December 2006

By Anonymous -

Here we are at the end of 2006, well almost. This year has been an incredible journey for me and I believe for many of you it has been also. As we reflect on the way we lived in 2006 and how we want to live in 2007, may we pray this for ourselves and for all the women we know – “Lord, help me/us to keep my/our eyes fixed on Jesus. Because I/we know, nothing else satisfies.”

React versus Respond

“Jesus didn’t react, he responded” is what I heard one Sunday morning as my tired wandering mind finally focused. Since then it has been bouncing around in my head. You know me by now with my interest in etymology and definitions, so you might be expecting a little Merriam-Webster action – I won’t disappoint. To react is from Latin re- + agere to act whereas to respond is from Latin respondEre to promise in return, answer. Responding is with thought and intent and to react is just simply acting.

I am a reaction waiting to happen; I would like to be a responder. When my toddler is at his peak need for attention while I am on the phone, making dinner or having a conversation with my husband or the like – I want to respond. What my problem is I have a case of the Romans 7:19’s For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. I am embarrassed at how often I just react, and the repairs of apologies that must follow.

So, how to get from the wanting to do and the doing is the key to my answer. I believe that it is in praying for a heart to respond and then practicing how to respond. Tomorrow I am going to try to respond when I hear over and over again the same question by my toddler and not to react. May God be my peace and give me a heart that loves others more than myself so I can be a responder!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thank you for sticking with me through this journey and for praying for me too.

In Christ,

Elizabeth

**now you can read EFW at: http://efw-alentar.blogspot.com **

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