Looking out the Window: Selah Award Winner and Carol Award Finalist Linda Wood Rondeau Talks about Her New Devotional Book, Lessons Along the Way, Vol. 1. Gives Away a Short Story.
A Warm Welcome to Linda Wood Rondeau
Linda shares an excerpt from her new devotional book, Lessons Along the Way, Vol. 1. She will give away "Last Gift of An Irish Mother," a free short story on Bookfunnel, to every person who signs up for her newsletter.
Hi Linda, thanks for sharing with us.
From Lessons Along the Way, Vol. 1
Success is to be measured
not so much by the position that one has reached in life
as by the obstacles which he has overcome.
– Booker T. Washington
Bring Your Slingshot
Suggested Supplemental Reading: 1 Samuel 1:20 - 50
And David said, “The LORD who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you” (I Samuel 17:37 NASB).
In the original movie, "The Karate Kid," Daniel, a teenage boy, finds himself pitted against a bully. Recently located from New Jersey to Southern California, Daniel joins a karate group to gain confidence in dealing with his opposition. As he prepares for a contest, he realizes his instructor seems to favor Daniel’s nemesis. Daniel becomes acquainted with Miyagi, a karate master, who promises to teach him specialized skills to even the playing field against Daniel’s tormentor.
Daniel is confused when Miyagi seems more interested in having Daniel paint fences and wax cars. And the elderly man is very particular on how these tasks are done. “Wax on, wax off.” Up, across, then down … up, across, then down.
When tournament time nears, Daniel feels unprepared to compete from what he believes is a lack of proper training. Miyagi tells Daniel he has been training all along. The very moves he needed to complete his tasks were those needed to defeat his enemy.
While visiting his brothers on the battlefield, David discovered the Philistines and Israelites were at a stalemate. The Philistines sent out the biggest weapon, a giant named Goliath, to taunt the Israelites and to offer a solution to the stalemate. Victory belonged to the army of the man left standing. This technique was not new to the ancient world. However, the kings would assign their strongest and most heroic proxy.
No one in the Israelite camp wanted to fight the giant. David, most likely a teenager at this time, literally stepped up. The soldiers mocked him, as did the king who offered David the use of his armor. As an armor bearer, David knew the king’s arsenal would be cumbersome.
You see, David had expertise none of the Israelites or Goliath could understand—a strength by which no one could compete. The power of a slingshot protected his father’s sheep from wild animals. As a shepherd, he had gained agility, ingenuity, and physical stamina. In those lonely nights on the hillside, he’d sung praises to God and strengthened his faith. David believed the God who had delivered him from the lion and the bear, would also deliver him from the Philistine.
We know the rest of the story—the giant came tumbling down. You see, David remembered what many of us forget when faced with overwhelming odds. God had prepared him for this moment through the process of his everyday life. Skills he learned from boyhood would now be used to protect his nation.
Do you have giants in your life?
Like Daniel and David, we have gained insight and confidence through every day minutia. When crisis hits, we often draw upon resources we barely realize we have. God, who knows our future, prepares us for battle by what we learn on the hillsides of our life and our daily walk with him. These are our slingshots. God is saying, “You and me together can to this. I have readied you for this day.”
Child of God, you have been learning everything you need to conquer the obstacles in your life. God knows ahead of time what skills you’ll need, and he is already at work to prepare you for battle.
Prayer for Today
Lord, I am facing what seems like insurmountable odds. Help me to draw upon those skills you have already taught me … most of all help me remember your faithfulness in times past and your promise that you’ll always be with me.
Life is a school where God is our teacher.
These brief devotionals take us on a journey of discovery. God is indeed with every step of our journey, pruning, teaching, disciplining, and comforting us to transform us into his image.
From the cradle to the grave, he watches over us like a tender father.
Adapted from the author’s many years as a contributing columnist to the religious page of an upstate New York newspaper, each devotional contains a Scripture passage, a key verse, an anecdote and prayer.
Grab your morning coffee and learn of him who has loved you with an everlasting love.
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Bio: A former Selah Award winner, and Carol Awards finalist, Linda Wood Rondeau writes to demonstrate that our worst past, surrendered to God, becomes our best future. Her books are inspired by her many years as a social worker, why her voice hits home with complex characters who walk off the page, and why readers relate to her non-fiction as well.
Humor, another guarantee in a Rondeau book, is also prevalent in her non-fiction. Readers will also enjoy her website blog, Snark and Sensibility
The author loves to hear from readers. You may contact her through her website, on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram
Comments
It's my pleasure to have you.