Mighty Man

You know, there are some people who are just amazing – and my husband is one of them.  He has been a strong tower, a mighty and stalwart man this last month.

Today he brought me boxes, then he loaded them (I helped a bit), then he took them home.  The first week we started dismantling my office, he was here every day, coaching me and coaxing me to start the process one step at a time.  When I’ve been down, he has been an encourager, when I’ve been up, he’s been a cheerleader.

This year so far, he has done every single school event – because I’ve not been available.  He knows all of the  kids’ teachers!  I’m in charge of the soccer schedule, but he even stepped in and did a back-to-back practice and game this weekend while I was away.

Sometimes the quiet one in a couple seems to sit in the background, but truly, Wes is my better half, and there are days I wouldn’t put one foot in front of the other – let alone in matching shoes – if it wasn’t for him.  I just wanted you to know what an awesome husband I have.  In a little over a month (Nov. 7) we will be married 21 years!!!

Thank you, Wes, for being such a great and mighty man!

Good Shapes

Do you remember the Shape Sorter toy?  Sometimes  I wonder if we don’t act like we are Star, Octagon or Circle shapes in life – but we want to be the best Star, Octagon, or Circle shapes possible.  We stress and strain, look at ourselves from all angles, ask our friends if our corners are to sharp or our curves are too round… we even wonder if our color of yellow isn’t a bit too faded.

But God made us the shapes we are for the spots on the sorter – we don’t have to work at being those shapes, because He is the one who shapes us.

Next we start worrying that we won’t get to our spot in the sorter.  First we try to cram ourselves in the oval spot, then we go for the pentagon shape.  We want into the sorter because that is what it’s all about, right?

God says, no, it’s about the journey.  We can’t get ourselves to the places He made for us.  It takes His hand to move us.  We have to wait for Him to finish shaping us, molding us, and preparing the spot made just for us at each point in our life – we get to relax and let God be God and ENJOY the journey.

So…who has God given you to enjoy the journey with today?

 

Perception

I just heard one of my children say “I used to think the Space Needle was a ship that could go into space”.

You know, life is a matter of perception and perspective.  Yesterday, the market fell about 500 points, today it is up about 100 points, but in the last year, it has fallen more than 3,000 points.  If you live and die by the ups and downs of the markets, you would seriously have an ulcer by now.

Today I got in a tift with someone and learned something important – my perception doesn’t have to dictate reality.  I had someone (else) pray, and pretty soon, God told me – you don’t have to be angry.  You can choose to be happy and not mad.  You can respond with a happy response and not try to ‘fix’ this ‘problem’.  So that is what I did, and life got better really fast when we came back together.

So here is my verse for today:  Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Blessings on your evening.

Looking Forward

Did you know that sometimes God seems to contradict Himself?

In Joshua 4, and a couple other places, God told the Israelites to set up monuments to remember what He had done.  Then in Isaiah 43:15-19 He says:

I am the LORD, your Holy One,
Israel’s Creator, your King.”

This is what the LORD says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,

who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.

He says “forget the former things.”  Why?  Here’s what I think:

Remembering the former things is a tool to help us determine God’s character and focus our faith and hope on Him for the future.  There seems to be a fine line between the past being a tool for the future, and ‘the good ‘ole days’.

God wants us to always be forward focused.  I read yesterday that an optimist is forward focused, a pessimist is not.  When we look backwards, let’s look for determinants of God’s provision that will show us how God will provide for the future.  He is unchanging and eternal.

Longterm Waiting

Sometimes waiting on God isn’t like morning devotions.  Sometimes it is a longterm project.

Daniel experienced this – he fasted body lotions, choice foods, etc. and found out later that the answer to his questions had been sent, the angels were battling to get them to him.

What good does fasting do us while we are waiting?  IMHO, it keeps us focused, it keeps us unpolluted so we can hear God’s voice.

Piece by Piece

Today I started a project, was interrupted, then lost my train of thought.  I will have to complete it another time.  As I closed out my file this evening, I was reminded of my endeavor to focus on waiting on God.

Could it be, perhaps, that our waiting on God isn’t a one-time thing, but is done in parts, like this project, each part adding up to the whole?

Waiting on God

This morning I woke up at 5:30am.  The last couple of days have been joyful, but I knew that I needed replenishment from God, so when I woke up so early, I excited to spend time with God.

As I flipped through my bible, I came upon these words in Isaiah 40:

Do you not know?  Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God.  the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not be faint.

It was like God just wanted to show me that one thing.  I slept a while longer.  The thing is, that when I got all the kids out the door, I was still spiritually tired.  I crawled back in bed and contemplated waiting on Him.

I think for the next couple days, I’m going to explore this:  what do we do when we wait on the Lord.

Flourishing Green

I wrote some time ago about pruning.  Our grape vine is now huge.  In parts it almost reaches the ground.

We didn’t prune it this year.  It has no fruit on it.  I looked – couldn’t see any grapes.

Today I had lunch with a friend.  Not all pruning, she reminded me, is of old, dead branches.  Some of it is of lovely great branches with fruit on them.  Some of it is of saplings near the roots, with roots of it’s own, that will be transplanted and flourish elsewhere.

The results of no pruning is fruitlessness.  The results of pruning is fruit.  Pruning isn’t easy, but it is necessary and a joyful part of growth.  Thankfully, we are all in the hands of the Master gardener, who sees us from His perspective, and knows just how and when to prune us for maximum growth, in this plant, and in the places that need the transplants.

God is so awesome and wonderful.  He loves us with an everlasting and deep, abiding love.  I am so grateful for His wisdom and love today.

Friday Fun

I woke up this morning asking God what a Sabbath might look like today – besides a trip to the dentist, it has been nice and relaxing.

I want to share with you some Friday fun sights to check out:

Some great and bizarre fences.

A good pep talk

Something really interesting, and a teleseminar next Tuesday.
This seminar is about moving people from brokenness to wholeness – it looks interesting.

10 Practical Ways to Share your Faith

Seth’s Blog I really have fun reading this blog.

Have a great weekend.

Cloak of Invisibility

These words have been on my desk all day long.  They are part of a file I have on 10 great things to do in Photoshop.  I printed it out so I could practice them.  But the title of the first thing is “Cloak of Invisibility.”

On emotionally hard days, don’t you just want to put on that cloak and run away?  But listen to what this Cloak of Invisibility does:  “Remove everything from the screen except for your file.”

Hmmm.   My post from a few days ago was on Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”

The peace we seek isn’t gotten from hiding anyplace but in Him.  Sometimes that means resting and letting God be God.  Sometimes it means storming heaven with all our might and asking Him to change the universe just for us… and then letting Him be God in the end.  But always it means keeping our focus on Him, and Him only.  Steadfast.  It is a shield of peace – a cloak of invisibility if you will.