Striving After Wind

I've been feeling discontent lately, for a while, off and on.  I'm sure most of you have felt that same way, feeling like you're not really doing what God has called you to do or asking Him "what is Your will for me, Lord?"  In March I was struggling with busyness and removing some of those obstacles and purposefully trying to listen to God and just simply being still has enabled me to hear from Him...even just a tiny glimpse.  I've been struggling with my toil, doing the day to day things when I know there are lost people out there that need Jesus, that there is more to life than just simply existing.  I know I am a child of the King, that I serve a risen Savior, that I was made to worship and adore Him but then life creeps in...and we forget about carrying our cross daily, dying to self, and telling everyone we meet about our Redeemer.  I've felt ashamed for wasting my time watching tv, shopping, especially buying something that I don't even need.  I began this book and Bible study entitled "Anything" and God is revealing some awesome things to me and not just in His word and through this book, my Pastor preached on what I've been studying, using the same scriptures; it took my breath away today.  I am in awe of my God and His willingness to draw me closer to Him, to reveal Himself to me and to use my weaknesses for His glory.

I have been passive.  Just doing my duty, serving in my church, singing because God gave me a good voice, working, taking care of my family.  But I want to do anything.  Whatever God wants of me.  And I want to do anything all the time.  Because you know how we are...we get on fire one day and the next it's simply ashes...we forget how we felt in that moment when God was trying to draw us in, to make us more like Himself. 

Let me share a couple excerpts from "Anything" by Jennie Allen.

Why have I loved people more than Him?  Why have I sat on every gift He had given me to make Him known?  Because I cared more about being judged by everyone else but Him?

I want to get to heaven out of breath, having willingly done anything that you-God of the universe-ask...anything.

Both of these are true for me, I have loved people more, I have sat on the gifts He has given me, using them only half-hazardly, I have cared more about what other people think of me than Him.  And I want to get to heaven out of breath having done everything He has ever asked me to do. 

Okay, Lord, we can sell everything and go across the world...if that's what You ask.  Okay, Lord, we can become foster parents...if that's what You ask.  Okay, Lord, I can treat my boss with more respect, I can honor my husband, I can have a better attitude about where you've placed me in this moment.  He may not call me to Africa, He may not call me to be a foster parent.  Whatever you want, God.

I don't think it's so much about what the thing is that you have to give up....it's the willingness to give it...surrender, nothing will change until you do.  Once you've surrendered it, it no longer has a hold on you, He will set you free from feeling like you have to live, act, have certain things and ways. 

One more from Jennie Allen - So we live more afraid of losing what we love here than of facing God in eternity, even when it all is striving after the wind, to paraphrase Solomon (Eccl. 1:14)

"I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind."  Ecclesiastes 1:14 ESV




P.S. My dear friend, Catherine, I get it now, this whole study has brought back all the things you were teaching in your Ecclesiastes Bible Study and how passionate you were about it.  Simply amazing.

A Need for Fluffy Pillows

I was looking at my blog stats and chuckled when I saw that the post that has gotten the most attention is "How to Keep Your Pillows Fluffy".  Evidently there's a dire need for fluffy pillows.  I agree that fluffy pillows are nice but it seems to be an epidemic or something.  What's even more humorous is that I just inserted that article to my post and hadn't really read it thoroughly.  It is quite humorous in that they are not trying to be funny but some of the things they say are craziness.  I know this is going to make you want to go back and read that post again now...go for it.  "10 Ways to Cure Stinky Rotten Smelly Feet" came in a distant 2nd, lol!  The moral of this story: "Don't put your stinky rotten smelly feet on your pillow if you want it to be fluffy."

Posts

Entry	Pageviews
How to Keep Your Pillows Fluffy Oct 13, 2010, 2 comments	106
10 Ways to Cure Stinky Rotten Smelly Feet Mar 25, 2010	8
Women's Conference 2011 Jul 30, 2011	7
Wash my toesies! Apr 1, 2011	7
Selfish Sally Mar 29, 2010, 1 comment	5
NO Compromise! Aug 18, 2010, 1 comment	4
Living Like Jesus ~ Comment Time! Feb 6, 2013	4
Stinky Storms May 8, 2012, 1 comment	4
Living Like Jesus ~ Fruit of True Repentance Feb 6, 2013	3
BBQ Pulled Pork Apr 7, 2013	3

 

You Are So Good To Me

Christian singing a special at church.

Twenty Years Ago ~ I Said "I Do"

Twenty years ago I said "I do" to this hunk...there's really no more to say.

LOL, yeah right! Anyway, let's start with this picture (shown above).  I think it's a sweet picture but after 20 years others look at it and begin pointing things out, such as...wow, look at that blonde hair, Christy or wow, James has hair.  And one person starts in on my, eh heh, eyebrows...they are a little thinner now but I really didn't mind them then.  It wasn't until a few years later that I did a "no no" and plucked a few...that turned me into some kind of werewolf, sasquatch, whatever you'd like to envision.

Let's back track a month or so ago.  I was cleaning out my closet, well, not really cleaning, mostly hauling things out so I could find something but I actually put it all back in there (I didn't sleep on the couch *cough...Jenn).  The neat thing I found in the closet that I wasn't looking for was a box of old love letters and I use the word "love" loosely.  A box of letters, notes, and ridiculous other things from back in our dating years...year and three months.  James and I laid in bed that night and read several of them, we laughed and laughed and laughed, they were/are really quite entertaining.  One of my favorites was from me to James and I was describing a conversation I was having with my younger brother, Curtis.  It went something like this... My brother just asked me what we fought about yesterday and I told him it was a long story.  Then he asked if we were gonna break up and I said "No way! We are never gonna break up!" 
This was after about 4 months of "going out".  We were so young and dumb but I was right after all....we didn't break up and we've been married for 20 years!  These letters, cards, and keepsakes sparked something inside of me, I found this great picture of James and I when we had only been married about 5 months, it was taken at James' parents house on his 21st birthday.  I have it on my nightstand beside my bed.  Those letters and things show me how far God has grown us, as a couple and individually, I am really in awe at how marvelous He is and how much He has pursued us and drawn us closer to Him.  I am so thankful and grateful to my Lord for making our marriage what it is today.  We still get into tiffs now and then but "No Way, we are never gonna break up!"