Spiritual Belt

I have a confession to make . . . I lose weight, then gain it back. Lose it again and gain it back again. I have a belt to prove it.

The belt has not one, but three notches that are well worn. Sometimes I come very close to throwing the belt away, but hold on to it because it's one of my favorites. When I am at my last notch I realize how close I am to losing the belt for good. When I am smaller and three notches into the belt, I smile as I remember I am not where I used to be  . . . larger.

If I had a spiritual belt, I wonder what it would look like? It think it would look the same as the belt I wear. Sometimes I am lazy, sluggish, and distracted. It is at these times I began to realize that I am getting near to losing something very special -- a close relationship with my Heavenly Father. When I am lean, focused and dedicated, I look at the last notch and realize I'm not where I used to be.

As the holiday season continues to march into my life to the tune of the March of the Toy Soldiers from The Nutcracker, I find myself looking at menus, marking the calendar with Christmas parties, and planning time in the kitchen to bake. I have to be very careful not to allow myself to get to the last notch of my belt, less I have to put it aside. The same with my spiritual belt, with the holidays, I don't need to get wrapped in food, fun, and parties but need to remember what the holiday season really means.

This year I am pulling my belt tighter -- "Only one piece of pie please. Yes, the small one will do" -- and spending quiet moments reflecting, praying, and thanking God for His love and most of all His gift to us, His Son Jesus.

What would your spiritual belt look like?

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Lessons from my Garden

I thought she was dying. Her leaves were turning yellow and dropping and the showy white flowers that once adorned her with beauty were thinning in the hot summer sun. Try as I did to supply her with food and water, she wasn't fairing well. I had heard she was one of the toughest in her category and had decided to give her a try in containers on my deck.  As a person who pulls for the underdog I didn't want to give up on my "Snow Princess" Alyssum when she stopped producing the snowing white flowers.  With all the talk about heat tolerance, beauty, and long lasting color from spring to fall, I had to give her every opportunity to live up to the billing.

Summer moved into fall, the hot temperatures gave way to cooler temps and I began to see a difference in my plant. Her leaves greened up and once again she was covered with snowy white blooms that gave her the descriptive name she carried. By October my "Snow Princess" was as beautiful as she was in the spring. I was so thankful that I didn't give up on her. . . she became the delight of my fall garden.

My name isn't "Snow Princess" and I don't grace a deck with lovely white flowers, but I do find myself going through hot, dry spells in which I don't feel like I am being productive or living up to my billing -- that God loves me, has a plan for me, and delights in me. The Holy Spirit faithfully continues to feed and water me through the drought times until once again I bloom and flower like God created me to do. I am so glad that He pulls for underdogs and never gives up on me. But most of all I take extreme joy in knowing I'm the delight of His garden. 

 

Pumpkin Patch Photos

"I'll go with you, but I'm not going to get my picture taken this time." 

Year after year we we would take a family trip to the mountains to get apples, mountain cabbage and homemade jellies. The highlight of the trip was going to the pumpkin patch to pick out the pumpkin that would grace our front porch. I too wanted a pumpkin, but the real reason I planned this little excursion was to get some cute pictures of  my daughter. With camera in hand I would coax my daughter into the  middle of the pumpkins for a photo shoot. When she was small, it wasn't too difficult because she would gladly get in the middle of the patch searching for the perfect pumpkin. As she got older, it was more difficult and then came the year she was a freshman in college when she adamantly said, "I'll go with you, but I am not going to get my picture taken this time." As always, I made sure she did.

I loved going back over the years to see how much she had grown and changed. The bangs and pony-tail gave way to a more teenage look of long hair with no bangs. The braces came and went, and the glasses that were so adorable on her as a child disappeared soon after the braces. Each year was a noticeable change in the the appearance of my daughter as she grew into a lovely young woman.

I have often thought what changes God would see if He took a yearly picture of me -- same time, same place. Would He see a spiritual growth in me? Would I be growing in grace and knowledge, obedience and trust? Or would I try to get out of my spiritual evaluation by telling Him, "I'll go with you, but I'm not going to get my picture taken this time."

I want to go with Him and allow Him to search my heart and check my spiritual growth chart. But more than anything, I want Him to take my picture and be able to say "She's looking more and more like her Abba, Daddy every day."

Lord, thank you that You want me to go with You, spend time with You, and let You search my heart. I don't want to stay like I am, but I want to be more like You. So much like You that when others see me, they will see a reflection of You, my Father. 

Tetherball anyone?

The saying goes "When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on!" Obviously a person must have some sort of control of their situation if they can tie a knot and then hang on. But what if you are a ball attached to the end of the rope, tethered to a pole with no control of your situation at all?

Oh, I wish I could have tied a knot and held on these past couple of weeks. One minute I was peacefully hanging at the end of a rope swaying to the rhythm of life when all the sudden I was hit with a force that sent me flying in circles through the air.

At first I wished I hadn't been tethered at all. That way, the force of the punch could have sent me sailing through the air to an unknown destination leaving the circumstances of the punch well out of sight. It would have been much easier to bear the pain and assess the damage. 

No chance . . . I was tethered -- while circling at such speed I didn't even see the pole until I felt the pain of impact and the tight grip of the cord. Tie a knot and hold on, why I couldn't even move as the situation unfolded around me. Why couldn't I have just flown through the air and away from the pain? Why did I have to be tethered?

Why? Because I am tethered! I am tethered to Jesus Christ . . . the One who will "Never leave me nor forsake me." As I felt the pain and helplessness of the situation, I began to feel the tightness of the wrapped cord as an embrace that kept me stable. As the race of my heart begin to decrease, I realized the pole in which I was I tethered was my anchor. Seriously, where would I have landed if I hadn't been attached to my anchor? What arms would have been there to embrace me through the pain?

Today, by the glory and grace of God I am being unwound at a slow gentle pace as the hurts and disappointments are washed away by the wind of God's Spirit. Soon I will once again be swaying to the rhythms of life THANKFUL that I am tethered to my Saviour and Lord.

And the next time I am hit with life's painful circumstances, . . . I will count it all joy. Because once again I will "wind up" face to face with the ONE who is my tether.

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Cobwebs

 "Let's take a good look at the way we're living and reorder our lives under God" (Lam. 3:40 - The Message).

Milestone birthdays need to be celebrated and we had two in one family. My brother was turning 50 and his wife, whose birthday was on the same day, was turning 40. Two birthdays that deserved a party.

I had offered my home for our family to meet and celebrate but there was so much that needed to be done to my neglected house. So the work began -- dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, cleaning bathrooms, rearranging the deck. Then the party plans --  pizza was on the menu but we still needed balloons, cakes, candles (lots of candles), and confetti.

The day after the party I was resting in my favorite recliner when I looked up and saw them. Cobwebs. They were gracefully woven between the corner and a beam in my den ceiling. I thought I had cleaned my house. How did I miss those? How? -- I never took the time to look up. It was only in my resting that I looked up and saw the evidence of a neglected place in my home.

It is the same way with our "spiritual homes." How many times do we stay so busy that we have our heads down taking care of what we think is important. In doing this we never take time to rest. Not just a physical rest, but a resting that takes place in our hearts as we spend time with the Lord. It is during these times that He can show us the places in our lives that need attention and cleaning. The cobwebs could be a bad habit, an attitude, an unhealthy mindset, or unforgiveness. If we always have our heads down and never rest and look up, we will miss those places that need attention.

Take time this weekend and next week to rest in the Lord. Take a good look at the way you are living and let God help you not only clean out the "cobwebs" but reorder your life.

Bookends

"And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart." (Ecc. 4:12 NASB).

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We have a tendency to think we have to face life all by ourselves. Peter tells us our adversary, the devil, "prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (I Peter. 5:8). If we are trying to face life alone -- without help, encouragement, or someone to talk to -- then we are setting ourselves up for the enemy to devour us. He is on the prowl looking for prey and this makes us an easy target.

He is a subtle enemy. One of the ways he works is by using the power of suggestion -- planting a negative thought in our mind or a lie -- and then he just lets us run with it. Another way he works is by taking our joy away. Also, he loves to plan the ever popular event called the pity-party. He will provide the cake, balloons and the confetti if we let him and he will even remove all clocks in sight so we will stay for a long time in our misery. Yes, he is waiting.

But, if we surround ourselves with others who will encourage us, friends who can and will shed the light of truth on the lies we have believed, and pray for us, the enemy won't be able to hold us in his grasp.

In this new season of ministry God is calling my family and me, I have allowed myself to roam around alone for a little while and the enemy has quickly come upon me with lies, suggestions, and has been able to take my joy away. I hadn't accepted the invitation to the pity-party yet, but I was getting close to the door. Not realizing at the time, I reached out to two dear friends who I know support me and love me and they have become my bookends.  Both of them in their own way helped me to see what God has been doing in my life, the blessings He has so richly given me, and the future He has for me. They have helped me see and embrace truths not lies from the enemy. Yes, my bookends, one on each side of me, the combination of the three making "a cord of three strands."

Today I put the enemy on notice by saying "I am NOT alone and you CANNOT overpower me, for two can resist you, but a cord of three strands IS NOT quickly torn apart . . . I now have my bookends!!!"

Are you walking this journey called life alone? Are the voices and the lies of the enemy taking away your joy? Well . . . go get your bookends! These will be your sturdy friends who will hold you up as you add chapter after chapter to your book of life. You don't want to live without them!

Surprised Freedom

". . . to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness" (Isa. 42:7 NIV).

I am lost. As I write this I am without my constant companion - my cell phone. So far I have thought about checking with a friend about possibly meeting for lunch, thought about later checking an earlier message I had saved from my daughter's dentist with the phone number for the oral surgeon I need to call today and make an appointment, and thought about how many messages I have waiting on me. All this during the first 15 minutes of my 30 minute drive to work.

I also need the phone number or email address for my brother so can wish him "Happy Birthday," both which are in my phone, and I need a way for the groomer to contact me and let me know when Maggie, my Shih Tzu, is ready to leave the "doggie day spa." I'm beginning to wonder what I did without this small piece of equipment that has so intricately woven itself into my life.

Fast-forward three hours . . . it sure is quite and peaceful. No "pings" to tell me I have a text message, no little red light blinking to notify me of a message, no temptation to pick up my phone and check my email messages or get on Facebook. Matter of fact, this is quite freeing. No one calling me, no one texting me, no thoughts in the back of my mind to check my phone . . . maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all.

Now that I think about it, this is the same way I feel when I finally let go of something I'm struggling with after I give it to God. At first I'm lost because the thing I so badly want to be released from has been my constant companion. At first I miss it and want it near me, like a security blanket. Take worrying for instance, I finally give my concerns about a situation over to the Lord during my prayer time in the morning, but during the first 15 minutes of my 30-minute drive to work I'm already worrying. I go through the reasoning of my concerns until I remember I've already let it go. It's not there, for God has taken it from me just as I asked him to do in prayer.

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Even when it is bad for us, we get so used to something being with us - worry, concern, fear, insecurity, a bad habit - that we miss it when it is gone. When we finally realize that it's truly gone, we begin to feel the freedom the Lord wants us to have in our daily lives. Isaiah told us Jesus would come to "to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness" (Isa. 42:7 NIV).

Fast-forward . . . it sure is quite and peaceful. No "pings" to tell me I need to worry, no little red blinking light in my heart to notify me that I need to be concerned, no temptation to examine the situation again. Matter of fact, it's quite freeing. So freeing I want to call and tell something how great this feels.

Opps. . . no cell phone.