Gratitude Monday

Renewing.... Refreshing.... Convicting.... Fun.... Wild and Crazy.... Restful....

That was my weekend.

Now, a new week begins and I'm going to begin it with giving thanks to Him.

#41-67

Grace... so much given to me that it is a must that I give it out freely and often

A broken heart which allows His spirit to enter in

Songs that reach deep into the core of my heart

Prayer

A God who listens to my prayers

A God who answers my prays

For an answer to prayer that is bringing a little girl home where she belongs

Friends who pray with you

Silence

A long commute to work

My Sunday school class full of loud boys who make me smile every week

Yesterday's sermon and the way God spoke to me... renewing my spirit.... reminding me that He cares and loves me.

His unfailing love

A God who fights the battle so that I don't have to

Monday holidays which allows all of us to stay early into the morning at the Pavatt's

Friends who come to your rescue

A warm summer day, perfect for swimming

Rope swings

A log perfect for sitting on in the creek

Tucking in little ones at bedtime

Leading a 4 and 5 year old in prayer for my baby brother cuz we miss him

Listening to those same 2 girls sing "Love came down"

Their sweet voices telling their Father "I am Yours, forever Yours"

A clean house

A good cup of coffee

Fresh strawberries

His hands holding mine every step of my day

More to my gratitude list

21. text messages
22. teenage girls
23. good friends
24. strawberries
25. listening to Air1 while at work
26. a boss that lets me listen to Air1 while at work
27. Christian rock bands
28. a week of work behind me
29. the potential craft find that is free:)
30. sunglasses
31. a cheap vet bill
32. a very surprisingly cheap electric bill
33. unexpected graduation money
34. random get togethers with my two favorite married couples
35. the look on a 4 year old face when she sees me
36. memories made on a trampoline
37. watching children learn lessons you've been praying that they would learn
38. organic soy peanut butter'
39. watch kris eat her first pb&j sandwich in 8 years
40. God's amazing grace extended to me so that I might extend it to others

He won't leave me alone

Remember this verse from yesterday?

Blessed is the man who listens to Me,

Watching daily at My doors,

Waiting patiently at my doorway.

Proverbs 8:34

It's on my mind... working on my heart... haunting me... convicting me...

He won't leave me alone.

I run.

I hide.

I fight.

I argue.

He's still there. Never goes... it is I that leaves the safety of His arms

Why? Good question. I have no good answer. My flesh is oh so strong and lately it's voice loud. His voice is soft, yet consistent. Always there, whispering the same words over and over.

"I love you. Listen to Me. Wait on Me. Trust Me. I love you, and I have plans for you. Mighty plans. Your mine and I will never leave nor forsake you. Trust Me. Wait on Me."

"Blessed is the man"

I want to be blessed. 

The problem is I want what I want. I forget that His idea of blessings and mine are often very different. The thing is... His blessings are always better. His plans are always bigger then mine. At first they might like crazy... even scary, but in the end I'm always glad that He went His way and not mine.

"Who listens to ME,"

Listen. Ha! That is not a strong point in my life. I'm a talker... a thinker... a fixer... a doer. Listening requires stillness and being quiet. I'm pretty sure that is why I'm getting a lesson in waiting. My Father is trying to teach me how to be still. Everything I want to be... a wife... a mother... a teacher... a devoted Christ-follower. All of these require stillness... listening... patience... 

"Watching daily at my doors,"

Daily... in this verse this one word is what He keeps pointing out. Daily. Daily watch. Daily listen. Daily wait. Each day is a new battle. I may have lost the battle yesterday but today I can win. The war is already won. I know how it ends. I know that He will win... has won. But today I must choose to fight the battle. 

Today I will chose to listen... to watch... to wait... to trust in Him.

"Waiting at my doorway."

In the doorway... not in the back or in the dark. In the doorway! There is a plan for my life. There is a purpose. He knows.... not I. It's not my job to plan my steps... that's His job. My job is to wait in the doorway looking out knowing that there is a path. Knowing that my God has a plan. For now I am to stand here... quietly... listening for His voice... waiting on His timing.

For they that wait....

Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:14

Wait..... sigh..... the one word that I wish He would not say. Yet for some reason, He keeps saying it.... its the same answer every time, for every question. 

Maybe He's trying to teach me something.

Maybe I'm not listening. 

What does it mean to wait? What does it look like? I know what it doesn't look like.

Waiting is not running
Waiting is not an excuse to go a different direction.
Waiting does not mean He has forgotten me.

It simply means to be still and know that He is God.

What does it look like?? 

Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for Him.
Psalm 37:7

My soul waits for the LORD

more than watchmen wait for the morning,

more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Psalm 130:6

Stillness.... Dedication.... Patiently..... Quietly.... Obediently....  and until He says to stop.

Blessed is the man who listens to me,

watching daily at my doors,

waiting at my doorway.

Proverbs 8:34

Listen to ME.... Watch for ME.... Wait for ME.....

Why is it so hard to obey Him?
Why is it so hard to wait?

The reward for waiting is His blessing. What is better then the blessing of my Father? Does He not know better then I? Do I not hear His promises to fulfill the desire of my heart? Do I really think that I know best?

I am desperate to hear His voice.... and then I find this verse.

I wait for You, O LORD;

You will answer, O LORD my GOD.

Psalm 38:15

Sigh.... the answer once again is to wait. 

But... He promises to hear me. He says He will answer me. 

I waited patiently for the LORD;

He turned to me and heard my cry.

Psalm 40:1

I guess my only choice is to sit back and wait. I must stop fighting it. There is no other choice. He has given me no alternative. The answer remains the same. In my prayer time He once again brings back to mind the verse behind this blog.

Yes LORD, 

walking in the way of Your laws, 

I wait for You;

Your name and renown

is the desire of my heart.

Isaiah 26:8

He is the desire of my heart... sadly He often has to remind me. There is nothing this world can offer that satisfies me like He does. So what if I have to wait. At least I am in His arms.  I know that He loves me. I know that He does have plans for my life, and that alone is enough. I don't have to know or understand what they are. I have to trust that He knows best. He will let me know when He is ready... when I am ready. 

For now... I will wait on Him.

The pressure makes us stronger
The struggle makes us hunger
The hard lessons make the difference
And the difference makes it worth it

So we sing a lullaby
To the lonely hearts tonight
Let it set Your heart on fire
Let it set You free
When you're fighting to believe
in a love that you can't see
Just know there is a purpose
For those who wait

Fireflight

Gratitude Community

In order to find the "skittles" in life I have joined A Holy Experience's Gratitude Community (check out the link in the right hand column). The goal is to make a list of a thousand gifts, not gifts I want, but gifts that I have.

1. Grace
2. Forgiveness
3. A job that allows me to blog :-)
4. Sunshine
5. Family
6. Friends
7. Friends that have become family
8. A chance to restore an old friendship
9. SportCenter (because I LOVE staying caught up with football news)
10. A Co-worker who always has SportCenter on during the day
11. Football and the fun fellowship it provides
12. and the way yelling and screaming during a game builds stress and relieves stress all at the same time... not sure how that works :-)
13. A good book
14. A degree finished
15. The sound of a C-130 overhead that brings back soooo many childhood memories
16. The job C-130's provided for my dad so that he could raise us kids the way he wanted to
17. A military that fights so that I might have freedom
18. A brother who is carrying on the family tradition of serving this wonderful country
19. Only three more weeks till I get to hug my "baby" brother!!!
20. The love of my Father who promises to never ever leave me

His glory unnoticed

Who among the gods is like you, O LORD?

Who is like you-

MAJESTIC in HOLINESS,

AWESOME in GLORY,

WORKING WONDERS?

Exodus 15:11

As I was driving though town today running some errands for my boss I saw a yellow car and a smile broke out on my face. Familiar with the game "skittle?" I wasn't until just recently. The Pavatt kids taught it to me. It's real easy... when you see a yellow car just shout "skittle!" I play it often when I'm in the car with them. Sunday I was with another group of kids playing the same game, and so today when I was driving I saw a yellow car and smiled... I shouted "skittle!" 

Even though no one heard me. 

Then I heard His voice.

How often do I look for the "skittles" throughout my day?

Those things that stand out and scream loudly His glory?

They're everywhere... If I take the time to notice them.

The Bible states that every man is without excuse... we all are given the chance to know Him. His glory is revealed all around us.

We are all without excuse.

I am without excuse. 

 Do I take notice of the way He decorates His world?

Do I notice even the littlest detail... like the way a flower is so perfectly knitted together by the same hands that knit me together.

 

Am I thankful for those small details that I love so much?

Do I take time to give Him credit... or do I think that He already knows?

He does... but He loves to hear me say thanks. He loves to hear me give Him the glory. He loves to hear me praise Him because He loves me. His relationship with me is important to Him.

He longs to hears my voice.... and in return I will hear His.

Men cannot open their eyes without being compelled to see Him. Indeed His essence is incomprehensible... But upon His individual works He has engraved unmistakable marks of His glory, so clear and so prominent that even unlettered... folk cannot plead the excuse of ignorance... Wherever you cast your eyes, there is no spot in the universe wherein you cannot discern at least some sparks of glory."

~John Calvin

He is impossible to miss.

The Heavens declare the GLORY of GOD;

the skies proclaim the WORK of HIS hands.

Psalm 19:1

How can you not see Him?
Does one really believe that all this beauty just happened?

So what about you?


What about me?


Do you notice Him.... do I notice Him?


How about this one? 

Do you... do I.... take TIME to notice Him?

Do I really give Him the glory that is due to Him?

If you.... If I.... am not seeking Him, than what am I... you... seeking? 

You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

He is my bright in dark

It's another rainy day in May.

I know some people cannot stand days like this... it makes them gloomy, and depressed.

Not me

It makes me smile

I love the sound of rain hitting the cars out on the lot.
The way it falls from the sky.
Lightening shooting across the sky... a reminder of the Mighty God I serve.

The past few weeks have been dark. Not the rainy, stormy type of dark that I have grown to love. It's that type of darkness, pitch black, that swallows you whole. That seeks to strangle the life right out of you. This darkness is full of lies, unfulfilled expectations, and loneliness. The type of darkness that has no light at all.

Darkness cannot linger when there is light.

I know the reason for this darkness. Yet it seems so hard to step out of.
I know what must take place to step out... but that first step is painful.

This battle of trusting in the Lord is relentless. It seems that as of late... the dark side has been winning. Today as I look out across the sky I am reminded of my Savior. The one who sends in the rain to make things new. Oh how I need the rain to come. I needed this visual of what God will do in my life... if only I will let Him.

I want to move... I want to make plans... I want... I want.... I want....

And all I get is.... wait.

I don't like this answer... and then I read this quote:

“But it is precisely when we do not have what we would ask for, and only then, that we can clearly perceive His all-sufficiency. It is when the sea is moonless that the Lord has become my Light.”- Elizabeth Elliot

It is in that complete and all-consuming darkness that He must become my light. 

I will CHOSE to see His light.
I will LIFT up my eyes to Him.

I lift my eyes to the hills

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip

He who watches over you will not slumber.

Psalm 121

  I will pray for the rain to come 

Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime;

it is the LORD who makes the storm clouds.

He gives showers of rain to men,

and plants of the field to everyone.

Zechariah 10:1

I will allow it to change me... to heal me.... to grow me closer to Him.

Only He can send it.

He will send it....

But will I receive it?

He covers the sky with clouds;

He supplies the earth with rain

and makes grass grow on the hills.

Psalm 147:8

I am looking forward to the rain. For I know that once the storm clouds roll through, the sun sill shine like never before. Everything looks, smells, feels, different and clean after the storm. He is that light. He is that cleansing spirit that renews my soul. He is the brightness in my life.

He is like the light at sunrise

on a cloudless morning,

like the brightness after rain

that brings grass form the earth.

2 Samuel 23:4