filling me up

On this the day where we rest from our labors (which happens to be my normal day off), I'm struck by how much I fill my life with the little things that take up a lot of time but are not worth it. Earlier this year we were in the middle of the writers' strike and were left with lots of reruns, I found that I didn't miss the television shows as much as I thought I would. A few weeks ago, I had the chance again to look at what was building me up, and what wasn't, especially in the media that I watch/use. I thought that if I stopped watching or doing these things that I wouldn't know what to do with all of the time that I had, idealistic I know... But, as I began to enact in my life the idea that, if something isn't building me up, than I shouldn't be doing it, I found myself getting rid of a few things, finishing projects that had been put off for some time, returning to some of my favorite hobbies, and ended up having created or done something instead of being a vegetable of some sort. In all of it, I'm starting to see that I like the fact that I'm spending more time in prayer, playing my guitar, running, making pillows, or even making sure my house is clean (granted, right now there is a massive pile of dishes in my kitchen, so obviously I'm not perfect yet). I'm not saying that television is bad, though my mother still maintains that it's evil (or at least that's what I would imagine her to say when asked). There can be great value to the media, heck I even spent a great deal of time in college just on that one point. I guess what I'm trying to say, while I'm drinking an impossibly good glass of wine and listening to Audrey Assad, is that over the past couple of weeks I've begun the journey of filling my life with things that fill me up so that my cup overflows. At the end of the day, it's been a little easier to return to the feet of Christ and share my day with Him.

renting sheep

There are days when I love the randomness of conversations. Tonight's included the possibility of renting a sheep as well as where you would board one while away on vacations... Just a quick note to say, enjoy the moments of laughter today!

letting others lead

I had one of those days, you know, the one where you go to the doctor's office just to check something out and end up getting a CT scan and IV's. Nothing's too wrong with me, so don't worry. The one plus was that my mom dropped everything to drive me to where I needed to go. She kept me sane in a moment or two where I might have let myself worry, but most important she sat with me, in the quiet and we could just 'be'.
Today was a day that I had to sit back and receive, something that used to be unbelievably hard for me. I got in ministry to serve other people, not to be served. But I've learned that there is a gift in allowing someone else to use their talents in order to serve me, and that I am giving them a gift by letting them.
Right now I'm wiped, but grateful that, God willing, the least possible issue is wrong with me as opposed to the worst, and now I can rest in that knowledge. How beautiful are my friends, the ones who very quietly spread the word to a few so that they would pray for me. I'm touched by the kindness I'm surrounded with. I'm also humbled that for one of the first times, I could sit back and let others take the lead to help me. My long day is over, and now I'm going to get some rest, but I know that from now on I'm going to think more about the leader who let's others serve along side them.

and so it begins...

I've started yet another way for me to spend more time on the internet, but I love the idea of being able to put my thoughts out there for others to read. I've been thinking a lot lately about where I am in life and have come to find that I am unbelievable content and happy with where I am. Not that it meansI won't move foreward, rather that I love the place that God has placed me in. I've been stretched, pulled, proded and poked over the last two years, and at the end, like Job, God has blessed me abundantly. But there is so much excitement about where I am going.....

God bless!