typically involve a request to play with Ellie (my golden retriever). I looked down to greet her and noticed her honey colored hair covered half of her face and desperately needed a barrette. As I opened the door to allow her skinny little frame access to my very un-kid friendly home the bubble above my head read, you have a huge presentation next week and have very little prepared for it. However, as she began respectfully removing her shoes the Holy Spirit said, “You asked to be blessed today and I’m responding to your request”. Emily ran to the Africa room and jumped behind the couch to find Bob the Builder toys and began talking to Ellie as if she were her playmate. “Ellie, do you like Bob the Builder?”

I finished a phone call and sat at the dinner table watching as she seemed to be in her own world. It didn’t take long for me to realize the opportunity I had just been given. I consistently pray for God to bless me and use me as His conduit for His kingdom. Emily was one of today’s blessings. I walked to the guest bedroom, grabbed the Rubbermaid box filled with crayons, markers, construction paper and finger paints and invited Emily to create something with me. As we sat down at my new dining table Emily said, “Danette, you are the nicest neighbor I’ve ever had. Have you always been this nice to everyone? Thank you for playing with me.”

Emily wasn’t seeing me, she was seeing Jesus. Jesus is never too busy for coloring, playing cut outs or simply listening to our child like conversations as we go through our day. Spending that one hour with Emily reminded me of Phil 1:10a “So that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approved and prize what is excellent and of real value” {amplified version}

Baby Jack: My special blessing

Jackson has just turned four and he wanted me to know that I was his special Baby Jack. His official name from Mom and Dad is Jackson. However, Aunt Danette insists on calling him Baby Jack. This has been tolerated my Baby Jack's Mom for four years now. It is simply a good thing that his Mama is my best pal or else she would correct me each time I called him by "his special name".

Not long ago he and Heather came for a weekend visit to bless me for my birthday. The last evening of their visit I sat on Baby Jack's bed and asked him if I could pray with him before he went to sleep. He said that would be "just fine". After I prayed for protection, guidance and for him to come to a complete understanding of Jesus we hugged and said good night. As I got up to leave, Baby Jack said "Aunt Danette I so appreciate you." Ok, now I had to stay and give him one more big squeeze and another kiss. The preciousness of those words melted my heart. I love that Jesus knows how to melt our hearts with the simple words from little ones. What a blessing.

Quality Time

I've been wondering over the past weeks what my definition of quality time is. It is one of my "love languages" so I thought I would spend some time really investigating what quality time really means to me. My life is filled with work, friends, family and duty jobs ie:house work. (don't care for it at all)

Here are my thoughts on quality time. When you actually skip the pleasantries and get right to the heart of conversation with people. I love when you forget about the clock because you are more interested in what your company has to share with you. It isn't the fact that someone remembers to call you back, it is when they call you first. A good cup of java always accompanies quality time. More on this later.

Recently I was able to spend an early morning with the Ya Ya's. (A.K.A. Sara and Mary) What I loved the most about the time was that they didn't seem to be in a rush. We laughed, cried, read the WORD and spent time listening to each others hearts. What a blessing to have close women friends I can feel at home with.

Here is my challenge. How much quality time have I spent with my Savior? It has nothing to do with desire or conviction, however, everything to do with discipline. I miss out when quality time with Jesus is abandoned.