Being "Comfortable"

"I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God please."


(photo - California Streamline)

I think Wilbur Rees touched on something very true, and yet very uncomfortable here. Well, at least those thoughts make me squirm a little. How often do we want something from God, just not too much, nor too little? We may desire change, but at the pace that we deem appropriate, and only in the areas we deem appropriate. It is hard when living with a self focused attitude to realize when God allows opportunities to come our way for the greater good of shaping us into the people we need to be. In this day in age we often view prosperity, good health, and security as signs of God's blessing in our lives, and question God's presence in our lives when faced with challenges and obstacles. However, it is more often than not, through trials and sufferings that the blessings and growth arise.

It is during those times of tribulation that we are faced with a great decision......trust God and allow the changes He sees important to take place, or resist and go into the pit of despair/bitterness and stunt the chance of any real growth taking place. As I write this I am convicted of the struggle I myself have in areas like this. Not always do I resist, and those times of going through the hardship with trust and anticipation of what is to come, have resulted in a richer, closer walk with Christ, and a lot of greater good for situations that I am in now. There have been quite a few instances where if situation "A" would not have happened, when situation "B" rolled around I would not have been prepared, but it was actually a great blessing because of "A". It seems very unfortunate that we would rather take the short cut around trials only to risk the chance of missing out on some of God's greatest blessings in our lives. We say we want to be like God, yet we resist suffering. We are to model Christ likeness and "he learned obedience from what he suffered"(Hebrews 5:8) so we can expect to learn great things through our suffering also.



Being "comfortable"......is what we feel our ideal situation is. Maybe it is time to let go of our preconceived idea of comfortable and stretch out in faith allowing our "comfortable" to become a step by step following after God in pursuit of His best for us.

"While I'm satisfied with cosmetic surgery, God wants to perform radical surgery."

Rick Ezell

Enjoy!

Enjoy=to experience joy; to take pleasure in; to relish

The message in church this morning got the wheels turning in my mind. We are studying the book of Ecclesiastes, and truly there is much to ponder in that writing. The main focus was to enjoy life and all it's certainties and uncertainties, for that is what we have been given. All too often we take so much in our lives for granted, and we never know when those things could be taken from us. Whether it be a person or the ability to do something, we rely on those things without really grasping just how enjoyable they are to us.

Of course I am going to focus a little bit more on this thought. Having a heart for women and the thoughts that we have towards ourselves, my mind immediately was challenged by the fact that we women in general, do not enjoy our body. How many thoughts that fill your mind each day in regards to yourself, as Webster defines it, make you take pleasure in, and relish yourself.....as is? I am encouraged to remember all those little, yet truly monumental, things that I am able to do each day without even thinking about it. Like the saying goes, you don't know a good thing until it's gone! Take the time to run through a "normal" day and then note 10 things that you can take pleasure in, that your body does. It can be physical, mental, or emotional in nature. Here it goes...I'll do 10.

1. Ability to get out of bed and give my boys a morning hug when they are still drowsy.

2. Exercise....not all enjoy it, but I do, it helps clear my mind and relieve stress.

3. I can smell...coffee, fresh bread, cookies, garlic & onions sauteing, fresh air....yeah for spring=)

4. Laughter, oh how a good laugh can just brighten your spirits.

5. I can see....the sun, my kids, and I love to read.

6. To feel emotionally, while not always enjoyed, without my emotions well life would just be BLAH!

7. To just be a woman, with a husband to love and who loves me whether or not I think my physical body is good enough!

8. For the design of my body with extra fat to help keep me warm and my organs functioning and regulated.

9. For hands to help others, to hold, to hug, to cook, and yes, to even do the dishes=)

10. Most of all, for the ability to Love! Love God, others, and even myself!

Okay, so that wasn't that hard, now comes the hard part...to remember it! If we can just take these thoughts and go with it, how much more enjoyable each and every day would be. If instead of grumbling about yet another pot to wash, take pleasure in that time knowing that if we had no hands to do it with, we would long for the ability to do this simple task. Or instead of beating ourselves up over the size, or lack of size, of our body parts, we reminded ourselves that without them, we would not be able to do a whole assortment of things. You get the idea. When you see others enjoying life, it just makes you want to be around them and have that spunk for yourself. So lets challenge ourselves to enjoy all that we are, all that we have, with the body that God has blessed us with, and be contagious with it. Everyone loves a joyful spirit.

"Start using what you have to be a blessing, and your well will never run dry."

Unknown

Headlines

In general I am not a tabloid reader or a follower of Entertainment Tonight, yet once in awhile a headline on Yahoo catches my eye. The other day I happened to notice a news flash about Jessica Simpson. Whether or not you know anything about her, the news thought that it was a must that we know this about her. Are you ready? She........Gained.......Weight! Not only do they want us to know that, but let it be known that those reporting say that it is Too Much Weight Gain!

Well by this point I am a bit curious. Just what about this change is so news worthy? So, I did a little, and I mean just a little, digging and Wow can you believe it?........She appeared very healthy and womanly. Not the no body fat figure of days past, but shapely. I do wish I could personally give her a pat on the back or some words of encouragement in this "Thin is in" world that we live in. I love seeing womanly shaped women taking a stand and not letting this society tell them how to look. It is too bad that our society finds it news worthy to put a woman down because of the change in her outward appearance. Granted, there is no guarantee that the tabloids will not get to her, and eventually influence her to revert, but for the time being I am reminded just how much importance this world places on their standard of outward beauty. Oh so often we hear (and may even be guilty of saying), "Wow! You look great.....Have you lost a few pounds?". As if that is the standard guideline of our beauty.

As I have mentioned before, it is challenging and difficult to not place the world's standard of beauty on ourselves, and it is a changing and unrealistic standard. Praise God that we are not to hold ourselves to that! We were created in the image of our Creator and that in and of itself is Beautiful!

"For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

More to Come......

I am back........I promise I will be blogging soon. Just need a few moments(days) to get things accomplished:)