Joyful Words Blog
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.
– Psalm 119:105
– Psalm 119:105
God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress. Psalm 46:1
Have you ever put something away in that “safe place” that you were sure was the perfect, logical spot only to spend a big chunk of time trying to recall just where that perfect spot was? I can’t even count the number of times I’ve muttered while searching high and low for that thing I put in the perfect place that I was sure to remember! It’s frustrating isn’t it! Very often when I do finally find it I think, “What on earth were you thinking…that wasn’t logical or memorable in the least!” I’m really glad I don’t have to search for God that hard, or find the perfect spot to store his love and affection. So many times when I feel overwhelmed or pulled in too many directions I call out to God like he’s lost or something. “Dear God…where are you…I’m choking here…HELLO!!!” or “Hey God…woman in trouble here; can world peace wait a few minutes, I need you right now please!” I saw a cartoon featuring Mr. Magoo talking to a lamp post like it was a real person and it was so ridiculous it was funny. I wasn’t laughing so hard when I realized sometimes that must be what God feels like when he sees us throwing a hissy fit or calling out to him impatiently as if he’s on a long lunch and not fully aware of each and every one of our needs. I’m not sure how many more years I need to wander this earth before I fully wrap my head around the fact that our God does not charge in on a white horse nor does he rein down thunder and lightning each time we call out his name for help. He is a God who comes in the quiet, like a still, small whisper. He doesn’t get lost, he doesn’t ignore, and he doesn’t come a minute too soon or a minute too late. The only walls I need him to bust down are the walls of my heart so I can trust, listen, love and hope harder each day. I don’t need to go around muttering to lamp posts or other inanimate objects expecting them to talk back, I just need to speak to Him in the quiet and know he hears me instantly. I don’t have to hide his contact information or keep him in a corner compartment “on hold” for when I might need him, I know where he is, I know that he hears me, I know that God is present even if all I hear is silence. After all, peace doesn’t mean trouble is absent, it means God is present; without even tracking him down. I think I just needed to remember he is ever present and ever so easy to find. Maybe you needed that reminder today too. A Seed To Plant: For 10 minutes; just be still and listen for the whisper! Blessings on your day!
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What your hands provide you will enjoy; you will be blessed and prosper. Psalm 128:2
Growing up we always had a gigantic garden. The garden was the work of the summer. There was always something to do, planting, weeding, picking or preserving. My mom canned and froze enough produce for the whole year; green beans, carrots, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, peas and beets. It was a complete drag during the middle of the summer when it was 100 degrees and my brothers and I were sitting in the back yard shucking corn for hours but fresh sweet corn in January made it all worth it. I can’t begin to count the times my folks reminded me of that while they handed me another bucket of green beans to snap. It isn’t always easy to see the blessing that comes with the investment at the time. All these years later, I still plant a garden and can tomatoes. True, I can get a can on sale for less than a dollar but it just isn’t the same. The problem is, by the time spring finally comes in Michigan and I get to a point with the end of the school year chaos and I finally get them planted it’s always September before they are ready to pick and can. This is a particularly busy time of year with speaking and school but I came home Wednesday to a basket of tomatoes staring me down. I knew they had to be canned or they would spoil and even though I had a dozen other things to do, I reminded myself how good they would taste in chili and soup when the snow was flying so I got to it, but not without plenty of eye rolling and muttering under my breath, “really…now…I have to do this now? Why can’t they be ready before school starts, that would be much more convenient! As I stood at the kitchen sink washing jars and peeling tomatoes I asked myself why I even bother at all. But as I sit here typing, drinking a cup of coffee, I hear the canner bubbling and the soft clink of the seals setting on the jars fresh from the canner and I realize how satisfying it is and how connected I feel to my mom when I do what she did. It’s worth it, but it always takes me a while to remember that. If I’m being honest, canning tomatoes is a little like my faith life. I love the end result, but more often than I should, I grumble about the effort and the time it takes. I want the relationship and the grace but I don’t always want to invest the time necessary. I want to head to the pantry in January and grab what I need but it takes effort to make sure it will be there when I need it. Sometimes my prayer life is like that. I cry out to God with my list of wants and needs and I just expect to grab what I need. I take his mercy and his goodness for granted way too often. It will be a sad day when I go to the pantry and there are no more tomatoes but it would be an unfathomably devastating day if I went to the Lord and he wasn’t there. I very well may run out of tomatoes but I can breathe a sigh of relief to know as long as I run to the Father and truly seek him, his grace and compassion will never run dry. Out of all the things I needed to do besides can tomatoes, I had to make the tomatoes a priority. I wonder how much better my attitude and perspective would be if I remembered to put the Father and his plan as my top priority every day. Timing is important. No matter how hard I wish, I can't make those tomatoes ripe any sooner. Patience is such a key and these tomatoes are a reminder to trust in Gods timing is perfect. As I sit back and admire the jars of warm tomatoes all lined up on my counter I’m pretty sure there are many times the Father lines the events of my days up in perfect order and I don’t even notice it or thank him for it. Funny how much you can learn from putting tomatoes in a jar! A Seed To Plant: Make a list of three things you can do this week to invest in your relationship with the Father. Say a prayer of thanksgiving for someone who taught you something important. Blessings on your day! |
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Sheri's writing can also be found at Faith Catholic Publications and on CatholicMom.com
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