MOVE!

(picture borrowed from the Rathes' Hawaiian vacation collection)
Tim asked us last night if we could define a mountain that was in our way and name it.
Did you know that God says this about mountains:
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."Matthew 17:20
At first thought, I said my mountain would be the mis-perception of TIME. You see, when you have an out-of-the-home job, or are in school, you have time schedules to meet, breaks, class changes, lunch, and at some point you go home again. And it's all broken up to a degree of understanding and in relationship to and with time.
But when you wake up at an given time throughout the night (last night it was five times or so) and you never know quite when your day is going to begin (Saturday it was 5:40am, today 7:06am) or when you are going to get a break or a chance to *work, it gets quite confusing. My day, though somewhat predictable, can distort time in many ways. And I look at it, or back at it and wonder what of it? Did I take time for this? or that? Did I *make time? Or can one really do that? God makes time, He holds it in His hand. He gives it to us. You've heard "it is precious" or "it's a gift." So why does it sometimes seem like my enemy?
On further thought, those mountains could also be called "Mount Laundry" or "Mount Dishes" or surely "Mountain of BILLS" even "Mount List-of-things-to-do." Which would then turn into "Mountain of OVERwhelming ideas." These mountains need to get of my way!
Good thing that by Faith, I can ask God to move these mountains from my way and He will!

This morning I took a refreshing brisk walk in the cool autumn air: Praising God for giving me this life he has, this time to walk so freely, and no mountain to block my view of His Givingness to me.

Praise God, everybody!

Praise God, everybody! Applaud God, all people! His love has taken over our lives; God's faithful ways are eternal. Hallelujah!
Psalm 117 (The Message)

So, just yesterday I was telling a friend that I have these wonderful opportunities to pray for people. About 3-4 times a day I have to sit quietly still and nurse the baby down for anywhere from five to twenty-five minutes. It's a sacred time, and I love it. Since she doesn't even like for me to READ, I am forced to just sit still. Which has been very heart-revealing to me. I use this time to pray. Mostly for people in my life. But I feel like I haven't really spent a lot of time praising God for being Himself, so great and abundantly rich in love, and thousands of other things I could praise Him for.
So, lo and behold, I open up my Bible this morning to Psalm 117 (above). Perfect! I thought. This will get me started. Psalm 118 is just as great and even more elaborate, and I read through it twice. I set out determined to praise God all day! What could be better?
Well...it sounds great, but in reality everything began to go wrong. We rushed around to leave by 8:20 and I couldn't find my keys. ANYWHERE. Brielle pulled up to the table and spilled an entirely full travel mug of hot coffee all over the door entrance (she didn't get it on her-thank God!). And I literally thought, "I still have to praise God, don't forget!"
So we took a walk that I literally wanted to close my eyes to, the sun, the wind, my tears. I know, silly tears. Things go wrong. I know.
So, when Brielle took only a 21 minute nap, and I was beginning to rank this up there with one of the worst mornings ever, hence my high level of frustration at this point, I realized this:
Things could get even worse than this if I still continue to Praise God! (and also if I don't) but no matter what, He deserves my praise today. He is more than worthy than any meager praise I can offer to Him with my day. And no matter what happens, what may or may not, I am called to burst out of my current unlikely situation and PRAISE the One who I believe in!!!

get away and pray

last weekend we went on a low-budget family getaway to St. Louis, Mo. St. Louis is a great city and is full of fun free things to do. Subtract the parking costs, and vow not to pay for the “extras,” and you’ve got lots of cheap family fun things to do! and the further one lives from Six Flags, the better coupons can be found. we also found a reasonably priced hotel that wasn’t disappointing.
while all this sounds well and good, and the weekend as a whole went just fine, there was a lot of tension. frustration fed frustration and formed extreme irritability. from little things to big things, everything seemed to be the wrong thing. not exactly how anyone wants even a mini-vacation to go.
when I finally realized that the best memory of the trip I was going to have was the first two-hours of the drive when I actually got some sleep, it hit me that I better start praying! so I prayed all morning for a better second half of the trip, and God was swift! we had a great morning at six flags. then our situation started going downhill…again. And I literally thought, “but God, I already prayed about this! and I praised you when you answered! and oh, God, you are so good!” what? oh! “you want me to keep praying?” Ah! So, I physically and emotionally abandoned the situation I was in, and I ran off under mushrooms of flowing waters to splash with wild abandon into the showers of youth. All while holding a gleefully soaking Brielle who smiled as we explored water, rock, and fountains: and I prayed and prayed more.
Then the most amazing miracle happened, and yes, I mean only about 20 minutes later, I did see this transformation with my own eyes.
It wouldn’t have mattered to me how the outcome went, I felt secure in God’s hands. I trusted Him to allow joy for the moment and work out the rest in His time. I was changed. And then He changed things around me. And I came to remember that it is a matter of where our heart is, what our mind is focused on. The same situations that confronted us were like plagues when viewed in our negative contextual state, and they were viewed as simple, even silly obstacles when we had a different outlook on our lives. when we were transformed. Praise You God!
Anyway, the weekend ended up going well from that point on. Even when things would hit a high point of frustration again, it was easily dissipated, just like a miracle that was continuously working. And I remembered to pray often, and more often. Also, I received several phone calls while on the trip (and upon returning) that were from three people very dear to me, in totally unrelated situations, that were in immediate need of prayers. Which reminded me, that 1) you can’t go on vacation from spiritual warfare 2) getting away and praying sometimes takes on different meanings.

more to come on the latest books I’m reading (yes, all five of them) and some that I’m NOT