I opened my book, Walking with the King, with a story about my granddaughter Madeline. While planting a cherry tree together I realized how much like me she is. After giving her explicite instructions about how to plant the cherry pits in the ground, Madeline proceeded to ignore my wise counsel and do it her own way! In contrast, Victoria and I had a wonderful bonding time as we worked in the garden this week. Once again I gave her exact instructions as to how to shovel the dirt into the bucket so I could carry it. Victoria listened carefully to my instructions and did precisely what I told her to do. Every once in a while she'd ask, "Is this right Papa?" and of course I would encourage her "Yes honey, you're doing great!"
That's the theme of my lesson this Sunday morning. I've called my sermon, Walking with the King, because I'm introducing book 2 of my series. I'm using the words, walking, watching, listening and learning for an outline. For the word, watching, Jesus told us about the man he healed of blindness. It was his only living parable about our progressive healing. When Jesus first touched the man's eyes, he saw, but not clearly. After a second touch, he saw with clarity. I used a graphic .on powerpoint to illustrate how we don't always see the full picture at first glance. This learning stage will last a life time. I compare Dancing with the King to the theory part of our education, Walking with the King to the course practicum, and Sitting with the King to our internship.
