Friday, June 22, 2012

life lesson learned

i pulled out of my driveway and said, "ok, Lord. so what do you have for me today? what are you going to do?" i probably should have asked this sooner than 4pm but, i confess, i was in my own zone.

delivered the girls to the local pool for swim team training. decided to let Ian play for a few on the playground. walking by the covered picnic area sprinkled with people singularly inhabiting each table in complete disconnect, one voice stands out in the silence.

"life is about living simply. life is about living simply!"

a homeless gentleman expressing himself on his own speaker's corner of nowhere, he speaks. hmmm. from across the park i see a woman and her daughter traversing over grass and wood chips in my direction.

friends!

i think to myself, this must be what you have for me today.

ironically the message of "living simply" and these friends struck me. instead of rushing around running errands and selfishly dragging my son around from place to place, i needed to take time for my relationships. and i did.

last night i was reading a devotional by Ann Voskamp and she said, "the value of your life -- is the value of your relationships. with God and men."

if i get back to basics -- spending time with God and spending time with those who matter -- that is what God had for me today.

i am learning by doing.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

summer's first day

yup. that's it. today is the first day of summer. school's out. pools filled. fun has begun. so let's do this, shall we?


95 days until the first day of fall... [which also happens to be McK's birthday].


today i want to focus on my "car revelation." driving in the MV with the kiddoes, hair being blown by the a/c because it's way too hot out at the farm to have the windows down. the radio dj comes on over the airwaves and starts talking about his experience over the weekend. 10yo girl comes to live with he and his wife for one week out of nowhere -- completely God-ordained -- when grandma flies in from Alaska to take the girl home with her. grandma is a widow and has been praying intensely for this granddaughter of hers, realizing upon seeing this man and his wife and the peace that resides on her granddaughter's face that her prayers were answered -- cared for and loved by believing Christians until things could be worked out rather that a system, just as she prayed.


this radio dj repeats over and over -- God hears the widow's prayer. the widow prayed and God answered her prayer. God hears the widow. 


quietly within my heart, a floodgate opens and my prayers -- even those not known conscously -- gush forth. i quickly close the gate. enough. i have revealed enough. maybe too much. drip. drop.


tonight, a phone message. oh, the irony. this floodwater of prayer and then this message. 


now what comes forth?


laughter. the absolute joy bubbling up from within and spilling out into the room, together with an infectious smile that sparkles and causes light to dance on that which is overflowing. i cannot stop. even now, laughter sits on my lips like a child eagerly waiting to dive in.


this is how i feel at this moment.


isn't our God so good?


yes. yes, He is.