Rest...

Tonight I want to remember what it is to rest... the Bible says that all who are weary should come to Him and He will give us rest...

As I try to get back into life... after a very restful vacation... I don't want to be crazy busy and overwhelmed... I don't want to be frustrated and tired... I don't want to worry or doubt and fear... but tonight the furnace isn't working and there is a possum in the window well... and I just want to go back here...

I read the book by Stasi Eldredge Your Captivating Heart while I was in Florida last week... here are some quotes...

"See, the Beast is alive in this Beauty. And like the Beast in the classic fairy tale, I need to be transformed. Lucky for me, lucky for all of us, that is exactly what Jesus came to do. And exactly what happens when my soul finds it's rest in the love of God."

"My soul finds it's rest in the love of God"... I read it over and over again. I wanted it to sink in... I wanted to get it... I wanted to live it... I wanted to believe it... A few days later I read more...

"There is a rhythm to life. Every day we wake, and every night we sleep. The heart beats, then rests. It beats, then rests. For every beat there is a rest. O, that I would live like this in the rhythm of my heart. Yes, love and give... and then pull away for awhile. By all means, work hard... then play. Battle cannot be avoided... but let me seize the rest when I can.

And here is a secret. Women are at their most beautiful when they are at rest. Not striving. Not grasping. Not fearful. But resting. And we can be at rest too, at rest in the love of God. Zephaniah assures us, 'He will quiet you with his love' (3:17) God is saying, all is well, it's going to be alright. I have you. I love you. I will never leave you or abandon you. You are my delight. You are mine. In the great heart of God there is room for us to lie down and rest."

I guess her heart was saying the same thing mine was... now the miracle comes in living that in the days we are not on vacation... when there are appointments, car pools, groceries to buy, meals to make, (or at least stick in the oven), hair to do, (it took me 5 hours to take out Kiahna's braids yesterday), events to attend, laundry to fold... and don't forget possums and furnaces to tend to...

In my mind I am going here... and Jesus is here... and how did Stasi put that... there is room for me to lie down and rest...

Just like I hold my sleeping children... God is holding me... Last night in our counseling session, I was told that God has seen all of my pain... and that He has cried with me just as Jesus cried with Mary and Martha at Lazarus' tomb... I believe that... I find such peace in that... even though the furnace hasn't kicked in and that possum is still there... I started a fire, it is April, and that little baby possum will leave soon once our cats find him... I hope!

Dad and Mom on the last night.

I love the Gulf, purely for the sunsets...

Psalm 19: 1-4 Message

God's glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
Professor Night lectures each evening.
Their words aren't heard,
their voices aren't recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.