Let’s take a break

 

 My mom in her rocking chair. Between cooking and cleaning, mom could be found in her rocker. Down time for her. Crochet time. Or crossword puzzle time. Not just special, but in memory - sacred.

A certain place for a certain activity.  Many sit at a table for meal times. Some have a special chair or corner of a room for prayer. Set apart for a special activity. I needed a space for artwork. Some have the luxury of a dedicated room. Some do it at the dining room table. I suddenly longed for a set apart, quiet, uninterrupted zone for my artwork. I hadn’t realized it until recently. But I haven’t been doing any drawing. I asked God about it and there seemed to be just silence. I didn’t like that at first. Every day wondering if I was being disobedient, if I was failing at not nurturing my God-given gift. When maybe God wasn’t answering because He wanted me to stop and rest. In Him. Trust. When it didn’t make sense. And not all the focus on doing. Producing. Giving. So I relaxed in my non-drawing season and waited for the Lord’s signal to begin again.

Have you been there? Perhaps you are there now. Pleading with God for something you think you have the perfect answer to, the perfect solution. 

It has just recently been revealed to me that in some situations - stop asking for my will and my resolution. My prayer should be based on certain hope and trust and not telling the Lord the “how” and the “when”. True peace comes from knowing God IS handling it. How gracious are You, Lord, to attend to and enter into my concerns.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

You know these verses. Probably by heart. Let’s live in them. Let’s truly believe in our magnificent God! Have a Yay, God kind of day knowing He is showing up and will do the best. Give you His best. Wow.

Day and Night

My new rule about reading the Bible. Whenever and however. Be it much or be it a little. Read a few verses while the coffee finishes brewing. Read a few more while waiting in the drive-thru. While waiting in line for the kids to get out of school. It’s right there on your phone. Audio while walking the dog.

Sometimes life gets in the way. I’m trying to sit down, sit still, and read my Bible every morning. A certain number of chapters. But mornings can spin out of control. I think I’ll get to it later. Ha! Ha! And if you are following a Bible in a year program, now you are behind and feel like you have to double up tomorrow. Fat chance. Waiting for that last spin on the washer cycle. Prepping dinner. Weeding the garden. A couple minutes here. A few there. Word of God speaks to me everywhere. Even in snippets. Maybe even better in snippets because then I have time to ponder and digest. Wait. What? Reading the Bible one or two minutes at a time can actually be beneficial? Yay! I’m pretty sure I can do that. Commitment to a certain time and place is great. Your old faithful version in your lap. Awesome. But sometimes I have to read a chapter again and again because it is packed with so much. So if you need to do it another way, God will still be blessing it. You can count on it! So keep reading. Keep at it and just see what God does even with snippets. 

I pray, Lord, slow me down. Take and bless the small bites. Help me connect the dots. Connect me to You.

“But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Yay God living

I sit in front of a blank piece of paper. Paralyzed. And I’m not the only one. Most artists, writers, pastors - feel this revisiting fear. I can’t. What if I can’t do it again? What if it misses the mark and falls short this time? Before the age of computers, there were many jokes of a wastebasket filled to overflowing with crumpled papers and heavy sighing at a desk.

Even though I have created some nice artwork in the past, there is a fear that I won’t measure up - again. 

I know. I know. You all are saying, “Of course you can! You can do it and so much more! You are so capable and such a blessing!”

Yes. I have. Done it before. And no one is more surprised than I am. But still, you probably think I am crazy to doubt at this point. You can’t imagine me questioning my abilities. Many of you have assured me that I have the skill to create more lovely and meaningful artwork. And I surely appreciate your faith in me. 

Now how about you? Do you stare at the blank page of a new day in doubt - wondering if God will send blessings and goodness again? Do you stand in the same assurance you have supported and sent to me? Do you apply the same confidence in God? Just look at all the miraculous things He has done in your life. Hundreds of times. Proven Himself capable over and over again. And yet - do you ever find yourself doubting that He will?

Can you enter the day believing / knowing the Lord has goodness in store for you? Or do you fear what might be coming down the road and worry the Lord has only lessons to be learned through trials?

Raise your Ebenezer! God has helped before and God will help again! God has blessed before and God will bless again!

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. - Psalms 27:13

Take these words to heart today and live in the expansive faithfulness, security, blessings and love of God.

A Dog’s Life

Dogs. They get it.

In the morning, they are excited to be alive and start the day. They turn to you, tails a-wagging; seeking you out to share in the joy.

They want food. They come to you. Water. Same thing.

They want to enjoy the fresh outdoors - they look at you and then the door.

In need of a little extra TLC? They bump you with their head. Please let me feel your loving touch.

Desiring some peaceful, safe place to rest and you will find their head in your lap.

During a thunderstorm, whenever they are nervous or afraid, they will tremble in your arms.

When you return home, they greet you excitedly at the door.

And when they have a wonderful toy - they want to share the joy and excitement with you. Let’s have some fun together!

When they grow tired at day’s end, they sleep at your feet.

Whatever is needed, or desired, they turn to you.

Oh, that we would have such openness and understanding in our relationship with the Lord!

“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” Psalms‬ ‭16‬:‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

 “All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.” Psalms‬ ‭104‬:‭27‬-‭28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

 

This is the day!

 I was recently asked to share my favorite hymn and scripture verse. There are so many to choose from, right? Am I able to narrow it down to just one? And what if, that was the only hymn - the only verse - for all time? Impossible! Let it not be so! There are different songs and verses that are perfect for different times in our lives. While I love some of the old time hymns, I have also fallen in love with some of the newer, more contemporary praise music as well. And my favorite scripture verse from three years ago is different from the one I cling to today. I am glad to have them all available.

One song. One verse. One style of art. One style of writing. Like - only one devotional book written. Only one. Of anything. Can you imagine?

What if God stopped at the rose and not went on to daffodils, tulips, violets or hydrangeas? What if He stopped at the pine and not the oak, apples but no peaches?

“O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.” Psalms‬ ‭104‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

And this is where you come in. You have been gifted with certain abilities. And you are called to share those abilities. Because someone out there needs to hear it from you. Your style. Your way. Imagine the world as described in these opening paragraphs. Just one. Of anything. But God made a variety in order to touch lives, reach every kind of people in every time and place, in every chapter of life. And we have been created to do likewise. To contribute. To someone. You have been equipped to add something to the mix.

This is your call to action. To stop being afraid. To stop hesitating and doubting. And to put the love of God out there in your unique, and yet powered by the Holy Spirit, way. Someone is waiting to be awakened to the marvelous love of God. This is the day…

I’m waiting

 

The morning coffee takes time to brew. Grandma’s soup needs to simmer. Tea needs to steep. And bread dough needs time to rise.

When I write a blog post or devotional, or start creating a notecard design - it all starts with a little piece of something that has crossed my mind. Yet I only see it in part. But if I sit with it, it starts developing and taking shape. It’s in the sitting that it develops. And not by my own efforts. It is God. But I have to make myself present, available, and open to believe God will speak to me in order to receive the riches of the message. 

Writers, artists, and yes, the preacher’s sermon all take time too. They don’t just sit down one day and quickly hammer something out. It always starts with just a piece, a fragment that gets revisited time and time again - allowing God to work and develop His message.

Whether its the soup or the sermon, these things become richer, deeper, more favorful with time. More memorable. More meaningful. Filling your senses. If you really want the fullness of it, you need to commit to it. Mostly time.

And so, what am I leading you to with all this? I am pleading the case of spending true meditative time in God’s Word. Read a few verses until something catches your eye. And pause. Jot down a thought as you reflect on why God would nudge you with that particular phrase or verse. Ask God what does it mean to you personally in this time and place of your life. Why did that certain phrase speak… something caught your attention in that moment. Engage your senses. Visualize. Listen. Let God’s Word simmer. Steep. Rise!

Sit with it like you would your morning coffee. Like your first real sigh upon arriving at the lake. Take it all in. Let it linger. Let it speak to you. The Word of God can give you a similar peaceful, calming, even joyful feeling. You will miss it if you rush through your Bible reading for the sake of saying you read your Bible. But, oh, the wonder and wonderful sensation of having holy God reveal something personally to you if we let Him!

“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.” Isaiah‬ ‭30‬:‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Noteworthy

I have a prayer list. Perhaps you do too. In your head or in a book or tablet. I fervently pray for many needs in and around me. And I certainly rejoice when there is a wonderful outcome. I am so glad to run a line through that request on my list. But then… how quickly it gets forgotten. That prayer that got answered by the intervention of a loving God! And yet I find myself moving on quickly to the next request. I do more asking than rejoicing. How can this be? This pattern of always wanting more (even with our sincerest intentions for the good of another) and so quickly forgetting what has been received. 

It made me think of the evening news. Drama and desperation stories one after another - and then a 30-second piece of good news. Oh, how I hate that format. And I certainly don’t want to present that same thing to my God!

I think I need a start and maintain an answered prayer list. I wonder how that would affect my daily walk if I reviewed that every morning. Start filling my journal books with answered prayers! It makes me excited right now just thinking of the possibilities. What if we thought more about all the answered prayers and watched and waited in anticipation for God to add to that list? 

Safe travels. Thank You, Jesus!

Successful surgery. Yay, God!

Relationship restored. Hallelujah!

When I say, “God is faithful” - does that mean I can expect, anticipate more from Him? God has helped before and God will help again.

Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! For a lifetime, a whole world history that extends beyond time and space - God has been answering prayers left and right. Have you seen it? Experienced it? Recall to memory now…

“May he grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory and raise a victory banner in the name of our God. May the Lord answer all your prayers.” Psalms‬ ‭20‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬