"MUM, can I show you something?"
It had been a long day, and I was weary. The only thing I had on my mind was brushing my teeth, having a shower, and going to bed.
With my head down over the bathroom sink, I braced myself for one of Kylie's usual "run-away train" chat sessions and just hoped that I'd be able to railroad her into a station fairly quickly.
"What?" I mumbled ungraciously through a mouth filled with foaming toothpaste.
It was only then that I turned and looked at her face. There was my daughter, all sparkly eyed and glowing like the sun was rising within her. She was full of the wonder and delight of having discovered something that just had to be shared. Clutched to her chest as though it were the most treasured of possessions, was her Bible.
At that moment I felt a little lower than a worm's belly button. "Sorry honey, what did you want to show me?"
Kylie opened her Bible and started to tell me about the conversation she'd had with two of her friends at the school bus stop that afternoon. One of the other girls had found this verse and the three of them had marveled and delighted at what it was saying to their hearts.
This was what she read to me that night. This was what lifted my jaded spirit and filled me with thanksgiving and wonder:
"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you SHINE LIKE STARS IN THE UNIVERSE." (Philippians 2:14-15 NIV)
Did that verse really say "shine like stars"?
I had to go and find my Bible and see for myself. Sure enough, there it was in black and white. We have the ability to shine like stars! To be reflectors of the light that comes only from our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Why had I never seen that before? After 14 years as a Christian, and 14 years of reading the Word, did they just slip that in overnight? I could see what had caught Kylie's imagination. That desire to be a beautiful, shining star for God. It captured me as well. In fact, for the next few days, it consumed my thoughts as I let this beautiful scripture flood me.
But there is a cost involved if we want to be a shining star. We have to be prepared to die to self. Our rights have to fall by the way side, and we need to take up the heart of a servant. We have to become someone who is not only willing to do all things as though for the Lord but will serve Him with gladness all the days of our life.
When we look at the world around us and see the darkness encroaching
