Between the Windows: 65

Friday, September 20, 2013

65

Today is my 65^th birthday and I’m counting my blessings. (Medicare is not one of them.)

Something I’ve learned:

There is a great difference between Knowledge and Wisdom.

Knowledge is information. It’s useful at times, but only if you have the right knowledge and are able to use it for a good purpose.

Wisdom is knowing when and how to use the knowledge collected over a lifetime. Wisdom does not come easily, but only through experience (often trials), or sometimes directly by the Holy Spirit.

Something else I’ve learned:

God often speaks to me in the middle of the night, since that’s the only time I’m still enough to listen to Him.

In these last few months, I told my son something that I said will sound really conceited, but it’s as true as true can be. I said to him that I have learned everything I need to from the Bible:

1. God Loves Me

2. I Can Trust Him in Everything

That’s it. The end. Lessons learned.

A few months ago my son brought home a book that had been given to him at church: Ken Ham’s How Could a Loving God…? He brought home several books and I wanted to read this one. I began, but didn’t get very far into it when I seemed to get stuck, pages 83 and 84. No matter how many times I picked up the book, I just didn’t want to read more. Then in the next two weeks, the opportunity came to share those pages with my son, in his ongoing dilemma, and that wisdom was then confirmed by other sources around him. It helped him a great deal to have that knowledge which became wisdom in his heart and mind.

The next time I picked up the book, I was eager to read more, and read . . . until I reached another “stuck” point. I waited a little more patiently this time, and sure enough the opportunity came to use that knowledge in our discussions. This time we knew that Big Time Prayer was needed. After a while, my son was able to move on in his journey - - - as was the person we prayed for!

This last week I picked up the book, started over, and read pretty much straight through, until I came to my own stopping point: page 174.

“Living as we are now (between “the Fall” and “the consumation”), how then should we live? In the above verse, [Ephesians 5:15-16] Paul challenges us to live lives of wisdom and careful progression. These would be lives that are lived in truth, trust, and with a vision for eternity.”

Well, that caught my attention. I had already professed many weeks earlier that I had the first two parts down pat - see lessons above: 1. (learned as a child) and 2. (learned at age 22), but I discovered that I had been stuck for the past 15 years on the word “and”!

There’s a Part 3??? Yep. I had not been distributing enough of my treasure. Got it; on it.

So, what are some of my blessings, you say? Here are a few.

My family, who love me in spite of my bossy self:

Mom, two brothers, two sisters-in-law, a niece and

a nephew I love dearly, my son and my grandchildren.

The place where I live that gives me cheer and comfort.

Relatively good health for an Old Lady.

A permanent fishing license from the State of Oklahoma.

Time to spend as I choose.

The wisdom to have pared my belongings to the things

that I really like looking at and using.

The changes in my son this year. How can that be a blessing?