Trust and Seek – a prayer

Father,

You have spoken to me the words “Trust Me”

And You have also told me to seek

So often, these words from You seem dichotomous

But I come today, like a child on the beach

Finding treasures depositied by the tides

Delighted to find a shell or a rock

But not fervidly digging and grabbing to find MORE.

I come as a beachcomber – seeking

Trusting that You, the Great Ocean

Will deposit gifts for me

In Your time.

Father, You are the vast Ocean and expansive in Your generosity

Jesus, be my companion on the beach

Spirit, whisper to me where the treasures lie and teach me to receive them gratefully.

Today, I trust You Three

Today, I seek the Three-in-One

Listen…a prayer

Lord, my world is so often abuzz with noise

My body feels the obligation to always be doing

My mind is filled with a cacophony of voices

vying for my attention

I hear people

I hear endless words

I hear discordant sounds

…I hear everything, but You.

So as I enter into this day

I ask for Your grace and mercy

to be still

to rest

to be quiet

So I may open my ears and heart to You

Father, settle me in Your stillness

Jesus, teach me to listen

Spirit, speak

Today, I will listen

To the Three, I will listen

A Year Full of Stories

“Each of us is largely a product of his or her own stories – the ones lived, the ones believed, the ones heard, read and told.”  Although many come from our families, a great deal more come from the culture-at-large and, in increasing amount, from entertainment or commercial advertising.  As my kids (or myself, for that matter) sit to watch their favorite programs they are exposed to the “stories” of products that they need or deserve or just can’t live without.  Perhaps they do not see the propaganda as a story, but it is.  It shapes the way they think, live and see their world.

Some days, I’d like to throw the TV completely out.  But since that is not going to happen, I want to be sure that I offer my children (and myself) a different story than the one they hear on TV or in the world-at-large.

I want to be intentionally shaping my life and my kid’s lives through story.

I want to be a Deuteronomy 6 woman.  “Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts.  Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children.  Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.  Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.”, says God

What does this look like today?  I am far in time from the wandering generation of Deuteronomy.  My life and home are filled with different things than they encountered.  But, like them, I am still called to write God’s story on my heart – and somehow get it inside my children too!

I need a year full of stories to tell.  I need a year full of stories in my calendar.  I need a year full of stories to live out.

This is my attempt at that.

…and moved into the neighborhood

Yesterday, I was a little irritated because I wanted to get things done.  I had a list – both on paper and in my head – of what I wanted to accomplish.  I , afterall, had work to do.

But then the boys in the neighborhood came over and I knew I really needed to be outside with them.  (Some of them are starting to pick on others and unless there is an adult, the smallest and weakest become the easiest target.)  So I started filling up water balloon and took out the water balloon launcher so we could have some wet fun.

All the time though, I was kind of grouchy!  I had work to do…I had been praying that God would teach me to number my days and “establish Thou the work of our hands”.  Wanting to work for and in and with God’s kingdom isn’t a bad thing, is it???

And then, as I was grumbling in my head, another verse came to mind.  “And the Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood”.  And that is where the Spirit began the transformation.  I realized that what I was doing WAS the work that God had for me and He was establishing it (only I wasn’t fully cooperating)!  I realized that He became flesh and moved into the neighborhood at a certain point in human history, and He still wants to do it today.  He wanted the water balloon fun and squirt gun fight to have the mark of His Kingdom.  And He wanted me to stop having a bad attitude and “move into the neighborhood”.

I am sorry, Lord, for these times when I want to be living for Your kingdom, but I forget to listen to what (and where) Your plan is!  I think too highly of my ability to plan and schedule and not enough of asking you the expectant question of “what’s next, Papa?”  If I work, let it be the work You give me – even if it seems as insignificant as “moving into the neighborhood” and playing with a bunch of sweaty boys!

Beginning New

This is an attempt at two things:  one, starting a wordpress blog (as I’ve been a blogger user for quite sometime) and two, documenting the ways that God calls me to live in His kingdom here and now.