Steadying my heart … for this day

There’s a fire burning in me….one that doesn’t want to be quenched…. and it’s heat is stirring in me to Be still, and know that I am God. And so here I am. Ready. And waiting. And knowing…

It’s a new season. (Doesn’t it just feel like we are passing from one to the other more quickly these days?) In my life, I have yearned for time to slow my pace. I have felt that I was losing myself in the familiar. And while I love the days I live and try to be obedient to wait on the Lord and do what He leads me to do by His spirit, oftentimes, at the end of the day, I feel breathless. Not the kind of breathless you experience from watching the sun fall into the ocean at days end. But the breathless that has your head bent over as you clutch your knees and gasp for your next breath as if you just ran a marathon. Your head spins…hurts even, and you reel with sickness.

That’s where I have allowed myself to be. But this day, I chose to slow my pace. Actually, the choice began at the beginning of this week. Please allow me to share with you my discoveries.

Laughter. Literal, could kiss those toes till they shrivel, laughter at this child. How I love him.

Friendship. The kind that warms your heart and makes you want to “take off your shoes and sit a spell”. The kind that overflows into thanksgiving. The kind that makes you feel young again…on the inside where it matters.

Heritage. The kind that speaks of righteousness, kindness, unfailing love. Family because God knew you needed them. And perhaps, even, they need you.

Beauty. Color that burns so warmly around me that my eyes and my soul lift together to breathe in the change of this season in my life.

Redemption. Bought back by the blood of Jesus into a life that is bursting in newness where the enemy of my soul tried to rip life away.

Serenity. Such a calmness that I have to stop. Consider. Breathe. Lift my eyes to the hills, knowing that my strength doesn’t come from them, but from the One who spoke them into existance.

Strength. The kind that you don’t know you have until you are asked to use it.

Learning to bend with the wind. This season is bringing about change, and I can’t stand stiffnecked and unbending if I’m going to make it through.

Thankfulness. We may not have the hot tub of our dreams, but we have each other. And no one knows more than the two of us what that means. Our marriage, our lives, fully redeemed and overflowing. To God be the glory.

These are a few of the things that have steadied my heart….not only today, but in the past three months. For each moment, person and experience, I bow my knees to God my Father and thank Him. He is so so kind.

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden,and I will give you rest. Thank you, Jesus. My rest will forever be in You. Amen (so be it)

Maybe you could use some reordering of your days as well. I pray you will allow God to show you how. I promise…it’s worth it.

~Blessings,

Connie

Joy…in the form of a boy (or two)

Today is your Birth Day…the day God gave you to me and your dad. He created you to bear His image, and for a specific purpose…His specific purpose. I know deep within my soul that He gave you to me because He knew you would always be there for me… giving me Scripture truths to consider, holding me up when I needed a lift (both physically and spiritually),and being my JoyBoy for as long as you have lived on this earth (33 years as of today). How blessed I am by you, my son.

God knew you would marry this woman and have this child…the child who exudes your joyful personality and thereby warms my heart daily. And how we prayed for this “daughter”, joking throughout your high school years that we were praying you would marry a nurse to take care of you as you seemed to be accident prone from the time you could walk! And this daughter (now ours to claim also) is just that! A nurse with the highest calling … to be your wife and his moma. I breathe out my thanks daily for her, and for him.

God, in His ultimate creativity, bestowed His creative spirit within you…so much so that you now design, manage, plan and create for a company who notices your gifts and allows you to use them well. And again, I am thankful.

My son, the way you love and care for your own son makes me so proud. Through the love you share with them, I am so blessed.

And the way you love, care for and serve your wife? Well, you remind me of your father, and I couldn’t be more blessed there either. Thank you for loving her well, and for giving yourself up for her. Thank you for being all that God has created you to be…loving her and putting her needs above your own. Daily.

So here’s to you, my JoyBoy…on your 33rd Birth Day. Go – continue to be all that God has called you to me. And remember always that your moma is praying for you, and believes in you. I love you. Always.

~Moma