We All Have a Longing

As I sit here listening to the news and the events of Super storm Sandy, I am feeling mighty blessed. Although Michigan has had high winds and huge waves, we have not been impacted in such a way that those on the East Coast have been. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are without power, flooded, and in so much pain and destruction.

Our thoughts here today? Well I have a picture hanging on my fridge of a yellow bus. That's right. We have decided to be a home school family, but that does not mean our children do not sometimes challenge our choice. They have a voice, an opinion, and desires. They all enjoy school. They have enjoyed the things that they probably wouldn't have been able to experience. We get to have pajama days. We get to do math while baking cookies. We get to go on field trips. We sometimes don't even start school until after lunch and work until later in the evening, allowing us to spend the morning snuggling and watching movies. This doesn't mean that our children don't wonder what being in school would be like. This doesn't mean that they do not wonder what riding a bus would be like. Today that was the case. Our oldest child was begging me to send her to school, not because she wanted to try school, but because she wanted to ride a big yellow school bus. We had a conversation about why that would be so great. We had a talk about why we home school. Although she knows why we home school and that she will not be riding a school bus, she still longs.

I learned a very important lesson during this discussion we had. We all long for something. There are all things we wish could be different. This is not bad. Sometimes longing is good. It gives us something to strive for. My question is; "Do pray about our longing?" "Do we seek wise counsel?" Just as my daughter had come to me asking about why we home school and why she couldn't ride that big yellow school bus she so longed to ride, do I do the same thing? I want to be more like her. I want to seek wise counsel more often. As adults we so often just do the things we want. We do what we think is best without really praying or thinking. We don't ask for others opinions. I want to seek the bible for answers. I want to seek Godly, wise people who may be able to weigh in.

I challenge you. If you have a longing. Please just don't jump on it. Pray, Look at your bible, Seek wise counsel. Then if it is in the plan God has for your life, chase that longing to the ends of the earth.