Heavy Heart

Today I am sad. It is not just a passing twinge of sadness, but a heavy hearted weighty sadness. There are so many "hurts" that I am aware of in my own life, in the lives of family and loved ones, friends, and even casual acquaintances.  

I am looking for the Balm of Gilead to soothe these "hurts". I know JESUS is the only answer for these "hurts". He is the Balm of Gilead. He is the great comforter and the ultimate in peace giving relief. So as I go throughout my day today, every time I feel a twinge of that deep sadness, I am going to pray for the "hurt" and the person that goes along with it. 

I will lift up those twinges in prayer today, remembering 

Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." I am thankful there is something to do with all of sadness and that JESUS holds the ultimate relief.

Sacred Chaos

Here I am once again with too many months since I have blogged. 

We have entered the last month of 2011 with whirlwind speed. Last night I took a deep breath in and asked God to help me with all that looms ahead. I have been reading a really good book called Sacred Chaos: Spiritual Disciplines for the Life You Have by Tricia McCary Rhodes. She offers up suggestions of connecting with God despite or in the midst of a chaotic life. I must say, I "stumbled" upon this book, but it has been such a blessing. It reminds me that God is not scared of a little turmoil or upheaval, He just would like to be included in it! I often turn to every other thing to get my check lists marked off, caffeine, delegation, prioritizing, but the first thing I need to be doing is inviting God to dwell with me, right smack dab in the middle of everything. So, I have learned I can grab moments with God anytime there is a pause in my family's chaos and in doing so, God can turn our chaos into something sacred. 

Thank you God for reminding me, where you are is the best place to be, and that You, can handle chaos. 

Let the Spring Cleaning Begin!

I love this time of year. The feeling of newness in the air is intoxicating and has spurred me on to thinking about Spring Cleaning! I love to clean, really I do! I love the feeling of satisfaction I get when I have scrubbed and polished and weeded through all the stuff that seems to accumulate over the long winter. The problem is finding the time to really clean! I am formulating a plan for my spring cleaning so that I can accomplish the big clean up, but in a reasonable way so that I am not up to my ears in dust bunnies and old projects and clothes that are two sizes too small! I am learning as I get older to tackle things with a little more grace mixed in with my gusto so I don't BURN OUT and not get anything done. Besides, spring cleaning my home I feel God's prompting to get my spiritual house in order as well. I have lost some of my "shininess" as I put it! I have been running so hard with so many balls up in the air with my dear husband deployed and gone for us for 15 months, that my quiet time, and my seeking of the Lord has been a brief happening each day. I am cleaning out my schedule this spring too and where others may be increasing their schedules as the warmer weather is ushered in, I am trying to weed out the things that are not necessary so that I can carve out time to spend on my most important relationship with my Jesus. So many things creep in to my daily planning and before I know it they have taken over the sweet garden time I have with Him. No more! Time to start pulling weeds and cutting back the overgrowth of a over-packed schedule. The great thing I know is that when I do that, every other area of my life falls into order. I love order! Order in my relationship with Christ, order in all my relationships, order in our homeschooling and order in the house! I love Spring time!