Dark Treasures

   There are treasures for you that only come from being in the darkness.  I have experienced darkness.  I now realize that what I gained from the darkness is treasure. Treasures that changed me for the better.

And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel  ~Isaiah 45:5 KJV
 

Know your Season

    There is a time and season for everything.  We must know what season we are in.  If you don't what season your are in this can lead to a leak in your joy tank and unfulfilled expectations.  For me as a mother of very young children, I am in a season of planting.  In this season I must be diligent about cultivating good soil in which to plant good seeds.  I should be watering with Godly principles and morals, nurturing any signs of healthy growth and weeding out anything that will inhibit strong growth.   In this season it is joy depleting to expect a full grown tree budding with juicy fruit and or lush foliage.  I may see a bud here or there.  I may even notice a bloom or two or three, etc... But overall it is planting time for me.  I am encountering rocks in the soil, and in some areas of this vineyard I am seeing good moist soil.  Some days I feel like the weed I thought I plucked out yesterday is full grown today and I must pluck away once again.  I was planting one week and expecting beautiful blooms the next week.  Silly me!  No wonder my frustrations were plentiful.  Thanks to The Almighty Revealing One I am seeing that my expectations are unrealistic for my season.  So, for now I dig, chop, hoe and pull away.  Along the way I will thank God for buds and tight baby blooms and continue in the dirty sometimes muddy season of planting.  For now I put my hope in God's faithful love and attempt to shake off weariness knowing in due time I will reap a harvest.
   
    As a wife, I am reaping the harvest of good communication, trust, sacrifice, dedication and appreciation.  Ironically  I am simultaneously continuing to plant seeds of emotional intimacy and vulnerability to name a few.  I am learning to never leave weeds unattended in this vineyard.  Uggh!  A weedy garden is so unsightly and not nice to be in.  On a brighter side the soil is rich and the turn around of the harvest can be swift in most areas.  However, planting is always in progress and therefore there is always potential for lush fruit and breathtaking blooms.

To every thing there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:  Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)

And let us not be weary in well doing:
for in due season we shall reap, if we
faint not.  Galatians  6:9 (KJV)

Get Low But Don't Hide

I am salt.  I am light.
I am a city set on a hill.  Yes, to be seen.
Seen for God's glory, not my own.



God's glory comes at a price.
The price is humility.
Am I willing to pay the price?
Besides, what He did for me *is* priceless!




~I'll take a shot of humility please and thank you!  Straight up, no chaser!
It gets me "low" and keeps me from hiding... His Glory.

It's Tricky

Beware of the insidiousness of pride.
It is the master of camouflage.
It eases it's way into the spirit of your attitude
and in your heart it will set up lodge.
 
Beguiling is that thing called pride.
It gives the impression of being smart.
She places bets against your mind
and will slither into your heart.
 
Pernicious as gossip dressed up as concern.
Like a crisp Red Delicious concealing a worm.
As a well defined eye of a violent hurricane
seeking to eradicate humble thoughts in your brain.

Beware of the insidiousness of pride.
It will populate anywhere it can
Moving its way from your heart
Showing up in the workings of your hand.

Choices, Agape Style

Choose to suffer long
Choose to be kind.
Choose to speak edifying words
Regardless of what's on your mind.

Choose not to cloak yourself with invidia
Choose not to be a glutton of pride.
Put away all narcissism
And abandon abnormal response to stimuli.

Choose to be exuberant about the truth
Choose not to give approval to iniquity.
Choose not to publish others faults
And the best about them choose to believe.


Agape is a deliberate choice.  It is born out of a sincere reverence of God.
It IS NOT a love that is centered around people.  This love has God as it's primary
focus. It has nothing to do with you and your affections or the lack thereof.

Think about it, God gave His only son for us.
The thought of giving up an only child to be put to death for the sake of
sin does not evoke anything warm and fuzzy within. So don't expect the "warm and fuzzies" when you put 1 Corinthians 13 to work in your life.

Let's love on one another the way God loves us. This is how others will know we are Christians.(John 13:34-35)
Agape has to become a habit. It's expensive and laborious.  But it is worth it because God commands it and that settles it!


Suffer- to undergo or be subjected to injury; to put up with something or SOMEONE unpleasant
Invidia-envy
Glutton- a person DEVOTED to eating and drinking to excess or OVER indulgence.
Abnormal response to stimuli; easily annoyed, irritable

Square Biz

Thanks, but no thanks.
I will kindly pass on the "cube".

Thanks, but no thanks.
I'll pass on the on the "square" too!

Thanks, but no thanks.
I'll pass on the on the "mold".
He does not fit!
Now you have been kindly told.

Oval, rectangle or round with a top.
I will not make him fit.
I will not put him in your "box."

Fearfully and wonderfully,
sounds unique to me.
He has to be free
Free who God made him to be.

So Thanks, but no thanks.
I'll pass on the "cardboard".

Now if you would kindly excuse me
I want to be lead by the Lord.

Me, Little 'B' and Trisomy 21

Almost ten lunar months had gone by.
The inquisition that lingered was why Lord,why?

I know that all good things come from above.
Sweetly wrapped in your heavenly love.

I know that you made all things beautiful in it's time
 But Jesus, what about mine...what about MINE?

It's not about you my sweet Princess.
Its not about you at all.
Everything that I made, comes with a cause.

That includes your sweet little 'B".
Remember my word from John 9:3.

Yes Lord, yes!  How could I have been so dim?
Your word has already told me.
 It's so "the works of God should be made manifest in him."