Waiting Out Every. Necessary. Step.

The swift change in temperature took me by surprise today and I welcomed the swirling leaves at my feet and the whisper of autumn across my face.

The quiet afternoon called for home-made bread.

Maybe enjoy a cup of coffee while the dough rises, I thought.

Maybe spend a few minutes in prayer for those heavy on my heart today and give praise to God when He directs me to the absolute perfect scripture….like He always does.

There’s a lot to be learned from making bread.

The perfect combination of ingredients sending up little drifts of flour. Steady hands working, kneading, preparing.

Each step is necessary.

Each step takes time.

Precious time.

And the waiting is difficult…but well worth it.

Lord Jesus,

Help me to be patient and to remember that as I wait upon You, You’re gathering all the necessary “ingredients” together and working them, molding and shaping them to perfection. You know me like no other, and even though I want to speed up the process or somehow “help” You to bring about the blessing sooner, it’s ALL in Your hands…..not mine.

I’m learning to be thankful for the waiting. For each necessary step. Each one takes time. Precious time. And yes, the waiting is difficult. And regardless of the outcome… in the end, I will praise You.

Amen.

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.

Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
    when they carry out their wicked schemes. (Psalm 37) NIV

Be Blessed,

Debbie

What Will You Own Today?

We don’t have to look far to find things that complicate our day.

A restless night of sleep disturbed with constant nightmares can set our whole morning off track; like little fingers jabbing at the center of our joy.

Those few tense days awaiting that call from the doctor with your test results; how the “future” dangles by the phone lines.

Deadlines, pressures and that pile of bills awaiting your attention and how the numbers in your checking account just don’t add up.

All the things to be figured out and tough decisions to be made. How they tug at your time and your energy.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

We can attach ourselves to hope today….or to fear.

We can attach our peace to faith in God or give in to uncertainty created by the one who smiles on our defeat and laughs at our nightmares.

It’s a choice, really. What we “own”.

We’re free to either choose the Word of God and His promises to us or we can be a slave to the evil one.

Faith doesn’t come alive – I mean truly come alive until it’s lived out!

Wouldn’t you agree that what we own deep down in our spirit is what we will offer the world today?

1 Corinthians 10:31 
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (ESV)

1 Corinthians 6:20 
“you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (NIV)

Living in Fear or Living Free

I learned recently that the reason a dog doesn't like going outside when it’s raining is not because he fears getting wet, but because the sound of the rain distorts all the other sounds he’s normally attuned to. When he goes outside, he expects to hear the birds, the barking poodle next door or children playing and laughing down the way. But the sound of rain sort of throws him a curve ball and he’s unsure.

Don’t we all react in a similar way when we’re tossed into a situation unfamiliar to us?

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those

who seek him.

(Hebrews 11:6)

But if we don’t step into the rain, we miss out on the experience and the chance to be blessed or to be a blessing to others.

If we watch from our safe, cozy spot inside always wondering, always second-guessing ourselves right out of every opportunity…oh, the endless excuses….our hearts will never know the freedom of stepping through the door.

It’s fear that keeps us watching from that safe place.

Fear of “What if?”

Fear of rejection and scorn: time, money and effort lost.

The breaking down of what has yet to be built.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

(Colossians 3:23)

Which is bigger; your fear or your faith?

I want to encourage you today to step out in the rain. Yes, you will get wet. Might be a little uncomfortable. You might even slip and fall….but you will appreciate the rainbow a little more once the rain has stopped and you’re left with the blessing of fresh, new growth.

Be blessed today and always, friends

And may you have faith to step out in the rain.

Debbie

I Cast All My Cares Upon You

Well, I did it. I bubbled over with stress and did that embarrassing sobbing-face-in-the-hands thing in front of my husband. Sometimes, it helps to pop the release valve just ever so slightly and let some of the steam escape from my emotional self…ugly as that may be.

It’s rather embarrassing when my inner 4-year-old emerges unexpectedly. Do we ever outgrow tantrums???

And then these words….merely words if we don’t put them into practice.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

(Isaiah 26:4)

Be blessed today and always,

Debbie

Blessings on the Wind

Can you hear that?

It’s blessings on the wind.

In the rustling of the leaves; they shimmer crimson in fall sunlight.

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Can you feel that?

It’s the sweet, cool breath of the Holy One.

He whispers your name and calls in your dreams.

He’s moving in a mighty and powerful way.

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The blessings…they’re there. Just around the next bend, from high up they descend gaining speed and land at precisely the right moment. His moment.

If we only believe.

“The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them…”

(Deut. 28:12-14)

Unravel Me, Lord

There isn’t a single hose at our house that doesn't spit water from somewhere other than where it should! I kinda dread going out to water the garden or fill my pond when it gets low.

The hoses kink and knot up and create pressure until the water has nowhere else to go but to burst through tiny holes or spew from the nozzle! Uggh!

Of course, you know where I’m going with this, right???

Yep, sometimes, I am that hose!

I allow myself to become so wadded up and bound up tight with pressure and stress and emotion until finally…I erupt! Usually with tears (just like those tiny holes in the hose) and usually all over my unsuspecting family! (Sorry, guys).

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

Funny thing about those kinked up hoses, and many gardeners know this to be true: the fastest and surest way to relax a hose and make it pliable is to lay it out in the sun.

How ironic that the same would apply to you and me.

When we lay ourselves out before the Son, knotted up, tensed up and on edge, the stress, the tension, the raw emotions and the hurt simply fade away. Just like we use that garden hose to “spread the blessing” of water, wonderful life-giving water, the enemy will try to stop the flow of those blessings by creating little “knots” in our lives. He wants you to be that kinked-up hose that can’t bless and can’t give thanks. He delights when the pressures of your life cause the tears to flow and the blessings stop coming.

But sweet friend…don’t give in to him. Remember to lay yourself out before the Lord, regardless of the condition of your heart. If we want to be pliable and give ourselves over to God’s use, we have to bring it all before Him, poured out and receptive to His will asking simply…unravel me, Lord.

Many Blessings,

Debbie

Who’s Behind Your Dream? (remix)

Laundry doesn’t fold itself.

What a wonderful and hidden blessing found in those quiet moments of smoothing out lines and wrinkles of the day. It seems my deepest, heaviest thinking takes place over stacks of fluffy bath towels, the jeans and dress shirts of my hard-working husband.

Even when I’m feeling a bit unraveled, I can fold things into neat and tidy stacks and feel some sense of accomplishment, though I’m still rushing to be and do all that the day demands.

There was a time when I couldn’t see beyond the tall piles of laundry. Couldn’t see beyond the walls that enclosed my mind and my spirit. I couldn’t see past the frustrated, depressed, “you’re-not-good-enough” mess that I was; beyond my failed attempts or the unclean, untidy, undone and unfinished….into God’s real plan.

I assumed my plan was His plan, so I headed strong and fast into each new dream with wheels spinning in the mud and going nowhere fast.

Back then, the only voice I heard was my own. Sadly, all others were distant and less important.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing

through the word of Christ.

(Romans 10:17) ESV

I push the stack of towels aside and rummage around for the matching socks. I join them, one with the other, and realize the simple reality; the lesson in the moment:

A dream powered by our own will

will be an uphill climb and reap little benefit

but a dream powered by prayer and unwavering faith in God

will reap blessings of God-sized proportions.

Who’s behind your dreams today?

Who’s behind your thoughts and your actions?

Who’s behind…you?

I’m so glad laundry doesn’t fold itself.

Be blessed today!

Debbie