The Wind in the Desert

Texas may not get a lot of rain, but there is definitely something they do get a lot of, and that's wind!  It blows so hard and so warm and so unexpectedly that it literally will almost knock you to your feet.  I just spent the last hour sitting out by the pool. It was heavenly.  Although I'm reasonably certain I came away with a slight burn!
As I sat there, basking in the sun, allowing the warm wind to blow over me refreshingly, I began to laugh.  Every now and then the wind would blow so hard that it would sprinkle me with tiny droplets of water from the fountain in the pool. It was always so unexpected that it would take my breath as it hit me, but, boy, did it feel good!
All of a sudden, I saw God in that wind. I'm sitting in the desert, really in the middle of nowhere (Midlanders joke that that's how it got it's name: Midland...because it's the middle of nowhere!). The ground is dry, the air is dry, it's hot, and then, out of nowhere (literally) there's this refreshing wind that I can't see, but it surrounds me.
Billy Grahm once said, "you can't see the actual wind, but you can see the effects of the wind." You can feel it on your skin, in your hair, you can see it in the trees and watch it moving things. Scripture compares the Spirit of God to wind on several occasions.

Friend, whoever is reading this right now, I just want to encourage you that, anywhere you are, even in that "Midland dry desert" place of your life, God is also there.  His wind blows over you, encompassing you, surrounding you, and reminding you that He's there.  You may not always be able to see HIM, but you can always see the effects of Him!
I've been blown away this weekend by seeing the effects of God blowing through my life. I am humbled by the fact that this huge God, who commands the wind and the rain, who controls the days, cares enough about me to show me that He loves me, that He wants to be part of my life, that He's wrapped up in my days.
And He's wrapped up in yours.  You may not always notice Him there. But He is there, working and blowing, and loving. 
Look for the wind, and take comfort from it!

Out of the Dust...

Here in Texas, where we've been the last two days, everything is dusty. And pretty dead looking! We are in the middle of the desert, after all! I asked our driver today if the grass every got any greener than the brown mess that it was right now? She laughed and said, "No, pretty much not! But you get used to it." She went on to tell us that they receive, on average, only 11 inches of rain or less per YEAR!  I'm reasonably certain that we got that much rain in Tennessee in two days last week!  The dust and dirt is not a pretty thing here, and the Texans have a good sense of humor about it, which is good, because I don't see it changing anytime soon!
When we got to the service tonight the opening song was "Beautiful Things". If you've never heard this song, you have to go online and listen to it! I was immediately reminded of the drive over there, looking at the dusty ground outside.  I'm listing the lyrics below. Please take a moment to read the words...

All this pain
I wonder if I'll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change
at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden spring up from this ground
at all?

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found
in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

As I sang these words tonight, they resonated in my heart. I thought of the dry, dusty ground outside, where technically it's virtually impossible for pretty vegetation to spring from.  Then I looked in my own heart, and was humbled as I remembered the dry, dusty, dirty ground that used to be there...until God.  As I sang those words, I was brought back to a time of desperation in my life, when I cried out to God from my desert of deadness, and He took it, and He made it beautiful. He did it. Out of the dust of my deadness sprung hope, and life, and beauty. Then, a speaker tonight used this verse and my heart broke in renewed desperation, as I heard and felt the water that God was pouring on my soul.
Ecclesiates 3:11
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

This "dust" thing is by far not the theme of this conference, but it was definitely the theme that God had for me tonight. I had forgotten what it meant to be desperate for Him, to need His living water.  I forgot that I walk in a desert in this world, and that, though my life is changed, that dust is all around me.  I "got used to it", just like the Texans here get used to it being everywhere. Only by tapping in to His water can my soul stay watered. I had forgotten that desperation.  And in the meantime, a layer of dust had again began to accumulate on my beautiful thing.
The last part of that verse, to me, means that we can never fathom the work that God is doing in our lives. But, as long as he gives me another breath, it means that He's not done with that work in me. Therefore, I need to be desperate for Him, just like these Texans are desperate for rain to water their land and keep it from dying out completely. 
The song says that out of chaos life is being found...but only in Him! I have to be desperate, because this life IS chaos, and a desert, and only when I'm desperate will I stay where my soul can be watered by the One who makes it beautiful. 
I love how the last stanza of the song says not only has He MADE me new, but He's also still making me new, every day. I have to be desperate for Him. I WANT to be so thirsty for Him on a daily basis that I notice the smallest dry spell! 
Because He makes beautiful things out of the dust.
As long as I stay close to the source of the water, be deliberate about my choices, and let Him wash away all the dust!

Waiting

Ahh, waiting...definitely not my strong point! Peter and I are stuck in an airport in Dallas right now. Our plane was delayed and we're having to wait for it to leave Houston and head this way. My first reaction to this "delayed" news was that of irritation. Our day was going so good and we were going to get to Midland with plenty of time to relax and enjoy the scenery, maybe do a little shopping. Those were our plans, and I'm a "plan" kind of person. I don't react kindly when my plans are messed up...just ask my husband!
And now I'm being forced to wait for an unknown amount of time. It's just frustrating!
But then I heard something.
I overheard the ticket guy explaining to another passenger that our plane was delayed getting here because of a tornado in Florida. The plane's route had to be changed in order to maintain the safety of the passengers and to avoid the oncoming storm. My irritation suddenly seemed very petty and small when I considered the fact that I would hope pilots on a plane I'm on would put my safety first too!
Then I was suddenly reminded of Who the pilot of my life is and of how so very often I chart my own course, come up with my own flight plan, and then get irritated when my plans are delayed or changed because of unforeseen circumstances. 

I usually never stop to consider that I'm not the pilot, God is. I'm just the co-pilot, and sometimes really, I'm just a passenger, waiting to get to my next destination. I can't see the bigger picture, but He can. Those delays and waiting times should just be seen as opportunities to be busy where I am, and also as affirmation that the God of the universe has His hand of protection over my small little grouchy undeserving passenger of a self!
So I'm still waiting on my plane, but now I'm doing so with a smile on my face! I'm DELIBERATELY waiting. It has a purpose. Just like I know that God also has a purpose for every day of my life...even when I'm waiting!

More Than Lemonade!

A lemon is a strange fruit.
It's such a bright pretty color, and it has these huge green leaves on the stem.  To look at it, you'd never guess how incredibly sour tasting the actual fruit part is!  When I think about a fruit, my first thought is of eating it!  I personally would never eat a lemon by itself.  It's not the least bit enjoyable.  Peter and I gave both our kids lemons when they were babies just so we could laugh hysterically at the funny expression they made as they bit in to it!  I know, that's horrible...but it was also funny!
Be careful with that lemon juice though!  If the lemon juice squirts you in the eye, or gets in the tiniest cut, well, it hurts like a mug!
A lemon is one of those things in life that make me wonder exactly what God pictured us using them for when He created them?  Was there a grand purpose, or did God just want to laugh at us like I laughed at my own kids?! I'm just kidding. There's a purpose to everything God does!
A lemon CAN be used, and used well, once you know the correct ways to use it!
I love, love, love drinking an ice cold glass of water with some fresh lemon juice squeezed in.  Yum.  It makes my mouth water right now just thinking about it!  A little bit goes a long way though, so don't over-squeeze!
The lemon rind can be used in tons of cooking recipes.  I'm actually baking lemon cakes this weekend that call for lemon zest (the rind) and lemon juice!
Lemon juice can also be used to clean with, shine stainless steel, keep other fruits from discoloring, and kill germs on cutting boards!
And there are tons of other uses as well.  I don't like lemonade so that old adage "when life gives you a lemon, make lemonade" does NOT apply to me...but it may to you!
Like I said, a lemon is strange fruit.  It's a fruit that's not really eaten as a fruit.
But even though it appears sour and useless upon first inspection, if you dig deeper and try harder, you can find so many ways to use this beautiful fruit.
My life is that way occasionally. Honestly, more often than not! On the outside, it looks pretty, bright...but on the inside a bit of sourness creeps in.  An unexpected shock occurs and I make that scrunched-up face and stick my tongue out at the problem. Sometimes, I would rather put that lemon on the shelf and ignore it and it's sourness.  But, like the lemon, God has allowed this problem here for a purpose at this specific time in my life.  I have to dig deeper, look passed the sourness, and figure out where the good lies inside this particular lemon.  And there's always a good!  If I'm willing to put the effort into scraping the rind to get the zest of life, or putting pressure on it and working to get the juice out, it turns out good in the end.
I'm dealing with a bit of lemon right now, and it's been awesome to me, once I asked God to show me how to use it, to watch that lemon turn into something sweet instead of something sour.
When life serves you a lemon, don't just assume you're only choice is lemonade...make it creative, dig deeper and make that sour thing turn into something miraculously sweet in your life!  That's my prayer for you and I both!

The Mega-mind of Moms

All moms are genetically altered at the moment they give birth or bring a child into their home.  When you become a mom, your brain suddenly morphs into "mega" capacity.  Now, unlike your life BEFORE children, your brain suddenly has the ability to contain microscopic details, needs, emotions and whereabouts of numerous other people at ALL times.  And there is a reason that this happens!
You are no longer your own person. Unlike with marriage, where you basically share yourself with one person, and typically retain half of yourself.  Not any longer.  Oh no.  Now the half of yourself that you didn't give to your husband is split again, and again, and again. 
However, thanks to your mega-mind, it is easy for you, as a mom, to juggle the lives and necessities of three other people, plus the family pet!  At all times, you know what size clothing each person in the house is in, what they have enough of and what they need more of.  You know what foods each person does and does not like, and how to fix something that is nutritious as well as pleasing!  You, mother with the mega-mind, always know who's had what vaccines, when the next one is due, what the kids reactions are to that and what different signals mean that your child may be getting sick.  You know when your husband needs to get out of the house, when he needs more sleep, when he needs...something else, and when HE needs to go to the doctor.  You are the one who house-broke the dog, and you keep track of how many times the dog has been outside to do his business, what signals he gives when he needs to go out, if he needs more dog food, when HIS last vet check-up was, when he last had his nails cut, and you manage to teach him some neat tricks too. 
Yes, Mom, it's a good thing that you have your mega-mind!  Otherwise the constant scheduling and planning and knowing and doing for others would drain your normal brain.  You might not be able to keep track of all the groceries and the grocery shopping, the laundry, the kid's homework, paying the bills and balancing the accounts, cleaning the house, washing the kids, feeding the kids, teaching the kids, running the errands, washing the clothes, letting the dog out and in and out and in, scheduling appointments, and picking up kids from school right in the middle of your day, and always knowing what's on the schedule for the rest of the month.  Thanks to your mega-mind, the constant activity in your brain does not run you down!


Hmmm.  If only that were completely true!  It's a nice thought though!  I do think God wires mothers differently so that we ARE able to constantly keep track of "what's what" in each member of our family. 
Men, on the other hand.  Well.  I won't go there!

A series of unfortunate events...

Today I marginally avoided catastrophe!
I almost burned my house down.
Yes, really, I'm not joking!
Tuesday's are always busy and a little hectic for me.  Most Tuesdays I babysit two little girls who are close to the same age as my own daughter, and today that was the case.  The three girls and I had been coloring in the kitchen...why the kitchen?...I don't know! That's just what happened!  They were sitting in the floor and I was standing at the stove and coloring a "Flat Stanley" that my neice had sent to me in the mail.  Once we were all finished I packed up all the crayons and the coloring books and put it all away.  My two year old daughter, London, had rolled up one of her coloring pages into a tube to make a spyglass and she was playing with it while I was cleaning up our mess.  At one point she unrolled it and drew a triangle on it. She showed me the triangle and was so proud of it she said she wanted to keep it and show it to Daddy.  I laid the slightly-rolled-up paper at the back of the stove while I packed away the last of the crayons and moved Flat Stanley over to the counter-top.
It was lunch time and the girls wanted Macaroni and Cheese so I got out a pot, filled it with water and was about to place it on the burner when I smelled it....
No, not smoke - poop!
One of the girls had a dirty diaper.  I thought, I'll turn on the burner and while waiting for the water to boil I'll run and change her diaper.  I flipped on the burner, grabbed up the girl and headed for the bedroom.  A minute later I carried her back in the living room and deposited her on the floor just as my phone rang. I answered my phone and was talking to my neighbor just as I walked around the corner into the kitchen - where I was met with the sight of flames on my stove!
Not only was my water NOT boiling, I had turned on the WRONG burner! And said burner just happened to be a little too close to the coloring page my daughter had handed me earlier!  The page was now burning and pieces of ash were floating up, sprinkling my stove and landing in my pot of un-boiling water!
Without letting go of the phone (why would I? I'm a mom, I know how to multi-task!) I said "Holy Moley! I have a fire in my kitchen!"  I grabbed the piece of paper by a corner not engulfed by flames and tossed it into the sink! Then I dipped my fingers into the still-cold water in the pot and flicked water on the ash all over my stove!
Then, in the spirit of a true mom, I calmly continued my conversation with my neighbor...
As soon as I got off the phone though, I realized how close to calamity I had come!
I've been studying the book of Job lately and his life. Last night, at our Bible study, one person had commented that a study like this always makes you wonder what you're about to go through that will compare. 
My first thought, as I stared down at the burned coloring page in the sink and the ash on my stovetop, was Oh, please don't let this be a little taste of what may be to come!
However, I do want to be ready when those times come in which God changes the course of my life, the plans I have for my day. He WILL do so...sometimes He uses easy methods and welcoming things, and sometimes He uses what we might call a series of unfortunate events (usually to test us and teach us)!  My plan for that moment had been to make lunch for the girls...but in the process I got distracted, took my eyes off of the job at hand and that was almost devastating.  I had to start over, empty out the ashy pot of water and fill it back up.  I was given a second chance, and I was glad for that!  This time, I made SURE I turned on the correct burner, then never left my post!
I'm so thankful that God is the God of second chances in every aspect of our lives!  Even Job was given a second chance at a new life.  God is gracious and merciful...even when we're distracted, and maybe not focusing on the task before us!
Distraction CAN be devastating...thankfully, for me, this time, it was not!

I Have a Love Problem...Do You?

I just realized I have a bit of a love problem...

In my quiet time with God yesterday morning (and don't think too highly of me, because making TIME for that quiet time has been a constant struggle since I became a mom...but I'm finally getting a bit of a handle on it!)....ANYWAY, in my quiet time yesterday morning, my focus verse was John 14:21.  As always, I'm so thankful that God's Word is living and personal and always reaching out, for I had read this verse many times over the course of my Christian walk, but this time something grabbed me.  The verse says:

"He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me, and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest (show) myself to him."

I read this verse over, and over, and over.  I felt... well, heartsick. I felt like Peter must have when Jesus looked at him and asked point-blank - "Do you love me?" 
I asked myself first, Am I keeping God's commandments?  Then I thought, Okay, give yourself a break, that's a little over-ambitious...Am I TRYING to keep His commandments?

This verse, in Jesus' words, clearly states that those that keep his commandments are the ones that love him.  No getting around it, no making excuses. 
IF I truly love God, then I WILL obey Him, not just in following the letter of the law, but following the spirit of the command as well.  If I have an obedience problem, well, then I really have a love problem.

Deeply and honestly looking within myself, I had to admit it, I have a love problem.  

For the most part, I obey God's commands. I do!  But really, honestly, it depends on how much it's going to cost ME!  How trivial and UN-LOVING is that? 
Take my quiet time, my study time, for example...
I have a hard time making time for it, mostly because I don't want to get up earlier and cost myself the extra sleep!  Then when I do, I'm so tempted to rush through it so I can do other things that are pulling at my time.  My quiet time feels more like a duty, a job, than a relationship.  And it aught not to be so!

My husband is coming home early from work today.  When he called a while ago to tell me, I was so excited! So thrilled at the extra time that we would get to spend with each other today...because I love him, and I WANT to spend time with him.  I should get that excited - No! MORE excited about getting to spend time with my Savior!  If not, then I have a love problem. My relationship with God should determine everything that I do.  God is love (1 John 4:16), and my total trust in God's love is crucial to how I follow his commands...which encompasses the last part of our beginning verse -

"He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me, and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest (show) myself to him."

Oh, the promises of God! The hope and joy they bring to me! And this is one of them!  Jesus says here that if we love him and follow his commands, then he will love us and show himself to us! 

I want to see him! 

I want to see him at work in every second of my life!  

I want to talk to him and know that he's right there beside me!  

I want that close, personal, loving relationship with the God of the Universe!  But first, I have to love him!  To me there's a difference in loving someone, and being IN LOVE with someone!  I love my friends and family members, but I'm IN LOVE with my husband!  I long to spend time with him, to hold his hand, to see him smile at me...  

I know that I love God.  I really do.  But am I also IN LOVE with Him?

Obedience is the outward expression of my love for God, and the reward for that is that Jesus will manifest himself within my life!  What an honor!
So, I guess that means next time I'm at the grocery store and I feel that tugging voice in my heart that says "Ask that woman if she knows Me" or when I see that lady that lives down the street taking her dog on it's daily walk and I hear "Go invite her to church"...well, that's a command, a command from the one that I love.  And if I truly love Him, then I will obey!  If not, then I need to fix my love problem!

How about you? Do you have a relationship with God?  Do you have a love problem with him?  How do I know, you might ask?  Well, do you see him working in your life?  Do you see him being manifest, shown, everyday?  If not, then maybe you're like me.  But we can fix it!  Just spend time with Him and obey Him!