If I Could Have One Wish…….

I remember overhearing a conversation between my two youngest grandsons. Brennan, asked his younger brother, Bryson, "If you had a genie in a bottle, what would you wish for?" They certainly earned love tokens when they both said: "For Nana to live with us forever!" They had some other outlandish wishes, but that one put a big smile on this Nana's face.

That conversation and memory made me think about what I would ask for today if a genie in a bottle showed up to grant me one wish, or even if God showed up and asked what one prayer could He answer for me today. How about you? What would YOU ask for? What does YOUR heart long for the most? No doubt, our answers would vary: More time in the day? A healed body? A restored relationship? A financial breakthrough? A child? A spouse? Strength to make it through this day? A dream vacation? World peace?

King David’s son, Solomon, was asked by God what one thing He could grant him. King Solomon responded: "wisdom to lead God’s people." Evidently, God liked that response because He gave him a wise and discerning mind. And Solomon became known as the wisest man in all of Israel. People from far and wide came to him for his wisdom. (1 Kings 3)

King David's wish (or ask) went like this: “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4) I am drawn to the “one thing” David asked of God — to dwell in His house forever. More than anything, David longed to be in God’s presence. No wonder he was called “a man after God’s own heart.” David experienced many highs and lows in his life, but I think his life's theme was a singular longing to be in God’s presence.

In my blog yesterday, I spoke about being in God’s presence – how in His presence, we will know what to do, where to go and even what to say – because in His presence is the answer for everything. That is “my wish” and my prayer today, that our hearts will be filled with this one thing . . . a desire to dwell in His presence. I’m pretty sure God delights in lavishing His love upon us. In fact, Jesus tells us God takes it to a level beyond anything any parent has ever done for their children. After all, He has already been more generous toward us than we will ever deserve. To live daily practicing His presence creates plenty of opportunities for God to show up and show out. No, He's not a Genie or Fairy Godmother, but He is the God in WHOM all things are possible. What better place to be than in His presence?

Stir Up Your First Love

As the 50th Wedding Anniversary date (July 8th) of my Sweetheart and I nears, I seem to be "in a remembrance zone". Dear friends of mine, who are celebrating their 50th year, are doing so by rekindling the love they had 50 years ago by purposefully going on all kinds of romantic and fun adventures. They've cruised, traveled near and far, taken lots of date nights and every day they are celebrating those 50 years in special ways, all year long. I love that. That gives me pause for a moment. I think that's what we would be doing, too. I won't get to do that, but I sure can spend sweet time remembering the special times we had in our 44 years.

When we had little to afford us to travel, we made lots of memories camping out and fishing in lots of lakes. We had LOTS of date nights to a movie, a restaurant, a musical (we loved those – “The Music Man” was our favorite and our favorite song came from it “Til There Was You”). Then we travelled in a Winnibego across the U.S. when we were The Master's 4 Quartette. We had four conversion vans over the years and chalked up a lot of miles travelling across the U.S. and Canada (my Sweetheart's home). Both of us being Private Pilots, we travelled many miles in our Cessna 182 airplane. We travelled on commercial airplanes, making many trips to see our kids when they lived in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington. We travelled to many events and conferences, near and far away. We travelled many times to my Sweetheart's beloved Belize and Mexico where we regularly went to share God's love on missions trips. We travelled on a Gulfstream when our son took us on the ride of our life to New York City when his company became public. We were there when he rang the opening bell on Nasdaq. We enjoyed 15 cruises together, the last of which was our dream trip, 5 days in Rome and 12 days on a Meditteranean Cruise.

One of my fondest memories is the trip Ron won at an LPGA Golf Tournament. He putted a 50 foot hole in one stroke. A hole-in-one that awarded us with a trip, the next day, on a 747 with the LPGA women to Sweden for the Solheim Cup. Eight days and nights -- all expenses paid. We made the most of the moments when travelled by train to Denmark and the ferry and train to Berlin, Germany.

Not only did I enjoy "remembering" all those experiences for myself, but I wanted to share them with you to say: "DON'T let the wonders and wows of your todays past you by." Like us, you may not make it to your 50th year to celebrate the years. Make memories today. Make every day count for loving and sharing and rekindling that love that brought you together with your sweetheart in the first place. Get off the couch and go for a walk. Get up early to see the sun rise together. Holding hands, watch the sun set together. Light some candles. Stir up that FIRST LOVE that you shared. STOP and behold the beauty God gave you, before it's too late.

Then, spiritually, let's not move so speedily through life, that we fail to set aside the time needed to stop and behold the beauty of the Lord and to gaze upon the wonders that are found in Him alone. Let’s stir up that FIRST LOVE we encountered with Him.

Psalm 27:4 "One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, and BEHOLD THE BEAUTY of the LORD and to meditate in His temple."

What Would You Request of Your Genie?

When driving my two youngest grandsons to school, the older one, Brennan, asked his younger brother, Bryson, "If you had a genie in a bottle, what would you wish for?" They certainly earned love tokens when they both replied "For Nana to live with us forever!" Of course they had some other outlandish wishes, but that one put a big smile on this Nana's face.

Now, how about you? What would YOU ask for if YOU had a genie in a bottle and he'd grant just one wish to you? What does YOUR heart long for the most? No doubt, our answers would vary. More time. A healed body. A restored relationship. A financial breakthrough. A child. A spouse. Passing the BIG test that enables a BIG promotion.

King David's wish (or ask) went like this: “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.” Psalm 27:4

When I read that scripture, I am drawn to the “one thing” David asked of God — to dwell in His house forever. How can we live in God's house while we're still here on this side of heaven? More than anything, David longed to be in God’s presence. No wonder he was called “a man after God’s own heart.” Though David experienced many highs and lows in his life, I think the one major theme in his life was a singular longing to be in God’s presence.

Psalm 16:11 speaks more to dwelling in God's presence and the greatest perk from doing so is joy! It goes like this: " In Your presence is fullness of joy." And that's my "wish" and my prayer today, that our hearts will be filled with this one thing . . . a desire to dwell in His presence. I’m pretty sure God delights in lavishing His love upon us. In fact, Jesus tells us God takes it to a level beyond anything any parent has ever done for their children. After all, He has already been more generous toward us than we will ever deserve. To live daily practicing His presence, creates plenty of opportunities for God to show up and show out. No, He's not a Genie or Fairy Godmother, but He is the God in WHOM all things are possible. What better place to be than in His presence?