Thirsty

I woke up too early one morning . . . just as the birds were beginning to sing - early. I do not like waking up early. I think it is for the birds . . . literally. I am quite content not to participate.

But, on this morning when I awoke, the chirping of the robins was not my only annoyance. I was thirsty, really thirsty . . . a ‘this is how I imagine it feels to be stranded in the desert’ thirsty.

So, I tossed and turned for a while. Then I tried being as still as possible, squeezing my eyes shut against the early morning sun. When those tried and true methods for thirst quenching fell short, I got spiritual and went with the ‘well, I’m awake anyway so I may as well pray’ technique.

Guess what? Still thirsty.

I knew what I needed. I needed water.

Fortunately, we have water . . . and glasses to put water in . . . and a refrigerator that keeps said water cold for whenever it may be needed.

The problem? That water was all the way down the hall from me!

Okay – our house is not that large. It is only about six steps from the bedroom to the kitchen . . . maybe eight if my sleepy eyes are not yet quite open and I stagger about a bit. But still . . . the water I craved was in a whole different room!

I would have to move from where I was . . . from the cosy comfort of my bed to the cold, dark kitchen.

 From the moment that I first awoke and realized that I was thirsty to the moment that I actually got out of bed and plodded down the hallway, poured a glass of water and was satisfied, much time was wasted!

If I had just responded to what my body was telling me that it needed, I could have had more sleep time . . . or I may have enjoyed the robin’s song. I could have had an early but productive start to my day. I could have actually had a real prayer time and communion with my Father.

Instead I wasted time . . . in a sense choosing to stay thirsty.

Ever had a time when your soul was thirsty? Yes? Me too.

Sometimes my methods for dealing with those thirsty times are just as ineffective as my methods of dealing with my early morning need for a drink.

Ignore it. Hope it will just go away. Think about something else. Get busy doing other stuff. Talk about it. Complain about it. Everything but go to the source of Living Water . . .

I can make it so complicated. Jesus makes it so simple.

“. . . If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” John 7:37

Do you notice that Jesus says “Come to me”?

I want to be clear that this isn’t about doing something to earn what my thirsty soul needs however . . . I do need to take a step.

It may mean getting out of my comfy bed and moving to my knees.

It may mean putting down a book about God’s Word and picking up God’s Word.

It may mean turning off the music . . . even the good music . . . and listening in the silence for the still small voice.

It may be choosing to be less busy.

It may be something completely different for you than it is for me but the promised result is for all of us.

When Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman at the well he said, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” John 4:10

And, if that is truth . . . if it is just that simple, then let’s not choose to stay thirsty . . . let’s just go to Jesus and ask.

Ruth U.

Nest Matters

Feathering my nest is one of my favourite little past times. I love to decorate and clean and organize and move things around. My husband appreciates it for the most part . . . well, except for the time I rearranged the bedroom furniture while he was away on business and returned during the night, but that’s a blog for a different day – one on healing (stubbed toes) and repentance and such.

It used to be quite cumbersome day in and day out when the children were young and living at home. Frankly it was quite a job just keeping up. Now, feathering my nest includes parting with some of the things that served me well during that time but aren't needed now, were left behind by same children or are just plain taking up space I’d rather use for something else or *gasp* have unoccupied.

The nests we have lived in over the years have served us so well – it’s been such a pleasure, as every eagle mama, gathering the soft feathers and gentle mosses to make it cozy and loving and caring for my little ones – instructing, guiding, protecting. I never intended to raise them to coddle them in the nest but to grow them up strong. Strong in character and wisdom and knowledge; until the time came for each of them to fly, in their own purpose.

I enjoy our ongoing conversations about what they feel they were created for and how all of that is coming about . . . or not. It’s a big leap of faith, taking that step away – sometimes it comes at will and sometimes by circumstance but ALWAYS by design (HIS). When given the choice of the comfortable over trusting God for the unseen, it’s tough! When the inconvenient and repeating life lessons come our way it’s easy to whine rather than appreciate it as an opportunity to grow.

But this I know for sure: God has created all of us for the wide open skies, the freedom, eagles enjoy. Imagine life embracing more than the familiar nest, more than the mundane, more than the same old same old . . . and it’s good!

“He shielded him and cared for him; He guarded him as the apple of His eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.  So the LORD alone did lead him.” Deuteronomy 32:10-12 NIV

Yes, the LORD leads with great things in mind for His glory. You are the apple of His eye (the WORD says so)! He wants what’s best for you. He will guide and provide.

There’s an interesting fact about eagles: When a storm moves into the area where an eagle is flying and the winds are high velocity, the thunder is rumbling across the area and the lightning is flashing . . . at that very moment, the eagle flies straight into the storm; allowing the very winds that threaten to overcome it to be the channel through which it soars higher and higher and more steadily! Up to where the view changes! Ah, a glimpse of perspective! Holy Spirit wind through any storm AND for your children too!

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

Keep claiming those truths – through thick and thin. I plan to keep feathering the nest as a haven in the midst of whatever is going on, but also as a launch for the next flight out, back into the battle.

Press in and press on,

Giselle L.

The Joy Quilt

This past summer, the Lord laid it on my heart to complete a project that had been long abandoned – not by me, but by my grandmother. Fifteen years ago, my grandma decided to make a quilt for me. She had made quilts for the other grandkids in previous years, and now my turn had come. I had been given several patterns to choose from, and a choice of colors. I can just picture her busily selecting the fabric at the store, bringing it home and starting to carefully cut out each tiny piece. I can’t even imagine how frustrating it must have been when, shortly after beginning my quilt, she was diagnosed with cancer. It was so painful to watch her slowly slip away as she fought bravely for three years until it finally took her life. The unfinished quilt, still in small pieces, was packed up and stored away.

When my parents decided to sell the house I grew up in, the quilt pieces were discovered and handed over to me in the hope that someone, at sometime, would make the effort to complete the project. So this summer, I decided it was time – and it was going to be me who did it.

I have never quilted before, but I knew enough to know that I needed the pattern – and it was missing. How was I supposed to put these pieces together correctly without the pattern? After all attempts at locating the pattern had failed, I decided just to lay out all the pieces on the floor and see what I could make of them. I did purchase a 'how-to' book for beginning quilters, which turned out to be all I needed. As I carefully tried different placements for the pieces, I eventually found an arrangement that I liked that would also be fairly simple to complete. Following my book step by step, my quilt slowly began to take shape.

I've always enjoyed creating things by hand, especially if it's something new that I never thought I could do before. I felt amazed at the results of my labor – and also sentimental at the fact that I was completing something my grandmother had begun. It was a group effort! The tiny fabric pieces she had put so much time into cutting out were finally being unified and given a purpose by my own pattern and my own hand.

Do you think that's how God feels about us? He certainly doesn't enjoy watching us suffer like we do – but how His tremendously creative heart longs to bring redemption and purpose into our brokenness! The Bible says in Psalm 126:5-6 that "those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." It's never easy having to endure seasons of sorrow, but if we remember that they are often necessary to bring joy and harvest, then we can learn to trust God more as we go through them. And even if you've spent years feeling guilty and regretful about something, it's never too late to bring it all to God. Only He knows the ultimate pattern that will bring all your pieces back together and have your life make sense. Like learning to quilt, all you need is the 'how-to' book – the Bible – that can take you each step of the way. Leave the big picture to Him.

Looking back, I'm so glad I took the time and effort to complete my quilt. In fact, I've named it my Joy Quilt. Partly because of Psalm 126:5-6, but mostly because my grandmother's name was Joyce, and I was given my middle name 'Joy' after her. I hope the quilt will remain useful and beautiful for generations to come. I also can't wait to get to heaven so I can tell grandma how her sacrifice of time and energy was not futile, but instead became a symbol of God's creative redemption.

Ruth-Ellen W.

True Worshipers

Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

I've recently been given the opportunity to be in charge of the music ministry in our church and so the concept of worship has been taking up a lot of my brain power these days. I find the term “worship leader” odd because usually it refers to someone who has the role of “song picker, mood shaper, or music leader.” What does it really mean to be a Worship leader?

The truth is, music is really such a small part of worship. Paul is talking about being a “living sacrifice.” Those words actually terrify me a little bit. This is because they allude to the idea that worship is more than those great warm feelings you get when the right song plays at the right time. More than feeling God's presence in a song that hits you hard in that soft spot in your heart. These words allude to worship costing you something and continually costing you something. Not only does worship cost you something, but it involves your whole body! And not just on Sundays! Worship is your whole body. In other words, your whole life. (Unless you can think of a way to do life here without your body.)

Worship is giving your life over to God in such an extreme way that your bodies are “sacrificed” to Him. Meaning bodies and lives given entirely to him to use for His purposes only. Worship is knowing he deserves our sacrifice, and honouring him by giving ourselves fully, completely, with utter loyalty and a death to any rights we think we have. Extreme? Well yes it is.

I believe we are all called to be worshipers, not just the musically gifted. I want my life to be one big act of worship to this creator of the universe who chose to let me be His daughter. I don't want to forget for one minute the miracle that is His passionate pursuit of His creation. That little old me and all my selfishness, impatience, obsessiveness, distracted heart, and judgmental attitudes gets to be changed daily into something that is so much more beautiful. That he wants to change me. That he takes the time to change me. That he speaks to me. That he touches me. That he reveals his joy and love to me in all the beauty and goodness surrounding me. That he reveals his pain and sorrow at all the darkness surrounding me. That he has things he wants me to do. And that he has something to show me, say to me, reveal to me, every moment of every day . . . if I worship. If I surrender this body and this life to the adoration of who He is and to the plans he wants t accomplish through me.

A couple years ago after being inspired at a conference, I bought a beeper.  I set it to vibrate every 10 minutes to remind me to worship. My goal was to learn to live in a continuous state of worship. It was an amazing experience. It is very hard to think negative thoughts of anyone when you are stopping to worship every ten minutes! Amazing things began to happen. I began to see people through God's eyes instead of through the eyes of our circumstances. I began to know what God wanted of me in the little moments as well as the big moments. Lines at the grocery store became chances to bless the people around me. My kids became so beautiful to me that I was frequently moved to tears at the precious gift I'd been given in them. My husband became a wonderful man who loved me so deeply. All of these things were there before, but they looked different as I walked through life as a worshiper.

Worship is not about being at church and singing songs. Worship is going to an exercise class, introducing yourself to someone new, and smiling at the women around you; sharing his presence with joy, not just suffering through the exercises until you can leave. Worship is stopping to cuddle your little toddler who is covered in snot and dirt (and who knows what else!) when she keeps pulling on your leg and yelling as you try to make supper. Worship is being in tune with God's heart to the place where you know what he wants of you in every moment of every day. Worship means you are never off duty. You are called to be living sacrifices. At work, at school, at home, at restaurants, in stores and in those moments when you least want to be a worshiper. Especially in those moments. But the best thing about being a living sacrifice? The more you worship, the less it feels like a sacrifice.  The more it feels like an honour and a privilege. How truly blessed we are. We are His.

Erin N.

Blooming Where You're Planted

Have you ever heard the phrase “bloom where you are planted”?

It’s been around for a number of years and it’s a great phrase. It’s all about being content and flourishing where you are. Making the best of the situation you are in.

I am reminded of a chapter in Jeremiah which was written to the exiles in Babylon. Jeremiah 29:4-7 says, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

And a well-known verse for many of us is just a few verses later. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

We often quote the above verse, but when we consider it in the context of those who had been exiled to Babylon – these were very difficult days for the Israelites and they were in exile for a number of years. They needed to bloom where they were planted, in the midst of all that was going on around them.

How are you doing with that? Can you find spots to share the light of Jesus with those around you, even if you don’t like the place where you are living – literally or figuratively?

• What if you don’t like the neighbourhood you live in – could you still make some muffins for the little old lady across the street?
• What if you don’t like the repeated visits to the clinic trying to figure out your child’s health issues – could you still greet those working there with a smile and word of encouragement?
• What if you don’t like the uncertainty of your children’s choices and their disrespect of curfew – could you still worship God while you trust Him with their lives?

What if we could still share Jesus with others in the midst of the situations and circumstances we find ourselves in everyday?

What if we could still praise the Lord even if we can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel? 

What if we could still be at peace in the midst of the storm raging around us?

Then we can stand on Jeremiah 29:11. We know God spoke this to the Israelites when they were exiled to Babylon – He will be with us wherever we are too!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jo-Ann