who do you look to?

This morning my son Drew and I went with our friend Abbey to see his best friend's spring choir concert.  I am so glad I went!  That was not in the original blue print for our week, but I am all about the spontaneity that homeschooling allows us.

The reason I went is because of my friend.  She would never say this about herself, but as a mom, I appreciate her honesty.  Drew contacted her yesterday about riding with her to Andrew's concert, and while she didn't mind, she has a rule about boys and riding in her car, and that is that she will not ever (in any circumstance) allow herself to ride alone with just one boy.  I love that rule and appreciate her for living her life in a way that is above reproach.

I am reminded of a verse that I love about this, found in 1 Timothy 4:12:

Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.

And it kinda goes along with what I wanted to write about today.

I was watching the high school choir perform this morning, and I was reminded of the fact that we need to be careful of who we follow.  (Or, of who we look to as an example.)  For instance, in one of the songs the choir sang, at the end of the song, they all started swaying to the left and right.  Their director was doing the same, and they were simply following her lead, looking to her again and again to stay on track.

And much like the choir was looking to their director, so people are looking to me.  To you.

Instantly, I was convicted of things I allow in my life.  I have mentioned on here recently that I have made a promise to God and to myself to only read a specific type of book this year (and hopefully, from here on out).  I was also convicted of what I watch.  And while I don't watch anything most people would consider bad, I am always thinking about what I am allowing into my mind and my heart.  I have this philosophy about that~garbage in, garbage out.  I tell the boys that all the time.  What you put into your mind and your heart will eventually come out of your mouth.

Saturday night when Todd went to work and the boys were all gone, I tried to watch a movie.  I won't mention the name, but it wasn't even like it was R rated.  It was PG-13, and I kid you not~I could not get the blasted thing to stay on play mode.  I tried so many different times and finally gave up on the movie, chalking it up to the fact that maybe I wasn't supposed to watch it.  It was as if the internet wasn't working, because the movie wouldn't buffer.

I turned the box off, then tried Netflix.  I settled in with watching the last two episodes of Call The Midwife, and guess what?  The internet worked perfectly.

I'm not saying that God made that happen, although He certainly could if he wanted, but He did allow that to speak into my life at the moment.  Well, maybe not in that exact moment, because I was frustrated, but later on when I started thinking about the turn of events.

The reason I mentioned the above is that I want to honor God in my life.  I want to honor Him in what I say, what I do, what I think, what I read, what I watch, what I post on social media and in the tone of voice I use.  I want to look to Him (and others who resemble Him) closely, to see which way to go.  Much like the choir this morning looking to their director, I want Him to be mine.

Who knew that going to a simple choir concert would speak to my very soul this morning?  Maybe it'll speak to yours, too.

And just for fun, here are a couple of pictures from our time there.

You know how you pray for ONE GOOD FRIEND for your kid?  (At least, I do.)  This boy has been an amazing friend to my Drew.  They had a rough patch for about nine months, but God restored their relationship and they are the best of friends.  I love this boy like he's my own.

And lastly, and because I love churches...

This one was beautiful.  I thoroughly enjoyed going this morning.  And I got to see one of my most favorite people on this earth.  Otherwise known as Abbey.

Love to all.