Ann Farabee

By Ann Farabee

I recently heard an account from a fifth-grade teacher about a student accidentally bringing the family’s remote control to school one morning. I immediately envisioned a desperate family member at home diligently searching for it throughout the entire school day. For once, looking underneath the couch cushions was not going to be the answer.

Remote controls can be pretty important. I have learned that when I am interrupted while watching a movie or video, I can often press a “pause” button, and come right back to it later.

Sometimes — in all areas of our lives — we need to practice using the pause, don’t we? Some of my favorite times to pause are: When my patience is impatient. When I need a break. When I remember I should be praying more. When I remember that family is more important than work. When I need to take time to serve others. When I feel overwhelmed. When someone is having a face-to-face conversation with me, and I realize I keep looking down at my phone.

A pause can provide peace.

A pause can provide perspective.

A pause can prioritize priorities.

A pause can produce productivity.

A pause can provide perception of purpose.

And, a pause can provide pleasure. On most remote controls, the word play is either connected to the pause button, or is very close by. This close connection between pause and play should encourage you to pause and play. How you play is up to you. One example of a way to pause and play would be to pause and play with your children or grandchildren. That usually provides great pleasure.                                          

Just in case, you are not familiar with the remote buttons — or use them infrequently — here is what they may look like:

     <  ||  >

The first button ( < ) will take you back to the part you missed. That may or may not be important. You decide. Keep Philippians 3:13 in mind: Forgetting those things that are behind, and reaching forward to those which are before.

The last button ( > ) will move you forward, but don’t go too fast. You may miss out on something. Keep James 4:14 in mind: What is your life? It is a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

The middle button ( || ) is the pause. It is in the middle for a reason, because quite often, you need to press pause when you are right in the middle of something. Keep Ecclesiastes 5:18 in mind: It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink and enjoy the good of all his labor.

Ready to press pause? Locate the pause button. Place your finger on the button, and press pause! Enjoy.

Pause is powerful. Don’t be afraid to use it!

As for the student that had the remote control with her at school — the item that had been so important earlier at home became useless when it was no longer close to its source. Just like in our lives — whether it is work, rest, or play, God is our source. So, be sure to pause during your day — and spend time with him!

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at  annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

By Ann Farabee

Some things are just hard to say, aren’t they?
Here are my top three:

1. I need help.

We may often need help, but fail to ask. We may fail to ask because we may feel we should be able to handle anything on our own. Or we may not want to admit our limitations. Or we may not want to bother someone by asking for help.

The reality is that it not only takes confidence and courage to be independent, but it also takes confidence and courage to be dependent. Whether in our home life, our work life, or just life in general, we need to learn to ask for help. Refusing to ask for help when needed is cheating someone out of a chance to help.

We need to be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know we need help, and brave enough to ask for it.

James 2:14-17 says that to help, we must take action.
Galatians 6:2 says if we carry the burdens of others, we will fulfill the law of Christ.

2. I was wrong.

We may be wrong, but fail to admit it. We may fail to admit it because it can be hard to acknowledge responsibility and say that we are sorry. Often our pride and emotions get in the way. We should be humble enough to recognize our mistakes, courageous enough to admit our mistakes, and wise enough to correct our mistakes.

It takes courage and strength to admit our wrongs to someone, but doing so shows that we value that person. The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest. Ben Franklin said that we should never ruin a good apology with an excuse.

Admitting wrong and saying that we are sorry may not change the past — but it can change the future. It can be like superglue — and fix anything.

Psalm 51:3 tells us we should admit our wrong.
Matthew 5:23-24 tells us that if someone has something against us, we should go make peace with that person.

3. Worcestershire sauce.

Let me try again — Worst-a-sheer sauce? Wor-shure-sire sauce? Woo-ster-sheer sauce? Wer-chess-ter sauce? Were-chester shire sauce? Woo-ster sauce?

I know. I know.
It is so hard to say.
I said it wrong.
I am so sorry.
I need help saying it.
Can you help me?

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

By Ann Farabee

I sat down beside my four-year-old granddaughter to watch her enjoy some chunks of watermelon I had put in a bowl for her. As soon as she took the first bite, juice began rolling down her chin onto her neck, her shirt, her shorts, the chair and the floor. I grabbed a napkin, as she looked toward me and said excitedly, “It tastes sweeter than it did last time.”

It seemed more like juiciness to me, but the sweetness was definitely flowing everywhere as I began to wipe her chin.

The watermelon, according to the book of Hope, was a little sweeter than it had been the last time.

I totally understood.
For it reminded me of my life.
Of many of our lives — especially over the last few months.

The simple things we may have never even noticed before, somehow now seem to have become a little sweeter.

Things like:

Walking in the doors of our church to worship — a little sweeter.
Walking in a grocery store — a little sweeter.
The new school year beginning — a little sweeter.
Going to work — a little sweeter.
Getting together with a friend — a little sweeter.
Spending time with our family — a little sweeter.
Walking in our neighborhood — a little sweeter.
Watching a child eat watermelon and not worrying about the juice — a little sweeter.

Yes. It is flowing everywhere — the sweetness of our lives.

She then reached into the bowl, handed me a chunk, and said, “You wanna taste it and see?”

When I heard her words, I answered with these words, “I sure do.” I tasted it. I saw. I was a bit too proper to let the juice run down my chin, but tears were running down my cheeks, as I said, “Yes, Lord. I have tasted and I have seen that You are good. And… it sure does get sweeter every day.”

Psalm 104:34 says, “My meditation of Him shall be sweet.”

Psalm 34:8 says, “O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him.”

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at  annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

By Ann Farabee

Sometimes, we have tough seasons in life.
Can we make it?
Yes. We can.

God sits on the circle of the earth. God thinks of us more than there are grains of sand. God holds our right hand. He counts the stars and calls them all by name. His power is absolute!

We can do things we have never done.
We can face situations we have never faced.
We can grow spiritually.
We can prosper financially.
We can thrive emotionally.
We can strengthen ourselves physically.

Sometimes, it feels as though a difficult season will never go away. But, God brings us peace in the promise that it is just a season. It will pass. We can make it.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Ten verses later, it says that God has made every thing beautiful in his time.

Every thing means every thing.

Genesis 8:22 says that as long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, winter and summer, day and night.

The word season can mean for a while.

Being in a difficult season for a while is when we need to hang on, pray fervently, ask others to pray for us, and trust God in the process. It is only for a while.

Remember:
• Seasons remind us that change is a part of life.
• No season lasts forever.
• The season we are in is not the end of the story.
• We can learn from the season we are in — and prepare for the next.
• Seasons that are hard to endure help make us who we are.
• We need to hold the previous seasons in our hearts — for we have grown from them.
• Remnants of the previous seasons will remain. That is good.
• Seasons pass. Lessons from them last a lifetime.
• In every season — God is still God.

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at  annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

By Ann Farabee

By Ann Farabee

If I had a dollar for every time I told a student they had to focus…

Honestly, they were focused — just not on what I felt was the priority. There were so many distractions that diverted them from what they needed to focus on. Distractions like: The boy across the room. The girl across the room. The pencil that was not quite sharp enough and would benefit from several more trips to the pencil sharpener. Looking out the window at nothing. Is that a bug on the floor? Why is he taking apart that paper clip?

Focus as a verb means to concentrate.
Focus as a noun means the focal point — or center of interest.

Many times, I have whispered to a student, “Would you just try to focus?”
It’s not just kids, is it? Adults also lose focus on what they need to be doing and begin to focus on something that is not a priority.

Hmm? So, what should our focus be? It should be focusing on our focus.
And our focus should be what is at the center of interest.
And our center of interest — if we are Christians — should be Jesus.
Why? Because Jesus’ focus was on us as he went to the cross.

• Focus should be fed. Distractions should be starved. What we focus on will grow.

• Focus on things of the spirit, for being spiritually minded brings peace and life.

• Focus our eyes on what lies before us, for each day we get closer to home.

• Focus on doing our best — God takes care of the rest.

• Focus on working hard — God will bless our hard work.

• Focus on prayer. As Martin Luther said, “I have so much to do that I have to spend the first three hours in prayer.”

At times, our focus on focus will drift.
At times, our priorities will tend to shift.
But if we focus on Jesus — God’s presence, God’s power, God’s peace, and God’s promises will prevail.

We are not Superman or Superwoman, but we sure do have a super God.
A God who is worthy of being our No. 1 focus!

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at  annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

By Ann Farabee