Short Stories

OBSERVATIONS WITH THE EYES OF THE HEART

by Debbie Kennedy
11/06/24
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Observations with our physical eyes accompanied by what our “spiritual eyes” of the heart confirm are always beautiful gifts. I am aware that I do not always have to record and report everything that goes on in our lives to make it known, yet often it may be of value if it is based on the truth of the Lord.  Certainly, it is not necessary; yet sometimes, I am prompted to just record it. What is out of sight does not mean there was not a message in it and the Lord always brings some things for me to share.  I still go back to the words of Paul in scripture about him reminding us that he did not get tired of repeating some of the same principles over and over. Well, I will just leave it at that and write it. I’ve bolded the scripture below if you don’t have time to read the observations.

Thou shall not covet.  Spats over wanting what others have or just wanting it the way we want it are always interesting. This was an observation that I did not order this summer, but I got to watch the show down with my precious grandchildren, no popcorn at this show, but I was on scene. Now, I love these little ones to the high heavens! You know, when I do have opportunities to observe them, I remind myself that the Lord sees them too just as He does me- we are all still His children!  He looks right into the heart of the matter! Of course, adults in Christ do not stay childish, but continue to change and take opportunities for growth and refinement as well. Proverbs 22:6 AMP Train up a child in the way he should go (and in keeping with his individual gift or bent), and when he is old, he will not depart from it.  

Let me just give you the low down on the show down in simple words.  The unpolished dialogue and drama or the script. This may remind you of something current you have witnessed in your own observations?!

My middle-aged granddaughter playing contently until the voice of my youngest, precious grandson, age 4 blurts out- “I want the green bucket!”. No response at all came from the middle-aged grandchild playing happily in the sand all alone until her sibling arrived to test her. Then he merely tried to just take the bucket after he did not get a response to his demand.  It was hard to just stand there and keep silent for a few minutes to see how the scene would play out. Again, I was just watching. It was interesting that this young one had a pile of tonka trucks to play with right next to his sister before he decided to get up and just whine and demand the bucket.

 The whining and frustration of not getting his way gave way to greater extremes and louder projections with his voice. I prayed silently for them to be able to resolve it together as I observed. I understood that they were struggling with some other challenging situations going on in their home, so I wanted to exercise caution of not making a big deal yet using this time for a teaching moment.   I chose to pose a question to my 4-year-old grandson, “Did you ask if you could use one of the buckets?” He looked at me and I realized he could care less about my question and kept whining.  I spoke again, calmly, yet firmly and reminded this little guy that my garden shed, which was only several feet away, had an ample supply of sand toys to choose from. His response- “I want the green bucket!” He screamed.

I turned around completely to walk away from the situation to see if offering a bit of time that they could still resolve their tension on their own. As I started to walk away, I heard my granddaughter scream and began to cry. Unfortunately, they were unable to resolve it on their own as I had hoped. Of course, I dealt with all of that. Teaching moments and the training of little ones can be exhausting. So, we dealt with jealousy, a lie, and intentional bodily hurt all in one scene. The priceless privilege of being a grandmother who will take time to confront the truth. Of course, they eventually went back to playing again. And you better believe this grandma continues to pray for these sweeties daily.

Sibling rivalry! Good grief, look at Joseph’s story in the Bible! Yet, it reminds me that this happens all the time with adults too! Families, faith families, here in our country and all over the globe! I am so grateful for the Bible and its stories that remind us about who God is, what He says and the way He is still doing His thing with the same kinds of humans that roamed the earth back then!

The second observation that I witnessed with my physical eyes, which spoke to the “eyes of my heart” as well, happened out of our country in St. Lucia this past February. Again, we all understand that we do not live in a “fair” world – the Lord Jesus never promised that! As hard as we try to help at times or even our government officials make failed attempts to help people and make everything be the same for everyone or “fair” (doing what’s right in our own eyes or their own eyes) may fail us. We all understand that the Lord asks us to treat people with kindness and respect.

The take away words whispered to me from the Holy Spirit from scripture this February that have continued to echo in my heart all year long are found in John 16:33. Yes, I have many scriptures planted in my heart and they all lead me; however, the Lord asked me to cling to one of victory, as we have had some challenges in our own family.  We all know and watch as our own country has many challenges as well- add the election year to that and the reporting on all of that! The promise was not that we would not face exemption from challenging times; however, the promise being that He will continue to walk us through each of them and guide us along the way until we are fully delivered.

 Leadership is important! We still have great potential to experience more good things if our hope continues to be in the right thing. If our hope is in Christ, everything will be working for the good in all times. Outcomes are up to Him and timetables are His alone and for His purposes. My encouragement for recording is for you to listen to and rejoice in heart and spirit over Jesus words to YOU found in John 16:33 AMP– I have told you these things, so that in ME you may have (perfect) peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; BUT be of good cheer (take courage, be confident, assured, certain, undaunted) For I have overcome the world (I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you)

The Lord always unites my husband and I with strangers when we visit foreign places too – love how He works this way! I always enjoy meeting the locals and will take my time to engage with them. On scene in St. Lucia, with all the island’s beauty, it has had many challenges too. This tiny island we learned about quickly had many economic challenges for most of the people. The struggle is everywhere -humans, just trying to make a living and attending to having their needs met. Our kind host, Arnold, greeted us with love at the Villa Pomme D’ Amour Resort. If you get a chance to visit the island, I encourage you to go enjoy a chat with this gentleman. He had lots of stories, and I do enjoy stories. A Canadian business owner who decided to sell his Diary Queen businesses in Canada and buy a place in St. Lucia and give it his all!  Arnold settled us in and gave us snippets of information about the island and some great restaurant suggestions for us to try too. Of course, he warned us about some of the crime and unlicensed locals who might try to get aggressive with us.

  Is there friction and tension between the ones who do things to earn a living the “right” way and the ones who need to make a living and do not go about doing that the “right” way – yes!! And we will not even go into politics, borders and logistics to get into arguments. We are all aware that there are humans who have lots of money and still earn money in the arenas we may deem as shady. I will still choose to hold and take the heart position of staying humble on all of that! There are different viewpoints on all of that. The Lord knows all of that too- He’s Sovereign. Yet, when on a beautiful, peaceful vacation, an unplanned observation on a beach that I could not escape the economic issues of the world – go figure! I enjoy what the Lord allows me to see at times when I am not necessarily paying attention.

We enjoyed purchasing a handmade wooden bird feeder from one of the local vendors. It is always a treat to buy hand crafted items from locals.  We purchased a unique bird feeder from a licensed beach vendor on one of the days. This vendor had permission and a license to sell on the beach that we sat on and spent a couple of mornings sitting on. We checked the validity of their business by engaging with them and by talking to the resort security guards. It is always a pleasure to meet and talk with locals. We enjoy conversations and learning a bit about each of them. It was easy to see that they did not make a lot of money; however, their efforts to try to engage with all the boats and tourists that came into the cove gave way to their willingness to work and do the best they could.

 On our second morning visit to one area, we observed a verbal altercation between a man that we were told was not licensed to sell on the beach. This frustrated the ones who had to pay for their licenses. The voices were loud and in a language that we did not understand; however, we could tell it was tense by the body language and the voice decibels that carried down the beach. We had already purchased what we wanted the day before, so we were not looking to buy anything; however, we were watching people. I got what I call a free show to the scene and no popcorn!

The observation was that the disgruntled, unlicensed seller, only known to me from our earlier discussions with the licensed vendor, was incredibly angry. Again, I was not in their business, but they made it hard to not be yelling and so forth.  Others were watching this all play out as well. This soul, walked away from the other men towards a woman seated with her little boy, near us on the beach. In her British accent she said “NO” with a shake of her head as well. As he approached her and held out the coconut to her anyway, she used her hands to indicate her wishes for him to move on.  I was not sure if she had promised to buy one at an earlier time during the day or not, but he stormed off. He returned to where the other sellers were and started to express himself again in loud dialect. Their response this time was they simply turned away and each returned to their own turfs.

In anger, he turned to walk again down to the front shore of the beach where several other tourists sat. My eyes watched his hands flailing and his mouth moving as he continued his chanting or ranting as he made his way towards us.  He stopped in front of me and intently looked directly at me- he knew I was watching. He was angry and I could see the rage in his eyes. Interestingly he belted out these words in English, “Some of these guys eat,” and turned to point back at what he seemed to think were his rivals and then looked briefly at me and moved on and said, “some of us don’t!” Obviously, this man wanted me to know the cause of his true anger and he spoke it in English. He did not wait for a response but continued his way down the beach making all kinds of noise until he got into a kayak and rowed off and disappeared around the cove of the beach.  

 Yes, I prayed for the man as I watched him.  I did not chase him down and ask him anything. He never asked me to buy anything.  It was merely an observation, and I told the Lord that I see this everywhere with people on street corners and other places trying to peddle and make a living on the sides of roads. And yes, I could feel for the man; however, we had gotten the rules and understood that this man was only disgruntled, jealous and probably angry over his situation. He wanted to lash out at someone. I personally thought about that man and prayed for him without knowing his name and to be honest a blanket prayer over all those who are struggling financially. I have experienced financial struggle so it is not like I could not put myself in someone else’s shoes.

So much packed into the observations for me. The Holy Spirit had much to say to relax me on what was fair or not. At times, we can become a little too weighted with the wanting of everyone just to be okay and the world to be a place where every soul can just thrive instead of barely survive. In this world, we know that we are not carrying that weight. The Lord can! There is not a way we can resolve what weights others right now; however, we can certainly keep ourselves aligned with truth and continue praying and growing in greater depths, heights and widths of His great love and tender mercies ourselves. And of course, yes, help when we can! In our world as we wait to hear who our new President will be, our country leader, we can even choose to hold our peace knowing that the Lord knows all of that too. Not one thing is a secret to Him! Join me in prayer as we keep His peace while hoping for better days to come to our country. And yes, all over the world too – even on tiny little islands. His Kingdom Come; His Will Be Done!

God bless you all!