Today I had the chance to learn about being faithful to Christ, and faithful as a parent; I learned about the perseverance of love in the midst of heartache; and I learned about the power of Christ to do in us what we can never do on our own. All in a 30-minute conversation with a co-worker.
Wisdom seems to be one of those things that you can’t often get apart from life experience. You most often gain wisdom by going through life and paying attention to God and paying attention to patterns and themes in your heart and in life around you. Yet you can also gain wisdom by observing others’ faithfulness in the ordinary, peace in the midst of chaos. You can gain wisdom by listening to others, especially if they give you the gift of sharing what is real in their lives, the tragedies as well as the joys. That is what my friend gave me today. As she shared her story of loving one of her children, I feel like I was given tools to be a better parent. I was given pictures of the Gospel lived out in the here and now that I won’t forget. And I grew in wisdom.
Interestingly, she was not trying to sound wise or trying to teach me anything; she was just responding when I asked how her child was doing. Wise people don’t have to convince you of their wisdom because wisdom is a byproduct of faithfulness, not the goal. Wisdom is a fruit of abiding in Christ, and today I had the chance to receive the gift of God’s redeeming work in her family’s life.
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