Quiet Times

It seems since the New Year I have had someone home with me constantly...   

        husband using vacation days....

           kids home from school with snow days (many this year)..

For the first time in quite a while

   I'm home alone.

The tv is off.... and there is a still silence in the house.   

   Wow.

Silence is a gift .... it makes you think...

I wonder if this is why the world is so intent

     on having noise everywhere.

There is either loud music playing.. or tv's blasting..

    even the fast food places have tv's on in the eating area.

Noise makes us ignore the thoughts

     that God wants us to think over and ponder.

No wonder we are at an all time high for prescription drugs...

    we can't hear ourselves think anymore...

     and we certainly cannot hear God trying to speak to us.

Today I am embracing the silence.. getting some reading done...

    and trying to listen to what God is saying to me.

I encourage you to take a few minutes.. and turn off the phone..

    turn off the tv... take the headphones out of your ears...

          and just listen.

Listen to what your heart is telling you... to what God is telling you...

     and just time to soak it all in.

Sometime silence IS golden.

Little Things

The past week has been a busy whirlwind.  I spent last weekend photographing at a christian camp in New Hampshire.  Had a great time taking photos and connecting with the youth that were there.  Home on Sunday..photos to process, bills to pay and a stepdaughter having problems with her boyfriend.  Seems like I'm always juggling a variety of things on any given day.  

Above all there is the time to bring my needs before the Lord.

    Prayer is something I used to dislike...

     but I have to come to know

        just how powerful  

           prayer can be.

I have prayed my son through rebellion and drugs...

   I have prayed a friend through the loss of her 21 year old son...

    I have prayed for people battling cancer...

       and so much more...

Prayer is reliance on God...

   to know that when I cannot control or handle a situation

     God in his infinite power can.

After doing the bills this week, I realized how tight our budget would be until next paycheck.. my brother in laws band is playing Friday night and I wanted to go and take some photos..but it cost to get in.  I was really disappointed that I might have to cancel and take this off my schedule.  So I pray..."God..you knew that I wanted to go and support him and take photos.. you know there is no money in the budget for that this week.. thanks for all I did get paid and done"...

My brother in law messages me to see if we are coming... and guest what??  The show is FREE this week!  The other bands cancelled and the venue just wants to be open with a band, so I get to go and support him and take photos - yeah!!

Don't assume that anything is too small

      for God.

He hears our prayers, even when we half heartedly throw them out

     thinking that they are too trivial to be answered.

God isn't just God of the big stuff..... he's God of ALL the stuff!!

Even though my God is a BIG God, he's not too big to want to handle

      the small stuff in my life...

       and he wants to handle the stuff in your life...

Just give him a chance.. 

      and see...

          what he can do.

Nothing is too small for God.

Friendship

Today I'm thinking back over the years and realize that 

     many people have come and gone in my life.

I''ve suffered my share of brokeness over my lifetime, so I 

     tend to be a little cautious on who I let in..

        but we all have that desire to fit in wherever we are.

I'd like to think that I'm a good friend...

    I've had phone calls at 2:00am...

     I've mourned with people...

      I've cleaned people's houses...

       I've watched their children...

         I've been there.

Yet I find that often isn't enough.

   So what is enough??   Is there a "friendship" standard?

I envy people who have a true best friend... someone

     who knows them - good and bad -

       and is always there.

I'm sure it's not always easy being my friend...but I don't often 

     like to bother people with my life issues. 

It has hurt me that people who I thought didn't have issues with me

    turn around and say mean things.

I have people who only seem to call me when they want or need

     something from me.

I wish I knew how to be a better friend.  To be there for others.. who in turn

      would be there for me.

I often wondered how Jesus felt.  All the people who said they would

      follow him.. but left

         when the going got tough.

The disciples, who though they meant well.. reallly didn't have any

             insight as to who they were really with

                  and what he really could do.

They often disappointed... the fell asleep while he was praying... 

            denied him when the say they wouldn't...

                doublted that he could feed 5,000 hungry people...

Maybe for some of us a real "friendship" just isn't meant to be..

    maybe I'm just here to serve... and

             ask for nothing in return.  

I will continue to long for what some have in these deep friendships...

       No matter what I'll just continue

           to seek what God has for me..... to just

               seek him...serve him.... 

and be there for whatever and however he can use me.

Upside Down

I spent the weekend at a camp in New Hampshire

     a weekend for youth groups...

the theme of the weekend was

      "Upside Down"

What a great theme!!  

   we should all have this as our theme...

  what could God do in this world

     if all of us who followed him

were willing to let God

      turn our lives upside down?

We say we want to be turned upside down..

    but we often say things we don't mean.

  it sounds good..but really...

     we like things the way that they already are.

If we actually turned our lives upside down

    we would have to get out of our comfort zones...

     and we don't really like that.

Unfortunately for us, God isn't interested in our 

      comfort zones....

  we cannot fully trust him in the comfort zone..

  full trust requires

    that we let him turn our world

       upside down.

When he told Peter to follow him -

       Peter's world was turned upside down.

When he asked Paul to follow him -

       Paul's world was turned upside down.

When he asks us to follow him -

         he wants to turn our world upside down.

So are you willing??  Are you ready??

   I am wanting to be willing to 

       let God

   turn my life upside down...

          let's get out of our comfort zone....

    get turned upside down for God...

        and see what happens...

I think that God needs to turn us christians

       Upside Down....

     in order for the rest of the world

         to be turned rightside up.