It starts with S. Ends with G.

So what word starts with an S
and ends with a G? 
Keep reading.

My little one year old granddaughter, Sophia is learning something new. Up until now, she has had no knowledge of what it is.  When her older sister Emma wants something Sophia has, like a toy and Emma goes to take it from her, Sophia loudly screams in opposition.

Her mother then stops and teaches her about an important word.

The word that begins with an S. and ends with a G. The word is "sharing." It's funny to think when we are babies all we do is take. Our survival depends on it. We take and demand the time to be fed, changed, and comforted. A new mother and father see beyond those demands and innately embrace them with eagerness. And then there comes a time, when those demands are slowly cut off because we have the ability to do them ourselves. But just because we have the ability to do them ourselves doesn't mean we know  how to do them.

Teaching the art of sharing with a child is draining. Even so, we know as parent's life is a better place when we share. Sharing often involves sacrifice.

When its taught out of love for another person, it perfects itself.

As adults, sharing or portioning out our time is the norm. We do this with our family, friends and co-workers. We also choose limits of sharing. Sometimes keeping things minimal. Other times, we give in abundance. Sharing tangible things in our lives is easier than sharing our time with others.

 

For me, this past week, the word Sharing, has been very present.

Last Sunday evening, I was invited to join a group of married couples who are having a book study with my new book. Each couple reads a set number of chapters and then they all meet to discuss one or more of the questions found at the end of each of the chapters. At the meeting, every person chose which questions they wanted to answer in front of the group. Almost all of them chose the same two questions from chapter 6. The title of the chapter is, Two optimists in motion. The questions were:

1. Do you have a relationship with your grandparents? What are your childhood memories with them?

2. Did you have the ability to know if they were a positive or a negative influence on you even at a young age?

 

What a joy to listen to each person share their own memories from their childhood. Most were happy memories and simply based on times and occasions spent with their grandparents. Some were painful, but they felt they needed to share with the group. There was much laughter along with a few tears. All good and the lesson learned was that in sharing, our stories can bless others. We agreed that sharing our stories with our children and grandchildren are great ways to share time. Time away from examples like the electronics that bombard our lives.

Tomorrow morning I am sharing my story with a group of ladies at a church breakfast in Phoenix. I will share my faith and my trust in the Lord throughout my life by way of tragedy and triumph. My talk with focus on the scripture from Proverbs 3:5-6

Yes I am a little nervous because I am not used to speaking to a group. I will share my story and let you know how it goes here next Friday.

Another exciting event for me was a podcast interview with Deacon Tom Fox and his lovely wife Dee. They interviewed me on the word Immanence a couple of weeks ago and it is now available to listen to below. Click on the word Immanence.

 

 Immanence

 

Front cover of Book

 

 

Book News!

 

The Goodreads contest is getting a lot of entries to win a copy of Meet Me In The Mountains. Sign up and you could win.
This week I received two reviews on Goodreads. One for 4 stars and one 5. The max is 5.
If you have read my book, please let others know about it. If you are looking for a book to use in a study group. Consider Meet Me In The Mountains.