"The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." ...Isaiah 58:11
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Back in the years before I really understood anything (yet believed I knew it all), I often became bored.
Oh, mornings felt ok. There were people to see, places to go, floors to mop. But I'd complete those tasks, eat some lunch, then--until Naomi arrived home from school--I'd come, well, undone. Bored, feeling like each hour was three, even though other tasks and activities remained. Always, my brain told me I could be dusting, crafting, reading, washing, walking, repairing, singing, photographing, painting--
--except that 1:00 pm would hit and I'd feel like doing none of it, not even the fun things. It's like a creepy type of numbness cloud draped over me, zapping all my passion. So, to keep my sanity, I'd read a book or watch tv--and settle. Wait for Naomi to come home then drive her places and/or make dinner for a soon-coming-home Tom.
This (sadly) went on for years, till around 1995. Oh, not everyday did that boredom squeeze me, but for too many, it did.
Then finally, beginning in 1994, God shook my whole world, crumbled the flaky, crooked foundation I'd constructed beneath me, Mrs. Good Little Church Lady, and rebuilt me His way. And though it wasn't always pleasant and usually embarrassingly humbling--always--the growing closer to Him parts made The Changing Years simultaneously wonderful.
As long as I felt close to Him, the hardest changes didn't upset me as much. Meeting Him 'in the garden' each day, made up for it all.
And for the past however many years? Oh, the passions which have replaced the boredom! Ask me what makes each day sail by too quickly and I'd give you a list:
God
Meditating
Blogging
Encouraging
Decorating
Couponing
Reading
Watching tv
Researching
Gardening
Grocery shopping
'Tweaking' my house
Giving
Daydreaming
Preparing for the future
Photographing this life ...
... and that was my 'in just one minute' list. Imagine if I gave it two minutes. :)
My point? If today you feel dull/dreadful/sad, please don't believe you'll feel the same in the future. We have a remarkable God who can make ways where there are none. Honest.
Be still and tune into Him, listen to His secrets, obey that still, small voice. And then find yourself infused with a new godly passion for Life that perhaps you thought only happened to other people.
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"God never makes bloodless stoics; He makes no passionless saints." ... Oswald Chambers
"...but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." ... Isaiah 40:31
"Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord..." ... Acts 3:19
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Aww... Did you see the video of this little girl teaching her dog to use a hoola hoop?
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Free Kindle books:
7 Simple Choices for a Better Tomorrow
Faith Under Construction
In His Steps
Debra, remember when the Stones sang, "I can't get no satisfaction." During that bygone era, I couldn't seem to find any, either. Looking back I think I was often angry. Life took some rough twists and turns and I fought many of them. Growing older has taught me to relax and to remember that people and stuff will usually disappoint, but God never lets us down. Thanks for every single one of your posts in 2014. Looking forward to reading more in 2015!!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you let God change you. He makes life in each season so interesting. I let go of my Good-church girl life back in 1964 and God met me where I was and life has barely had a boring moment. He slowed me down in the last four years but life is still interesting and there is plenty to do. I have pain everyday but with God's help I am managing it and getting to enjoy this season of my life.
ReplyDeleteI certainly can relate to this post Debra! I still have a few of those afternoons but most are filled with living in the moment and counting my blessings!
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