Home Sweet Home

As a child my life was so transient, we moved often due to the financial burdens placed on a struggling household. I'm sure that even as a young mother I endured many relocations for the same reason. It does not surprise me, although it might you, that I have lived in some 30 something locations to date.

Adapting to new environs has becaome second nature to me so much so, that even though my current address hasn't changed for 16 years, I still move my furniture every time I deep clean my house! I think it makes everything feel new. I also paint my walls every 3 years to recreate the space I call home. Some may think of home as a place where you can rely on things not to change, but in my experience it is the very change that makes me excited!

I have learned that it is not the comfort of the familiar I depend upon for the feeling of "home", more like the comfort of family! As long as I am surrounded by the voices, expressions, and personalities that are such a part of me, I am at home. I am at home when visiting siblings out of state. I am at home when present with dear friends. I am at home with my grandchildren wherever we find ourselves at play. All because I am at home with my Lord and God!

Many followers of Christ look to the future to be "home"after a life of service has ended on this earth! I believe too in a prepared place beyond this world. Except I also believe that we ABIDE in him! Jesus is our home here on earth! We are never without the blessed comfort afforded us by his Holy Spirit. He is a resident in our hearts and minds and continues to allow us to also recognize the outer protection and provision that is supernatural and invisible to the naked eye.

It is Jesus that prepares a precious meal of the bread and cup for me to dine with Him. It is my Lord who laughs and cries with me, it is the Son of God who calls me his sibling! Home is where the heart is , and so having given mine to Christ, He has taken up residence and has rooted me in the community of His love for all those I call brothers and sisters of faith!

Home Sweet Home! John 15" Abide in me and I will abide in you".

Gossip Girl or Gospel Girl?

I admit that for a while, I've been in a bit of a bubble. My concerns and experiences have been of a personal nature. My time spent with intimate friends and family. My energies applied to mostly isolated encounters, one on one chats or encouraging group activities. So as I returned to the workforce this past week ( a huge company) I was not prepared for the petty nuances in the workplace.

My employment is in the health care arena, specifically an assisted living facility. I come into contact with all manner of service oriented workers. And let me first say this, it is a priveledge to be amongst those who serve this country on the front lines (The hardest emotional battlefield of life). Daily facing the enemy of apathy, sacrificing personal space and pride to bring dignity to those who have gone before us and now depend on us down to the most humbling of actions. But, having been in the bubble I forgot how personalities can produce friction when rubbed the wrong way!

The very smallest of actions between co-workers can be fanned into a tremendous flare up when repeated to an itchy ear. The right words can become the wrong ones when a recanting of anothers circumstance is colored with opinion. The observations of a "not clued in" bystander can taint the perceptions of grace in action. Even the introductions to staff can present a jaded history not yet a part of my own experience with that relationship! One week into the job and my head is already spinning! Not because I worry about performance of duties, but because I need to take out the trash that is being dumped all over my heart to serve!!! I must remain dilligent in guarding my heart against the onslaught of this verbal pollution.

I could create allies, team up with those who have the most pull or influence. I could speak out against the behaviors that seem inappropriate. I could even just ignore it all and go about my own business. But if I want to truelly walk in the love and power of God, I must rely on the Holy Spirit to stir me and direct me in each instance. Only God can know the way to my heart, only he can reveal to me how to be effectual to each person that is devinely called to be part of my journey. And only God can reach others through me! So I must become an empty vessel every day, that I might be refilled with the new wine of his spirit, ready to be poured out again and again.

Create in me a clean heart Lord and renew a right spirit within me, cast me not from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me!

Story Time

I love to read, as a matter of fact I love it so much that I will even read the dictionary! As I sit here at my computer, I am surrounded by stacks of books I've read and often re-read. The public library is better than shopping at the Mall for me( Actually anything is better then shopping for me!) I can lose myself in the smell of old print and the catagorical presentation of subjects.

I believe this deep connection began in me as a small child in kindergarten. Storytime had me fixated on images and characters from far away places of someones imagination. But the best thing I liked was the voice of the librarian as she made each page come to life. I didn't want to miss one word of text, I always tried to sit in front to view the illustrations up close. I was and still am transported to places and situations that imprint my soul.

When my children were potty training, I used sitting time as a tool to read and reward them for their efforts. We would stay bathroom bound with stacks of books even after the mission was accomplished. To this very day I keep a Bible on the tank of each commode to allow undistracted oppertunity for reading! I have often encouraged friends who need more discipline in daily devotion and Bible literacy to place a copy in the bathroom! We all need to retreat there at some point in our day! And so, the quiet and seperated space can lend itself to a necesary connection with the Word of God. And since I can no longer read my children bedtime stories, I allow them to search scripture by putting it out there where they can help themselves to as much as they want or need.

Now I must say that this practice has been confirmed for me and my household as a valid source of inspiration. Many an epiphany has taken place after a nature call. Truelly it has become a call to a new nature of spirit as well. There are even times when a family member will leave a passage open or marked for the next visitor! This can provide a gentle sharing of the word without confrontation, so to speak. A reminder to place love above all else, a psalm of praise to God to refocus our victories as from him and not ourselves, even a marked parable to help us reorient our path. In few short moments as these, we become re-centered on our real source of knowledge and truth. We are cognisant of trusting God for what we don't have answers for, or we are open to recieve the answers we want to avoid!

The first time I ever read the bible all the way through, I was 20 years old and it was a childrens picture story bible. A gift to my infant daughter upon her dedication in church. I knew that with such an important vow as to train her up in Gods word I needed to understand the power of this written history of Faith. What I realized in having finished this bible storybook was in itself the most incredible portrait of a loving father I had ever seen! My desire to know a real relationship with him has since been through daily correspondence via his precious son Jesus and the letters of the New Testament.

I pray you will burn with such a passion for "storytime" and come as a child to get a front seat.

I Wait by Vanessa Redman Thorp

I wait
I wait for a glimpse of you dear Jesus
I stand in the crowd of those who have heard
you are coming!
Excited, I wait.

I Know
I know you will pass this way my Rabbi
I long to listen to your words of truth,
your teachings.
Open, I wait.

I Cry
I cry ,I weep, I confess
I sob for all I have forsaken, all I've taken
I want to make it right with you
Forgiven, I wait.

I Trust
I trust that you will restore me, make me new
I place my life into your hands
I sense a freedom from all worldly woe
Peacefully, I wait.

I Follow
I follow you, the Great Shepherd
I come into the goodness of your care
I am safely kept in your sight
Sheltered, I wait.

I Praise
I praise you for you are all I need
I sing of all your kindness and love to me
I worship you with all my heart contains
Joyfully, I wait.

I Wait
I wait each new morning for you
I wait throughout the changing days
I wait as years toll upon my face
In your presence, I wait.