A Kiss From God

I have had this on my mind for that past few days but have not had the time to sit and type it out. This morning as I sit with my computer to type this out I wondered if/how I could because the events of yesterday were so painful. So, how do I begin?


Well, what has been on my heart is “Glory Stories,” as my friend, Jane, calls them. What is a “Glory Story?” Well, I’ve never asked Jane to define it, but the one’s she has told bring glory to God and show His tender love for her. The ones I have experienced are places in life where God has bent down and given me a “kiss”, just because He loves me. Sometimes my life circumstances have been overwhelming and the kiss just said, “I’m still here. I care. I love you.” Sometimes everything seems to be going along fine, and He still bends down to give me a kiss… just because. So, why do I wonder about talking about “Glory Stories” today? Because of pain.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.   I Peter 4:12-13

Yesterday I ended up spending the afternoon with a dear friend who is in the middle of a whirlwind of crisis. I grieved with her and for her yesterday. This has been on-going, and building, and it’s not over. There is a hard road ahead. Her burden is great. My heart is heavy for her. I know she reads this blog and I didn’t want to seem like, “Life is great! Count your blessing and everything will be better, or at least you can try to feel better.” I don’t want to pretend that if we “just focus on the positive, we’ll feel better.” So, sharing “Glory Stories” today is in no way an effort to have a better attitude, to cover over the real hurt that my friend is experiencing or the hurt I’m feeling for her. No, I’ve decided to go ahead and talk about “Glory Stories” today because God is good all the time; even when we don’t feel good about life. He loves us and has our best in mind whether our circumstances are comfortable or excruciating. And He always deserves all the glory!

So, I have a little “Glory Story” to share with you. It seems so small right now against the backdrop of my friend’s pain, but even a little kiss from my Father is a delight and regardless of my circumstances He is always worthy to be praised.

Last week, the day after I wrote the last post, which happened to be on prayer, my 8 year old daughter was practicing her new songs for piano. The first day of practice is always the most difficult because she has to struggle through learning the hand position and notes, etc. and she can sometimes get quite frustrated. I had left the house to run an errand when I got a phone call from 8 year old telling me how frustrated she was with a new song that was more difficult. Being a practical woman, I suggested that she practice hands separately today (like she’s done in the past) just to get it down and put them together tomorrow. She seemed satisfied to try that and got off the phone to get to work.

As I continued driving to my destination the whole matter of prayer came back into my mind, which is a good thing since I am studying it right now. And I thought, “Why did I just offer her advice and not pray with her too? Isn’t this an opportunity to point her to the Father for her needs?” So I called her back and asked her if we could pray about her difficult new song before she starts practicing it again. We prayed for Jesus to give her the strength to persevere in difficulty and we prayed that she would practice her song “to the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31). Then she happily got off the phone and went to work, and I reached my destination.

The great part is that on my return trip home I received a phone call from my 8 year old. She said, “Mommy I went and practiced the song after we prayed and I did it with BOTH hands and I did it right!” She was so excited that she was bubbling over! We started saying things like, “Thank You, Jesus!” and “Wooo Hooo! Our God is awesome!” and just reveled in the fact that our God is so loving that He cares that a little girl needs help practicing a piano song. Even better, as the mama of that little girl, is the blessing of seeing my daughter go to her heavenly Father and seeing her experience real relationship with Him. I pray that every day things like that will keep her going to Him and keep her in real relationship with Him. So, I got two kisses for the price of one in that. One, He spoke to my heart in answering my request to help my little girl, and two, seeing my daughter revel in God’s work in her! Woo Hoo! Thank You, Jesus!!!!!

So, will you share your “Glory Story” with us? It’s all for His glory!

Sole Deo Gloria,
WP Stacey