grey

I can remember when I first became a believer that there was this definite line drawn in my new life. There was black, which was all I had left behind…the world and all it holds and then there was white…the new ‘spiritual’ world I had walked into. As I grew in my faith, that line got bolder and bolder. It seemed pretty easy to tell what activity, what behavior belonged where. There were secular activities and sacred activities. The secular included certain kinds of music, certain kinds of movies, certain kinds of books, behaviors, activities, etc. These were on the ‘black’ side of the line. On the white side of the line were different types of music, movies, books, behaviors, and activities. I was ok as long I chose the ‘white’ side. It made being a Christian easier. Most things could be categorized as either secular or sacred, non-Christian or Christian, black or white. Most things included people. I regret to say that sometimes I felt some superiority being on the ‘right’ side.

As God often does, He shook up my world. He took His big eraser and blurred the lines. The black blurred into the white, the white blurred into the black and there was this large area of grey. Great. Now how do I tell which is which? How do I categorize?

I think Jesus was showing me that he is the one who determines what is black and what is white. Everything belongs to him…all is his and he is the one who sees the heart. Things aren’t always as they seem. For example, Pharisees ~ white, harlots ~ black, right? But Jesus saw it differently. It wasn’t so easy, so simple, so obvious.

There is black and there is white but there is so much more grey. I’m becoming more comfortable with grey.

Peace,
Deb

love

“Solitude eventually offers a quiet gift of grace, a gift that comes whenever we are able to face ourselves honestly; the gift of acceptance, of compassion, for who we are, as we are. As we allow ourselves to be known in solitude, we discover that we are known by love. Beyond the pain of self-discovery there is a love that does not condemn us but calls us to itself. This love receives us as we are.”
Parker Palmer

Spend some time today pondering this quote. Do you know you are ‘known by love’? Have you experienced the love that “calls us to itself”? The love that “receives us as we are”? Rest in that beautiful thought.

Peace,
Deb

inside-out

The longer I follow Jesus the more I realize how much I have to work on. One would think the longer they work at something the better they would become at it. For quite a while I was confident that I was progressing in this journey. I think I based that on the external “biggies if you know what I mean. I don’t steal, I don’t murder, I don’t covet…ok maybe I still covet, but I try not to. I think that might count. On the outside, for the most part, I look and act like a Christian. And, I thought, for a long time, that I had ‘arrived’.

Several years ago, I realized that no matter what I was able to portray on the outside, there was stuff on the inside I hadn’t noticed, let alone addressed. Issues like feelings of jealously, bitterness, envy, or behaviors like manipulation or control. I realized that my motives and attitudes were not as pure as I had hoped. I just never had thought about it before. When I realized this, it was a rude awakening. I mean…how in the world would I ever be able to get a grip on my thoughts, my motives, my attitudes? Working on those areas of my life were/are not easy and it’s difficult to measure how I’m doing.

One of the awesome things about God is that He shows me what I need to work on, when He is ready for me to work on it. And…I have also discovered that He is really the one doing the work. I open myself to that work but it isn’t work I can do on my own. I know that because I’ve tried, for years, to change some of those things without significant results. Now I am learning to rest in the work God wants to do in me. I can see some changes, but I think I have a much more realistic view of how long this work is going to take. It will never be finished this side of heaven. Just knowing that allows me to not be so hard on myself but I also know I never want to settle for just an ‘outside’ kinda faith.

Peace,
Deb

splinters

i could leap over the sky
and float through the stars

if only i weren’t weighed down
with this thing called regret.
Steven James


Regret. I don’t like the way regret feels. For me, it feels like a load I am carrying. I just want it to go away. It’s like when I get a splinter. I chastise myself for whatever it is that I was doing when I got the splinter, hoping to avoid that situation ever again. Then, I need to deal with the splinter. I would like to ignore it but they just won’t be ignored. Every time you use the affected body part, Mr. Splinter reminds you he is still there. I hate splinters. I also hate the process of getting it out. It’s always a blessing when the splinter is sticking out, easily seen and simply grasped by the tweezers. But, at least for me, I usually don’t get those types of splinters…I get the ones that are invisible. You can’t see them…you can only find them by touching the area again and again. How are you supposed to pull it out if you can’t even see it? That’s where the needle comes in. I hate needles. I know you are not surprised by that fact.

My husband will take a needle and start digging, as if he has no nerve endings. I, on the other hand, have very well developed nerve endings and needles hurt. It just doesn’t make sense to me. You have a sharp object lodged in your extremity and …let’s see…how about we use another sharp object to dig around and find it! Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I hate splinters. But I cannot tell you the relief I feel when it is finally out. It is like that limb is born again.

For some reason, I am making a connection between splinters and regret. When I am feeling regret, I think about the situation that led to me feeling that way and try to figure out how I can avoid that situation again. I don’t like the way it feels. But, usually, I need to carry it around awhile. I go about my life and then I remember it and I feel it again. Like a splinter, I need to work it out….make apologies, change behavior, etc. Guess those are the needles. Then it passes and life feels right again.

I hate splinters and I hate feeling regret.

But…I’m going to love heaven. I’ll love heaven ’cause I am pretty sure there are no splinters there and no regret. Yeah – I’ll love heaven.

Hope yours is a day with no splinters and no regret.

Peace,
Deb

beauty - part 3

I hope you don’t mind me spending extra time on Margaret Becker’s reflections. I just think, especially as women, most of us struggle with this issue so I want to give it the attention it deserves. We left off yesterday with what, from Margaret’s point of view, the cost is of not living fully, in the moment….what really is that all about?

She calls it – sin. This is how she says it:

“God created us in His image. He created us individually to be part of both a central and an individual purpose. When we feel uncomfortable in our own skin, it is as if we are saying that God made a mistake. We are not right somehow. The end result is that we are then judging God – His handiwork- and then we are God and He is not."
Wow! Those are tough words. Those words cut me to the quick. How many times have I questioned how I was made? I won’t bore you with listing the struggles I had and still have. There are plenty of them. But, when I do that, I am questioning God and the way He created me.

Margaret says that this thought brought her to her knees and this is the prayer she offered to God:

Forgive me, God. Forgive my idols. Forgive my stupidity. Show me what is real. Teach me what is beautiful. Rend the veil on my soul. Help me to live to the outer limits of my senses, unedited, free in your grace.

This is my prayer. I want to live today, to the outer limits of my senses, unedited and free in God’s grace. This is my prayer for you as well. What would this look like in your life? Consider that today and invite God to show you how to live this life a different way.

Peace,
Deb

beauty - part 2

Hoping that you had time to sit with the thoughts from yesterday, let me share more of what Margaret Becker wrote about her experience with God in light of the ‘bathing suit’ moment. She continues:


“I came to a dead stop at a more cruel truth: the opportunity missed, fun not had, living left unlived, clothes unworn, swims not taken, glances shied away from, and time – precious, unsalvageable time – wasted from my living in the phantom shadow of ‘when’ and ‘if’.”

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with someone I work with. I commented on how nice she looked; that she had a flair about her that day. She mentioned that she had all these ‘fun’ clothes at home that she used to wear when she worked in the corporate world, but felt she had to dress much more conservatively in the church setting. She didn’t usually like the way she looked when she came to work, but on this particular morning she had decided to break out of the box a bit. We talked about how we hold these perceptions about what we should act like and how we should dress…but that sometimes it isn’t being who we really are. Now I’m not saying we should act or dress inappropriately but that doesn’t mean that we all need to act alike or look alike.

God created us uniquely. Our bodies, our minds, our gifts. You need to celebrate that uniqueness and live life with zest, because if you don’t……well….you’ll have to check tomorrow to see where Margaret’s journey takes us.

And my friend? She threw out all her ‘church work’ clothes and is wearing the clothes that she enjoys. It makes me smile inside when I see her in the hall and she inspires me, in that small way, to live more fully into who God created me to be.


Peace,
Deb

beauty

One of my favorite books is a book written by Margaret Becker called “Coming up for Air”. Margaret Becker is an awesome Christian contemporary music artist, but, in my opinion, she is an even better writer.

One section of this book that spoke to me was when she observed several older women sitting out by a pool in their bathing suits. They were having a wonderful time. The thought ran through her head to go get her suit and join them but then she remembered that she was ten pounds overweight so she dismissed the idea.

In the middle of this thought she came to the realization that there was a voice inside her that said things like

“When I ____________, then I will_________.”

Or

“If I ________________, then____________ will happen.”


As she thought about this she began to ask herself some questions:

When did I start stuffing myself into a tiny definition of beauty?
Why can’t I wear that bathing suit?
What’s the matter with me?
Whose standard of beauty have I been embracing?
Whose standard of confidence am I assuming?
Whose life’s rules am I following as I decide whether or not to live passionately, free from conformity?
Is this something you struggle with? I know I do. Reading this on the page made it come to life for me. How many times have I missed out on doing something I wanted to do because of fear, inferiority, lack of confidence, etc.? Are these questions you have ever asked yourself or have you taken time to notice that you censor yourself in this way?

Consider spending some time with these questions and noticing if you are restricting the freedom that God wants you to have…if you have unconsciously decided not to live the passionate life He desires for you. Give some thought to this and tomorrow we will explore this further.

Grace and Peace,
Deb

sabbath

no post today ~ enjoy the sabbath

holiness

“Holiness, not happiness, is the chief end of man. “

Oswald Chambers

This quote is directly opposed to what the culture has taught me. I grew up thinking that God wanted me to be happy. And…it wasn’t just the culture but the church as well. Several churches I had been involved in the past reinforced this. If I was ‘doing’ all the right things…going to church, praying, living right…my life would be good and I would be happy. I would have enough money, good health, and my children would be model citizens….

I have talked to so many people who are struggling through difficult times and they ask, “What am I doing wrong?” They are looking for the right formula, as if they can control God by doing certain things and viola, achieve happiness.

If right behavior and doing good things for God made our lives happy and easy, then how do we explain Paul’s life? He was always in some sort of trouble; shipwrecks, beatings, prison, etc. His life should be an example to me that living a life pleasing to God doesn’t mean I will always be happy.

Working to be happy seems easy enough, but to be holy? The bar has been raised. I think God knows that happiness will make me complacent and soft. But in pursuing holiness I need to look deeply at my heart and notice all those things within me that are not holy. I then need to abandon them to God and ask Him to change me, from the inside out. Happiness only lasts as long as the good times, but holiness will sustain me through the tough times too.

Do you think you have bought the package that advertises ‘happiness’ for all who love God? Or have you come to the place where you realize happiness is not the chief end and you have a desire for God to move you towards holiness?

Peace,
Deb

faith

One author says this about faith...“….Faith is finally this: resting so utterly in the character of God – in the ultimate goodness of God – that you trust Him even when He seems untrustworthy.”

The author also talks about the fact that "one moment in our lives can change everything. One moment that can’t be undone, can’t be contained, can’t be accounted for, that demolishes in a single instant, a lifetime of entire moments."

I am sure that everyone reading this can identify at least one moment in their lives that reveals this as truth. The moment you found out your parents were getting a divorce, the moment you, or a loved one got a terminal diagnosis, the moment you found out that the one you trust and love cheated on you, the moment you found out your child made a decision that will forever alter their lives…I could go on and on. We have all had at least one of these moments and probably more than one.

In those moments, all that we have learned and know intellectually about God and who He is can fall to the wayside. Our shattered heart claws at our faith, desperately trying to hang onto it, like a drowning man hanging onto a piece of floating wood.

Faith is a noun when the world is right but it quickly becomes a verb when our world is turned upside down.

I think the bottom line is - do I trust in the sovereignty of God only when things are going well? That doesn’t seem to require much from me. But to trust in His sovereignty when my heart is broken, when grief is so overwhelming that I can’t seem to catch my breath, when one moment redefines everything that I knew to be my life, that is the definition of faith.

As you reflect on this, can you think back to a time when everything changed for you…a time when there was a BEFORE and an AFTER…when life was forever altered? How did you respond? Did you cling to God or run from Him…maybe even blame Him? I invite you to spend some time today thinking about how you have responded to God in the past during tough times and how much you think you may be able to trust Him with whatever lies ahead for you.

Grace and peace,
Deb

desire

Next week, I will be at the Creation Festival. For those of you who don’t know what Creation is, it is a gathering of 60,000 to 70,000 Christians who come together to listen to speakers and bands. Occasionally, members of the bands will take a break from singing and speak to the crowd. Sometimes I connect more with what they have to say than the actual speakers.

I love the group, Casting Crowns. Last year, during their time on stage, the leader of the group said something that really resonated with me.

“God doesn’t need us…He wants us.”
Wow. Again, it is something I know on an intellectual plane but I don’t often think about the reality of it. God wants us. Wait… let me make that more personal. God wants you…He wants me. I’m not sure why but it seems different than saying that God loves you or me. Maybe because I’ve heard, so many times, that God loves me. But the thought that He wants me, moves me in a different way.

Today, again, I want to let that truth wash over me. I want to let it sink in. I want to let it become part of what I know deep inside. I invite you to do the same. Spend some time with the thought that God wants you…that He is continually inviting you into a deeper relationship with Him. What would be different if you were to really grab hold of this? How would it change your relationship with him? Reflect on this and consider journaling around this thought.

Grace and peace,
Deb

creation

God, brilliant Lord,
yours is household name.

Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you,
toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk
and silence atheist babble.

I look at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings
Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?

Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,
bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
repeated to us your Genesis-charge.
Made us lords of sheep and cattle.,
Even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
whales singing in the ocean deeps.

God, brilliant Lord
Your name echoes around the world.

Psalm 8
The Message


I invite you to spend some time with this portion of scripture today. Read it through two times, slowly. Pay attention to what God might be saying to you…just to you, in these words. What draws your heart? Allow yourself some time and space to allow the Spirit to move within you.

Peace,
Deb

listening

Sometimes God speaks to me in a way I can best describe as a gentle nagging. I mean that in the best way. One example was two years ago when I was away. I was in a program that required me to do a 12 day residency. The schedule allowed for us to spend time alone with God. I had asked Him, before I left for the residency, to speak to me. I asked specifically for Him to use this time to speak to me about something I might need to change.

While at dinner one night, I thought about going back for seconds. As I went to move out of my chair, I sensed a word being impressed on my spirit. The word was ‘enough’. It would have been easy for me to dismiss that, but I had asked God to speak to me and I was not going to miss it. I listened. I sat back down. And…you know…it was enough. As I took some time to notice, I was comfortably full.

God didn’t only want to speak to me about my eating. The other time I heard the word ‘enough’ was when I was talking. I am an extrovert, by nature. And…I can be talkative. For the past year or so, I have been noticing that I have not felt the need to talk as much. I think the journey into a more contemplative Christianity has calmed me, changed my way of being in the world.

But, what I heard at the residency was ‘Enough…stop talking unless you are talked to’. My first thought was, “ Wow…are you kidding?” But as that thought passed, I again, remembered that I had asked God to speak and I wanted to listen. I resolved to be quiet. I sat through meals quietly, I didn’t share in the groups, I withheld opinions and thoughts. And you know what? The world didn’t come to an end. Through the silent times, God continued to speak to me about other things. While journaling, truths were revealed that I hadn’t recognized before. Growth was also evident. It was a rich experience for me.

It still amazes me to realize that God is always speaking….I just need to stop and listen.

Grace and Peace,
Deb

awareness

“The world is charged with the grandeur of God”

Gerald Manley


Today, pay attention to the world around you….the beauty of nature, the warmth of summer, the joy of relationships and the ultimate wonder of being loved by Jesus. The grandeur of God is intimately held in all of those things.

Peace,
Deb

trust

trust

When Brooke, my daughter, was in high school, she had a bumper sticker on her car that said:

“Protect me from what I want.”

I don’t know if the person who came up with that saying was a believer or not but I have thought, many times, how that needs to be a constant prayer for me. I seem to have tunnel vision when it comes to my ‘wants’. I also think I know best.

So I’d have these plans and I’d take them to God but what I really was looking for was His stamp of approval. I’d be pretty disappointed if He didn’t quite see it my way.

But, with the perspective of distance and the benefit of hindsight, I can see all the times, when I thought He was withholding things from me, He was protecting me….from what I wanted. I think about how different some things in my life might be and it’s frightening.

God sees the whole picture. I can only see one slice of it. Why, if I know that He loves me more than anyone else ever could…He loves me in a way I cannot even comprehend, why, why, why, can’t I easily trust Him with whatever He allows to come into my life? I ponder how different my life would be if I would live into that reality everyday and not just the hit and miss way that seems to be more the norm for me.


My prayer for today:


God,

Please let me trust you fully today. Let me abandon myself to you and to your plans for my life. Bring to my memory all the times you saved me from what I wanted. Help me to want what you want. Thank you for your love.

Deb

worry

Tonight I had dinner with two of my closest friends. As we were eating we were discussing how we are dealing with things in our lives that are beyond our control. As we talked, the word ‘worry’ kept coming up. It made me think of a statement I heard the other day…

“Worry is praying for what you don’t want.”

Hmmm. Think about that. Worry; something you do that produces nothing but anxiety. I thought back to other times I have worried about something. Did it change the outcome? No. If things turned out badly, my worrying did nothing to change that. And, if they turned out well, I wasted all that energy on something that never came to pass. A huge expenditure of energy with no return, maybe even negative effects when we think about what stress does to us.

And returning to the quote….does ‘worry’ become my prayer? I give more time and attention to what I don’t want to happen than to what I do want to happen. Or another option is going to the extreme of actually leaving the outcome in God’s hands. I know….easier said than done.

But, what a freeing place to camp. Consider what it is that you are choosing to worry about today. Sit quietly, take some deep breaths and release it to God. When you realize that you have picked it back up during the course of the day….breath and release it again. Keep choosing to release.

Grace and peace,
Deb

waiting

I often speak of the importance of creating space for God in our lives. Not doing more things for him but being with him in silence and solitude. Creating this space allows God to speak into our lives.

Many times, when I am making a big decision, I quietly offer that decision to God and ask for his guidance. I am learning not to fret over it but to leave it with him and trust that he will lead me. I may verbalize the prayer, one time, to Him. Then I sit in silence with Him. I wait and see.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t have my part to do. I think that may be the most difficult thing…determining what part is God’s and what part is mine. So, I spend time, quietly with God, and wait for Him to respond, to speak, to move. One author puts it this way….my job is to wait and see…..WAIT for God to speak and then be able to SEE what He is doing.

I have come to love waiting to see how God will work things out. I enjoy paying attention to how he wants me to respond, to work with him. It has helped me to relax a bit. Consider spending some sacred time with God today. Give Him time and space to speak to you. Look forward to what He has to say.

Grace and peace,
Deb

yielding

“…Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you'll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.”

I Peter 4:1&2


Recently, I read this verse and it caused me to stop and think. I still expect to get my own way. And, when I don’t…..well, let’s say it this way….I may be ‘sitting on the outside but I’m standing on the inside’. In other words, I may be able to semi-hide my frustration to others but I’m feeling it inside. As I continued to think about this, it is a sign of my immaturity.

When you have a child, you know that it’s not good for them to always get their own way. That’s the best way to create a little human being who thinks the world revolves around them and they should always get their way.

Think a moment about Helen Keller. What a small world she lived in until Annie Sullivan came along. Not looking so much at her disability as at her behaviors – acting wild, taking food off other’s plates, having tantrums, Annie puts a stop to it. Helen went through immense suffering during those first few days as her world was turned upside down. The immediate pain was deep and confusing for both she and her family, but Annie had a plan “to prosper her and not to harm”.

The immediate suffering gave birth to a new world for Helen. She opened up to the world of words, symbols and language. She was finally able to give and receive love from her parents…and also Annie. She went on to graduate from college and become a well-known author. That would never have happened without the suffering of letting go of the old self-centered behaviors.

I don’t want to continue to live with the tyranny of being focused on ‘what I want’. I want to be willing to let go of ‘getting my way’ and allow God to mold me, through the disappointments, into someone who is more attuned to what God wants than what I want.

Is this a struggle for you? Do you ever fall victim to the tyranny of needing to get your own way? If so, I invite you to offer that struggle to God and allow the Holy Spirit to begin that work in you.

Grace and peace,
Deb

space

O God, I am seeking
for ways to be,
less encumbered
ways to
simplify my life:
ways to build
s p a c e s and silences
into a full life
of busyness
and noise.

Teach me to find that
quiet center of self
that you have
hidden within me,
a resting in
your presence.

~Jamie Watkins

Over the past two days, I have had conversations with two different women. Each of them spoke of having a recent intimate experience with Jesus. They each had a very different experience, suited to who they were and how God speaks in their lives. They both had tears in their eyes when they reflected on their experiences.

Each of these women has spent time over the last year creating space in their lives for God. They have practiced ‘being’ with him and nurturing their ability to listen to him in silence. Out of this fertile place comes a deeper, richer relationship with Jesus and the increased ability to discern his voice and movements in their lives.

Learning to be silent before God is not easy but it leads us in to a deeper place with Him.

Grace and Peace,
Deb

presence

I Simply Come to be with You

God of earthquake, wind and fire,
and of the still small voice
and of the silence of the silence,
I bring my presence
to your presence
as a gift to you ~
the only gift that I in fact can give~
for all the other gifts
are gifts you have given
which I can but return to you.

I do not come to speak or hear,
I do not come to think or do,
But Lord of Lords, and very God,
I simply come to be with you.

~Anne Shotwell
Why is one of the simplest things God wants from me so hard to do? Give me a task, a job to do and I know how to do that. I know how to start and I know when it’s done. I can measure it. But just ‘being’ with God…how do I measure that? How do I know if it’s been long enough or been of sufficient quality?

When I start to ask questions like this, I know that I am totally missing the point. Once again, I fall back on how I measure His love for me, His approval of me. I forget, all too quickly, that He loves me…period. And that to have me just sit in His presence, no matter how long, no matter how it may feel to me, is, in itself, pleasing to Him. To go to Him and not ask for anything must be very refreshing to Him. Not that He doesn’t teach us to ask; He does want us to ask Him for what we need.

It reminds me of when my children were little. So many times they would come to me to ask me something…”Mom, can I have this…?” "Mom, can I do…?.”…”Mom….” I also remember very sweet times when they would come and sit next to me on the couch. I would get ready for the next question….and there wasn’t one. They just wanted to be next to me. I think that’s what it may be like for God when I just want to get close to him, sit near Him and be in His company….a very sweet time.

If you have never tried just ‘being’ with Him, crawl up in His lap tonight and just sit with Him. Create a sweet time.

Grace and peace,
Deb

sabbath

no post today ~ enjoy the sabbath...

being

I would ask that you sit with the words and allow God to speak to you in the way He wants.


Peace,
Deb

O my God,
whom I adore,
help me to become
wholly forgetful of self,
that I may be immovably rooted in you
and calm as though I was already in eternity.

May nothing disturb my peace
or draw me forth from you,
O my unchanging Holy One,
but may I at every moment penetrate more deeply
into the depths of your mystery.

~Elizabeth of the Trinity

serving

I want to share an experience with you that I had while in Israel a couple of years ago. Our group took some time to go to the Dead Sea. I made the decision that I wasn’t going to go ‘swimming’ but would wade. One of the other women in our group, a wonderful gal, had made her mind up she was going to go in. She was a trooper. An older woman, she sometimes struggled with walking. I helped her walk down to the water’s edge and then after she was done, helped her walk back to the bathing house to change her clothes.

While she was changing, I was waiting, sitting on a bench outside the changing room. I was brushing the sand off my sandals and feet. I noticed a woman, who was cleaning the bathroom, coming out towards me. My first thought was…”Oh my gosh…she’s probably upset with me for cleaning the sand off in this area.” But she motioned for me to come in to the sink area. She picked up a 2 liter bottle of water and before I knew what was happening, she bent over and took off my sandal and washed my foot. She didn't just pour the water over my foot but she took her hand, rubbed the top, bottom and all my toes to get the sand off. Then she washed my sandal. She repeated the whole process with my other foot.

I was so touched and humbled. It was such an act of servanthood. And she did it with absolutely no expectation of anything in return. I gave her a hug and walked away filled with a sense of God’s love for me.

The fact that I was in Israel, where Jesus lived his life and washed his disciples’ feet, was not lost on me.

I wonder how many times I have missed an opportunity to “wash someone’s feet”? I want to learn to be so aware of how Jesus wants me to serve others. How is He asking me to humble myself and yield my ‘rights’, my ways, my desires to put someone else’s needs first?

Think about how He might be encouraging you to reach out to someone else….to ‘wash their feet’. Then, take a few moments to consider not just pouring the water over them but getting your hands dirty as you go above and beyond to meet their need.

Blessings,
Deb

prayer

"To pray unceasingly is not to think about God rather than other things, or to talk to God rather than other people, but rather to think, speak and live in the presence of God."

Leighton Ford

I wonder why I, for so long, thought prayer occurred at a specific time, in a specific place. Now as I look back, I see what a box I had God in and how small a box I was in.

I am moving toward living life in a more integrated way...being aware right now, in this present moment, of how the Spirit is moving, and wanting to be in step with that that movement.

Today, be aware of living in the present...living in the

presence

of God, every moment. Move out of the box.

grace and peace,
Deb

love

“You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God’s children – which is what we are.”

1 John 3:1


A sweet friend of mine described what this verse means to her and I wanted to share it with you. Here is what she said………….


“I love that passage --- I get hung up on the extravagant word "lavish". The dictionary defines it as "characterized by or produced with extravagance or profusion: immoderate in giving or bestowing; unstinting: to give in abundance; shower. It is probably from the old French ...for “downpour or to wash". I love looking at these huge words that all describe God's love for me. These are all words that when applied to anything, they mean to provide far more than we need or expect. We as humans can be quite moderate in giving our love, but not so our Father. It makes me think of standing outside in a downpour of rain, when you get totally soaked to the skin, no matter what you are wearing. God's love penetrates our outer layers, not by any effort on our part, but by His great mercy and LOVE. He wants to soak us in it --- and He has enough to do that with each of us.

I think God chooses His words so carefully to help us comprehend the riches He has for us. Something I read today referred to how as a child you page through the Bible and are disappointed that there are no pictures. But as adult readers, we see there are 100's of them, this being 1!”


I love this description….allow yourself to feel the ‘down pouring’ today as God lavishes you with His love.

Grace,
Deb

space

This is a theme I will write about often. Why? Because we need it so desperately and so few of us know how to achieve it. Why is it important? Because without it, we lose perspective. We are driven by the things that are urgent but not important and miss what is important. Without it, we are more likely to miss God’s movement in our lives.

As women we spend large amounts of our time taking care of others. We are usually the last ones on the list and when we take time for ourselves, we feel guilty about it. Perhaps you can think of it like this…taking some time for yourself is creating space for God. Creating space for God allows us to deepen our relationship with Him and become more of who He intended us to be.

Consider this quote by Anne Morrow Lindberg:

“For it is only framed in space that beauty blossoms. Only in space are events and objects and people unique and significant – and therefore beautiful. A tree has significance if one sees it against the empty face of sky. A note in music gains significance from the silences on either side. A candle flowers in the space of night. Even small and casual things take on significance if they are washed in space….”

How much space do you have in your life? Can you appreciate the little things, the simplicity of life, the beauty in the small things, the movement of God in your life, the incredible simplicity and complexity of the creation around us? Do you have the space to grow in intimacy with Jesus? To listen to Him speaking into your life?

Invite God to show you how to create some space in your life so that days do not become weeks, weeks, months and months, years all without taking the time to notice what is truly precious.

Peace and Grace,
Deb

identity

“You must see what great love the Father has lavi

shed on us by letting us be called God’s children – which is what we are.”

1 John 3:1

Re-read this scripture, slowly. Let the truth of it sink in. The God of the universe has chosen you. He is calling you His own. What can be better than that? I love thinking about this and considering how I might be changing because this reality is more than just an intellectual thought…it is a truth beginning to take hold in my heart.

I wanted to find a way to hold this in a deeper way so I re-wrote it for myself:


“Look and see the great love my Father has lavished on me…by letting me be called ‘His beloved daughter’ – which is what I am.”

Each of us can say this. Take some time today to ponder this treasure from God’s word. Re-write it and make it your own. Let it be one of those truths that moves from your head down into your heart.

Peace from one of His children,
Deb

sabbath

no post today ~ enjoy the sabbath