sailboat

It has been a while since I have posted anything on here but I intend to get back into doing so more often. Because of the long absence I suppose I should reintroduce myself. :) This is Karen Orr, Carson's mommy (Carsonscorner09.blogspot.com) We have recently added our second son, Silas, to the family. Everything is going fantastic and we are more than blessed. Yesterday, I heard an amazing sunday school lesson and I want to share it with you.

First the story was told of a man who fashioned himself an incredible sailboat to journey across the ocean. It was very large and beautiful for the eyes to see. The sails were magnificent. It was greatly admired and people were very complimentary to its appearance and grandeur. When it became time for the man to begin his journey many marveled and envied at the boat as it made its way out to sea. It was just so pretty and so perfect, they thought. Soon into the man's journey he came into a storm, and his boat was quickly turned upside down. In this position the hull was visible, and it was very obvious at this point why his boat could not withstand the storm. Although the sails were beautiful,and the boat was large, the hull was tiny and very poorly constructed. The man neglected the hull... nobody would see the hull, and therefore he regarded it as unimportant. He caused his own boat's failure.

Now the moral of this story. We are the boat. Our sails are what people see of us. How they see us. How we dress, do our hair, our make-up. It could be our nice homes or our nice cars. The sails are our material things. The hull, is our soul, our heart, our inner selves that are not visible to the eye.  Nobody sees our hull, they see our sails. So, all too often we decorate our sails, we worry about our sails, and we spend our time and money to gain more material things so that we might be complimented. Of course the storm referenced in the story is none other than the storms we face in our lives, the harder times. Because I am posting this on a blog entitled Spina Bifida Kids I can safely and assuredly say that we all know what it is like to face a storm in life. But friend, I ask you, how is your hull doing? Are you spending any time investing in what will sustain you through the storms. When I heard the words, "It is Spina Bifida, a birth defect that will affect your child." It did not matter what I was wearing. My house, and my car could not carry me through the trial. My faith did, my God gave me strength and peace and comfort. He still does. It is our responsibility to build our boats, and ours alone. Will yours make it through?

This was a blessing and encouragement to me, I hope that it is likewise to you.