Relationship and Redemption

There's a certain peace that comes in knowing who you are, accepting it, rejoicing in it and being content. I am a teacher. I am so thankful to those attending the "Dream Releasers" class for helping me see that. Or at least reminding me of that.

If you've not read this book by Wayne Cordeiro, I highly recommend it. We need to remember the dream God has placed inside of us.

I can see the creativity God has placed in me as I teach others. I love teaching my kids, too.

When they were little, I was notorious for my charts. Potty Charts. Cleaning Charts. Behavior Charts. Reward Charts. To Do Charts. But they were so useful! And I still have most of them. But it let the kids know what we expected, what they needed to do and it kept us all on track.

This week, I posted an Expectation list for everyone in the family. It included the topics of Home, School, Spiritual and Behavior and in each category were things such as keeping your room clean, going to Bible studies, completing assignments and keeping a positive attitude. Even Mom and Dad got a chart! This morning, Ashley asked if she needed to check things off each day (see, I trained her well!) Though this is not a Check-off chart, she still wanted to track where she was in light of our expectations.

The Bible is like that for us. It's a Check-Up Chart - not for God's expectations for our behaviors, but for Relationship with Him. Our behaviors align with His attitudes when we keep our relationship right with Him.

I am learning this about God - it's all about Relationship and Redemption. If our Relationship with Him is correct, He can redeem the pain that living in a fallen world brings. If our Relatinship with Him is out of balance, He has already purchased the Remption to correct our fallen status.

Lord, I thank you for sending your precious son to Redeem my life. You see me as your precious child - I don't know how worthy of that I am sometimes. But because I am your child, I am worthy. You love me when I am unlovely. Thank you, Father.

Thank you for seeking relationship with me. I really like that idea. You are my friend. You want to be with me. How awesome. Thanks.