God will wait until I return...

This morning I found myself pacing the house. 

I have a dizzying amount of things on my to do list – laundry, cleaning, getting dinner for tonight started, writing a blog post, running countless errands…& on it goes…

I actually made myself dizzy while talking to someone on the phone. I couldn’t stop long enough to have a very important conversation because I knew that would put me further behind. When I hung up the phone I needed to sit down to collect my thoughts about what to do next.

It was then, as I sat still long enough to take a deep breath, that God tapped on my heart & said “Come sit with me for a little bit. Let me interrupt your going in circles so that I may calm your spirit & speak to your soul.”

I walked to my bedroom, grabbed my bible, pen & Sunday School book and sat down to have my quiet time. I opened to Day One of Jonah Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer.

“A life interrupted by a holy God is a privilege.”

Priscilla Shirer

Wouldn’t you know it; God had just interrupted me!

He wanted to meet with me, one on one…in the quiet of my house. He wanted to speak peace into my very being!

I had begun my day focused on my to do list which left me reeling in the rush of it all.

As I read how the Lord interrupted Gideon in Judges 6:11-27 verses 17 & 18 jumped out at me.

“Gideon replied, ‘If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.’ And the Lord said, ‘I will wait until you return.’”

Judges 6:17-18

Did you catch that? “The Lord said, ‘I will wait until you return.’”

And that is what He did for me. He quietly tapped on my heart & said, “come sit with me, I will wait for you to return.”

Instead of being focused on all that I needed to do today I needed to focus on the One who brings peace to my spirit the One who will ordain & lay out my day before me.

Do you need to stop frantically running around and sit quietly with God? He is waiting for you to stop and sit at His feet.

In His Calm,

Mary

Thankful Thursday ~ God's Masterpiece...

“For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.”

Psalm 139:9

My little friends are back. They show up about this time every year & keep me company each morning while I sit having my quiet time. As I sit in the quiet of the morning drinking my coffee, they sit on branches singing their good morning song in the cedar trees just outside my window.

For the next few weeks I will watch them slowly build their nests. They will quietly bring a small piece of yarn, small blade of grass or pine needle and weave it into a nest strong enough and big enough to hold tiny eggs.

As I sit and watch them quietly & slowly work the pieces they find on the ground into a masterpiece of strength & security I am reminded how God works the fragments & pieces of my life into a masterpiece of strength & security with his hands.

I so often want to rush ahead & do things my way. I don’t want to wait on him to take each piece of my life and weave it into the plan that He has for me.

These days I am frustrated & ready to do something … anything to move to the next thing God has for me.

But, instead of jumping full steam ahead, I am taking a deep breath, listening to His Still Small Voice and allowing His Hands to create the foundation of His Plan for my life.

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I put my hope.

My soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen wait for the morning,

more than watchmen wait for the morning.”

Psalm 130:5-6

Continuing to Count the Joy Dare #1066 - #1073

·      birds singing outside my window

·      bright morning sunshine

·      prayers being answered even when I don’t take the time to see it

·      getting the kids to school on time

·      God preparing me for changes I once dreaded

·      trusting God to be with a friend

·      trusting God to show me His Path

·      a burning desire to jump out ahead of God but listening to the Still Small Voice of God that says wait on me

In His Calm,

Mary

Thankful Thursday ~ the gift of prayer

“As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you…” 1 Samuel 13:23a

Flowers, cards, gifts, love notes, chocolates, date night all tell us it’s Valentine’s Day. How do you and your husband celebrate Valentine’s Day, or, do you celebrate Valentines’ Day?

At the very beginning of our relationship my husband & I agreed we wouldn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. It’s not that we don’t celebrate our love for each other b/c we do many times throughout the year. It’s just that when we were poor college kids we didn’t have the money to get caught up in the expense of celebrating Valentine’s Day. Now, 19 years later we are still very aware of the expense that many people put into Valentine’s Day but we choose a different way to celebrate our love for each other.

One of the ways I celebrate my love for my husband is to pray for him. A few years ago as I read through the book The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian I wrote a series on Praying for our Husbands.

Praying for our Husbands - As Spiritual Leader

Praying for our Husbands - His Responsibilities

Praying for our Husbands - Intimacy & Affection

 

When I pray for my husband I give him one of the best gifts I can ever give him. Each day he faces challenges. When I pray for him I help give him the strength he needs to face those challenges.

Do you pray for your husband daily? Would you take some time tonight over dinner or after the kids have gone to bed and ask him how you can pray for him? You will be amazed how much your prayers will mean to him.

As I concluded my series on praying for our husbands my husband Jeff shared what it meant to have me praying for him. You can read his perspective here.

Are you unable to ask your husband how you can pray for him? Stormie Omartian’s book The Power of a Praying Wife is a great resource.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

·      Thank God for the ways your husband blesses you.

·      Ask God to give him the strength to make the right decisions.

·      Ask God to guard his heart & mind from the temptations he faces everyday.

·      Ask God to strengthen him to follow the path God has laid before him.

·      If he is an unbeliever pray that he will open his heart to God’s Saving Grace.

As you pray for your husband pray also that you will be the Godly wife God has called you to be. Seek His will & direction for your marriage.

Is there a way I can pray for you? I would be honored to pray for you and your marriage. Leave me a message telling me how I can pray for you.

Continuing the Joy Dare #1060 - #1065:

·      Another year celebrating the life of my husband

·      A life that is lived 100% to honor & glorify God

·      A Man after God’s Own Heart

·      A faithful husband

·      A father who loves his children & desires to raise them according to God’s Will

·      A loyal Friend

Taking the Joy Dare of counting 1000 gifts with Ann at A Holy Experience 

In His Calm,

Mary

Refocus ~ Sanctuary

-->

“Lord, prepare me to be a Sanctuary, Pure & Holy, Tried & True. And with Thanksgiving, I’ll be a living Sanctuary for you.”

Over the years the name for the place of worship in a Church has changed from Sanctuary to Worship Center. I haven’t embraced that change easily. In my mind a Sanctuary is a place of reverence & honor. When we worship God we show Him reverence & honor. For me a Worship Center seemed less formal & more relaxed…in a way less honoring.

As my personal walk with Christ grew I realized it’s not about the name of where I worship or the style of my worship, it’s about the attitude of my heart.

·      My heart must kneel before God in Honor & Reverence.

·      My heart must be willing to bow before Him humbly laying before Him my sin, my pain & my fear.

·      My heart must be willing to hear what He has to say.

There are days when my heart is not the sanctuary it should be. This morning was one of those days. I was frustrated, impatient & unhappy.

After walking a bit too loud & closing doors a bit too hard I sat in my car & took a deep breath. Ugh!

I began praying Psalm 19:14

Lord, “May the words of my mouth (and my actions) and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my rock & my redeemer”.

As I prayed, the lyrics to the song Sanctuary came to my mind. As I sang the song I felt my tension ease & my mind settle as I began to Refocus my heart & mind on Christ.

My heart, mind & body are a Sanctuary to God. When I am frustrated & unhappy I am not pleasing Him by acting & saying things that don’t honor him.

Some days I must, minute by minute Refocus my heart & mind on Him, other days it is much easier.

When my attitude & heart are focused on worshipping God my body becomes His Sanctuary, “pure & holy, tried & true”.

These days whether the place I worship is called a Sanctuary or Worship Center no longer takes center stage. What I am focused on is an attitude of praise, thanksgiving & worship.

What is the attitude of your heart, mind & body?

Do your actions & words please & honor God?

I am linked today with Melanie at Only a Breath for her One Word Linkup party.

In His Calm,

Mary