Nighttime Solace

Early last week I had asked God to help remind me of my renewed resolve (wow that's a lot of "R's") to set aside specific time to spend with Him and reading his word. Twice this week I woke up at 2am, unable to sleep, feeling slightly anxious and unsettled. I did something I've never done before...I got up, grabbed my Bible, devotional book, "prayer box" and headed out to the kitchen table to spend some time with God.

The first night it was one of those "ok, I'm up anyway and I don't want to keep Aaron awake" kind of moments. I ended up spending almost 2 hours reading and talking to God. The amazing part was that I really didn't feel missing those 2 hours of sleep the next morning. I am one of those need-8-hours-of-sleep-to-function kind of people...usually if I get less than 7 hours a night I turn into a whiny mess (just ask my husband). However, that next morning I woke up refreshed and ready to take on the day.

Interesting tact there God...

The second night, I had once again forgotten to set aside the time in a busy day to spend with God and once again, I was kept awake at around 2am...this time I almost had to laugh - God was answering my prayer to make sure I spend time with Him - how cool is that?! I gamely headed out to the kitchen table and cracked open my devotional book.

That night's chapter was on the story of Mary washing Jesus' feet with perfume (John 12:3), the focus was on extravagant love. Extravagant love is the kind of love that disregards everything else so it can focus on one thing alone...the object of that love. It is sacrificial. This is the kind of love Mary displayed when she gave literally all she had in the form of an extremely expensive alabaster jar of the perfume to wash Jesus' feet as an act of love and worship.

Extravagant love cannot be faked. Matthew says it best in chapter 12 - "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." In Mary's case, she did even more - she acted on the overflow of her heart. There were people present, even Jesus' own disciples, who judged her for such an extravagant act of worship. They protested that the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor instead of "wasted". Jesus told them to leave her alone. It was Mary's act of worship and He accepted her.

Jesus has given us the ultimate example of extravagant love. He laid down his life for us. That act cost Him everything, and yet He gave. He did so out of the same kind of extravagant, life-changing love He expects from us.

On the heels of that powerful reading, I dug into Psalm 63...which hit me between the eyes in a few ways! I love when God's Word does that - really, truly God speaking to me right there in my life, in any situation.

A few verses jumped out at me and were more than slightly ironic considering I was reading the Bible at about 3am!

v. 1 - O God, You are my God; early I will seek You. My soul longs for you.

v. 6-8 - When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches - because You have been my help. Therefore, in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.

Amen?

Heck yeah Amen!

I haven't forgotten to spend time with God daily since that last 3am encounter and He is still continuing to speak to me through His word. I am almost done with this devotional book and am on the hunt for a new one to start tomorrow - if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Good Morning

This morning, during my personal Bible study, this Psalm jumped off the page at me. I love when that happens, it's like God knows exactly what I need to hear.

Psalm 60:1-2

Hear my cry, O God, attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I will cry out to You;
When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I am.

It was such a warm reminder of how God is always there for me, that all I need to do is come to Him when life threatens to overwhelm. I also came across this quote that I love by Carole Mayhall: "I pray frequently that I'll hear His voice more often and more clearly. When I don't, I know He hasn't stopped speaking; rather I have stopped listening."

Another great part of this morning was this ridiculously healthy and yummy smoothie I tried, thanks to a recipe by Alton Brown. I usually keep food-related posts and recipes on my other blog, but this smoothie is so crazy yummy and easy, I thought I'd just post the recipe link for you guys, so check it out here. The only change I made was swap blackberries for strawberries.

Hope you enjoy your respective mornings, here's to August!

Taking A Time Out

All of you who have kids under the age of 4, or (like me) are regularly around that age group, are extremely familiar with the concept of a time out! This morning I found myself in need of a self-imposed time out. For some reason I woke up on the grumpy side of the bed and just couldn't seem to snap myself out of it as I began working.

I worked through the morning hours in a slightly dark mood and then finally stopped, thinking to myself that I had to find a way to get rid of this completely unnecessary icky mood. Just knowing that I was IN a bad mood for no reason was cheesing me off...vicious cycle!

One of the things I've decided to work on is taking time out of my day (every day!) to spend with God. To get back to reading His Word and praying...to take the focus off myself and pray for my family, my friends and others rather than allow myself to wallow in the daily frustrations of life.

So I took a time out.

With God.

I turned everything off...and if you know me, you know how hard that is! I do my best work with music or Food Network on in the background - I don't work well in total silence! However, the Creator of the universe deserves my undivided attention...so I put my insane urge to multi-task on hold and sat in silence.

I am reading my way through a book my sister Kate lent me called "If Mama Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy - Making the Choice to Rejoice" by Lindsey O'Connor. I'm not a parent yet and won't be for a few years, but the concepts in this book translate to so many areas of my life, even not having kids!

The chapter I read today focused on getting to know God better. She broke it down into 3 "P's":

1. Poring over His Word
2. Praising Him
3. Praying to Him

Besides bringing joy, God's Word is able to convict, correct, confirm and train us in righteousness. Through His Word we come to know Him and His will for us...if we don't read it, how can we really know Him? I have to say I felt a decent-sized twinge in my conscience reading that excerpt!

Praising God is one thing we can do to shift our focus from ourselves and our problems to God. The Lord inhabits the praises of His people and we can enter His presence when we praise Him! This is exactly why I took a time out, I knew I needed to change my focus, and what better way than by thanking God for all He is and all He does in my life?

Prayer is a privilege, the ability to have direct access to God is a gift. Our relationship grows when we want to commune with God. Don't wait to ascend to your ivory tower and don robes of righteousness to begin praying. Pray today, wherever you are, in whatever condition you find yourself! This is a perfect summation of what prayer should be, and what I aspire to do each day.

I have this great little system for praying for those I love and for whom I have committed to pray. It's my little "prayer box" that contains 3x5 cards with requests and answered prayers. Before I start praying through the "requests" file, I go back to the "answered" section and thank God, recognizing the amazing answers to prayers He has given me. It always puts me in the right frame of mind to pray.

Today I read Psalm 37. I am reading through Psalms and it has quickly become my favorite book of the Bible. I love the practical application I find there and am so encouraged by David's pronouncements of God's faithfulness.

Many verses jumped off the page for me today, check 'em out:

v. 3-4 : Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

v. 7a : Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. (I definitely need reminding of this!)

v. 8b : Do not fret - it only causes harm. (Ok, God, I get it...I need to stop worrying)

v. 9b : Those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. (There's that whole "have patience" theme again!)

v. 21b : The righteous shows mercy and gives.

v. 23-24 : The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delights in his way. Though he may fall, he will not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds Him with His hand. (This made smile and I could actually feel my shoulders relaxing as God reminded me that He will always take care of me)

v. 28a : The Lord loves justice and does not forsake His saints.

v. 39-40 : The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord, He is their strength in times of trouble because they trust in Him.

Sometimes grownups need time outs too! I'm so glad I took the time to sit down and spend about an hour with God through His Word and prayer.

Striking a Chord

Have you ever been reading the Bible, doing your daily thing...almost just as a habit when a verse or passage just jumps out at you and smacks you in the face with its power?

That really happened to me this weekend. I've started reading my way through "Becoming A Woman After God's Own Heart" and am in the chapter devoted to how important prayer is. Prayer has been a struggle for me at times, I either feel like my prayers are more of habit and not genuine or I feel like I only pray when I'm in trouble. I'm trying to develop my prayer life and relationship with God and to be honest it isn't easy.

So I was reading one of the Psalms listed and it leapt off the page at me in it's importance:

Psalm 121
¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

² My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

I cried. I just let myself cry out all the tension and stress I had built up trying to over-manage and over-prepare myself for all life could possibly throw at me. I don't need to worry about it all - I need to LET GO because the Maker of the heavens and earth cares for me and watches over every aspect of my life for me. I will never be alone, He will always be with me.

What an incredible promise!