The Things We Say

Three of us get together to pray.
It is a sweet time.
We trust each other.
We share each other’s burdens.

We do not meet on the same day each month.
Schedules often prohibit us getting together.
We have to go back and forth with a few texts before we find a day that works for each of us.
It is always worth the struggle it takes to coordinate.

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. (Matthew 18:20)

One of the women put a name to our time together.
She calls us a prayer trio.
I love that name.
I love what it suggests; He is with us when we pray.

I knew that I was going to get there a little late.
I had a hair cut before we were scheduled to meet.
I got there about 20 minutes late.
They understood, since we usually have a time of fellowship first.

The woman who hosts our prayer time has a young son.
He always comes home towards the end of our time together.
Usually, we are ending our prayers as he walks through the door.
On this day, as her son came through the door, we were just getting started.

I remember when my sons were in elementary school.
They came home from school famished.
I always had a snack waiting for them.
I knew that we were changing this young boy’s routine just a bit.

He was so cute.
He was so patient.
He got his own snack.
I heard him go outside again and heard him dribbling a basketball.

When he came back inside, we were finished praying together.
As we were putting on our coats, we heard that one of his friends was coming over.
They would play basketball on the driveway.
Put your coat on, his mom said.

Any mother of a boy can tell you that boys have an aversion to coats.
Sweatshirts or hoodies are the order of the day.
Even if the calendar says February, heat is generated when basketball is played.
Coats are too heavy.

Each of us has sons.
Each of us remember.
No layering.
No coats.

A compromise was reached.
A heavier hoodie would be worn.
I am sure the hoodie would be taken off within minutes.
I remember.

I was the first one out the door.
Goodbyes were said.
Put some socks on, my friend said.
You cannot take the mother out of us.

I love to wear ankle jeans.
I love to wear them with flats.
I do not like to wear socks when I wear flats.
On this February day, I was no different from her son.

I think looking at me without socks made her cold.
I think seeing her son without a coat made her shiver a bit.
You cannot take the mother out of us.
Just ask any mother what she does when she drives.

Whenever a mother is driving and has to stop fast, she always does the same thing.
If someone is in the passenger seat, she will put her arm out to shield the one next to her.
I have done that to my older children if I am the one driving somewhere.
They always laugh whenever that happens.

When I think about it, my arm would never be enough protection.
It is force of habit.
It is a mother’s reflex.
Stopping fast and putting your arm out is done without thinking.

All mothers operate from the same directives.
Wash your hands.
Wipe your feet.
Wear a coat.

These are the things we say.
These are the things we do.
It is as if we are already pre-wired.
It is as if we read the same mother’s handbook.

I smiled at my friend when she told me to put on some socks.
Until she said that, I never thought about my feet being cold.
I was comfortable.
However, my no sock choice made her cold just to look at me.

For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there. Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, to whom he said, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”; and, “This is the place of repose”—but they would not listen. (Isaiah 28:10-12)

We have a Handbook.
We should know what it says.
We should be spending time in that precious Book each day.
It is the way God speaks to His people.

Often, people think that the Bible is just a book of rules.
Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that.
The Bible is a love story.
The Bible is about the how much God loves us and the extent to which He showed that love.

We cannot keep the rules in our own strength.
We sin and fall short every minute of every day.
We need a Savior.
Our Lord Jesus lived the perfect life that we are unable to live.

God’s Word is our Handbook.
It is not a rule book as much as it is a love story.
We have work to do.
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29)

Boys do not always listen to their mothers when a coat is suggested.
I did not listen to the suggestion of wearing socks on a February day.
In the scheme of things, there is some wiggle room in those decisions.
There is no wiggle room when it comes to whether we listen to God or not.

We do.
We fail to listen quite often.
Know for certain that God’s Word is a love story written to you.
God is our resting place, our place of repose.

Listen to Him.