run to the 160 Acre Woods!
For Wonders Worked...
Last night I accomplished a goal, which will enable me to reach for the next goal on this journey. This encapsulates how I felt:
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run to the 160 Acre Woods!
run to the 160 Acre Woods!
Where's Your Focus?
When I was putting on my eyeliner the other day, I noticed that although I wasn't in a shadow, I wasn't getting the benefits of full, direct light. So, I tilted my head just a touch and I was able to see so much better.
I thought about this as I finished putting on my makeup, and how it parallels my spiritual life. There are times when I'm in The Word and growing, but I'm not tilted just right to catch the full benefit of the Light, so I don't see all the things God has for me to see. A simple fine-tune adjustment is all it takes to be fully in the Light. The other week, Pastor Mike showed me the adjustment I needed to make in my spiritual life.
For many months the cry of my heart has been for God to use me, that my life would count for Him. Although I was standing in the Light with that prayer and desire, I wasn't getting the full 'benefit' of the Light. I had wrong priorities.
I realized I was seeking God's hand more than I was seeking His face. Yes, I was seeking Him, but my eyes were focused on His hands all too often. The words to the old hymn are a great reminder of this.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth
will grow strangely dim,
in the Light of His glory and grace.
I needed to make that fine-tune adjustment and shift my main focus from His hands to His face, and remember that He will take care of the rest. Yes, ask for His hand of help, mercy and blessing, but seek His face first and foremost.
in the Light of His glory and grace.
Heavenly Father, so many times I've sought Your hand—for help and guidance and blessing, but Lord, it's Your face that I long to see. Help me to remember to make that fine-tune adjustment and to seek Your face, knowing that You will take care of all the rest. I love You, Lord. In Your name I pray, amen.
I thought about this as I finished putting on my makeup, and how it parallels my spiritual life. There are times when I'm in The Word and growing, but I'm not tilted just right to catch the full benefit of the Light, so I don't see all the things God has for me to see. A simple fine-tune adjustment is all it takes to be fully in the Light. The other week, Pastor Mike showed me the adjustment I needed to make in my spiritual life.
For many months the cry of my heart has been for God to use me, that my life would count for Him. Although I was standing in the Light with that prayer and desire, I wasn't getting the full 'benefit' of the Light. I had wrong priorities.
And if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ~2 Chronicles 7:14
I realized I was seeking God's hand more than I was seeking His face. Yes, I was seeking Him, but my eyes were focused on His hands all too often. The words to the old hymn are a great reminder of this.
look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth
will grow strangely dim,
in the Light of His glory and grace.
I needed to make that fine-tune adjustment and shift my main focus from His hands to His face, and remember that He will take care of the rest. Yes, ask for His hand of help, mercy and blessing, but seek His face first and foremost.
...and the things of earth will grow strangely dimDon't focus on what we face
but on Who we face—God Almighty.
in the Light of His glory and grace.
Heavenly Father, so many times I've sought Your hand—for help and guidance and blessing, but Lord, it's Your face that I long to see. Help me to remember to make that fine-tune adjustment and to seek Your face, knowing that You will take care of all the rest. I love You, Lord. In Your name I pray, amen.
Misplaced Talents
This week, Fiction Friday is at Cat's blog, A Work in Progress. Be sure to join us there for links to more fun fiction!
Kelly jumped at the knock on her front door, her seam ripper jabbing into an already sore finger.
“Kelly? You in there?” The voice of her sister Laurie came through the screen.
“Yes, I’m in here, although I’d rather be somewhere else!”
“Sheesh! You’re in a lovely mood today. Kids been monsters?” Laurie had let herself in and made her way to the dining room where Kelly was working.
“No, the kids have been fine. In fact I haven’t seen much of them since they’ve been outside playing all morning.” Kelly picked up the seam ripper again and went back to work.
“What on earth are you doing?” Laurie bent over and studied the heap of fabric on Kelly’s lap. “How many times have you taken out that seam?”
“You really don’t want to know.” Disgust was evident in Kelly’s voice.
“You’re right, I don’t want to know.” Laurie eyed her sister and the clutter of sewing scraps and thread on the table in front of her. “Ok, let’s try this one. What are you doing?”
Kelly dropped the fabric onto her lap and gave Laurie a look that could have fried bologna. “Mortaring brick? Chopping down trees? Computer programming? What do you think I’m doing?”
The biting sarcasm made her sister laugh. “Well, that’s a relief! I thought you might be sewing.”
Kelly picked up the wad of fabric and her seam ripper once again. “I’m making a baby-doll quilt for Melissa’s birthday present.”
Laurie bit her lip, realizing it wasn’t the time to laugh. “How long have you been working on it?”
Kelly glared at her again. “All morning.” The seam ripper attacked the crooked stitches, jerking them out one at a time. “I can do this. It just takes me awhile.” Her voice rang with determination.
“Do you have to make the baby-doll quilt?” That earned her another glare so she tried a different tactic. “Are you throwing a party for her?”
Kelly sighed. “I don’t have time to plan a party this year, although I wanted to do a birthday tea party.”
“That would be so cool—a tea party for a bunch of 8-year-olds. Were you going to have them dress up and serve tea cakes on china and everything?” Laurie smiled, seeing her sister weaken.
“That was the plan, but now I just don’t have time. This silly little quilt is going to take up all my spare time.” The wistfulness in her voice was getting stronger.
“Kelly, why are knocking yourself out doing something you’re not good at and don’t enjoy, when you could simply buy a dolly quilt from Mrs. Cunningham, who could use the little extra money, and use the time to plan a tea party and make the tea cakes and a beautiful birthday cake? You’re so good at planning parties and get-togethers and making the food that goes with them. Everyone, even Melissa, loves your parties.”
Kelly once again dropped her sewing to her lap. “I wanted to give Melissa something that would last and a tea party doesn’t last; it’s over in two or three hours.”
“The party may be over that quickly, but the memories will last longer than that quilt you’re killing yourself over. Even without all the pictures you take of the parties and then put in a scrapbook!” Laurie spoke gently, understanding her sister’s heart.
“So, you think I’m wasting my time?”
“I think you’re wasting your talent.”
Kelly snorted in a very unladylike fashion. “Planning parties is a talent?”
“Yes, planning parties is a talent, a talent that not everyone has. Remember that party I planned for you two years ago?”
Kelly laughed at the memory of the horribly organized party her sister had surprised her with. Laurie had even made a birthday cake for her and it had been the ugliest cake anyone had ever seen, even though it had been baked and decorated with great love. “I’m beginning to think my idea of making a dolly quilt is about like you decorating a birthday cake—a very bad idea.”
“You’re a smart cookie, you know that?” Laurie hugged her sister. “Don’t waste your talents; focus on what you’re good at! Plan that tea party, bake all those little goodies and a hum-dinger of a birthday cake, and buy her a dolly quilt. Take lots of pictures and scrapbook them so she’ll remember forever; long after she outgrows playing with dolls. Do what you’re good at, Kelly, and use that skill for God.”
Don't forget to join us at Cat's place for more Fiction Friday links!
Go Knee-First
I've been reading about Abram—what a man of faith he was! God said leave home and go—and Abram did, even without knowing exactly where. But what really stood out to me as I read these chapters this time is that his walk of faith was not without bumps. There were times when he was not walking in faith, but God was faithful even through those times.
The famine in the land of Canaan sent him running to Egypt rather than running to God. Egypt plagued him and caused problems for him for the rest of his life. It was there he acquired more animals—which later caused problems between him and Lot. Not only did Abram acquire animals in Egypt, but what nationality was Hagar, the mother of Ishmael? Egyptian.
So why did Abram go to Egypt when God had sent him to Canaan? Because of not trusting God. The Bible doesn't record Abram asking God what he was to do (go or stay), nor does it record Abram asking God to supply their needs. It appears that Abram used only his head and not his knees. Ouch. How often do I do that? This is a pattern that repeats itself in Abram's life. He looks to human ways to solve life's circumstances and problems.
This something that we can relate to. We see something that needs to happen, or to be done, and we get busy making it happen. We use the heads God gave us and we figure out how to take care of the problem, without stopping to remember that we need to use our knees before we use our head.
When we're busy doing and fixing, we often forget this important fact. Nothing is too difficult for the Lord. When we remember that, we're more likely to hit our knees before hitting the road. When we remember that, we're more likely to hit our knees and not end up holding our heads in pain and shame.
The famine in the land of Canaan sent him running to Egypt rather than running to God. Egypt plagued him and caused problems for him for the rest of his life. It was there he acquired more animals—which later caused problems between him and Lot. Not only did Abram acquire animals in Egypt, but what nationality was Hagar, the mother of Ishmael? Egyptian.
So why did Abram go to Egypt when God had sent him to Canaan? Because of not trusting God. The Bible doesn't record Abram asking God what he was to do (go or stay), nor does it record Abram asking God to supply their needs. It appears that Abram used only his head and not his knees. Ouch. How often do I do that? This is a pattern that repeats itself in Abram's life. He looks to human ways to solve life's circumstances and problems.
This something that we can relate to. We see something that needs to happen, or to be done, and we get busy making it happen. We use the heads God gave us and we figure out how to take care of the problem, without stopping to remember that we need to use our knees before we use our head.
Is anything too difficult for the Lord? ~Genesis 18:14
When we're busy doing and fixing, we often forget this important fact. Nothing is too difficult for the Lord. When we remember that, we're more likely to hit our knees before hitting the road. When we remember that, we're more likely to hit our knees and not end up holding our heads in pain and shame.
Regrets & Resolutions
This week At The Well is hosted by my dear friend, LauraLee. Here are the thought questions she put to us:The New Year is a time for us to let go of the past and look forward to newness. Everyone thinks about that differently. Answer any of these questions, all the below, or just give your thoughts about the New Year.
1. What is your favorite "resolution" in the Bible?
2. Do you do a New Year's resolution? Why or why not? Does your family make a resolution together?
3. Usually a resolution comes as a result of regretting something you didn't do the year before...how do you let go of the regret and move forward?
4. (optional...only if you wish to share) Have you ever made a resolution in the past that you didn't keep and wish you had?
Okay, to be perfectly honest with you, I cannot remember the last time I made a New Year's Resolution. It took me about two year's failed resolutions to realize they didn't work for me. Thankfully, I found what does. Goals.
I like to dream big. If you don't dream big, you end up with small, and in my case, barely enough to squeak by. One of my favorite quotes is:
When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either. ~Leo BurnettSo I dream big and reach for the stars. Yes, it means I don't quite reach my goals (as Joanne can attest to. LoL) but it keeps me moving forward and that forward motion is so important.
For this year I have writing goals, Bible reading goals (Cover to Cover, chronologically in 2009), and now, new this morning, I have Scripture memory goals, which I want to share with you. My friend Kristen posted about this and it was exactly what I've needed and wanted, and I'm soooo excited! Beth Moore, at the LPM blog, has encouraged and challenged us to join her in memorizing 24 verses (of our choice) this year. There's a huge accountability team there (when I just checked and there's 2936!) and I joined in. (For those of you wanting to memorize John 15, go visit Vonnie, that's what she's doing this year!) Scripture memory is something I used to do as I walked in the mornings, but when that ended, so did my memorization time and I've missed it greatly. I'm starting with Philippians 3:13-14. I've got my 3x5 card on my keyboard and I'm working on it.
The week between Christmas and New Year's is a time of looking back, evaluating and then looking forward for me. In that order. It's an important time for me, and yes, regrets do play a part in there, but I do not dwell on them. I use them as a tool to push me forward so that they don't weigh me down. How? By giving it to God and forgetting what lies behind and pressing forward. (Which happens to be the first verses to memorize this year! LoL, imagine that.)
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead; I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 3:13-14
Don't forget to join us at LauraLee's for links to more At The Well thoughts.
Cover to Cover
One of my favorite events of the year is finishing up a read through of the Bible and turning back to Genesis and starting all over again. There are times when I haven't made it in a year, but that's okay, I made it. This last time it took me two years to read from cover to cover, and I was blessed tremendously and grew so much. This time my plan is to complete my cover-to-cover expedition in a year. I know that there are others that are doing the same thing, and I think it'd be great if we were to encourage each other in our journeys.
My plan is to read through chronologically, because that's how I like it best. It puts the Biblical events in time-line order and puts them in perspective for me. I've done it this way four times now, that I have recorded, and I love it.
I'm not one to get hung up on the schedule. There are days when I read a chapter and others that I read ten—to me the point is that I'm reading and meeting with God. The schedule provides structure for me, but I don't let it bind me up in knots. I'm not one that works well with knots. Realizing that was very freeing for me, and as a result, when I hit the back cover of the Bible—well, when I finish Revelation 22:21 I know that the next passage I'll read is Genesis 1—regardless of what time of year it is.
This last time through, I finished at Christmas and I started in Genesis 1 on December 26th because I didn't want to wait. If I continue at the rate I'm reading right now, I'll be done early. But there are times when I slow down, for many different reasons. So, my goal is to finish by December 31, 2009.
What about you? Do you read cover-to-cover or do you jump around or do Bible studies using a book? I'd love to hear how you approach Bible reading.
I've been turning over ideas of how to encourage each other in this journey and the only one I've settled on so far is a button to put in my side bar. Feel free to copy it (by saving it to your computer) and post it in yours, too. It will not link back to me, although the one in my side bar will link to this post to remind me of my goal to complete my read-through in this calendar year. It is simply a picture to encourage and remind us of our goal. Better yet, make your own button and link it to your post telling us how you read through. I'd love for you to leave me a comment here with a link to your post so I can be encouraged by it.
Also, be sure to check out Linda's Heart of a Ready Writer blog. She's reading through this year too, and blogging about it.
My plan is to read through chronologically, because that's how I like it best. It puts the Biblical events in time-line order and puts them in perspective for me. I've done it this way four times now, that I have recorded, and I love it.
I'm not one to get hung up on the schedule. There are days when I read a chapter and others that I read ten—to me the point is that I'm reading and meeting with God. The schedule provides structure for me, but I don't let it bind me up in knots. I'm not one that works well with knots. Realizing that was very freeing for me, and as a result, when I hit the back cover of the Bible—well, when I finish Revelation 22:21 I know that the next passage I'll read is Genesis 1—regardless of what time of year it is.
This last time through, I finished at Christmas and I started in Genesis 1 on December 26th because I didn't want to wait. If I continue at the rate I'm reading right now, I'll be done early. But there are times when I slow down, for many different reasons. So, my goal is to finish by December 31, 2009.
What about you? Do you read cover-to-cover or do you jump around or do Bible studies using a book? I'd love to hear how you approach Bible reading.
I've been turning over ideas of how to encourage each other in this journey and the only one I've settled on so far is a button to put in my side bar. Feel free to copy it (by saving it to your computer) and post it in yours, too. It will not link back to me, although the one in my side bar will link to this post to remind me of my goal to complete my read-through in this calendar year. It is simply a picture to encourage and remind us of our goal. Better yet, make your own button and link it to your post telling us how you read through. I'd love for you to leave me a comment here with a link to your post so I can be encouraged by it.
Also, be sure to check out Linda's Heart of a Ready Writer blog. She's reading through this year too, and blogging about it.
Just Like Mommy
This week Joanne at An Open Book is hosting Fiction Friday. Be sure to join us there for links to more fun fiction.
Melissa had just sprinkled Comet in the tub when the phone rang. “Well, nuts. I had hoped to get this done.” While on the phone she unloaded the dishwasher, and cleaned the kitchen, proud of herself for using her time wisely by multi-tasking. Setting the phone in its cradle to charge she thought of the things she could do with the extra time she now had. Suddenly she was struck by the silence. She peeked around the corner into the living room, hoping to see the kids engrossed in their blocks, but there were no kids there. She followed the muted jabbering into the master bedroom and came to a quick stop.
Melissa opened her mouth but then snapped it closed, right on her tongue. “Ouch! Oh, that hurt! Man, I hate it when I do that.”
The boys looked at her. “Hurt, Mommy?” Josiah, her two-year-old asked.
“Just a little.” Melissa answered his sweet question. “What are you boys up to?” Now that she’d had a chance to really look around she didn’t’ know whether she should laugh or cry.
“I white wuv note for you on mirwer, Mommy!” Jason had found her lipstick and had drawn all over the full-length mirror, at least as high up as he could reach with his three-and-a-half-year-old stature. “Just wike you do.”
A small chuckle slipped from Melissa. “Monkey see, monkey do,” she thought. “A love note on the mirror like I write for Daddy?” She was relieved to see she had intervened before the lipstick had made its way off the mirror and onto the wall-paper.
Melissa looked back at Josiah. “And what about you, young man?” He had her favorite lipstick stretched from one ear to the other, on his upper lip and clear down to the tip of his chin. A little bit had actually landed on his lips, but not much.
“Pweddy.” Josiah was not a man of many words, but he got his point across. Melissa bit her lip, gently, and worked very hard to keep from laughing out loud.
Melissa hunkered down while she thought fast, she didn’t want to stomp on their thoughtfulness, but she needed to prevent a reoccurrence. “Now listen, boys, do you see Daddy wearing lipstick?” Josiah looked to his big brother, who scratched his head while he thought hard.
“No, Daddy don’t wear lipstick. Onwy mommies does.” Jason shared his great realization with Josiah.
Right then there was a knock on the door followed by a very familiar voice calling out, “Hello? Anybody home?”
The boys lit up. “Nana!” They scooted around their mom and raced to the front door. From the other side of the house, the side Melissa had started cleaning the bathroom on, she heard Sarah’s delighted cry.
“My-oh-my! What have you boys gotten into this time?” Nana spoke from behind her hand, and her eyes twinkled merrily as she looked at her grandsons.
“Pweddy,” Josiah said, proud of his accomplishment.
“Wike Mommy.” Jason solemnly explained as he showed Nana his stick of lipstick. “I white Mommy wuv notes on her mirwer.”
Just then Sarah skidded to a halt. “Hi, Nana. I was helping Mommy, too.”
Melissa felt her heart sink. The last time Sarah had ‘helped’ on her own the goldfish had been blowing bubbles before they died in a bubble bath she had prepared for them. She just knew they would enjoy one as much as she did, so she shared.
Nana shared a quick look with Melissa then asked, “What have you been doing, Sweetheart?”
Sarah stood up even straighter. “I got the carpet powder and sprinkled it on my carpet for Mommy.”
Melissa groaned, and the dread increased. “Where’d you get the carpet powder from?”
“The baffroom. That’s where you left it on accident.
“Oh, Sarah. How much did you sprinkle on the carpet?”
“I did it real good, Mommy. I’m a good helper.”
Melissa gave Sarah a weak smile, then looked at Nana. “Her ‘carpet powder’ is the Comet I had started to use on the tub…”
“I’m a good helper, Nana.” Sarah proudly said to her grandmother.
“Pweddy.” Josiah said as he touched his fingertips to his lips.
Jason summed it up for all of them. “Just wike Mommy.”
There is only one piece of truth in this story--the 'carpet powder' incident did happen here at our house when one of my two older children helped me. My dad had called and while I was talking with him they sprinkled the Comet all over their bedroom floor. My dad thought it was quite funny, of course. But, I am no where near that calm! I can only wish to be! LoL
Don't forget to join us at Joanne's!
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