Rushing the Blessing

I’ve done it again – brought the fall decorations down from the rafters, lit the scented candles and spent the afternoon bringing warmth to my home to the backdrop of Mozart and Handel…and it’s still August! Actually, it’s the only season in which I can truly justify the rich, warm colors I’ve chosen for year-round decor. Colors that lend themselves well to rich coffee and the glow of a fireplace on those chilly Autumn nights.

It seems I always want to jump ahead to the next season, hurry toward the next blessing; usher it in quickly to enjoy it sooner…only to sometimes overlook the one I’m given. Much like the seasons, blessings are handed down one at a time, according to the Lord’s time frame – not ours.

In the meantime, just as summer breathes her last and autumn tosses her leaves to the wind, we’re to hold tight, stand firm and consider the blessings to be revealed in the new season, rather than the chaff of hopes perhaps now spent and dormant …much like the clutter of leaves across the path.

When we’ve made the decision, from the inside out, to follow Jesus and His perfect will for our lives, we don’t just follow Him through the “good” seasons when we walk the roads smooth and free of pot holes. His Word says he will never leave us nor forsake us (Joshua 1:5), so how could I, in selfish defiance, turn my heart away from all He is and all He’s done simply because I think He’s not handing out the blessings fast enough?

It’s a maturity of faith and a deep trust in the Lord’s plan that keep our knees and our will happily bent to His.

Lord Jesus,

Help me to continue to grow my faith and to trust in You always. Help me to keep a pure heart and sincere desire to follow Your ways throughout every season of life. It’s in your name I pray. Amen.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust."

(Psalm 91:1-2) NIV

When You Pray...Believe!

An early-morning mist hovers cool and damp just above the fence line and I settle on the back patio…steam swirling from my coffee cup.

I come with a thankful heart for prayers answered - and for the ones still needing a few more stitches here and there until they fit just right.

My praise of Him births a new joy as I consider Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” And I have to ask myself:

Where do I pray from?

A spirit of victory or a heart of defeat?

Do I pray like I know Him? Is there trust behind the words and not just empty requests made of one who expects disappointment?

My heart races and joy sets me on my feet and I’m smiling inside because with my God, I can pray AND believe! I can praise Him WHILE I’m praying because He’s already granted me the peace that surpasses ALL understanding and he’s to be glorified either way! I can praise Him BEFORE the blessing because He IS the blessing!

Praise God!

“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

(1 Peter 3:12) NIV

Joy Comes With the Morning

I awoke early this morning in prayer, thinking of the day ahead and of all the quiet prayers of others; those quietly seeking…quietly desperate.

I wondered about all the requests made of the Father when we’re backed against the wall, down on our knees, or down in our spirit. And how He addresses each and every one. How we’re never really alone. He hears the prayers of those who seek comfort. Those who seek answers, healing, peace and grace.

Those who seek Him.

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

(Psalm 30:5) NLT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olzgYeMBlUY&feature=related

Behind the Blessing

Life is all about the choices, the decisions we make

AND our attitude in dealing with the consequences

or blessings of them.

She’s already in the vegetable garden when the rooster crows, out watering the yard or starting something on the stove. She rises with praise on her lips and her mind already thinking through the day stretched out before her; who could use a blessing today? Who could use a friend? A hug, a listening ear…a home-cooked meal? Always with an eye to the practical needs of others rather than herself.

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

(Phil. 2:1-4) NIV

She’s known dark days; times when she’s gone to her knees watering the garden with her tears, times of crying out to God when the pain and discouragement grip tight around her heart.

Yet, through it all, she’s held on to the hope, the promise of God’s Word – held on to truth and held on tight. She’s stood through the winds of uncertainty and challenge, loved through the storm of it all and remained firm in faith living out the attitude of her heart and sharing it with those around her. What blessings are those who are intent on blessing others despite their circumstances.

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”

(Galatians 6:7) NIV

First Light

The garden called me out early this morning to the first light captured and held on flower faces. I caught them peeking heads up over the fence and inviting me in for the show.

I hurried over to see, to appreciate them in their purist form with rich, vibrant colors all dressed fresh and new because life blooming in its early stages, just like new-found faith, has to be nurtured and tended on a daily basis if it is to keep giving back. Sure as rain the weeds will come. Colors will fade and the soil will dry.

It's easy to see the beauty in the new and vibrant, when everything looks like a heart newly surrendered; like a new relationship with God in the beginning stages. But both require on-going attention - not a simple one-time "watering of the garden" only to leave it to thrive on its own.

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk,

so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

(1 Peter 2:2-3) NIV

"Perfect"

I knew what it was when I saw it lying there beneath the rose bush. Beneath “Lucky’s” rose; the one we planted in his memory because it seems roses live longer than our dearest four-legged friends.

I picked it up. The wood all splintered and faded from the sun, and me with a tear and breath stilled as something so simple took me back a hundred summers, or so it seemed. I remember the day he painted it. How he worked so hard to get the lettering just right, and the colors to match the garden.

“Don’t look yet, Mom,” he spoke through a toothless smile and the tiny pair of glasses forever crooked on his young face.

I remember when it was finished and how his “Mom’s Garden” sign hung for years through rain and sun officially defining my little space…our special little space where it was ok to pluck seed heads, to clip spent blooms or gather small bouquets…to learn and explore and to grow the blessing of a mother-and-child bond right along with the flowers.

Elements have washed away the colors now, erased the little-boy lettering and the flower in pink with the green stem and the sun up in the corner. Yet the gift remains “perfect” in the splintered wood…I still see it. The sentiment and hard work of small hands streaked with garden soil.

Sometimes we strive toward a clouded image in our quest for “perfect” when there’s so much beauty in imperfection because that’s when God does his best work; lifting us out of the muck and mire. He cleans us up, wipes away our past and shines up our future until we’re a new creation…”perfect” in his eyes…perfectly his.

We live with the imperfect every day; our chipped paint, that mess in the corner, the clutter of our busy lives, yet the blessing is in the living. God bless the laughter and the memories and the moments unplanned…the beauty in the imperfect.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

(1 John 4:18) ESV

"Commit your way to the Lord..."

I battled a few dark clouds yesterday…..and won.

The Lord brought me to a quiet place just as the last rays of summer bronze melted down the black-eyed Susan vine. Just as the hum of a day spent in the shadows dissolved with the setting sun and flower heads in the garden turned down for the night.

That’s when I found my spot among the pillows on the couch with Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost for His Highest” open and full of hope and promise across my lap. The words – I read them twice – they jumped from the page and into my heart and I knew it was of the Lord; His comfort and His answer yet again just when I needed it most. Me useless and wavering and Him faithful once again. After a day of lifting weak arms; whispering, muttering breath prayers constant, without ceasing, He offered these words:

“As long as you think you are of value to Him He cannot choose you because you have purposes of your own to serve. But if you allow him to take you to the end of your own self sufficiency, then he can choose you to go with him [to Jerusalem] and that will mean the fulfillment of purposes which he does not discuss with you.” (See Luke 18:31)

Hallelujah, the struggle isn’t mine…or yours! I often lose site of the goal when I’m stuck in the process. It’s the details, the why, when and where that bog me down…consume me when all I need to do is trust and obey, to clear the fog brought on by my own doing – not His.

“Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.” (Psalm 37:5-6) NIV