This morning after finishing all my morning tasks, getting Ronnie Baby’s lunch made and seeing him off to work, getting myself dressed for the day, I sat down with a cup of tea to spend some time with the Lord and read my Bible.
After settling in and getting that just-right comfortableness, I realized that I forgot to get my reading glasses. Looking around I saw them all the way over there on the dining room table. A whole ten feet away! I decided to try reading without them, but opening to ~ I think it was Jeremiah chapter something ~ realized it wasn’t going to happen. Closing my bible I thought what am I going to do? I can’t read without my glasses, and I’m really comfortable right now. I can’t have time with the Lord without my Book. Can I? Here I am. I have a book but can’t read it. What if I could read but didn’t have a book? I could attempt to recall all the scriptures I’ve memorized over the years. That’s a good start. And I remember that He wrote His Torah upon my heart. So, I don’t necessarily need a book to spend time with Him. It’s good, always. But I don’t NEED it. I’m not blind. I look out at His creation and see Him. I have prayers and praise in my heart to offer Him. In the blessings of my home I am provided for and protected by Him. Through the love of my family and friends I feel Him and am nourished by Him. I truly lack for nothing. He is always with me. He’ll never forsake me. Yesterday, today and forever. PS. I decided to get up and get my glasses, cuz who knows what this post would have said had I not. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Jeremiah 31:33
0 Comments
“But the Lord is faithful, Who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.” 2 Thessalonians 3:3 All this week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread I’ve been struck with how good our God is. I’ve felt His presence so tangibly. I’m so thankful because there have been a few ugly challenges. A false accusation here, an assumption and misunderstanding there. Yet, somehow, He filled me with enough grace to answer them with kindness. Certainly not with perfection, but considering the 100 angry zingers I could have shot back with, I think it turned out pretty well. He’s been merciful - He always is - but it’s more than merely extending grace and mercy to me. He became my Grace and Mercy. He made a way, in the mysterious way He works in our lives, that allowed me to experience a different path. Embody a bit of His grace and mercy, so that perhaps I would have a better chance, an easier choice, of taking that path again the next time a difficult challenge comes along. Because now that the heat has cooled, I’m so very grateful I took His path. There’s so much less to clean up afterward!
Click to set custom HTML
Lately, life has been very busy. Running our business, our home, participating in our local fellowship, remembering my family and friends, writing. It’s fairly overwhelming, especially when I can’t fix it all, or satisfy everyone, or remember everything. If I’m not doing, then I’m thinking about doing.
But then I remember Him in this season. His excruciatingly beautiful choice to give Himself up for me. All of my angst goes away and I remember what’s most important. He reminds me it’s okay. He’s got this. He’s got it all. And it will all be fine. It will all work itself out. After the many days that strung together which led up to His offering… promptly it was done. He worked it all out in a precisely timed moment, when His heart ceased to beat and His Spirit found its way to His Father. It all worked out fine. For Him. For me. For us all. His ultimate offering completed a circle which included me as a connecting part, touching lives, as He touched a life which touched me. I’ve heard time is a circle moving forward. If we could pull back and observe it from a distance it would look like one long unbroken spiral. We’d see the big picture, feel its tangibleness. Realize that all things connect. They begin at the same moment another ends. So many events all happening all at the same time. Things concluding overlapping things beginning. It all works out somehow in some way. And I return with all my hearts effects loosely held in open hands, once again to Him. Who was. Who is. Who will always be. With blessings to you today! This is a simple post about being thankful, grateful. Something I have to continually remind myself to be. I have a few aches and pains in my body that can get me down, and a few of my "very important dreams" remain unfulfilled. But, even so, I need, want, to be thankful.
Today, I want to list, actually write down, what I'm thankful for: * Sight * Good hearing * A good mind * The ability to express myself * The strength and ability to care for myself * A loving husband * Family and friends who love me and whom I can love back * A solid home; warm, safe, with a pretty garden I'm still strong enough to work in; and it's close enough to the water for me to hear, like right now, the fog horns out in the Strait. * A washer and dryer - right inside my house * Running water * In-door toilets - 2 of them! * Trash pick-up service * A good job with a fair and appreciative boss - he sends me home on occasion, with a really good bottle of wine * Satisfaction of doing the best job I can at work * Ideas and dreams * A fair amount of compassion * More wisdom now than I had 10 years ago - 5 years ago, or yesterday even! * The ticking grandfather clock in my living room that reminds me of my mother, though I don't need that to remember her, every day I think of her. * My father, too Hey! Did you see what happened? This is such an incomplete list and I wrote these down in no particular order, just as they came to mind, but one thought would spark another, which led to another. As if they were all connected. Isn't that amazing? And look, watch this! I could greatly expand on each one of them. Each one could be a category all in themselves, such as: * A loving husband who is... faithful; kind even when speaking a truth I don't want to hear; rises early in the morning and goes to work every day so we can enjoy food, shelter, entertainment; wise; strong; an excellent spiritual leader in our home; honest; respectful; intelligent; loves God... Or: * Good hearing to... hear the clock in my living room, the fog horns in the Strait; the wind in the trees; my friends encouragement; the words that come out of my own mouth; the birds chirping; the rain tapping on the window panes... And did you notice? Each item in each category could become a sub-category all in itself. Thankfulness surrounds us. Thankfulness begets thankfulness. When I list my "thankfuls", I see how wealthy I truly am... hummm... Okay, so... buh bye for now... I'm gonna go think up some more, embrace 'em all - and become a bizillionaire! "One day at a time, sweet Jesus
That's all I'm askin' from You. Just give me the strength to do everyday What I have to do..." That's what was in my head this morning when I woke up. Marilyn Sellars sings the perfect scratchy vinyl version on youtube. (I'd publish a link to it for you if I could figure out how. Still working on the techno part of this blog). But, it's interesting that a song will sound in my head at just the time that I need a little encouragement. My friend calls it a "companion song". That's a perfect description. I could use a companion right now. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with life. Like today. I'm working on two very big projects at the same time, the garden revamp project and the re-do the guest bedroom project, both of which need my full attention. At the same time, I look around and see all the other garden projects waiting for me. Then I look around the house and see the purge the linen closet project, the reorganize the pantry project and then there's the Garage with a Capital G project where all the extraneous things from the previous projects pile up. Projects, projects everywhere!! Arghhh! Maybe I shouldn't look around so much. I have to remind myself that they don't all have to be done immediately and I can set aside the jumble and overwhelm and just focus on one thing at a time. Like getting the guest room done before our family arrives this weekend, and then our friends after that. Everything else can line up for second place. Except the plants my friend gave me. They have to be planted several days before yesterday. Oh dear, what's a girl to do? Well, first off, she shouldn't panic. What's the worst that could happen? The plants will languish in wait, the weeds will keep growing, the pantry and linen closet will remain unchanged and the guest room will be just a mattress on the floor. The only thing possibly harmed in this scenario would be the plants. Which may now be dead. Okay... so what's the best that could happen? Everything could magically get done and done perfectly without me exerting any energy whatsoever either physically or mentally. Or I could move forward and calmly apply my gifts and talents to accomplish the tasks before me and learn to enjoy the process of "living in the midst life", and understand that it's ok to feel the pressure and pull of life's inevitable events, big and small, for there are blessings to be reaped from that. Since I don't believe in magic and I need to exercise my "moving forward skills", and I am motivated by love and the deadline is just two days away, I think my choice is pretty clear. The most important thing for me to focus on today is the guest room because that most closely involves relationship and love. No, my family and friends don't need a fancy guest room to sleep in while they're here but I love them and I'm so happy they want to visit, and it's a blessing for them, and for me, to be able to provide them a comfortable and pleasant place to rest. So, there. Thanks for helping me sort this out. I know what I must do. I'm gonna get those plants in the ground!! <kidding> They'll be fine. And though there are love and blessings to be had in accomplishing the myriad other tasks I could do around the house, today I'm gonna go for the guest room kind. |
Archives
August 2024
Categories
All
|