Monday, September 13, 2010

Multitude Monday

there are those days. effortless days when all is well. where I know that Grace is sufficient. where Joy permeates the very atmosphere. where Peace holds me in the palm of His hand. where He is the air i breathe. days of abiding. days of Him alone.

       i long to live there.

other days things seem fuzzy. cares try to smother. sadness lingers. pain is more intense than i remembered. confusion reaches to catch hold of me.

      i know He never changes.

i am reminded that the time in between must grow shorter. from the time i realize i have a disconnect to the time that i return to abide in His presence. time until i stop to listen as He bids me come, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." the time it takes me to remember that apart from Him i can do nothing and so i run to Him.

      by His grace the time in between is growing shorter


Giving thanks this day 365-399

our nine-year-old daughter saying to our seven-year-old son (with authority and a smile in her voice), "boys will be boys"

movies that depart from the 'norm'

men who 'leave father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one
my husband gift, Jimmy
that we two are one

eternal relationships with my forever sisters
women who love Him
who I pray with and for
who pray for and with me
who love me by His grace, with no conditions

sisters and brothers who are also on the journey, living the adventure
who share time and space and eternity with the likes of me

the ones i share life with who do not yet know Him
hopes and prayers
Hope

music, again and again

dreams of how my Father sees me because of His love

a picture of the dance (thank you)
in the ballroom
on the ocean shore
in the heavens, shining like stars

Anna's birthday

safe travel's to Tennessee

the guest room that welcomes me @ my in-law's










the back deck, especially the swing





the fountain that serenades





snails our girl has caught




the bouquet she picked





birds on the feeder 




the hummingbirds



family in the den










the next few days to visit






holy experience

7 comments:

  1. Just dropping by to share in your list. I love the back deck. Looks like a perfect place to rest.
    IN HIM,
    Karen

    ReplyDelete
  2. In the light of Ann's this past week I wondered if this post was ok.
    These are gifts in my life this past week, in this He is glorified.
    My praises do not weaken the truth of all that He is doing there and here.
    May we seek Him. May we live and love to His glory.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, Sister! Love this list. Your vulnerability and trust in Him shines through! Thank you! So enjoyed the pictures of the hummingbirds. Makes me think of us: so small, our wings going so fast we miss them, yet our Creator has made these fragile creatures beautiful. We only see all of them when they rest to get filled.
    Be blessed!
    Kim

    ReplyDelete
  4. Never thought of this "we only see all of them when they rest to get filled." :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful list dear friend. Ann surely gives us much to think about, but what good is it, if you refuse to recognize what you have, what you've been given simply because it seems so much more than what most have. It separates you (and me) from the least of these.... so we are not the least (at least not today).... we still have a part in the equation. And there's the rub. We must play our part.. we must be the 'do unto' people. So we sit on fancy porches.... the real question is, who do we invite to sit with us, who do we feed and water and nurture and care for? How shall we live as 'do unto' people?

    With you, I pray, how do we not end up in a cleverly disguised poverty of our own making?

    Thank You dear LORD.... we will never be worthy, help us to be faithful...

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Holy Spirit is amazing. He is here, there, and everywhere. I have found myself surprised again & again by the 'common thread' that runs in believers lives in Oregon, Florida, Guatemala, Maryland...
    I have been reminded that it is all about Him; of course there is a 'common thread'.
    He is.


    Do the eyes of God see extravagant wealth in Guatemalan shanty towns, these desperate hands clinging to Him like a belt wrapped around the waist, their hands full of the treasure of Him — do the richest live here, and I just can’t see?

    Do the eyes of God see sickening poverty in the manicured burbs of the impoverished self-sufficiency of Atlanta — do we live the lives of lack, so full of ourselves and our stuff that we aren’t ravished for God?
    - Ann Voskamp, 9/14/2010

    With you, I pray, how do we not end up in a cleverly disguised poverty of our own making?
    - Kara

    “God is love. Now experience it.”
    bill board in Guatemala that changed Saul's life

    Pastor Saul:
    “I do all this because he who has been loved much… serves much.”

    Ann Voskamp:
    And in the dark still, I kneel beside my bed and I murmur it aloud, just one word to Him, the word He tells me will change everything, "Thank-you." Here I am in the stance to wash feet, to serve.

    May I continually find that I am kneeling (spiritually as well as physically) so that I am in the stance to wash-feet, to serve.

    I pray with you: Help us, Dear Lord, to be faithful...

    ReplyDelete
  7. HOW i love your heart, friend. (and the fact that you're follower free!) xo

    ReplyDelete