On My Mind

A lot has been on my mind this past week.  Writing helps me process my thoughts, but time has been scarce.  When I decided to “dust off” this blog, I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t at the detriment of my other responsibilities.  So here I am at the end of the week with a long laundry list of random thoughts.  

1)  Over the last few weeks I’ve been reading and listening to Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas.  On Thursday as I jogged on my treadmill I listened as Gary Thomas talked about how we’re made to be creative.

 

In chapter 12 of the book, Mr. Thomas takes the position that “as people created in the image of God, we have a responsibility to create.”

 

Further in this section he asserts, “If we don’t nurture a godly sense of creativity, we will experience an emptiness that we may perversely and wrongly blame on our marriage.  The emptiness comes not from our marriage, however, but from the fact that we’re not engaged in our marriage.  We’re not using this powerful relationship in order to create something.”
 

He goes on to ask, “Have you ever noticed how our culture lives off other people’s acts of creation?”

And the last thought that caught my attention was, “If you don’t create in a thoughtful and worshipful manner – whether preparing meals, decorating a home, achieving a vocational dream, responsibly raising children— you will feel less than human because you are in fact acting in a subhuman mode.”

 

2)  A light and encouraging read, I’ve found myself looking forward to the few minutes each day that I spend in Billy Graham’s devotional, Hope for Each Day.

 

In the February 4^th segment, Graham mentions that his friend once observed, “Love talked about is easily ignored, but love demonstrated is irresistible.”  Wow.  Lots to ponder in such a short sentence.

 

3)  Considering my inward battle these last few months, my interest was piqued when Boo and I were reading about Jacob and Esau earlier in the week.  The author of this particular children’s book spent some time addressing Jacob’s own wrestling match with God.  One point that caught my attention was when he noted how the angel’s touch that crippled Jacob’s hip was unexpected because it was below the belt.  He then went on to explain though how Jacob was ultimately different after this and how God used him to create the nation of Israel.

4)  This past Wednesday night we started a new study at our small group called “Always True” by James MacDonald.

One particular illustration that intrigued me was about how we need to cling to God’s promises between “Today I Believe” and “Tomorrow I Receive.”  Although it wasn’t quite like he explained it, I found myself envisioning God’s promises as a lifeline that connected those two points.  I’ve often felt like I was flailing and blind these last several months.  But I quickly realized that if I was clinging to that lifeline I wouldn’t be tossed back and forth even though I still couldn’t see any further ahead.  Considering this more, I remembered back to when I was at my lowest.  My general line of thought during that time was that I just didn’t have any more to give.  Then I realized that I’ve been trying to do an awful lot in my own strength.

He also talked about the value of preciousness.  He noted that it takes time for something to become precious because it takes proving.

 

5)  I was confronted with two separate sets of two questions last Sunday that I still can’t shake.

 

As I confided in a friend this past Sunday about the war between my head and my heart, she passed on two questions that someone asked her years ago.

“Is God good?” and “Can I trust Him?"

Slightly later I was challenged by two other questions.  There’s a young boy in our church that is currently going through traction for his back.  Even when he’s not confined to a wheelchair as he was that morning, his physical ailments keep him from running and skipping like most other kids.  So I became completely enamored with this little guy as he cheerfully greeted my oldest daughter with a smile on his face, “Are you running?  Are you jumping?”  From that point on I found myself eavesdropping on his conversation with a friend because pure joy exuded from this little guy.

 

 

6)  And on a less serious note, I chuckled in bed one day this week as Bitty wandered through the hall in the early morning hours calling “Boo.  Boo Boo.  Boo Boo.  Boo.”  She was blissfully unaware that she was waking a sleeping dragon.  To get the full experience, you should note that Bitty has a deep voice and for some reason pronounces Boo with a southern twang.  Boo was one of her first words and she loves both of her big sisters.  She wants to do everything they do leading my hubby to appropriately dub her, “Me Too.”

 

7)  My Second Born informed me the other morning, "Mama, When I grow up I’m not going to give my kids homework.  And you can move back by Granny where it’s warm and I can live in this house.  But you can leave my pictures of when I was little here."  She also said something about not sharing her favorite Barbie with her kids when she grows up.  At least she's thinking about growing up.  For awhile I thought I had a Peter Pan on my hands as she didn't want any more birthdays after she turned 5. 

 

8)  And Saturday night as I noted to my oldest that she was growing up way too fast, she responded, “I’m just turning nine this year.  It’s not like I’m turning twenty.”  But then the following evening I took a few minutes to lay on her bed and read to her and Bitty.  After it was over, Boo went on to explain what she thought she'd like her wedding to be like and that she wanted a wedding dress like Ariel.  The only difference is that she wanted hers to have pink and white instead of green and white.  Wow.  I need to slow down more often and just listen. 

 

9) And lastly I haven't forgotten about those February gratitude posts.  February just seems to be moving at break-neck speed.  If I don't do them now, I'll find a way to work them in along the way.  They aren't far from my heart.

 

 

In fact, this was what I was looking at when I suddenly realized it was the afternoon of February 1st.  I'm so very grateful that God brought this little warrior princess into our lives.