Hearing the Message from a New Location

A couple of weekends ago, I was out of town with my husband and he made the suggestion that we attend church in our new location.  I was delighted.  We went to church and found the setting and the message to be very welcome.

The service was in an older church where the floor sloped down towards the alter almost giving you the feeling of being in a theater.  The walls were filled with colorful, old stained glass windows.  It was a simple yet wonderful sanctuary.  The message in the sermon stressed how easy it would be for all of us to get along if only everyone were like me.   (a little sarcasm here)  It highlighted how we are all unique and we offer each other the opportunity for learning and acceptance. 

I wasn't sure why this was the message that I needed to hear but I listened nonetheless and planted the seeds in my memory bank. 

Later the same day we had an unexpected visit from friends.  It was a first meeting for me and one of the friends.  We had heard a lot about each other but had never met in person.
We had a cordial and warm visit however our personalities were vastly different.  When our friends left I felt relieved but strange.  It took a while for my husband and I to digest our visit and then the epiphany came.
The message from the sermon earlier that morning rang loud and clear for both of us.

Where we would normally stew over the fallout of the interaction, we decided to learn from our differences and think about how to be better friends in the future.  It ended up being a wonderful lesson stemming from our unplanned visit to a new church.

God is good!  All the time.

Different is good and opens up windows for all of us to look outside ourselves to see a new world.

Beauty can bring heartache.

Two weeks ago, I was at the lake.
For the first time I witnessed the search and rescue teams at work.  There was a missing boater and the crews were out in mass looking for the missing father of 2.
It was a humbling experience.  What do we rely on in this type of situation?
How could the serene and picturesque water I had grown to love and appreciate hold such grief and sorrow? 

I am sure these thoughts had been felt before by other families in similar situations near a body of water.
May we all respect the nature around us.  It is much bigger than any one person.

A wife and her two young children buried their father and husband this week.  May God bless them with strength and courage with each passing day. 

Psalm 9:9


The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Cheers for Hobbies!

Did you know hobbies are blessings?
I am learning this valuable lesson.  As we grow and mature it is important to maintain outlets for our creativity.  This can take on many forms.  Song, dance, art, cooking, travel....the list is limitless.  The problem with hobbies is usually; self.  Taking time for ourselves.  We may be good at volunteering and helping out however we are not always as good at taking back our time. 
Have you ever thought about this phenomenon? 

When was the last time you carved out an afternoon for a solo activity not involving other family members?
Even Jesus had hobbies.  He was a healer, a teacher, a carpenter.  He preached the scripture and saved souls.  He was the Master Communicator.  I wish we were all more like him.  Observant, honest  and completely committed to prayer.  These are wonderful attributes to aspire to..

Are there unique hobbies out there waiting for you?

Absolutely.

There may be blessings waiting around the corner if you look for these new areas of grow.

So cheers to hobbies!!

Do you have pets?
I have dogs.  In the past week I have had health problems with 2 of my puppies and I found out the mode of treatment is the same for them as it was for my children.  One of them had an injury, another one got really sick and then we had a surgery this week.  I had forgotten how much time and energy a puppy can take. 
It also reminded me of the blessing of rest.  There is no better healer than rest.  This applies to all living creatures.

In Matthew 11:28-30 (New Living Translation)


"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

We are welcome to rest in the comfort of God's love 24/7/365.  Do we think about this in the midst of stress and strife?  When all else fails we have this place of rest.  As I watch my animals recover and I pray for healing and continued guidance. 

May you find rest in your daily activities.

Woof?

Hobby?

Recently I decided to start doing crochet again.  My family has told me it ages me...something an older person would do.  While I know it's not a trendy thing to do, I have found it helps me tap in to another part of my brain.  If I spend about 20 minutes playing with yarn, my mind empties of much of the stress and noise and I evolve in to a new place. 
Reading scripture can also have this type of impact on my disposition.  When I read certain passages and I really try to picture myself in the setting that I am reading about, my world and my view transform.  Here is a perfect example of a transforming verse:
"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." —John 10:10

Live life more abundantly.  What does this mean to you?  Am I living more abundant?  Or am I caught on the scarcity treadmill?  Chasing time?  Day in and day out?  Most of us are anxious, stressed out and over scheduled right now.   When did squeezing more in to every waking hour become the norm?
As I think about all of the knots I tie together and the lives we weave, do we really stop to ensure we are living in abundance?
This begins with a change in mindset.  What would happen if you woke up tomorrow and decided you have more than enough time to get everything done that serves your ultimate purpose?  Will you join me and write this verse on a card and look at every morning for the next week?

Let's give abundance a try.....I have more than enough time to get everything done that serves my ultimate purpose.

Dreams

Dreams.....

Have you ever had a dream that you woke from and the message from the dream was SO clear and SO concise that you thought...surely God is talking to me?

It is a pleasure and yet a challenge to completely unwind the message of a dream.  That is part of the beauty of our dreams.  Are these messages locked in our subconscious? 

According to scripture in James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

For today I am blessed with the contemplation of deciphering the messages locked inside of my dream. 

What have you dreamt about?

Focus and Faith

Time flies....when you lose focus. 

My goal was to write a daily entry on this blog and I have let many days slip by without an entry.  Not good.  However the guilt engine is not going to take over here. 

In Isaiah 26:8 it reads "O Lord, we love to do your will!  Our hearts desire is to glorify your name."  (NLT)

The minute the guilt machine turns on....."doing his will" turns in to something he did not intend.  It turns a "I want to do something" into a "I have to do something" and that is not of God's will.  I truly believe God wants us to be an instrument of his love and grace.  We know instruments come in all forms and their melody can sound very different.  How is that for an analogy? 

Getting back to my topic of focus.  Rather than guilting myself in to a daily writing which does not embody grace and love, I would rather align my goal with God's love.  I will continue to write and trust that God will help me find the time and the topic.  God's timing is usually different than our and I am an eager learner (most of the time).
My focus for this blog has also shifted.  In my initial goal setting, the idea of frequency and timing clouded the bigger picture here....writing to share my faith experience, writing to share what God is doing in my life.

I hope that you will join me in thinking about the Love, Grace and Patience of God.  What is he calling you to look at today?