i took the long way home today after a well needed visit to the cemetery to visit my Dad and pray for peace over the recent death of my Grandma. i don't deal well with death. i never have. however, i am calling on the Lord over Grandma's death to create contentment in the non-contentment of our closure. i am glad she can rest now and just want her to know i forgive, forget and love her (always have). i know that whenever i chose to take the long way hope i am making a choice to treat my eyes to sights i know will bring me joy. some are the same and expected while others are new and surprising. today i was blessed with the beauty of... prideful persimmon trees, leafs still shades of autumn, a mohawk man trooping his tractor, all the pretty-pull over and pick me up please-prickly pine cones (i now regret not pulling over to collect some for holiday crafting!), a woman ready to herd up the horses... gorgeous animals given to us from God for companionship like the horses, a curious little black squirrel, a pack of 5 cows walking in a perfect line... i wondered if they were a family traveling. i thought of the three wise men. i thought of movement.
do you realize we are constantly moving? even if you are laying down you are still moving - your heart, lungs, brain, etc. - life is one long cycle of consistent movement. the earth is moving and you are moving with it.
driving and thinking. the cars next to me were moving - where were they going? the cows were close and disciplined, moving at the same steady pace - where were they going? were these people and animals moving to meet their needs?and what are their needs? what are your needs? what are mine? are they being met? not quite. no. not nearly enough.
i am making it a goal right now at this point of my life to ask the Lord what my need are and how He can help me meet them better.
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." James 4:8
everything is off balance. my life is a series of senseless somersaults.
"For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” Jeremiah 31:25
i was recently given the Maslow hierarchy of needs chart. i remember it from psychology class. it's pretty spot on. it really has me thinking about my needs. my physiological living needs are the most important right now. i function on very little due to neglecting-my-needs. i am starting to feel like a latch key kid in my own body and it's my own fault. it's just not right and i'm beginning to see and feel this. before it didn't really matter but the Lord is opening my eyes as i go to Him for guidance by preparing a path for US.
picture of a good Maslow need chart:
current scripture kick:
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord." - John 1:23
what a powerful and profound statement... make straight the way for the Lord - yes! change through Christ requires teamwork. it's not a one way street. God is willing but we must be too.
in closing, Paul's prayer for the Ephesians... Ephesians 3:14-19
"14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole familya in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
