BY PASTOR ROB NORRIS
Pastor Rob Norris (image courtesy of Google Images)
“Doing what is right will bring peace and rest. When my people do that, they will stay calm and trust in the Lord forever,” Isaiah 32:17.
When you enter a room — whether it’s a Sunday School class, a company meeting or maybe a lunch event — it’s usually not very hard to gauge the mood of the place. It’s warm, it’s cold, it’s engaging, it’s distant, it’s comfortable, or it’s stuffy.
Anybody can be a thermometer. We are not called to be thermometers in our homes but thermostats.
That’s because thermostats don’t just read the temperature. They guide it. They determine how warm or cool the home environment will be.
In the same way, parents determine whether a home environment will be fun, peaceful, authentic, or full of grace. Will it be a quiet sanctuary from the hard press of life? Will it be a place of joy and celebration and fellowship? Many parents today feel helpless in adjusting the climate of their home. They feel as if they can’t control the predominant tempo and rhythm of the day. They’ve grown weary of fighting the TV-watching, video game-playing, or tuned-out isolation of individual family members. In the process, far too many homes have lost a sense of purpose and direction. They’ve become little more than random activity centers, with no grown-ups willing to set the tone.
I encourage you to counter the frantic, frenetic pace of modern life by creating an environment that limits the endless noise of bustle and commotion. Train your children to be still and read a book, to interact, to ponder and to create.
Don’t be a thermometer. Set the temperature.
Live it: Take a look at the thermometer. What is the climate in your home? Now name some of the things you love best about the way your home operates. Talk about how you can reset the temperature of your home.
Pray: Ask the Lord to unite your family around similar convictions; and where you meet pockets of resistance, pray for the determination to keep pushing for your principles.
Join us Easter Sunday at 10 a.m. for a celebration service and egg hunt.
Trusting and believing with you,
Pastor Rob
The Crossings meets Sundays, 10 a.m., at River Heights Intermediate, 7227 Scholar Way, in Eastvale. For more information call (951) 847-6836; or visit their website at http://www.atthecrossings.com.
