

Alone Time

“When you pray go into your room close the door and pray to your Father, who can’t be seen. He will reward you. Your Father sees what is done secretly.”
This was our KidzLife lesson on January 25, 2023. When we talked about this in our group the answers were not a surprise. No one had the time to do it and the excuses were all very similar. They did not have the time, the did not want to put their phone down, they did not want to put away any of their devices, turn off their TV, or put down their computer. When you ask children a question you get the truth. They just did not see the need to take the time for alone time prayer.
I feel we as adults use the same excuses when it comes to our devices such as phones, computers, TVs and other
distractions. I have also found that children learn from us adults doing these things so they feel it is okay for them. As parents and grandparents, we need to set the example for them.
Luke 5:16 tell us Jesus often prayed alone. He prayed so He could stay in touch with His Heavenly Father. We need to do the same. We need to be the example for our children/grandchildren. Find a place, put away your distractions, empty your thoughts and talk to Jesus. You will be amazed at the results.
Prayer: Lord, let me set time to be alone with you and to listen to you. Amen.
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Do You Know Me?

We watched from a window as an unfamiliar vehicle pulled up our driveway. Then there came a faint knock at the back door. “Come in!” I hollered, from a choice center of repose. “Come in!” I yelled from my favorite couch – from just off the kitchen. Soon a perfect stranger was standing in our doorway. He whispered, “Don’t you know me?”
Although his face was totally unfamiliar, he insisted he knew me, and rather well at that. But I noticed when the older gentleman cautioned our rug, that he could hardly raise his voice at all. Suddenly I was saddened by a speech impediment. I struggled deeply to recognize him. Deeper still, I wanted to know him. Then the stranger, as troubled as he was, again turned to my wife and whispered: “He doesn’t know me.”
Now we were all three affected by such an uncomfortable greeting. Yet I studied his face and adjusted to some more of his whispers. As I focused on the subtle nuances of his voice and manner, I noted how much we may actually “know” a person, not only by one’s face, but by their voice as well. Presently, I remembered him from meager accounts with mutual friends, some of them from fifty years ago…
Someone has said: “We may know some things that we haven’t remembered yet”. But I still could neither recognize nor identify this man without his voice. This started an hour-long conversation which revealed that he had experienced Cardiac Arrest a year or two earlier. We discussed how he was saved by the Providence of God, his Grand-daughter’s actions as a nurse, and her CPR training as well. We were all quick to be thankful for friends and family.
After he had gone, we considered his visit, and commented on his calm spirit. Then we looked up terms like ‘Intubation’ and the “Mitral Valve” etc., to better understand various CA heart conditions, – particularly, terms associated with the larynx and vocal chords.
Initially, it was easy to connect the day’s events with John 10:27: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
In further review, I think about the vast greatness and wisdom of our God, to create us in His image, with an ability to speak and hear and commune with not only each other, but with God through Christ, remembering Him who ever lives to intercede for us.
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Preliminary Questions

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Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:1-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
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Tradition of Giving Up

Giving up something for Lent always meant giving up something fun… but I don’t ever really remember having coherent conversation about why we were doing that. It seemed like the Christian version of a New Year’s resolution. (And just as effective! Or rather, ineffective.) Lent was just a strange season of doing without. One year, I had the perfect solution. I told everyone that I was giving up Lent for Lent and it is the only Lenten promise I have ever successfully kept. In fact, I have now successfully kept that promise for over 30 years.
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Act of Worship

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