You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" .... "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]." ... Psalm 16:11, John 10:10
*****
Man, say what you will, but I love this life Jesus died to give me.
Love. It.
And hey, I'm not even pining away for Heaven(gasp!). I mean, I totally realize Earth-life is just a teeny peek at the Heavenly one, but oh Honey, this godly presence shakes joy over me like confetti. Mornings I bound out of bed feeling all anticipatory for more adventures with God.
More joy.
More learning.
More godly delight in the ordinary.
Like last week. This springtime I beat the birds in gathering my garden strawberries and took a tall plastic glass of them over to Neighbor Sally, then later, another glass to Sue. Both love strawberries, as do I, but my face (shall we say) only lets me eat very few. Er hem.
And I encouraged Amy at the coffee shop about a wild cake she'd been asked to bake, one of an old work-building soon-to-be demolished, complete with 2 porta-potties. Another regular, Jodi, made certain I also saw this unusual cake the week before and we marveled at Amy's intricate details created from a photo. (Men requested this cake and Amy said they especially loved the porta-potties. Of course.) ツ
That master chore list God nudged me to make? Changed my life. I even sleep better now because gone are the dark-night nagging thoughts like, "Sheesh, you forgot to do _____ again," and "Your neglect of the ____ is just sad!"
Whew. How remarkable that a small change can help me feel in-control while living in an out-of-control world.
I carried two bags of cast-off stuff down to the Salvation Army discard bin, further decluttering my life. Sat out on our front porch reading favorite books in sun-dappled shade, felt Jesus in the chair beside me. Shared favorite quotes, humor and my Prayer Garden photo at Facebook, encouraged a woman there who faced surgery and fun-chatted with a friend on Messenger.
Oh, what a remarkable life when God directs our steps, right?
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart..." ... Ecclesiastes 3:11
See? Previews of Heaven. It's biblical.
And color me too busy to use social media to complain about how Christians (and others) are getting things all wrong. No, I've got work to do! A job which God sent me here to complete so that His world will spin in a way it couldn't without me.
And so do you.
"The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring." ... Isaiah 58:11 (Yes, while on this earthly journey. Yes, even in 2019. God is that huge!)
*****
Speaking of Facebook ... I didn't even know till 2 weeks ago that via Messenger you can call your Facebook friends for free(!)
An old friend's son called me for some advice via Messenger, so that's how I discovered it (I'm not a just-shoot-the-breeze phone person at all, but to pray with someone over the air waves? Yeah, I'll do that.)
Anyway, in case you also didn't know about this service, well, there you go. Took un-techno-minded me a few minutes to figure it out on the Messenger page, but I eventually did.
(But my oh my--nobody better ever contact me via the video chat option! You'll hear just ring after ring forever cuz I often sit here without my make-up--and that ain't pretty. heh.) シ
*****
The World Has Need of You
If it's ever so small the part you take,
The world has need of you.
Be it big or little the effort you make,
The world has need of you.
If it's only a thought you give by the way,
If it's only love's word you pause to say,
It's a part that nobody else can play,
So the world has need of you.
By your smile you can change another's life;
By a word you can bring peace out of strife;
Then lift your head and never say die;
Count every blessing, stop every sigh,
Get busy ... don't let a chance slip by,
For the world has need of you.
----Evelyn Whitell
*******
"Master," said John, "we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us." "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you." ... Luke 9:49,50
This is such an inspirational post Debra. Would you mind sharing your Master List with us? I need to do something like that myself. I appreciate the scriptures you've chosen to inspire each of us. I use FaceTime with my kids all of the time, but didn't know about the messanger option. I haven't worn makeup in years, (hubby doesn't care for it and that's okay with me!) . But I still don't want someone to see me in my p.j.'s. :-)
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
This post was a wonderful way to start my day! There is so much to be grateful for. Debra, I'm glad you're loving life and I'm right there beside you. Praising God for his goodness to all of us!
ReplyDeleteYour post makes me happy. We share some of the same thoughts, I can see. God is good and he wants us to sprinkle his love in this world and to tell people about him when we can.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Betsy! Glad you received the master list ok (thanks for letting me know via email). And oh! How wonderful not to need to wear make-up. As a teen and into my 20's I had acne then at 33, the chicken pox and all of that did a number on my poor ol' face. And now I remain thankful to whoever invented make-up and to God for giving him/her the idea.....smile.... Really, I see it as another kindness from God, Himself, for those of us who have scarring and what all else.
ReplyDeletePam--I'm so glad you picked up on the gratitude part. I've been thinking lately that I need to speak more about it because it's such an easy thing to drift away from, especially in Today's complaining world. So happy you're loving your own life as well!
Terra--Yay! I'm so glad this post made you happy. You and I are so often on the same page and I do thank you for letting me know by commenting here!
Thanks-you, Ladies! Blessings, Debra