4 WriteStuff

What’s on my mind?

Crossings!
In our life journey, many times there are rivers to cross, sometimes flood stage rivers without a bridge. Sometimes we forget that the person walking beside us is on the same journey and experiencing the same fears and challenges. As we search for a safer crossing, and finally choose to cross, awareness of each other is crucial.

Swim lessons come to mind: you cannot save someone if they panic and fight you – you will both drown.

It is hard to watch someone flailing and not try to help. It is hard to call out STOP! Don’t panic! and be dragged down to the bottom as they look for something to stand on. Unfortunately, the most solid part of the body is the head, and that is what they will choose to use as a stepping stone regardless of the consequences to you.

Get off my head! I am not a rock. Jesus is the rock. I can point the way to solid ground but I cannot BE your solid ground, I am also trying to cross this torrent and barely able to breathe.

They say time heals all wounds…
I’m guessing this is true in the instance of forgiveness (with or without repentence of the offender)
But also in circustances when one rewrites events to be more favorable to them.

Life is a journey…
For me, it is a Jesus journey…
Sometimes my feet know what to do, but my heart is not in it…
Sometimes my heart knows what to do, but my feet are SO heavy and uncooperative…
Even when i’m moving slow, i try to keep moving anyway… this reboots my feet and refreshes my heart.

I don’t want to take a step outside the will of God.
But it is easy to be so afraid to to mis-step that we don’t take any steps and quit moving forward.
Not every step has a right step/wrong step attribution.
Some steps we take are exercises under the watchful eye of a loving Father, but not clinging to His leg. Some times He just wants us to chill… to play… to renew and refresh and be totally his child.

I think of the times before an activity when i’d be running around prepping, cleaning, etc. with a child clinging to my leg… “go play for a few minutes, it’s ok… i won’t forget you, i’m not leaving you here…”

Sigh… OCD… there is a balance between neglecting the details and being consumed by the details/micro managing. Pretty sure God works better under His own management. and guess what…

Sometimes it’s ok to play while God works… in fact, i would imagine even God would like to not trip over an anxious child while He’s planning and working towards the next activity… surprise me, Lord!

Ok… I’m WORKING ON, “surprise me, Lord!” I REALLY want to know what He’s working on!

Healthy relationships change and grow as we do. They require time and good communication.

If we do not engage in active relationship, the relationship stays stuck in the past and we honestly have no idea who/what the other person is about.

Neither of us is the same as we were in the past, so we really don’t know each other as anything more than a casual acquaintance without active communication. To say “I know them well” is a lie, to claim to know their thoughts and feelings is also deceptive.

Some relationships wane as we change. We choose which relationships to nurture. Whether consciously or unconsiously, we also choose which to let go. Acknowledging that we have let go of a relationship or really have not maintained the closeness to really know a person, as opposed to just knowing their posted activities, is honesty.

Who is to say letting a relationship slide from close to casual is either good or bad without knowing the intricacies of that relationship.

Honesty, expresses that you’ve lost touch and are not in a position to speak for how the other feels.
Pride, however, will not let you admit you don’t know all the facts and puts you in a position make up facts to suit your purpose.

I have been told several times that I have my daddy’s eyes.

So much life happening right now… I need to be sure my vision is clear – focused: I need to see with wisdom, with love, with truth, with grace, with love…

I need to see the present moment, not through the past or focused on the past; and not through an uncertain future.

I need to have my Heavenly daddy’s eyes.

We can pray for someone who is hard hearted, but we cannot reason with them or even hope to change their hearts apart from Christ… Sometimes the value in a choice is in the self-imposed drama before the choice is made. Regardless, we cannot make those choices for another: sometimes that choice looks like: choose joy, or choose to continue as a self-righteous victim.

John 12:40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”

What’s on my mind? The random thoughts of a woman trying to not be overwhelmed with her task…

I was thinking about that saying, “Just like two peas in a pod…” and was thinking about the conditions for growing peas:
They require moist, but not wet conditions or they rot
They require sun but many species cannot grow in direct, hot sun or they wither
They require support, the plant cannot stand without it

Sometimes we have a friend who is close, like two peas in a pod… but as I think about what that means – how the pod wraps the pea and prevents light from shining within – it seems like a delicate situation and not sustainable to productivity.

A pea plant should produce harvest, sustain life, provide nutrition… a dried pea becomes a seed, which when buried, produces a greater harvest.

Two peas in a pod… a great situation for that brief growing season… but to remain there is to rot and not to fulfill potential. There is a season for that covering, then there is a season to emerge and get to it.

I love storms, and as I watched the magnificent power of the storm last night, I wondered if God doesn’t sometimes allow a broken heart… those times when we are crushed and so very disappointed, in order that my heart can leak out all that stuff that I’ve been holding on to so that He can fill it with Him and His amazing glory…

Was meditating on 1 Peter 5:8 today. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”

The first thing that comes to mind is the term “situational awareness.” I don’t have to be afraid of every shadow, to look for evil at every breath of the wind, but I DO want to be aware and practice a healthy reaction until it becomes natural. A healthy reaction?

Again, Daniel in the Lion’s den came to mind… I cannot imagine being in the midst of all that, yet he was safe. But his mind was not focused on fear, on anger, on hatred… His mind was fixed on God… and he came away unscathed… even with the lions roaring in his face, he was unfazed, unscathed and still praising God.

Oh to be a Daniel! To act with integrity and courage no matter what I face… and yes, I will praise God regardless… If I cannot praise Him in adversity, then of what value is my praise when my life overflows with His blessings?

What’s on my mind?
-How precious that God sends His word through others to remind us of what we already know, but sometimes forget to live…

He loves us, We are His precious creation, He is faithful, We can trust Him, He is our strength, our Shield…

All that He is fills those places in our hearts that we cannot fill with activity, with social activity, with pulling ourselves us by our bootstraps… but only through being still in Him and letting Jesus fill our hearts to where they spill over with Him.


What’s on my mind?
You know those times when you’re looking for that word from God, and all THREE studies touch that place and lets you know God is pouring out in abundance in the exact place that needs filling…

What’s on my mind?

My family name in heaven and earth? Shall I not practice writing that on earth like a young girl in love practices writing the name she desires upon marriage?

His Spirit is our strength…

Christ dwells in our hearts through faith

SO THAT we ay rooted and grounded in love

AND able to comprehend the fullness of Christ’s love which is beyond knowledge…

AND we may be filled with the fullness of God…

How can this puny body, heart, mind and soul be filled with the fullness of God that is a length, depth and height beyond our comprehension?

This too is beyond comprehension… but it is the truth of Jesus’ love…

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3

What’s on my mind?

Like Jesus, we all have the “inner circle friends” who go the distance with us – the ones we can trust with our heartaches, our prayers, our secrets and know that they will be lovingly truth and our heartaches not be used against us later.

A healthy choice for inner circle friends is someone who also sees you as an inner circle friend… a two-way relationship, not one-sided. You hold each other up, and journey together. Yes, they will hold you accountable, but not in a controlling way… they are true treasures in life…

Knowing who you can trust, who your friends are, and who will be faithful and true in holding your precious heart sacred is such a blessing when the time comes that you need that heart help.

Thank you, my friends…

What’s on my mind? 
I was talking with precious family members yesterday about my grandma Morgan…

They both said that the Morgan Legacy is a legacy of love – neither remembers their mom ever saying anything bad about anyone. They both expressed their gratitude at a Godly, loving legacy…

I need me some more of that… Holy Spirit come and pour over me…

What’s on my mind? 
I was talking with precious family members yesterday about my grandma Morgan…

What’s on my mind? 
I was talking with precious family members yesterday about my grandma Morgan…

They both said that the Morgan Legacy is a legacy of love – neither remembers their mom ever saying anything bad about anyone. They both expressed their gratitude at a Godly, loving legacy…

I need me some more of that… Holy Spirit come and pour over me…

As I re-read this, I have to laugh because she was a Morgan by marriage… the legacy is one we can make our own REGARDLESS of our last name.

Top of Form

What’s on my mind?
Some mornings it is hard to get up to pray because I have so much to do and God has so much to say.

Other mornings I get up, take a look at the unending pile and say, “later… right now I need to cling to your every word, precious father…”

It should not be so… consistency counts… 
But Abba is not to be so easy ignored… on those days He visits me at 3 a.m. to whisper in my heart, “let’s chat, child…”

What’s on my mind?

An anchor is meant to hold you steady in the storm, in the moment, not to become so entrenched you can never sail the seas.

Sometimes an anchor gets hung up on life’s debris and holds you back from sailing towards today’s joy…

Sometimes those ropes become so hopelessly knotted that  it’s time to cut that anchor and sail forward.

What’s on my mind?

Deceit, slander, maliciousness, gossip, strife, hate, bitterness, self-absorption, negativity… etc, etc. cannot coexisit with the Holy Spirit within hearts.

If I want the Holy Spirit unleashed in my life, I have to have a heart that has been released from all those things which hold it in bondage and which tell the Holy Spirit, “you are not welcome in my heart and life.”

Fortunately the Holy Spirit does not let go so easily. Unfortunately, in this world, we have to unleash the Holy Spirit to drive out all that from our heart on a daily basis before we can effectively move forward with purpose on our Jesus Journey.

Moving forward without a pure heart is to carry a heavy load that just doesn’t need to be carried and distracts us from our purpose.

Truth is revealed when the darkness is swept out of our hearts, and light reflects, reveals the treasure within.

What’s on my mind?

As I look out on God’s amazing creation, I think how each things is so intricately created… even the seemingly insignificant ants have a purpose…

I am but an ant in a vast world… and what a blessing, what an incredible joy it is that the world does not hinge on me…

When I grab hold of or create my own blessings I miss out on so much…

When I cling to God, His blessings pour out to where I cannot contain them!

When I look to self, or to other people, I miss out on so much…

What a horrible world it would be, to have nothing greater in my world than me.

Oh love that will not let me go!

Jeremiah 31:3

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

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What’s on my mind?
This week my facebook has been out of control,
how distressing for those who are controlling,
How good for my spirit 
to Honor God

What’s on My Mind?
The dysfunction dance is finding the one who is most out of sync with healthy living and reality, then adapting to their dance so they don’t have to change their steps or acknowledge that others have feelings as well.

That dance is a vortex that can swallow and destroy those who choose to remain in the dance. Me.stomp. Me.stomp. Me.stomp. Me! repeat repeat repeat… it is exhausting.

As I immerse myself in these Bible Studies, I find the rhythm of the Love Dance with Jesus so much more in my timing: love, consideration, caring, encouragement and hope make such beautiful music. Today I choose to dance!

I am not called to have all the answers, to understand everything that God is doing and when He is doing it… I am not called to sit in my rocking chair on the front porch and watch for God…

I am called to minister, to follow God, to live as He calls me to live and to trust God that He will direct my steps, my words, and the people He brings into my life today. I am called to trust Him… and not lean on my own understanding.

What’s on my mind?
As I read today’s study, Uninvited, I think of how easy it is for the words of hurt and anger to pour out when we are wronged. Sometimes those wrongs, those hurts are unintentional, sometimes deliberate, but the pain is real and can result in pouring out hurt…

My angst is if hateful things are done and I express my feelings to family, rather than friends. In my world, that is incorrect sharing. Pouring out to someone who loves you, but doesn’t have a dog in the fight, is to pour it out onto the ground, receive compassion and encouragement, then leave it there. I am not looking for vindication or justice, but just to pop that blister and relieve the pain and get back to what I’m supposed to be living… fighting the true enemy whose weapons are deceit, bitterness, and hate… clarity instead of fighting through the pain… and moving on in forgiveness.

The study today worded the 3rd portion far better than I, and my heart is blessed by these words:
Fight FOR them, and against the true enemy…

“This is what it looks like to rise above the circumstances and determine to hold on to the greater good in the grand scheme of things: honoring God.
We do so by remembering our job is to be obedient to God. God’s job is everything else. 
We must speak with honor in the midst of being dishonored.
We must speak with peace in the midst of being threatened. 
We must speak of good things in the midst of a bad situation.
We must be obedient to, trust, and believe God and let HIm boss around our contrary feelings.

Remember how we’ve talked about “living loved” and “bringing the fullness of God” into any situation? This is it. And it’s really the only way to get to the place where we can have peace in a situation that doesn’t have a storybook ending. 
So I fight for her.
Not because we will reconnect. We haven’t. And we might not.
Not because she’s right. 
Not because I’m right. 
I fight for her simply because I want to stay right in step with honoring God.”

Uninvited, Lysa TerKeurst

What’s On My Mind?

There are times when I look up at God and say, “I can’t handle ONE more thing…”

Then life gives me two and I look at God and say, “What is going on?”

His answer? 
“Who’s your daddy, baby girl? Who/what are you hanging on to?”

… to YOU, Abba, to YOU. You can handle two and even ten more… I’m hanging on to you.

Imagine a day in which we are so filled with anger, with bitterness, and so filled with ourselves that we cannot contain that and it spills on all those around us….

Imagine a day in which we are so filled with love, with joy, with forgiveness, with mercy that we cannot contain it and it spills on those around us…

We choose what we are filled with. We choose what we spill.