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© Renee’ Belle Isle Green and Mom2MomFlorida, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Renee’ Belle Isle Green and Mom2MomFlorida with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Look out for the waves …


The child is playing in the surf, standing near the ever watchful parent (hopefully).  The parent sees the wave and lifts them up just in time saying, “whee” to transfer joy instead of fear into the little one’s mind.

You walk along the surf, your mind emptying its thoughts along the sand.  You never saw it coming, the wave knocks you off your feet.  You tumble and roll, gaining your footing momentarily only to have a second wave grasp you and take you down.  There’s that moment of fear, you want to fight back, you want to survive … a hand reaches you and lifts you up.

Oh to be the child again, always having a hand there to keep you lifted above the waves.  As children we do not have to keep an eye out, that is what parents do.  But, as adults we lose our peripheral vision on our own lives.  We get tunnel vision and never see the waves of life coming until it is too late and the big wave of life takes us under.  Then floundering around grasping for anything thing to keep us afloat, we reach out for anything and everything.  Sadly that takes many further out to sea.

The best way to survive waves is to prepare for them.  I love to walk the shore line, but if the water is rough, I go to the sandbars to keep me protected.  The Christian life is like that as well.  Waves are coming, it is part of life.  God allows them, not to knock you down and drown you, but to teach you to rely on Him.  He IS your sandbar.  When you stray off the safety of His path, He’s there waiting to guide you back.  When you allow the waves to wash you out to sea, He’s your lighthouse in the storm.  The lighthouse never moves, you simply have to look towards Him, move towards Him.

You moved, He didn’t.

You know the way, you see the way, you have to admit what needs to be done and swim back towards the Lighthouse.  He will guide, His light reaches out to you.

Psalm 27:1 NLT
“A psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation–so why should I be afraid? The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?”

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“Teacher’s Pet”


You either have been or knew someone that was “the teacher’s pet”.  

They even made a movie about it once upon a time.  Favorite, we all want to be one.  We all have one, not just teacher’s.

In the Bible, “pets” or favorites, caused many problems.  Genesis 25 relates what happens when parents play favorites as did Isaac and Rebekah.  In Matthew 20 we read of a mother in verse 21 that says, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”  She wanted her sons given favor over the others.

“Pets”, favorites, going to the same people over and over.  The teacher does it, the parent does it, the employer does it, the choir director, the pastor, the ….. EVERYONE.  We all have favorites.  Sometimes when we repeatedly go to the same people we bypass more deserving people, hurting them; and we shortcut God’s ministry by not giving Him the opportunity to bless through others.

We all can set aside our preferences and allow God to use everyone He will.  As a parent, you can bless your children by going to the one “least likely”.   Even if you have only one child, you can set aside yourself or spouse by allowing God to use them.  Tap into the strength of others, not your usual “go to” people.  That may be a child, a student, an employee, someone in your church.   Do not ignore the “inkling” to ask someone to do something by thinking through it and convincing yourself you could do it better, or someone else could do it better.  God loves to use those we deem weaker vessels, perfect for the job in His eyes.

Validate others, even if you could do it better yourself.   You may be surprised to find the result far exceeds anything that could have resulted from you or others.   Moses was called out as a leader (Exodus 4) and asked for Aaron’s help doubting what God could do in him, the weak vessel.  How often do we shortcut God and make a hindrance to His work.

Today, if God gives you the opportunity, let Him take someone you view ordinary and make them extraordinary.

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My Get Up and Go …


Got up and went.

Ever feel this way? You know, when your day is done (or maybe just begun) and your get up and go, got up and went.

Know the feeling?  We are always on the run, here, there …. everywhere.  Hurry, hurry, hurry.  We have such a frantic schedule, especially when we have children at home.   My mother use to say she met her self coming when she was going.  Think on that one for a minute.

Other sayings from the South:

* running around like a chicken with their head cut off

* they won’t know they’re dead until they lay down three days later

We live life to the fullest.  So full, we overflow into utter exhaustion and yet seem to get little done.  Another saying: “Take time to smell the roses”.   Oh, we can quote them, but can we live them?  Each generation reflects back to when life was simpler … oh, for the good ol’ days.

Is it any wonder we do not hear answers to prayers?  We are too busy to slow down and listen and follow instructions.

In John 9 Jesus met a blind man. The man wanted to be healed.  Jesus placed mud on his eyes and told him to GO and he WENT.

JOHN 9:6-7  6  “After saying this, He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” He told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”

The man had to put action to his faith in this instance.  Jesus showed him to listen, follow and do.  Oh, we listen when we take the time to hear.  But do we follow?  Do we put any action to our faith?  Do we “GO”?

Today as you are hurrying around to the point that your “get up and go, got up and went” (in other words you are exhausted), think on what God has asked of you to do.  Have you been too busy to hear His still quite voice leading you?  What did you hear?  Did you say, “I don’t have time, or later Lord?  Maybe not in so many words, but in your actions that is what you say, right?  If you put as much into His schedule as you do your own … if when He asked you to “GO” you got up and “WENT”.  What might you see happen?

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Short cut!


Short cuts…

Short cuts

they save time and gas money on our journeys.  We love them.  Most of us know all the ones around our area.  Then there are the short cuts on computers.  Recognize any in the picture?  I love them … they save time AND brain cells.

Got any boxed mixes in the cabinet?  Oh yeah, love those too … save time, energy and it is a fast road to something good to eat.

I guess I really love the computer ones; especially the one at the top that helps with all of my “too quick to click” problems.  (UNDO or Ctrl + Z.)

Our short cut mentality takes over in every area of our lives.  Once we start incorporating it in one area, it slips over into another, then another.  But, we get the job done.  Or, do we?  You see people taking “short cuts” in their work, raising their kids and even in their spiritual lives.  They use quick fixes … putting off the inevitable.  Unfortunately, like our little computer menu, they need an  “UNDO” because eventually short cuts catch up with you.

Remember the movie “SANTA CLAUS” where the elf, Patches, designs a machine to shortcut production?  That turned out well., right?  How about at your job, or as a mom … a dad, an employee, or a church volunteer; taking any short cuts and “getting ‘er done”?  Sometimes it is not about finishing, in fact most of life is not just finishing, it is how you got to the finish; the journey.

Many  are wiping their brows, “whew, got them graduated”.   A diploma from high school, college, etc. is nice.  You “got ‘er done”.  Now comes the hard part, where you sit back and see if  all the short cuts you took raising them are going to back fire.  Are there “holes” in their so-called education?  Oh, they can read and write, but where are they on a spiritual level?  Where are they in character?  What values do they have, if any?  Did you just raise them the way you were raised, or maybe you insisted on raising them “better than your parents raised you”.

Look at your work ethics.  Will they work like you?  Is that a good thing?  How about your spiritual life; will they walk like you?  Is that a good thing?  Have you passed on a “short cut” mentality to the next generation?  Is saving time a good thing?  What did you really save?

The good news is, in the Christian life there is an “UNDO” button =  Control + Christ.  Did any of those “too quick to click” maneuvers backfire  in an area of your life and  you do not know how to fix the mess you have made?  Put it in His hands.  It is never too late to turn it over to Him.  He has been waiting  for you to relinquish control.  At work, at home, raising kids, volunteering at church … put the control in Christ’s hands.

PROVERBS 3: 5-7 “5  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. 7  Do not be wise in your own eyes…”

Short cuts in your work life, your home life, children’s lives or church life will bring forth poor results.  Take time to seek Him, read His word and talk with Him … often.  Then, as we all will need to do, use the UNDO daily.

(Disclaimer:  NO, this was not inspired by any of my friends who happen to have high school and college graduations right now :-D).

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It ain’t over ’til ….


I am constantly amazed at the words that come out of parents’ mouths.  Recently one parent said, “I just wanna get them saved so I can quit worrying about them.”  Really?  First of all, you can lead them, you can pray for them, guide them, instruct them …. you   CANNOT SAVE them.

John 3:16(HCSB)   “For God loved the world in this way:  He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” 

The Gk word houtos, commonly translated in Jn 3:16 as “so” or “so much” occurs over 200 times in the NT. Almost without exception it is an adverb of manner, not degree (for example, see Mt 1:18). It only means “so much” when modifying an adjective (see Gl 3:3; Rv 16:18). Manner seems primarily in view in Jn 3:16, which explains the HCSB‘s rendering. Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Salvation is the gift of God.  You do not earn it and you cannot give it to someone, least of all your child.   You can share what salvation in your life means and you can pray they come to know God through His son Jesus Christ.  They have to accept the gift, you can not make them take it so they will be safe.

But, once they are saved it is not over.  You must raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  Disciplining them in the ways of our Lord, helping them to grow.  When a baby is born into this world that is not the end.  Just as you care and raise them in the world, a new-born in Christ must also be cared for and raised in the spiritual world.  You would not let your newborn flounder around on their own for sustenance, yet many a parent “gets” their child saved and thinks, “whew, now that’s done.”   As a  parent you see to their physical and mental needs (or you should) and likewise you need to see to their spiritual needs, teaching them in the ways of the Lord.  Getting them to Sunday School, youth group and church is a start.  But, you must also walk the talk you talk.  It is not, “do as I say do while you’re doing as you please”.  Your child becoming a man or woman of God is a growing process.  It does not happen overnight or when they are saved.  It is not over at that point.  It is just starting.

1 Corinthians 13:11 (NASB)  “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.”

When you bring a child into the world, you must tend to their physical, mental and emotional needs or you are abusive in the world’s eyes.  God’s Word says you are responsible for their spiritual life as well.  How much more accountable should we be to their spiritual needs?  They have all the electronic toys, stylish clothes and treats to eat.  But, have you provided for their spiritual needs?

Proverbs 22:6(KJV) ” Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Some people cling to Proverbs 2:6 as a promise.  It is not a promise, it is a proverb.  However, if you ignore the proverb you are setting your child up for spiritual failure and being lost and condemned.  It will always be their choice to choose God or reject God.  It was satan’s* choice that got him kicked out of Heaven.  God is not a puppet master and we are not puppets.  If you do all you can do to raise your child up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and they choose to not accept, do not let satan* lie to you and blame you.  Just keep praying for that child.  You planted the seeds, someone else may harvest the crop.  You just keep watering it with your prayers.

It ain’t over … it’s just begun.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) 5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.6 Seek His will in all you do and He will show you which path to take.”

*satan – I know people capitalize the “S” but, I don’t.  I refuse to give him any status of importance.  He’s a snake, so satan, devil, etc. are lower case, as he is one.