Luke 6: 27, 28

I am persistently praying how to best arm my daughters to live in this world, because it is truly a mine field. While Allison left the nest years ago, Morgan is hunkered down for the duration. The following is true for all of us. The words “Written in Red” are the best teachers.

Deuteronomy 11:19 tells us “Teach them (God’s words and ways) to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

Mornings - As part of our morning routine, Morgan and I read a devotional together and look up the verses on her Youversion iPad Bible app. Near the end of each year, I start looking for a new devotional book that I hope will be appropriate for her level of understanding. This can be tricky. Due to her autism, on hard days, Morgan’s behavior can be like that of a three year old. On good days, she says things that let me know she has a much deeper understanding of things than we all give her credit for. So when looking for a devotional book, I check over a few passages, pray, then choose one I believe will shed new light on things for both of us.

But let’s get back to those “red words”. For those of you who are older, you might remember the EF Hutton commercial, referring to a trusted brokerage firm. Someone would say “Well my broker is EF Hutton, and EF Hutton says…”. Then the whole room would hush and lean in to hear what they had to say. Their tag line was “When EF Hutton talks, people listen”. For quite some time now, I’ve emphasized that the words written in red were spoken by Jesus. On occasion, when seeing the red words, Morgan will say “Jesus said it”.  And of course, when Jesus says it, we really do need to lean in and listen.

Evenings - Morgan has been reciting her bedtime prayer for many years now. I realize it has become rote to her. She even garbles the words at times, rushing through it. So recently, keeping in mind those red words, we’ve reconstructed her prayer. We are helping her to understand the meaning of a new word and more importantly, a new concept. For her level; An enemy is someone who does not treat us with love and kindness. They are someone who mistreats or bullies us. We pray for them especially, because they need our prayers the most.

Nightly Prayers help us keep a good grip on things

“Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Let Love stay with me through the night, and keep me till the morning light. God bless Morgan, Mom & Dad, our family, our friends, and our enemies. In Jesus name, Amen.
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Until Next Time,

Know The Hope!

Tammy

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