Friday, September 30, 2011

"Humming" Along

I love humming birds!  I do. We keep a feeder outside our window where we have coffee every morning.  This year we had not refilled it until we read that the little hummers needed extra nourishment to be able to migrate.  We were glad to get to watch them a little longer, so we filled the feeder. 

We have begun to watch one bird in particular.  He lives in our pyracantha bush.  He goes from the bush to the feeder and from the feeder to the front porch where there are colorful flowers and then back to the bush.  Other birds have come and gone, but this particular little hummer has never migrated.  He probably thinks, "Why go south when I am comfortable here.  I have shelter; life is easy and there is plenty of food."  We will probably have to pull the feeder.

How many of us react like that when we know God is telling us that we need to move on?  Change is so hard. We get comfortable in our "rut."  What we know oftentimes seems so much more appealing than what we cannot see.  We would have to "put ourselves out there" if we; for example, changed jobs, changed locations, or changed our habits, whether physical or spiritual. 

What we have to remember though, is that winter is coming.  Whatever our "winter" is, it is coming.  And just like the little humming bird, if we don't heed the signs that God gives us and we ignore the warnings, we will not flourish. It could even mean death, whether figuratively or physically. 

So I will remove the feeder.  The hummingbird will fly south.  And maybe, I will have learned something about moving on.  Maybe I will heed God's warnings when He says winter is coming. And maybe, I too will move on.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Intimacy With God

I'm reading a book by John Eldredge called "Walking With God."  Tisha loaned it to me, and it is a wonderful book.  He quoted Psalm 139: 1-18: O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. ...You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid you hand upon me....Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?...All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. ...When I awake, I am still with you. 

I pondered this scripture for a moment, and then God put a thought into my mind.  My daughter, Tisha, is so sweet to make me feel a part of her life and her kid's lives.  She sends me text such as, "Hayden is tired of going to school already (after 2 days in school). He says he's ready to go back to the beach!"  I love those! I know what's going on with them. I feel as if I'm part of their lives even when I'm not present.  If I don't get texts for a few days, I feel sad.  She was really busy for a while and the text slowed. I mourned!  I felt as if I was on the outside looking in, but the blinds were pulled.  God nudged me and said, "That is how I feel when you do not listen to me. That is how I feel when you do not share all the intimate details of your life with me."

Can you imagine being responsible for creating beings for the purpose of an intimate relationship with them, only to have them pull the blinds and only raise them when they cannot handle the "big" problems in their lives?  For them to think that you only want to be a part of certain aspects of their lives? 

Those little quick texts mean so much to me!  I want to be intimate with my family, and I want to be intimate with God.  I want to share every moment with Him; every little detail.  And I want to hear from him every day; all through the day!  I want to walk with Him and talk to Him at every opportunity, and they are endless!

Eldredge said, "...to know him...not just "know about" like you know about the ozone layer or Ulysses S Grant." (pg. 12)
That is how I want to know my God!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Giving Help Is Easy, Accepting It is The Hard Part

A close friend of mine had major surgery recently.  She's doing well now, a week and a half  later.  I had the priveledge of assisting her during the days that followed her surgery; cooking, cleaning a little, lifting what she couldn't.  It brought to mind the birth of my last child. Probably because she and another friend did the same things for me.

 I developed toxemia in the last trimester of my pregnancy and was put to bed.  At the time, I was the mother of two wonderful little girls, ages ten and eight.   I was also the secretary, office manager, and gofer for our business, as well as volunteer children's director for our church.

Some of the office work I could do from bed, but my husband had to pick up a lot slack there.  My friends drove me to doctors appointments, had wheel chair races with me in Wal Mart, cooked for me, cleaned for me, set up the babies room, and even refinished furniture.  I love those ladies!

You may be thinking, "That sounds wonderful!  Wish someone would do that for me!"  But truthfully, it was hard to allow someone to do those things for me.  It was a very humbling experience.  I am always eager to help someone else, but accepting help is a different story.  

I John 4:11 says, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." (KJV)  Galatians 5:13 says, "... by love, serve one another." (KJV)  Therefore, if we love one another, we will serve one another, and we will allow ourselves to be served when we are in need.  We should not deny our  brothers and sisters the blessings of helping us.  We are, after all, one body in Christ, and a body is made up of many parts working together.

 I am thankful that I could serve in this manner. And I am blessed to have a friend who allowed me to receive these blessings.