Ken Lovelace Ministries


ACCIDENTS AND ABC's by Lygia Lovelace The observation that “most accidents occur in the home” is certainly true with me. Just in the past year or so, I’ve dropped a can of corn on my toe and broken it, run into the door and injured my wrist, dropped the blow dryer on my foot (that embarrassing experience took me to the emergency room!), and slammed the washing machine lid on my little finger. And I learned an extremely valuable lesson just a couple of weeks ago—never put your hand into a jammed garbage disposal! You never know when it might “un-jam”. After cleaning Myrtle’s—our pet turtle’s—cage, we discovered that tiny little rocks had become wedged down in our garbage disposal. Soon the sink was clogged, and water was rising threateningly high in the kitchen sink. I had flipped the disposal switch on and off, in hopes of loosening the rock and sending it on down, but that wasn’t working! Though I knew it wasn’t a smart thing to do, I forced two fingers of my right hand down into the disposal, hoping to pry the rocks loose myself. Well, it must have done some good, because about the time I had my fingers well into the mechanism, it un-jammed… but just for a moment! It began to spin, long enough to take my fingers with it! Thankfully, no skin or bones were broken—there was no evidence of any damage to my fingers except a little swelling—but my right hand has been painfully sore ever since! For a couple of days, I diligently wrapped my right hand in a bandage and let it rest—trying to do everything with my left (and weakest) hand. But eventually, I grew impatient with this difficulty. I removed the bandage wrap and began forcing my sore hand to do all it had done before. More than a week went by. Then, this morning, I could barely move my right hand. The soreness had taken over, and even the simplest task was a painful chore, so that we were all late for church. When we finally arrived, I had difficulty concentrating on anything—except the pain in my hand. I resigned myself to once more wearing the bandage wrap, and have learned the hard way (as I usually do) that I must give more attention and discipline to caring for my hand—if I really want it to function properly again. Sometimes I neglect my daily quiet time—do you? My relationship with God requires discipline, care and tending—much like my right hand. There’ve been times when I’ve thought I was too busy, or when I thought I woke up too late to start my day in God’s Word. There’ve also been days when I’ve just had a bad attitude—I was just too impatient to sit and “be still” before Him. Sadly, I just didn’t feel like making my Heavenly Father the first priority in my life. When that happens, right at first, I hardly notice a difference. I seem to be able to do all I’ve done before…I just live off of the “fumes” of my past quiet times with God, instead of enjoying that daily fresh aroma of His Word. Then however, little by little, the fumes become stale, and I can no longer “fake” the Father’s daily renewal in my life. I’m no longer able to concentrate on worship, or anything worthwhile, until my relationship with Him has once again been made right. I must give more attention to my time with Him, so that I can function properly again. I guess there will always be days when I am extremely busy, or when I wake up late, or when I just don’t feel like having that daily time with my Father, but when He is my first priority, all of those things are irrelevant! I’ve learned to incorporate the ABC’s into my life. Plan A for my time with Him is to wake up early and spend as much time as I can with Him in prayer and Bible study. There’s just no replacement for seeking Him first in my day. This hasn’t always been the best time for me, however. As a teen, I wanted to spend every possible “a.m.” moment in bed. Night time quiet times worked well for me, and I was able to think more clearly at this time of day. Now, in this season of my life, I’m too exhausted at night to think about studying God’s Word deeply. I love early mornings, when everyone is asleep. My mind is clear, and I’m ready to focus wholly on Him. Morning is my ideal time. But what if I over-sleep, or a little one keeps me up at night? Plan B—an afternoon quiet time—works well. I used to think I couldn’t have my quiet time during the day, with the kids around. One morning, however, I was particularly interested in an educational book I had been reading. Every time the kids would leave me alone for 5 minutes, I’d pick up that book and read as much as I could. After awhile, my son commented, “Wow, Mom, that book must really be important to you!” Conviction hit me hard. “Hmmm…” I thought, “…if I were in the Word right now, my children would know how important that is…” Plan B allows me to read my Bible, and even pray, right in front of my children, in the middle of the day. I want them to know how much their mom loves her Father. True, I may not be able to concentrate as well as I do with Plan A, but Plan B allows me to live out my convictions before the ones I love. What about Plan C? What if my morning and afternoon are already gone? Plan C refuses to let me go even a day without spending time with God. Though it’s not my ideal time, I then choose evening, or right before bed to come before Him. I don’t know where it originated, but I heard this little poem long ago: Miss my quiet time 1 day—God knows! Miss my quiet time 2 days—I know! Miss my quiet time 3 days—EVERYBODY knows! I want my time with God to be the first priority in my life, don’t you? And yes, I’m wearing the bandage wrap on my right hand. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)

ACCIDENTS AND ABC's
by Lygia Lovelace

The observation that “most accidents occur in the home” is certainly true with me. Just in the past year or so, I’ve dropped a can of corn on my toe and broken it, run into the door and injured my wrist, dropped the blow dryer on my foot (that embarrassing experience took me to the emergency room!), and slammed the washing machine lid on my little finger. And I learned an extremely valuable lesson just a couple of weeks ago—never put your hand into a jammed garbage disposal! You never know when it might “un-jam”.

After cleaning Myrtle’s—our pet turtle’s—cage, we discovered that tiny little rocks had become wedged down in our garbage disposal. Soon the sink was clogged, and water was rising threateningly high in the kitchen sink. I had flipped the disposal switch on and off, in hopes of loosening the rock and sending it on down, but that wasn’t working!

Though I knew it wasn’t a smart thing to do, I forced two fingers of my right hand down into the disposal, hoping to pry the rocks loose myself. Well, it must have done some good, because about the time I had my fingers well into the mechanism, it un-jammed… but just for a moment! It began to spin, long enough to take my fingers with it!   Thankfully, no skin or bones were broken—there was no evidence of any damage to my fingers except a little swelling—but my right hand has been painfully sore ever since!

For a couple of days, I diligently wrapped my right hand in a bandage and let it rest—trying to do everything with my left (and weakest) hand. But eventually, I grew impatient with this difficulty. I removed the bandage wrap and began forcing my sore hand to do all it had done before.

More than a week went by. Then, this morning, I could barely move my right hand. The soreness had taken over, and even the simplest task was a painful chore, so that we were all late for church. When we finally arrived, I had difficulty concentrating on anything—except the pain in my hand. I resigned myself to once more wearing the bandage wrap, and have learned the hard way (as I usually do) that I must give more attention and discipline to caring for my hand—if I really want it to function properly again.

Sometimes I neglect my daily quiet time—do you? My relationship with God requires discipline, care and tending—much like my right hand. There’ve been times when I’ve thought I was too busy, or when I thought I woke up too late to start my day in God’s Word. There’ve also been days when I’ve just had a bad attitude—I was just too impatient to sit and “be still” before Him.   Sadly, I just didn’t feel like making my Heavenly Father the first priority in my life.

When that happens, right at first, I hardly notice a difference. I seem to be able to do all I’ve done before…I just live off of the “fumes” of my past quiet times with God, instead of enjoying that daily fresh aroma of His Word. Then however, little by little, the fumes become stale, and I can no longer “fake” the Father’s daily renewal in my life. I’m no longer able to concentrate on worship, or anything worthwhile, until my relationship with Him has once again been made right. I must give more attention to my time with Him, so that I can function properly again.

I guess there will always be days when I am extremely busy, or when I wake up late, or when I just don’t feel like having that daily time with my Father, but when He is my first priority, all of those things are irrelevant! I’ve learned to incorporate the ABC’s into my life.

Plan A for my time with Him is to wake up early and spend as much time as I can with Him in prayer and Bible study. There’s just no replacement for seeking Him first in my day. This hasn’t always been the best time for me, however. As a teen, I wanted to spend every possible “a.m.” moment in bed. Night time quiet times worked well for me, and I was able to think more clearly at this time of day.

Now, in this season of my life, I’m too exhausted at night to think about studying God’s Word deeply. I love early mornings, when everyone is asleep. My mind is clear, and I’m ready to focus wholly on Him. Morning is my ideal time.

But what if I over-sleep, or a little one keeps me up at night? Plan B—an afternoon quiet time—works well.

I used to think I couldn’t have my quiet time during the day, with the kids around. One morning, however, I was particularly interested in an educational book I had been reading. Every time the kids would leave me alone for 5 minutes, I’d pick up that book and read as much as I could.

After awhile, my son commented, “Wow, Mom, that book must really be important to you!”

Conviction hit me hard. “Hmmm…” I thought, “…if I were in the Word right now, my children would know how important that is…”

Plan B allows me to read my Bible, and even pray, right in front of my children, in the middle of the day. I want them to know how much their mom loves her Father. True, I may not be able to concentrate as well as I do with Plan A, but Plan B allows me to live out my convictions before the ones I love.

What about Plan C? What if my morning and afternoon are already gone? Plan C refuses to let me go even a day without spending time with God. Though it’s not my ideal time, I then choose evening, or right before bed to come before Him.

I don’t know where it originated, but I heard this little poem long ago:


Miss my quiet time 1 day—God knows!
                          Miss my quiet time 2 days—I know!
                                                Miss my quiet time 3 days—EVERYBODY knows!

I want my time with God to be the first priority in my life, don’t you?

And yes, I’m wearing the bandage wrap on my right hand.

            But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these
                                  things will be given to you as well.
                                             (Matthew 6:33)