It is sometimes funny to me the things that drive people, including myself. What bothers one person isn't even seen by another. When we put things in context of eternity, they seem to come into proper perspective. My mom is fond of saying, "A hundred years from now, it won't even matter." How right she is! The older I get, the more I want the simple way. Not dull, life can have panache, but it doesn't have to be complicated. When things are simple, you can more fully enjoy them. Let me encourage you to enjoy the every day simple things and quit straining to getting everything perfect. Perfect is generally fabricated.
Today was a funny, weird sort of day. I found myself stuffing envelopes, certainly not on my to do list when I headed to work this morning. For some reason I find it difficult to do mundane tasks unless I can throw something in the mix.
So I put on YouTube, found Michael W Smith, and put on one of his concerts to listen to while stuffing.
Slowly I shifted from the mundane to beautiful time of worship. Since I was in the office, I did not sing, but the earphones cut out all other noise and it was just Daddy and me. Tears ran down my face as I interceded for a young woman who miscarried a much wanted baby; a young couple forming who they are as one; repenting for some head trash I had carried too long. I remembered the approaching holidays and it made me miss Carrin ever so much. I prayed for the daughters and their families she left behind.
One thousand envelopes later I was cleansed. .
Worship is a two way street. I praise Him because of His love for me and He gives me even more love. I do not have to ever run dry. I just have to remember I was created for His pleasure from dust. I need to make myself available to Him daily for Him to form and shape me into His idea of beautiful.
I personally love fall with pecans falling from the trees and the vibrant colors mimicking trees aflame. I love the crunch of leaves as I walk through the yard. I love a good roaring fire and sipping hot cocoa. Perhaps it is the cocooning that is necessary to keep ourselves warm that makes us a cozier, nicer person.
When we are still, the things within us that need to be perfected
have a chance to percolate within our soul.
There are things that the busyness of life impedes. When we slow down, they waft through our spirit and that longing for dreams forgotten stirs.
We are body, soul and spirit. Unfortunately, we do not give each part of our being the full attention it needs to blossom. The weeding is deferred until it chokes out hopes. It is in the slower pace that we take notice of such things.
A crackling fire can ignite our spirit and a warm cup of cocoa, our soul.
Enjoy each day fully as if it were your last. It is a gift.
Struggling with writer's block today. Funny how I can think clearly just as I drift off to sleep. So I am sharing an older post that still has some meat on the bone.
Years ago south of Dallas I attended a Worship Symposium. I took a course on writing worship songs. Suddenly the teacher, Marty Nystrom, author of As a Deer Panteth, stopped teaching and came straight to me and said, "Sister, out of your brokenness, you will write songs that will bring deliverance to many." I have never forgotten that even though it probably was 20 years ago. I am not discouraged that it has not come to past for Moses spent 40 years on the back side of the desert. Besides the brokenness that I thought he was talking about then, has been healed in a deeper dimension today than then. What do I know about song writing? Practically nothing. But my responsibility is not to make something happen but to listen and be available.
"Creativity does not truly come from the popularized image of the tormented artist, struggling with the muse," Michael Card says. "True creativity is born in community as men and women of God listen to each other and to Him."
So I wait and I listen. One story that Marty told that day was the song, More Precious than Silver" was written in the kitchen while the author was preparing dinner for her family. The original lyrics were, "Lord, you are more precious than french fries." She took that phrase and developed the following song:
We are to be given to hospitality. If that hospitality comes out of the heart of God, it should be an act of love, not a fulfillment of a need. Resentment can come in if it is just filling someone's need.
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. 1 Peter 4:7-9
Without grudging simply means without murmuring complaining. The Lord may have sent this person as a gift to you. He may expect you to invite the unlovely and entertain him as if he were the Lord himself.
Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; [and] them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. Hebrews 13:1-3
We need each other. Living simply may be a gift, but it must include the body. We are all a part of God's body. We need each other to be who He saw before the foundations of the world. You may be just the one to provide that missing piece in someone's life. You may have just the encouraging word they need to hear, the hug they need to feel, the meal they need to taste to see that the Lord is good.
Make time and space in your heart and your home, not for the popular, but for those who need your love. You may entertain angels unaware.
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind;
and thy neighbour as thyself. Luke 10:27
When flying there are pre-flight instructions. It’s the oxygen mask instruction that gets my attention. The masks drop down from above you if something happens to the air pressure. They tell me I have to fit my own mask first before helping infants or the elderly. I’ve always felt that the airlines have got it the wrong way round. Surely I have to help others first and make sure everyone around me is OK before I put on my mask. That’s the right and proper thing to do. Anything else is just pure selfish.
As they run through the drill, I sit in the plane and it occurs to me: I’m of no use to anyone else if I run out of air. I must help myself before I can help anyone else. It's not selfish at all. In fact, in the final call, I am a liability if I cannot breathe myself.
This same principle could be applied to so many parts of life. If I want to help someone with advice, I must first make sure that I live by that advice myself!
Often in the past I’ve offered advice to others yet not taken it on board within my own life. How can I help fix someone else’s problems if I can’t take responsibility for my own? Frankly that is just being a busy body.
There is no sense in talking the talk if I am not willing to walk the walk. Just hypocrisy.
I have to be willing to put on my oxygen mask first!
My attitude towards God and others is colored by my attitude towards myself.
How can I love God when I think He made a mistake in creating me?
How can I pour out love for others if I am not receiving anything from the Father's heart for myself?
If I hate myself, I hate God and hate others. If I love myself, I love God and love others.
