August | 2021 | itsawonderfilledlife

Archive for August, 2021

Best Love Story

Posted in Love, WONDER, tagged #bestlovestory, #godspursuitofus, #nomatterthecost, #thehoundofheaven on August 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I love a love story with a certain storyline:

We will call them one and the other.

One is in love with the other, who is not so sure about the first one. One pursues the other, relentlessly, despite all efforts being pushed away by the other. Not pursuit as in pushy, inappropriate or abusive, but pushy as in being willing to go to any lengths for the other‘s good, even if it is never reciprocated.

Basically, one does not love for their own good, but for the good of the other … the one values the other beyond their own needs and wants, for their needs and wants come to serve the other. The love of the one is so great that, if required, they will even stay away from the other.

You see this storyline in movies such as Love Affair (1939, 1994), An Affair to Remember (1956) or in the Francine Rivers book, Redeeming Love.

Of course, the premise of such a story is a tale as old as time ( 😉 ), for it is the premise of God’s love for His created, his bride, us.

He pursues us, endlessly, every day of our lives.

He is ever available, willing and wanting for us to receive Him … his love and presence and guidance. Yet, he is not rude, not pushy … for He knows that love is best, most sincere, when it is given freely … when we choose to love.

My most favorite poetic writing is by Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven. In this poem, the writer is equating God’s pursuit of himself to that of a hound. I think I love this ode because I can so easily see myself in the writer’s pursuit of life, with my back firmly in God’s face. Through much of the poem we read of fleeing Him, avoiding Him, Ignoring Him. Though I (we?) do not acknowledge His presence, we are always aware that he is there … here.

This poem ends with a not so classic happily ever after. The pursued turns to his Pursuer, takes his hand. But I think that he, like many of us, like CS Lewis, simply gave in … knowing that there was simply nothing left to run to that is better than who is chasing after us.

It is after we turn (often dejected) to Him, tired of our running, tired of our own pursuits, that that joy of forfeiting our life and will to Him begins to invade our souls, bursting through ourselves to reflect the greatest love story.

“I am He Whom thou seekest”

Francis Thompson – The Hound of Heaven

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Waiting for Rain

Posted in Nature/Creation, tagged #prayerforrain, #rainondryground, #renewingrain, #waitingforrain on August 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Nine weeks …

That’s how long we have been waiting.

Nine weeks,

one heat dome (who knew there was such a thing?),

one heat wave,

forest fires,

evacuations,

tinder dry conditions,

crops, plants, trees are singed, dying,

dry.

so, so dry.

We look ahead, listen to the meteorologists,

hoping they will be bearers of good news.

Hoping they will tell us what we want to hear,

what our living things need,

…

rain.

We bow our heads, lift fists to the heavens,

begging the One who can,

to do it.

To open the skies,

to let down

the renewing,

life-giving,

life-saving,

water from the clouds

drips,

falling onto everything,

wetting our world,

nourishing our soil,

extinguishing the flames,

soaking the roots,

soothing our dry, lifeless surroundings.

Renew our earth with life-giving rains,

as your presence in our lives

renews our souls.

Amen

The Breaking of the Drought
by Frederick J. Atwood

Listen!—it rains; it rains!
The prayer of the grass is heard;
The thirsty ground drinks eagerly
As a famished man eats bread.
The moan of the trees is hushed,
And the violets under the banks
Lift up their heads so gratefully,
And smilingly give thanks.

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Doing and Being

Posted in Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #bygrace, #capacitycomesfromgod, #doingandbeing, #notbymight, #thanks, #toberatherthantodo on August 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Summer can be a time of being instead of doing.

Books are read.

Stones are skipped.

Hikes are treked

Picnics are eaten.

Flowers and vegetables bloom and grow.

People are visited.

Trips are taken.

And on, and on go the list of recreation we take part in during this season.

A few days ago, I was stretched out on my back on our outdoor two-seater lounge, legs hanging over the side, book in hand, held up at just the right distance (which is becoming more and more difficult to navigate). Suddenly, something caught my attention and I peeked to the right of my book to see something absolutely glorious …

the cloudless, azure blue sky.

I stared in complete delight for minutes … just taking in the beauty of the day, the moment. I whispered formless prayers of thanks to God for this moment, because this level of beauty cannot go without acknowledgement, gratitude expressed.

Then, in that staring up at the sky moment, I got it. I understood more completely than ever in my life before what God wants from me …

to be rather to do.

2 Corinthians 3:5 tells us:

“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves
to claim anything as coming from us,
but our sufficiency is from God.”

Some versions or translations substitute sufficient and sufficiency with competent/competency, or qualified, or adequate. I love how the Good New Translation says it,

“There is nothing in us
that allows us to claim
that we are capable of doing this work.
The capacity we have comes from God“

To do is often to act on our own strength, our own capabilities. Yet, to truly do the work of God is to let him fill you with his Spirit, his strength. We have no capacity to do for God, if we have not first emptied of ourselves, allowing him to not just provide, but to be the capacity required to

There is nothing in us that allows us to claim that we are capable of doing this work. The capacity we have comes from God, God alone.

That God, that Spirit within us made available through sacrifice. It is the sacrifice that is what it, life, is all about.

Jesus sacrifice is about who we are,
not what we do.

It is about our being, not our doing. For, there is no doing that will make us able to do his work … be good enough, deserving enough.

So, stop.

Stop doing.

Stop striving.

Stop the busyness

that you say is in the name of God.

and be …

Just let him lead you to Him,

and like Mary who sat at his feet,

listening,

just being with Him.

“(Mary) decided what was important, and she did not let the day-to-day get her away from that. As a result, she was drawn into a greatness we don’t even dream of.” – Tim Keller

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God
Ephesians 2:8

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Mid Summer

Posted in Faith, tagged #contentment, #encouragement, #faith, #harvest, #midsummer, #ripeningfruits on August 1, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Produce is ripening. The days are dry and hot. The sun still high in the sky … but we now begin to really notice it is setting earlier in the evening.

This mid summer, this quarter season signifies the beginning of harvesting.

Harvesting … the taking or bringing in of the fruits of our labor.

I have begun harvesting my tomatoes daily. Little cherry tomatoes, ripe and round and delicious for salads. The Romas, a perfect balance of sweet taste, firmness and more flesh than seeds. I am anticipating thick slices atop mayo on artisan wheat bread … maybe even today.

For weeks, months even, I have anticipated the harvest of these fruits. Gardening in our newer, smaller digs, in pots, has not been as successful as gardening in the past. Yet, these plants are full of growing, healthy, ripening fruit for weeks to come.

I think that mid summer harvesting is a plot of God. I think this is his way of reminding us to keep our eyes on the prize of the present. While we are harvesting and tasting the fruits ripening before our eyes we are present in this very moment. This is what it is to not just be content, but know it too.

Pause for a moment.

Close your eyes.

Breath in deeply, slowly.

Exhale, slowly and completely.

Now, let your mind search for fruit in your life. The fullness of seeds which have been planted deep into the dark of the soil. Seeds that have been watered, fed, cared for. Dry, lifeless seeds that have sprouted, grown tall, with leaves, flowers and now the fruit is ripening … the fruit of your labor … the fruit of faithfulness to the Master Gardener.

What is he showing you?

What is he reminding you?

He is faithful. The seeds planted in him will grow.

they. will. grow.

See that fruit!

Don’t get discouraged, dear soul, when the ground seems dry and absent of life. He is in the dark, dry places with you. This midsummer harvest, today, is to encourage you in the winter times, when the days are dark and lifeless. For today bask in the sunshine of the harvest, let it’s delights seep into your soul, know the joy of this contentment.

“And another angel … cried … Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.”
-Revelation 14:18

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