A Lesson to Remember....

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
    He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
   he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
 Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Psalm 23

My daughter struggles with fear from time to time. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree in this family.

Night time is the hardest for her. She gets fearful many nights.

This one particular night, she had gotten into bed and I told her I would be there shortly to tuck her in.

I took a little longer than expected, and when I finally turned the corner to go to her room, I stopped dead in my tracks.

My daughter was whispering Psalm 23 through tears. She stumbled through the words, but she kept reciting the Psalm over and over.

My heart melted right there in that hallway outside of her bedroom.

The Lord revealed something to me in that moment that I will never forget.

I will not always be able to be with my children, but He will.

There are so many times when I want to be the one to soothe them, to nurse their fears and scary moments away. I want them to know I will always be there to dry their tears, take away their pain.

But, when I am not there, what will they do? How will they cope?

God showed me right there in that hallway that my children need to be taught to depend on Him in these moments.

As they grow older, and further away from the safety of my arms, they need to know where their true security lies...with Him. Not me.

Soon after my daughter prayed and recited Psalm 23, she fell asleep peacefully. You have no idea how much I wanted to wake her up and tell her that I was right there outside of her room. I wanted to tell her that I was just about to go tuck her in and soothe her fears.

However, I didn't.

I knew the Lord was teaching me, as well as her. My job is to train her up in the way she should go, not to train her up to depend on her momma.

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


My daughter is learning where her strength and peace lie. Her momma is learning the same lesson.


training in progress,


jill