Lesson Learned

Every day he checks the mail. Every night, he asks if I think tomorrow will be the day. He has ever been this aware of the mail carrier’s schedule. Some days, there even were some tears as he returned empty handed from the mailbox. ⁣

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He was given a subscription to Sports Illustrated for Kids for Christmas. He loves it. He pages through it, learning everything he can about the athletes, sports and facts inside. The magazine comes out every two months. As soon as the first of the issue’s month rolls around, his focus becomes the magazine until he has it in his hands. He reads it and enjoys it, but it eventually gets tucked away with his other books.⁣

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Haven’t you had the same experience? You’re buying a car and all you see on the road are the cars you’re looking to buy. You want a baby and all you see are the pregnant mamas walking around. You want a friend, but all you see is others with an abundance of friends.⁣

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Our hearts are constantly creating idols. That thing you care so much about, you convince yourself you would be happy if you achieve it or receive it. If there’s not something you can immediately identify, rest assured, it is lurking in the shadows of your heart. On this side of Heaven, we will always battle idols in our hearts. We will never worship God in the rightful place He deserves. But we continue in the fight. ⁣

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We keep reminding our hearts that even if we don’t get that job or relationship or house or dream body or success or magazine in the mail, God is still good. ⁣

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We remind ourselves that even if our kids are perfect, we have the dream home and every accolade we could want, God is still better and these are only gifts that God gives, not of our own doing. ⁣

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We ground ourselves by remembering that even if we conquer an idol by God’s grace, there’s another month coming when the magazine won’t come on time, there’s another promotion we will crave and an even better home we will desire. We will battle idols until our final breath or until Jesus returns. Then and only then will we worship fully and rightly and perfectly for all of eternity. What a day that will be. ⁣#exhalecreativity #exhalenoticewriting #dayfourteen #lessonlearned