Does your light shine?

Dr. Rikki Permenter

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:16

Pumpkins, candy corn, hay bales, hot chocolate, and scarecrows are some of my favorite things. Fall, in my humble opinion, is by far the BEST season. This is my first fall with a toddler. Welcome into my life, guys. Having a toddler is the best. Reliving the magic of holidays through their eyes is probably the most fun I’ve had in a long time. On a recent trip to our (not so local) Sam’s, we bought a few fall themed books for the girls. Each has pumpkins, jack o’ lanterns, costumes, trick or treating and all the fun of fall jam packed into them. My daughter love the “smiling pumpkins”. She has been asking to make a “smiling pumpkin” with a light for weeks. She has wanted to make this pumpkin for our porch even thought it is way too hot to leave a pumpkin on our porch.

What Huddie loves is that the “smiling pumpkins” help you see at night. You put a candle (or fandle, as she calls them) inside and you can see them in the dark from far away. This made me think of our spiritual lights. The ones that God places inside of each of us. Can others see us from far off and in the dark? Can they see our smiling faces and light that was put inside of us? Are you letting your light shine before others?

Dr. Rikki Permenter, Ph.D., Th.M., is the owner of Bent Tree Counseling in Clinton, La. She is currently a Licensed Professional Counselor - Supervisor and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in the state of Louisiana. She is the wife of Cole Permenter, pastor of Bluff Creek Baptist and the mom of Hudson James & Magnolia Ruth, the cutest little girls in Bluff Creek. Interested in counseling or have questions? Check out her website www.benttreecounseling.com.