Oswald's word today

I'm still amazed at God's perfect timing, and in my head, what I believe to be His entertainment for Himself at times. After writing yesterday I called to talked to my friend that I mentioned and we had a conversation that she and I have had numerous times over the past 10 years - about waiting on the Lord. I hope I encouraged her as she always does me; sometimes it just helps us all to know that others feel what we feel and understand what we feel, even if we're not feeling it all at the same time. So just a little while ago I pulled myself from a book that I'm reading to read some Oswald and my chapters for the day. Oswald really is the man - and God's timing is cool:

"There are times when you can’t understand why you cannot do what you want to do. When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don’t
fill it with busyness, just wait. The time of waiting may come to teach you the meaning of sanctification— to be set apart and made holy."

I look forward to this year. I pray that the Lord grows my Faith - that I look to the past and truly pay attention to the examples of faith all around me - in scripture and in my life. I thank God for giving us His stories of the men and women of faith from so long ago. I thank Him for people like Job who remained faithful even when he didn't understand, nor did the people around him. I am thankful for stories like Ruth - a widow woman who picked up and moved to another country, was faithful to what she believed the Lord was leading her to do, and eventually became a woman in the lineage of David. I'm thankful for people in my life like my Mom and Dad, who remained faithful through so many storms of life. Who never faltered on their faith in the Father, who taught me what it looks like to love the Lord every day of your life. I am thankful for friends who encourage and uplift, and who live beside me daily through everything life brings.

I pray that the Lord grows my Hope, in Him and in the world we live in. I pray my hope grounds itself in Him and Him alone, not in my abilities or future career paths, but Hope in His desire to give life and to give it abundantly.

And I pray that my Love grows - first and foremost for Him, then for people. Love is the Lord's greatest commandment, for it is what draws people to Him. I pray that I am that love in a sometimes dark world this year.

And tomorrow - life starts again....
All of me for only Him
Sharon

My Turn?

So today I read about the Flood, actually the receding of the flood, and about Noah and his sons. Good stuff, don't get me wrong, but I sit and am still pondering on a thought from yesterday, from Genesis 4-6. Yeah, check it out - exciting reading, let me tell you.

"To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael,
and Methushael begot Lamech.... and Adah bore Jabal, Zillah also bore Tubal-Cain..."

And on it goes. First things first - we think today's names are crazy?? Seriously, Tubal-Cain? Wow. Alright, I'll move on. Numerous times in the past I would get to these sections in scripture and just skip over them, I mean, what am I really going to learn through this genealogy? But in recent years I have realized, or remembered I should say, that all scripture is God breathed and meaningful to us, otherwise God Himself would have said, "Oh this part is boring, Let's just leave it out." But He didn't, so who do I think I am to take chunks of His word not seriously? As Job once said - "Who am I Lord? I should just be quiet!" (I love the last few chapters of Job, some of my favorites! )

Back to the point. As I was reading yesterday, here at the beginning of yet another new year, I guess I was filled with hope and longing all at the same time. I meditated on it all day, never writing about it yesterday - but this morning as I logged on to read my chapters and get some words of wisdom from my man Oswald, I noticed I had an email from a sweet friend - venting and longing for the same things most of us girls do, though God seems to delay the deliverance of this blessing for some, and sometimes even deny it altogether. A number of girlfriends in my life, myself included, have asked God more times than could be counted, "Lord, when will it be my turn?" And through that we become content with the path the Lord has given to each of us, and we know that God is good and has amazing things for us, how ever that will look for each of us. We really do know that. But sometimes it's still not easy. I look at friends from the past who have children now in Junior High School - I mean, I could theoretically be teaching my own kid at this point, but I'm not. And others, much younger than me, see pictures and read accounts of college friends with husbands and babies, "so thankful for groups of friends to share in this stage of life with them", but my friend has none of that. God, when will it be our turn?

I think back to a day on my couch a few years back. I took a day off from work to spend a day with the Father, I just needed to feel His presence, as life was being hard right then. I read and prayed and sat quietly a lot that day. I don't remember a lot about what I read, or wrote, or even heard, but I do still remember one thing very vividly that I "heard" from God that day - that I would one day have a child who would go places I would never go and do things that I have only imagined of doing for the Lord. I put quotes around "heard" up there, because I doubt myself and my ability to hear correctly. The reason I had taken the day to be with the Father was not because I was longing for children, it was something else - but I remember feeling into the core of my being that this really was from Him. It gave me hope in the situation I was in at the time, making me think I had it figured out - I didn't. God didn't bring into my life what I was wanting Him to that day - but now I am so very thankful for that, He gave me something better. Imagine that!

It's just now that I'm starting to really wonder about the whole kid thing. I see other friends with their broods of beautiful little ones, and I sometimes feel left out and so very behind. So now do I give stock to what I thought I heard that day? I look at the genealogies of Genesis and see all the things that these children went on to do - they became the fathers of nations, the founders of civilizations and the trail blazers of occupations - metal workers, artists, writers, ranchers. Who will I bear? Who will one day look back in their genealogy and see my name? Or does the trail stop here?

"Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" Luke 1:45
Whatever that may be...

I believe the Lord is good. Sometimes I do have to remind myself of that - but He is. And His plans are perfect... and I pray that "through me Christ will be exalted, whether through life or through death." If that truly is my prayer than I must again find contentment with where I am. Not that I'm not - but we all have those days, don't we?

All of me for only Him
Sharon

A new year, A new earth...

So I have decided to read through the Bible this year - it's been a long time since I attempted that and I feel like it's time I get back to basics - so I found a link on the bottom of my favorite devotional page, My Utmost for His Highest, that said - "Read through the Bible in a year", and thought, Hhmm.. that's handy!

So here I begin. First of all, I love the January 1 entry in My Utmost. Philippians 1:20 - I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but now, as always, Christ will be exalted through me, whether in my life or in my death. That's sort of my paraphrase, but it's definitely the gist of it - That is what I want... I want nothing more than to exalt Christ through all that I do. I wish that was on the forefront of my mind more often, it's not. But maybe this year I will keep it there longer, and maybe on January 1, 2010, I won't read that entry and be reminded, because it will have been my mantra for that past 365 days. That would make 2009 an amazing year. And not for me, but for everyone else around me. What a blessing I could be if I live my life to exalt Christ in ALL that I do. Something to think about.

And so then I moved on to the beginning. How fitting to begin my first day of the year reading about the beginning of it all. How God created this earth and everything in it. I'm sitting here on the couch with my cat, the house is quiet. I'm still in my PJ's with my Dr. Pepper in hand, Salem sweetly sleeping with her head on my arm, and the most beautiful part is the flecks of sunlight that are streaming through the cracks in the blinds behind me. It's a beautiful day in Atlanta and I can only imagine how beautiful it was on that very first day, when everything was absolutely perfect. God did such an amazing job with this spinning ball we live on - it's so beautiful and weird and interesting all at once. I've been reading a book about a boy's adventure through a desert. The words conjure images of sunrises and sunsets in the deserts of the Southwest, and how I have wanted to stay in those spots forever. And then I slept last night to the sounds of waves crashing on my "white noise" alarm clock - I guess I wanted to start the year hearing "home" with the waves crashing. Galveston, Naples, Marco Island, all the amazing nights on Jekyll sitting and just watching and listening to the waves for hours on end - God is so amazing - and strong, and beautiful, and dangerous, and awe inspiring. I am reminded of a quote from Narnia - The King is dangerous, but He is good. Yes, my friends, He is. And aren't we lucky that He adores us, US, above all?

Happy New Year - I look forward to what He will bring us all.
All of me for only Him