Reaching

The rose plant near my kitchen window has been through a lot. When I first got it, there were plenty of buds, even blooms of mini-roses. Then, the little guy dried out, and I thought he was done for. But I repotted him, watered him with just the right frequency (I can be taught) and he rebounded. Yay! A year and a half later, he’s ready to bloom again. One bud is now opening. I’ll call it my Christmas rose.

This morning it was nearly open and something had changed. Rather than growing straight up from the plant, the little stem had reached toward the window, bending and stretching in that direction. So, I opened the shade a bit more to make it easier for my Christmas rose to drink in the muted November light. Isn’t it amazing how plants know just what to do when they need something?

Do you?

During all the busy-ness of the Christmas season, do you take time to be refreshed by God? Do you reach toward Him, looking to have your needs met through His loving care?

It’s so easy to chase our heartaches with food or idols of choice, especially this time of year. But God wants to fill us up. He wants to give us His joy which abides during the Christmas season and beyond.

I want to be like my rose. I want to recognize what I need (Light), reach toward Him (God) and drink my fill.

How about you?

God Takes Good Care of Us

What’s worse in airport delays: grounded and waiting, or circling in the air and not landing?

Ugh. Double-up on the Dramamine, people! Apparently we missed our window to land in the fog. There we were circling our destination last week, waiting for clearance. For an hour. So a two-hour flight, took three. And usually a half Dramamine is all I need to make it through. Take a whole one and you’d have to carry me off the plane. Take a half one and I don’t throw up (whew!), plus I’m lucid. Well, mostly.

But I prayed and experienced God’s nearness while we circled. And we did eventually land. Yay!

On the return trip, I had to retrieve our pup from the boarder. Oh, the snow and ice. But the roads were clear and I left to pick up the well-missed dog. Got him home and we went about our day. At one point, as I was working away on the trip’s laundry, I said something to him (yeah, I talk to the dog) about how we needed to get his blanket washed or take him outside, or something and a feeling covered me. We were taking good care of him, out of love.

Just like God does with us.

The Lord got us to our destination, blessed us with a great trip, brought us safely home through snowy conditions, even graced me to pick up groceries before the snowstorm set in and the roads iced over. We’re well cared for.

Aren’t you glad God takes such good care of His kids? This Thanksgiving, thank Him for His tender, loving care. Watch for it. Don’t take it for granted. That TLC is His love in action.

Power Outage

Camped in front of the fireplace last night. (Read: Didn’t sleep much. *grin*) There we were, watching A Season for Miracles during a windstorm. And the lights flickered. Watched for a bit more and suddenly the TV clicked off. OK. Dark house. The candle I’d lit earlier kept us calm, and the power kicked back on. We flipped through to find our scene in the movie, laughed over the back-and-forth of the great court scene, and click! off went the TV and lights again. And this time the outage lasted all night.

Let the camping begin.

This morning about the time the alarm would have sounded on my cell phone, the power resumed with a whoosh. Lights, furnace, fridge. Our home came back to life.

Power. Oh how we take it for granted. And how we miss it when it’s off.

With power, our home is warm, inviting. There is full access to a stocked fridge (which we leave closed during an outage). And our meal options are at full capacity. We have heat and lights in any room we choose. We can watch movies, rely on alarm clocks and garage door openers.

So, as power zoomed back to life around here this morning, I thought about the parallels with our spiritual lives.

Ever feel like you’re running dry? or cold? or dark? God never shuts down, He never sleeps. So all the outages are on our side.

Circumstances can shut us down with doubts. Where’s God? Why is all this happening?

The wind of trials can knock out our connection and leave us dark and cold. Why isn’t God doing something?! Doesn’t He care?

Time slips by without our plugging into Him and we end up distant, feeling powerless. Our prayers feel dull, like they’re bouncing off the ceiling.

Time for the zoom of God’s power to come rushing back to us and bring warmth, sustenance (remember that fridge full of food?) and light.

While we waited for the lights to come back on, we had to trust in the power company to be on the job and working hard. (Thanks, crew!!) When you’re stuck spiritually, ask God to bring you back. Trust God to bring you back. Seek Him. Get into His presence (through the Word and prayer and worship) and wait on Him. Won’t be long before heat, light, the sweetness of His fellowship, and His power will return.

God's Stirring It Up

This week, I’ve been reminded over and over of my calling. The worship sets over the weekend, the sermon, my blog posts, Scriptures, even on Facebook. God’s up to something—a new thing. Here’s what I read in my Bible this week:

"Forget about what's happened;
don't keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand new.
It's bursting out! Don't you see it?"
(From Isaiah 43:17, MSG)

A new thing! It's a new season where callings are concerned.

And then, just when I thought I was on the right track, going the right direction, completely clued in, along came a reminder of something I’d forgotten—a different facet to my future. One little reminder from an odd source and bam! The memory of that calling came rushing back, fresh, but reminiscent of all the emotion of that first moment.

Has God ever done this in your life?

What has He called you to do? Where has He called you to be, to live?

I had to ask myself if I’m completely in agreement with His calling on my life and if so, what am I doing to cooperate with His readying season? If not, it’s time to come into agreement.

I’m thankful He’s stirring it up with fresh promises and fresh agreement from me.

Okay, God, let’s go!