Author: princessleah

How do you say goodbye to those you love? One thing we do as a family is always say I love you whether on the phone, or in person. We want our last words to each other to always demonstrate our love for each other. It is a way of imparting a word of blessing every time we part. We can advocate with the Holy Spirit when we speak words of blessing over our families. Each day when we drop our son off for school, we pray a blessing over him. Through the years, each night at bedtime after the bedtime ritual was completed, we would read a story, take a few moments and pray a word of blessing over our kids. It takes a few minutes, but it is worth every moment. One of my good friends said this in a parenting session at a Ladies Conference. “As toddlers your kids follow you everywhere, when they get older, you get to follow them.” I love that advice. Follow them to their bedroom, sit on the bed with them at bedtime, and then chat. Talk about their day, express your heart for them to grow up to be champions for God, speak words of blessing, and then pray for them. Not only are you planting seeds for your kids future, you are modeling good parenting practices for when your kids become parents. That is a win/win/win!

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Unusual greetings can happen when we take notice of people. Jesus did that with the woman at the well. He opened the door of conversation and revealed the love of God in the midst of her brokenness. Have you ever done that? It really isn’t as hard as we may think. You don’t even have to be super spiritual, or over the top bold, it just takes being observant. Just the other day, we were coming home from the BSU game in Boise and stopped at a gas station. It was late at night, but as we walked in I noticed a woman crying by her car. I stopped to ask her if she was ok, and she said she wasn’t. I got to pray with her and help her, and speak some encouraging words to her, and then I was on my way. Not too hard at all! I believe in those divine appointments. God puts us right in the path of someone who has a need, and we get to be God’s hands and feet to show His love. My encouragement to you is to be observant. Watch for people that God puts in your path. Be willing to be inconvenienced for a few moments. Pray for opportunities for God to use you, and then jump right in. Don’t pass them by. You could be a catalyst to change someone’s life.

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Authentic relationships can be one of the greatest joys of life. Jesus set such a wonderful example relationally for us by loving everyone he came in contact with. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. Every friend of yours was once a stranger. Your friendship began with a smile, a spoken word or some kind of kindness. Here is your daily eword about sharing God’s kindness to those around you.

The way young people greet each other can be very interesting! From Yo, to Hey girl, or say brat, you need a translator to know that they are saying hello to each other! Relationships begin with hello, in every language. Good eye contact, a firm handshake, a warm hug, all can be the beginning of a relationship. One of the things I encourage you to do is to ask real questions and really listen to the answers when you meet someone new. We encourage the people of our church to greet visitors and people they don’t know yet with a warm hello. Then to introduce themselves and find out the names of the ones they are meeting. We ask them to ask how long they have been attending our church, and then ask them if there is anything they could pray with them about. Some new friendships have begun from those three questions. At the very least, they get to know someone better within the body, and are often involved in their lives because they are praying for them about some need in their life. Let’s really care and be kind to one another, from the first meeting all the way to deep friendship. Showing interest in someone’s life is loving like Jesus loves and moving us toward authentic relationships.

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We are talking about the one another’s of the Bible and today we are looking at honoring one another. The Bible says in Romans 12:10 that we should honor one another even above ourselves. I’m trying to picture church life if everyone had that attitude when coming to church. Can you imagine everyone trying to out give and out bless each other? There would be way more volunteers than necessary for teaching junior high boys, and more than enough nursery workers, and way too many ushers and greeters. The prayer room would be over full with prayer teams scheduled around the clock, praying for the body and interceding for the lost in our community. What a wonderful problem that would be! So let me ask you this. Are you serving where God has called you to serve in your local body? If we really do honor one another, we would find our niche in the body of Christ and begin serving right away. The sideline is not where I want to be. I want to be right in the middle of the game, get me the ball; I want to make a touchdown. Let’s do that for God! We have so much to offer, let’s willingly offer our gifts back to God and serve the body as we honor one another above ourselves.

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Honoring one another means that we put others needs ahead of our own. In a world where we are reminded all the time to watch out for number 1, watching out for another’s well being comes only after making sure your needs are all met. What the Bible teaches is that when we help meet the needs of others, very often our healing, our victory, or our breakthrough will come. When every curve ball that is pitched our way doesn’t distract us, we can really begin to rise above in our lives. It starts as we honor one another. Genuine church life is seeing the person and not just the program. It is looking to the heart of the matter instead of just what you see on the outside. It is realizing that everyone is facing some kind of battle, and you are prepared to make their day better by your presence in their life. If we come to church and act like a consumer, as if church is just a place to shop, instead of a place of community, we will be church hoppers, going from one place to another, because of unmet expectations. Church life is much more than that. We honor God when we become planted where HE wants us to be planted. If you are around our church you hear me say this often. Where you are planted is where you grow. It is important to put down deep roots, and grow from a sapling, into a strong and sturdy oak, and that starts with honoring one another. Prepare to be a blessing in the place where God has planted you!

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Romans 12:10 tells us to be devoted to one another. What does it mean to be devoted to another person? Devotion is often translated as kind affection. Sometimes we substitute commitment for devotion and although commitment is essential in relationships, kind affection is actually very important as well. When we experience affection from God, it makes us want to show kind affection to others. There is the sowing and reaping principle at work again. It works with love, it works with money, and even with affection! The people in your life can be the object of your kind affection. How wonderful is that? In fact, studies have shown that people need human touch to thrive. We can survive without it, but why try? Let’s learn to pat each other on the back, give a warm hug to your family members, and a gentle kiss to those in your closest circle. Spouses should kiss regularly! Always kiss each other goodnight. Always embrace before leaving the other’s presence. Show your affection in your home. Hold hands, embrace, and show your love! When you do, you are demonstrating devotion to one another. The only debt we should have, as the Bible says in Romans 13:8, is our debt of love to one another. Let’s get really good at being devoted to one another. It makes for happier spouses, happier children, and happier homes. What a great place to start.

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Avoid the resentment trap, or any low-grade irritations that try to build up in your life. Yesterday we talked about high expectations and how they can set you up for disappointment. The progression from disappointment goes toward resentment, and eventually lands at disgust, and sometimes even makes its way to distain. In every area of life, we have to guard our heart, because out of it flow all the issues of life. When we guard our heart concerning relationships, we have to make a choice to filter out negativity so resentment cannot make its home in our heart. So how do we do that? It takes a conscious effort by being proactive with our thought life and our behaviors. Since how we think is what we will become, we take our thoughts captive and bring them in line with the Word of God. We address situations when they arise. If we keep brushing little irritations under the rug, in a short while, there will be quite a pile building up to trip you up. We know that is how the enemy works. It is the little foxes that spoil the vine. If we let those irritations linger, our mind will grab ahold of them, and take us to the worst-case scenario. Instead of believing for the best, we will begin worrying about the worst. In relationships, that is the pathway to ruin. So, guard your heart, guard you thoughts and help your relationship thrive!

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Have you heard the saying, expect the best, but plan for the worst? I’m not sure who coined that phrase, but we can set ourselves up for disappointment if our expectations are too high. Expectations can disappoint, especially if we are putting our hope in people’s behavior, or in circumstances. We’ve all had that happen, we expect something to turn out a certain way, and it doesn’t, or when we expect someone to act a certain way and they don’t. We feel let down, disappointed and sometimes worse. Part of that is just because we live on an earth that has a curse. It is a fallen world, but even Christians can disappoint us. We can even sabotage our own relationships when we put expectations on people, and they didn’t deliver. But the fault isn’t necessarily theirs; it was just our imaginary bar that they were supposed to reach. It happens in marriage all the time! For the husband and the wife, they expected the other to be or do or act a certain way, and when that doesn’t happen, disappointment sets in. It can also begin feelings of low-level resentment that can eat away at their relationship. Then comes the blame game, and an awful cycle has begun. In relationships, we have to communicate! Your spouse cannot read your mind. Let them hear you tell them what your wants and desires are. If you get a no, at least you know you were heard. You can spare your relationship and your heart from being wounded, and thwart the enemy’s plan to destroy your life.

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I’ve got your back. That line is from one of my favorite movies of all time called The Blind Side. It was on TV recently and I watched it with my girls and some friends. There are so many great lessons in that movie, but the recurring theme that speaks so sweetly to me is that we are to look out for others. The story, in case you haven’t seen it, or it has been a while, is about a sweet and tough southern mama played by Sandra Bullock, and her family, who take in a big kid who has no family and no home. He becomes a football star, and eventually goes on to play in the NFL. Big Mike had no one, and their family became his family. They had his back for no other reason than that they saw a kid in need, and they met the need. What was so sweet in the movie was that when Big Mike realized as a football player that he was to have his team’s back, and particularly to defend his quarterback, he was unstoppable. How good are we at that in our relationships. How can you have your friends or family’s back when difficult situations arise? I hope we can develop that same kind of bulldog tenacity that says, no matter what, I’ve got your back. How comforting to know that God’s doing that for us!

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A great relationship can be one of the greatest joys of life. Jesus set such a great example relationally for us by loving everyone he came in contact with. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. I hope that you have begun to see how much God loves you, and how much love God has given you to share with others. It is so easy to concentrate on receiving love, that we forget why we are here, and that is to give it away by serving others. Jesus did it perfectly! Let’s put love into practice this week. Here is your daily eword.

Its not about me. I think we know that, but sometimes we act like it is all about us! In Mark 10:45 the Bible says that the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Jesus demonstrated by his life that when you sow seeds of love, you will reap wonderful benefits in your own life. Seed produces after its own kind, so when you plant a corn seed and you get corn in return. You plant a love seed, and you get back love in return. It may not be immediate, but it is coming back! My mom’s life this fall is a perfect example of God blessings flowing back from seed sown. Both of her hips have disintegrated, and she is having them both replaced. After loosing her mobility for a season, she was overwhelmed with the love and care shown to her from her water aerobics class, her neighbors, her friends from all walks of life and her church family. People have been a great avenue of blessing to her in her time of need. Because she has a heart to serve, she feels like she should be serving others, but God is meeting her every need because of the seed she has sown over and over again throughout the years. She realizes that God is her supply, but he is using others to one another her in her time of need. Isn’t that just like God?

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