—Lilo & Stitch
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Saturday, October 24, 2026
True and Trusted
When God says, “Honor your father and your mother,” he is also saying, Will you trust and submit to me? — to my wise, sovereign, and specific plan for you, however hard that plan feels along the way? He chose your mother’s womb as your first home (Psalm 139:13), and then wove pieces of your parents together into a new person.
“[God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth,” the apostle Paul reminds us, “having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (Acts 17:26)— and whose children we would be.
So, will you take this man and this woman, the parents he has chosen for you, to love and to honor for as long as they both shall live?
Teachers will come and go, bosses will be hired and retire, governors and presidents will be elected and leave office, whole nations will rise and fall, but your parents will always be your parents.
Because God, with literally billions of options, chose this mother and this father for you. So, will you honor Him by honoring them?
Marshall Segal
President & CEO, Desiring God
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/honor-the-parents-god-gave-you
Looking back on the many years the LORD gave us together, I tremble to remember a brief season when I did not fully trust the LORD regarding my parents’ love for me.
As most “wanna-be independent young ladies”, I knew Mom and Dad wanted what was best for me, and I knew they were eager to protect and guide me “in the way I should go”. They were not overly zealous or terribly restrictive, but they were traditional, scripturally and conservatively motivated to be caring and responsible parents. They were truly the best role models they could be for me.
My parents were my confidantes and cheerleaders, but I also knew they were not always excited about my choice of friends, nor the liberties my friends took. I was sure they wanted me to be guarded concerning the time I spent with them, and not allow my peers to influence me in a worldly way.
They knew me well…
They were sure my conscience wanted to please the LORD and each of them.
As a youth, I was pretty open and honest with them, until… I began to feel ashamed, embarrassed, and convicted regarding temptation/foolish choices. I felt torn. I didn’t know how to be true to my faith in the LORD, to my parents, and to my friends.
So, sadly, I began to withhold my heart from the LORD and my parents, because I’d given my heart to others.
How wrong I was to allow my heart to be taken captive by those who sought to lure me away by peer pressure. I wrongly thought I could gain something more fulfilling, even possibly better than what the LORD and my parents could give me, at least temporarily. That happened under the guise of experiencing friends who encouraged young love, more fun, approval, and wisdom (of the world).
Ohh how I regret giving more weight and credence to those whose acquaintance I’d not long known, and whose motives were willful gain and popularity (being chosen over my parents).
It’s one thing to decide you want to be accepting of others, to try new things for the sake of spreading your wings to become who you were meant to be, BUT when your friends ask of you to make changes, to become someone you’re not, as in NOT trusting God who gave you to your parents, to those who laid the foundation for you to become, you’re at risk of rejecting God’s best for you, and sadly, the parents He called you to love and honor.
Is that really what growing up has to be like, and how maturity happens? Sadly, I think this happens all too often.
Must “becoming” require breaking free to be changed into another’s image, and conformed by a culture that more times than not displeases God??
While I was away at school, I realized I could either be true to who God made me to be, or I could allow my liberties and choices to be shaped by my peers.
I came to the conclusion, I could not in good conscience allow friends to pressure me into what they wanted from me. I also learned they could not satisfy me.
Part of the stress and emotional strain of moving away from home for me was the struggle of wanting to maintain with those I cared about at home, while making new friends in Tallahassee. I would spend two and a half years there.
Back then, cell phones and social media were not available for quick and easy access to my friends back home. Connecting happened by landlines, postal service, and/or a 3 hour drive to visit. So more times than not, there was always the waiting for replies.
What I found to be difficult was being in one world, to “be all there”, while my emotions were sadly missing out on what was happening back home.
Homesickness was ever present with me and discouraged my focus. Circumstances in Tallahassee could be improving, and then a phone call would come (back then very expensive), and that would take me back into a world of guilt (for being the focus of someone I questioned should not be spending that kind of money to connect with me), thus then discontentment, and grief for wanting something or someone’s company I couldn’t have.
How to live between two worlds, conflicting influences and authorities was a battle!!
I cried out to the LORD and took long walks around a great place called Lake Ella, located in the middle of Tallahassee. It was a little less than a mile distance, but it was always a good getaway for me to pray and feel some relief from what weighed me down.
Walks and talk time with the LORD always helped me gain the better perspective I needed!
The LORD gave me insightful encouragement from His Word during my quiet times, and as well while listening to Christian radio and the cassette tapes my Mom sent me to listen to from my home church services.
I realized soo much of what my parents counseled and encouraged me about was nothing but scripturally sound.
Four months after arriving in Tallahassee, the LORD gave me faith and grace to trust Him. I experienced so much more comfort and peace of mind. I grew in more trust of my parents’ counsel and friendship. They supported me with godly wisdom!
Sadly, I’ve since learned that is a blessing not enjoyed by many young people, who do not have or trust the upbringing God has provided for them. I realize parents are not always that source of spiritual encouragement, but they should still be honored as the authority structure God has given them. The command to honor Father and Mother (and other authorities) is not conditional.
I began to make more confident choices independent of my friends, and I did not feel ashamed, but thankful!!!
I learned how peaceable it was to be set apart and more confident in who the LORD is. I gained more joy while trusting God’s Word and His plan for me.
There were definitely times when I fell back into fear and insecurity, for sacrificing close camaraderie with certain friends, but again the times I found myself committing time in God’s Word and prayer, I found to be fruitful. My church friends in Tallahassee were a great source of encouragement and spiritual strength. That was a huge blessing!
There is no doubt in my mind that the LORD set me apart for a season to grow me in faith and understanding, of who He is and who He created me to be.
A few of my peers back home let me know they disagreed with my reliance on parental counsel for some of my choices. Their counsel was, “You’re old enough to make your own decisions.” That may have been true to some degree, but I also knew I should never underestimate the safety the LORD had given me in trusting their concern for me, and for the multitude of counselors He’d given me in them and others (Proverbs 11:14).
There were friends who came along side me to encourage my walk with the LORD. What a gift of comfort, to always have parental and godly counsel!
My parents were always there for me to encourage my faith in the LORD. They were there for me when friends were not.
They were there for me when I messed up and made mistakes, when I struggled low in my fears and anxieties. They didn’t always understand or know how to encourage and strengthen me, but they always knew to point me to Christ and His Word which did!
I treasure their memory, and I miss their fellowship very much. I cherish that they always wanted to be there for me, to gather our family, to love and enjoy their grandchildren, and tell us their special love story. They never turned their back on me. They were always loyal and loving towards the LORD, and their family and friends.
I could not be more thankful they didn’t fail at being the best friends I ever had. They were not perfect, but they were consistent and patient to endure to love and guide me, their one and only daughter, into truth!
When I married Mark, I had much joy and confidence in their blessing and encouragement of our relationship and marriage. It was so wonderful that they shared a friendship with Mark’s parents, and they had much joy in the relationships they had developed over a span of about twenty years serving together at church, in Sunday School classes and while serving as deacons.
The circumstances of Mark and I meeting and then subsequently pen-paling was a natural process, a slow and comfortable meshing of our lives and hearts together. When Mark proposed, our parents/families were just as excited for us to be married as we were. We also had the special encouragement and support of a community of dear older saints, specifically and memorably “The Little Ol’ Ladies” who worked with our moms in the church office. They watched our relationship bud into full bloom. A few of them were able to meet a couple of our children before they moved to Heaven.
Mark and I blended well with one another’s families. I could not have asked for a more wonderful family to become a part of.
I have come to realize, some relationships between parents and grown children are not as close and trusting, open and naturally developing towards spiritual growth.
As I’ve learned to release our children, differently in ways than my own departure, I know the LORD is Faithful and Changeless!! He is still at work in their lives (and ours) in different ways, and He’s just as generously loving. He is True and uses what He wills to grow us all up, that He will compassionately “Father” us all, our grandchildren included, and shape us into His image, by His grace, for His glory and our good.
This is my prayer!
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
The Living Gospel
1 What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain:
O precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow;
no other fount I know;
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
2 For my pardon this I see:
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my cleansing this my plea:
nothing but the blood of Jesus. [Refrain]
3 Nothing can for sin atone:
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Naught of good that I have done:
nothing but the blood of Jesus. [Refrain]
4 This is all my hope and peace:
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my righteousness:
nothing but the blood of Jesus. [Refrain]
Author: Robert Lowry, 1876
After their shoes were washed this morning, we sang this hymn together. I/we needed the reminder of what washes a sinner clean!
We also reflected back on a time when Felicity sang this hymn chorus at 2 1/2 yrs of age… when her heart was like a sponge and she soaked up what her mom and dad taught her about her sin, that “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).
I pray we will not forget this great truth, and that Felicity and Harrison will continue to learn and one day understand how sin separates, and of what was required for them
to be cleansed of their sin…
The sacrifice and shed blood of The Perfect, Sinless Savior!
This is all my hope* and peace:
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my righteousness:
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
*hope-trust in Jesus’ complete/finished work at the cross
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
God is ALWAYS Good!
“The moon is always round...”
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100:5
❤️
To look up to the sky and see the moon has become a joy and comfort to me!
The LORD is faithful to remind me, “The moon is always round! God is always good.”
I always want to point out this reality to the children as well!
May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
Psalm 72:5
We can always trust Him! He is at work in ways we cannot see or know.
He said He would be!
Thank you, Father!
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