We have a sink hole.

Not too long after we moved into our home two years ago, we discovered what appears to be a small-ish sink hole in our back yard.  It's about 4 feet deep and a foot wide at the top.  It's flagged, of course, so no boy falls in it, and we check it daily for any potentially curious dachshunds.  We've talked to the county, to plumbers, to the neighbor next door as we try to figure out what to do about it, and have attempted to fill it on two or three occasions only to have it slowly reappear again over time.  I fear until we figure out what's lacking in the ground underneath we will never successfully fill that hole.  

And so with our hearts....

As God did create us, He also created within us a need for Him, as the source of our salvation, as the wellspring of peace and guidance.  It's a "Jesus-shaped hole" as my good friend Craig likes to say, and it exists in each one of us.  You can feel it on any given day, the presence of that hole.  It's what twinges when we hear others hurl insults at one another.  It's what weeps when the news reports another tragic school shooting.  It's what keeps us from sleep at night when we are struggling at home or at work.

So as only we know how we try to fill that hole.  Some fixes are good....vacation, home improvement, a new hair style, working out.  Some are not....alcohol, drugs, pornography.  None are permanent.  None are everlasting.  The only fix for our Jesus-shaped holes is Jesus himself.

It occurs to me as my kids get older how many things the world offers them to try to satisfy their longings.  It's a phone one week and a video game the next.  It's this activity and that one.  It's a test score, a pair of shoes, a sleepover with a friend.  And while--like I said--so many of these things are not all bad on the surface, if the foundation is not in Jesus Christ--a hole will always be there.  And the less Jesus they are offered the more they will try to fill that hole with something else.

Offer them Jesus.
Let Jesus be offered to us.

When I said, "My foot is slipping," your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. Psalm 94:18-19

It is the joy of knowing that Christ dwells within us, the joy of salvation in Him, the joy of doing his will that supports us and sustains us.  Whatever else fills our days and our moments, if it is not His joy that is the foundation we'll be dumping dirt into that hole for years to come.

In the meantime, we'll keep checking our sink hole for dachshunds.  And neighborhood cats.  And eventually probably small automobiles if we can't get this thing figured out pretty quickly.....

XOXO....Kelly