I've had
a wonderful day today!
I went to church with Ma, and saw a number of
people that mean the world to me. Began a very new friendship with Darla,
who has a life that parallels
mine in that we both struggle with the season God has put us in.
Was challenged by Casey last week to start a 10/10/30 Bible study. By this I mean 10 minutes in the Word, 10 minutes in conversation with God, for 30 days. I managed to only miss one day, and that was very hard to admit to Casey.... It's so hard to have to be accountable to another person..
Was blessed and humbled by one of the songs we sang today, "God Of My Everything" by Bebo Norman. This song is very dear to my heart, as it speaks to my soul, and reminds me that God is in charge..
Spent a few minutes after church with Ma at her house, "I don't know what is wrong with my printer, it isn't working. I changed the ink, and now it doesn't work."
After checking all the plugs and the doors, I turned it ON............started right up and spit out the new test sheet...... After I told her that all she needed to do was turn it on, she said, "Well, you don't have to be such a smart apple!" Funny how those phrases stick with you your whole life..
You gotta love em... My Ma is 86, and I find myself thanking God that I have her, every day. I am so blessed to still have her in my life. I find it hard some days, to come home weekend after weekend and take her where she needs to go, and when the resentment of not having "me" time starts to creep in, I remind myself over and over that SHE sacrificed SO much for me over the years, and God wants me in this season, and I might as well stop bucking God, as we all know how that turns out..... and I think again of Jonah..
Spent some time with my youngest, Zach, who is 18. Friday night we sat in the living room, me on the couch, and him in his chair, both of us with our computers on our laps.... Spent some hours just in comfortable silence, periodically speaking, but really enjoying the time just spent in the same room. We don't often get to just be together.
This afternoon Zach came to me and said, "Ma, you said you would fix my blanket this weekend." Igroaned inside, smiled widely as this "blanket" is 14
years old, and is mostly a rag....But I DID
say that I would fix it... One of
the sides of the binding had come loose almost all the way down the side, and a
corner needed to be put back in place.
I took him and his friend Bradley to my daughter October's house so they could babysit my grandson Leo, and returned home, determined tosit on my
bed and grumble about the blanket get
going right away on fixing it..then I remembered that he was counting on me to do this after putting if off
a weekend.
Ok. Time to do this... I cleaned off the table, muttering imprecations under
my breath....cheerfully and willingly eager to fix it....and dragged the sewing
machine out of the closet and set
it up. I had said to Zach, "Don't expect this to look very good, as there
are pieces missing..." He then said, "That's ok, Ma, just LOVE
it back together!"
What a kid....and what a way to tell me that he still thinks I am SUPERMOM!
More cheerfully now, I proceeded to begin to sew it back together. As I was working, patching holes, sewing pieces back into place, and reattaching binding to its proper place, I started to really enjoy what I was doing. I thought about Zach, and how that blanket came to be in his possession (Andrew across the street very graciously gave him the blanket and a wonderful bed to match it when he was 4), and how over the many years, changes and age, that blanket means so much to him. How could I not "love it back together?"
I filled the holes in that blanket with love, hugs, and kisses for my wonderful son, who has been an incredible blessing to me since the day he was born.
As I sewed, it occurred to me again that God has patched the holes, sewn bindings back on, and filled the empty places in my life with love, hugs, and kisses.
I sewed and sewed, fixing far more than Zach had originally asked me to, because it had become a labor of unending love for me.
He will be so surprised when he comes home and sees that ragged bit of absolute love laying on his bed, with a note of more love from his mother.
How humbling an experience that was!
As I sit here and write this, it is snowing outside, hordes and hordes of snowflakes!
They cover the ground, the streets, and the ugliness that was the old snow beginning to melt.
God does this for all of us, when we finally become wise enough to let Him into our lives. He takes the blood of his most precious and only Son, and covers up the ugliness in our lives with it.
That's why I named this blog "I am a new creation," because over the course of my life, God has been welcomed into my heart, and He reminds me over and over again what an Awesome God He is.
He continues to forgive me and give me chance after chance after chance to be a new creation.
There are days and weeks and months and years that I struggle to find my way, often forgetting that the days when I wonder where God was in those struggles, I have to be reminded that God didn't go anywhere..... I was the one who left.
I am taking things day by day now, and accepting (sometimes grudgingly) the season I am in. Sometimes God has to take every distraction in your life away to remind you that He is there, waiting for you to turn to HIM to carry your burdens. After all, His shoulders are so much bigger and broader than mine!
Was challenged by Casey last week to start a 10/10/30 Bible study. By this I mean 10 minutes in the Word, 10 minutes in conversation with God, for 30 days. I managed to only miss one day, and that was very hard to admit to Casey.... It's so hard to have to be accountable to another person..
Was blessed and humbled by one of the songs we sang today, "God Of My Everything" by Bebo Norman. This song is very dear to my heart, as it speaks to my soul, and reminds me that God is in charge..
Spent a few minutes after church with Ma at her house, "I don't know what is wrong with my printer, it isn't working. I changed the ink, and now it doesn't work."
After checking all the plugs and the doors, I turned it ON............started right up and spit out the new test sheet...... After I told her that all she needed to do was turn it on, she said, "Well, you don't have to be such a smart apple!" Funny how those phrases stick with you your whole life..
You gotta love em... My Ma is 86, and I find myself thanking God that I have her, every day. I am so blessed to still have her in my life. I find it hard some days, to come home weekend after weekend and take her where she needs to go, and when the resentment of not having "me" time starts to creep in, I remind myself over and over that SHE sacrificed SO much for me over the years, and God wants me in this season, and I might as well stop bucking God, as we all know how that turns out..... and I think again of Jonah..
Spent some time with my youngest, Zach, who is 18. Friday night we sat in the living room, me on the couch, and him in his chair, both of us with our computers on our laps.... Spent some hours just in comfortable silence, periodically speaking, but really enjoying the time just spent in the same room. We don't often get to just be together.
This afternoon Zach came to me and said, "Ma, you said you would fix my blanket this weekend." I
I took him and his friend Bradley to my daughter October's house so they could babysit my grandson Leo, and returned home, determined to
Ok. Time to do this... I cleaned off the table,
What a kid....and what a way to tell me that he still thinks I am SUPERMOM!
More cheerfully now, I proceeded to begin to sew it back together. As I was working, patching holes, sewing pieces back into place, and reattaching binding to its proper place, I started to really enjoy what I was doing. I thought about Zach, and how that blanket came to be in his possession (Andrew across the street very graciously gave him the blanket and a wonderful bed to match it when he was 4), and how over the many years, changes and age, that blanket means so much to him. How could I not "love it back together?"
I filled the holes in that blanket with love, hugs, and kisses for my wonderful son, who has been an incredible blessing to me since the day he was born.
As I sewed, it occurred to me again that God has patched the holes, sewn bindings back on, and filled the empty places in my life with love, hugs, and kisses.
I sewed and sewed, fixing far more than Zach had originally asked me to, because it had become a labor of unending love for me.
He will be so surprised when he comes home and sees that ragged bit of absolute love laying on his bed, with a note of more love from his mother.
How humbling an experience that was!
As I sit here and write this, it is snowing outside, hordes and hordes of snowflakes!
They cover the ground, the streets, and the ugliness that was the old snow beginning to melt.
God does this for all of us, when we finally become wise enough to let Him into our lives. He takes the blood of his most precious and only Son, and covers up the ugliness in our lives with it.
That's why I named this blog "I am a new creation," because over the course of my life, God has been welcomed into my heart, and He reminds me over and over again what an Awesome God He is.
He continues to forgive me and give me chance after chance after chance to be a new creation.
There are days and weeks and months and years that I struggle to find my way, often forgetting that the days when I wonder where God was in those struggles, I have to be reminded that God didn't go anywhere..... I was the one who left.
I am taking things day by day now, and accepting (sometimes grudgingly) the season I am in. Sometimes God has to take every distraction in your life away to remind you that He is there, waiting for you to turn to HIM to carry your burdens. After all, His shoulders are so much bigger and broader than mine!
