Whispers of Rest - wonderful new book by Bonnie Gray

I first came across Bonnie Gray when she started blogging as Faith Barista; I joined in with her 'one word' writing prompts. I loved her coffee analogies: getting a 'refill' of faith; Beloved Brews; Bible Espresso; Coffee Break For Your Soul Podcast; Decaf Please; Everyday Faith Brews; Soul Mocha Videos ......

Then she wrote a book: Finding Spiritual Whitespace. I was privileged to join the pre-launch team, and so eagerly joined in again when I discovered she was bringing out another: Whispers of Rest.

Bonnie says: "Everywhere I go, women line up during book signing to ask this one thing: But, how can I get practical about rest when I go back home? How can I take better care of myself and feel close to God everyday?

Today, I am so happy to share the top 40 ways that has helped me to become God's beloved with you in my new book Whispers of Rest: 40 Days of God’s Love to Revitalize Your Soul! 

As women who pour out to love others – with checklists to do, meals to cook, emails & deadlines queued up, let's prioritize our well-being with God's love and rest!

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden
and I will give you rest.” Matt 11:28"  

I have been taking part in a 21 day challenge, where Bonnie has given words of encouragement to focus on: pause; listen; breathe; rest.....The book Whispers of Rest offers similar ideas, one a day for 40 days.

40 days is such a wonderful, Biblical period of time. Jesus's 40 days in the desert is the first which springs to mind, echoed in 40 days of Lent; I've taken part enthusiastically in 40Acts, 40 days of acts of kindness and generosity throughout Lent.

Of course, I try to do 40Acts all year long: it's not just for Christmas Lent. Similarly, Whispers of Rest is not necessarily just for 40 days, but a book to dip into, a page to linger on a while.  It will, I think, take me a while to learn to just breathe.... or rest....just listen... pause and see...

Bonnie's book is sensibly organised into six different sections, all focused, really, on realising who we are: Beloved.

Each chapter contains a personal reflection; directed Bible study; prayer; space for personal reflection and application, with a one word focus; and a practical suggestion to follow.  It is incredible how much Bonnie packs in - it certainly seems like much more than 40 days' worth.

The more I read, the more I find in others' hearts the desperate need to know they are beloved. Whispers of Rest offers ways of doing this.

So...I don't need to say more. There would be too many words to write: each page is filled with wisdom and encouragement, an invitation to linger and listen to the still small voice inside our hearts...

Words to help us just BE...to CHOOSE...to DREAM...to HEAL...to DARE...to SHINE... as God's beloved.

Practical and poetic. 

One word....

Last year, 2015, my one word for the year was JOY.  I needed to learn joy, to live and breathe and eat joy, to CHOOSE joy over and above all else, even when joy was not the first or second or last word in my mind.

And as I chose joy, joy came.

Joy came in many small ways, a heart attitude of gratefulness and more optimism than I should have felt.  Joy came in big things: from desperate prayers for an unmarried daughter in January through to her engagement in July and wedding in December. More joy than I dreamed of.

And joy is my word for this year, again.

But to that one word I need to add two more.  BE GENEROUS.  I need to learn and practise and live generosity in a new and extravagant way.

Because being generous is something I'm really, really bad at.

I'm poor at being generous with money as I fear being poor. (Is that not a great contradiction?)
I'm poor at being generous with my attitudes as I prefer to be judgemental.
I'm poor at being generous with myself as I am afraid of things not turning out the way I've planned.
Oh, I have a lot of 'being generous' to explore this year....

And, already, I'm being challenged to give more of myself, when I feel as if I am pouring myself out into nothingness.
I'm being challenged to be more generous with my attitudes, giving the benefit of the doubt even when I am sure it is not deserved.
I'm being challenged to be more generous financially, in spite of a more constrained and reduced income.

This will be an interesting year. 

Finding Spiritual Whitespace: The Review

Bonnie Gray is the writer behind Faith Barista.com, a lovely blog on spiritual topics themed to all things coffee: quirky and imaginative. She has written the book Finding Spiritual Whitespace about her inspiring, heart-breaking journey to find rest, which garnered Publisher’s Weekly starred review. You can get a copy HERE. I have just finished it, but this is not a book to read quickly: quite the contrary.

I need to start over. I need to re-read - especially the pages, the many many places,  I have pencilled in notes and underlinings and reminders to stop. and think. and revisit. 

Bonnie's book is a journey she has taken involving revisiting painful events in her life. She bravely shares the messiness, the pain and the subsequent healing of memories buried so deep that she didn't know they were there. 

But her body did. She carried those hurtful words and experiences for four decades before she realised how they were affecting her. She became so broken, afflicted by post-traumatic stress disorder, that she could no longer function normally. In the hurt and pain, she rediscovered Jesus' spirit deep within her.

This book, however, isn't just show and tell. Bonnie speaks as friend, inviting the reader in to discover healing and wholeness with her. She speaks of reawakening the soul through stillness and rest and discovering Jesus in new and deeper ways. Facing questions of desire and loss; feelings of desolation; going beyond the obvious.

Bonnie writes tenderly from many different perspectives as she draws us into discovering Jesus in fresh new ways. She encourages the reader to take time to rest; to listen for Jesus' voice; to rediscover innate creativity; and above all, to revisit painful memories in the loving companionship of the Spirit of God. This is not self-indulgent, but healthy. We all need to face those things we have buried long before, learning to cope, to live with shame and hurt that has been buried but affects us without our realising it.

Words cannot do justice to this gem of a book. I found myself sinking in, like drinking a frothy cappuccino through the cream to find the strength of the coffee beneath. This book IS strong: its words offer hope and healing and an invitation to a deeper, more intimate spiritual life.

Beautiful, poetic words. Words to retain, words to inspire, words to encourage. A gift and a jewel from a brave heart.

Whitespace. Stillness. Listening.

This post is part of the  “Finding Spiritual Whitespace Blog Tour” which I am a part of, along with a group of soulful, journeying kindreds. Bonnie has sent me a copy of her book to review. To learn more and join us, CLICK HERE!  

For reasons that I don't wish to explain in detail,  I find myself tripping over/falling into space and silence and stillness wherever I turn.

Bonnie Gray's 'Finding Spiritual Whitespace' has been the greatest place to start, but I have been 'encouraged' by emotional meltdown and comments in sermons about being overwhelmed and numb and... oh, all the things Bonnie explains in her book. The knowledge that it is only with Jesus that deep deep hidden wounds are healed into wholeness.

This search for relationship with and the presence of God in my life meets me at every turn.

Today it was through Lisa Burgess as she talks about:  "...it’s his presence we crave, even when we don’t know it. And it’s in his presence we’re most loved, even though we can’t see him.

“Just the privilege of fellowship with God is infinitely more than any thing that God could give. When he gives himself he is giving more than anything else in the universe.”- Frank Laubach

But how can we tap into that fellowship with God, especially in the everyday moments?

It’s a concept that’s intrigued me for years. I’m not alone in this quest. Not now. Not ever. Whether straight from scripture, from a monk in the 1600s, from a missionary in 1930, or from a friend in 2014, there’s much to learn about being more mindful of God in the now, of intentionally grasping God’s hand in this moment, in this thing.

I find motivation every few years when I reread Brother Lawrence’s The Practice of the Presence of God. And now I’m finding it also in finally reading Frank Laubach’s Letters by a Modern Mystic....

...Enjoying God’s presence is knowing that in this hour, this situation, this relationship, we are never alone.

“If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.”
Psalm 139:9-10 "

I love Beverley's comment on Lisa's post: Occasionally when i think that God has forgotten me and is no longer listening to my anguished prayers, he speaks! He speaks through the mouths and actions of others, the gentle breeze to cool the heat of the day, the smell of a wild rose, almost forgotten. When we feel forgotten all we have to do is wait and God will always arrive.

I have sat with those who are passing from this life to the next and the one thing they all want is one more…touch, hug, kiss, minute, moment…morning. So many people that i have nursed in these moments have waited for the morning to arrive before they have found the courage to leave.

And so, as I study Sally Clarkson and Angela Peritt's book You Are Loved with Good Morning Girls, I am learning that I AM loved by Jesus. That prayer and Bible study and good works are all well and good, but that it is in his presence that I am fulfilled.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39

And so I look for Him in everyday life and to Him in the quiet and listen, listen for His voice in the silence and the stillness of my heart.

PS: another form of stillness is going for a walk: notes on seeking quiet every day as a way of refreshing the brain. 

Finding spiritual whitespace

It is a long time since I wrote here. A time of business and absorption in all manner of things... good things, God things but not time with God.

So it's not a coincidence that Bonnie Gray's book has come out as I embark on a new Good Morning Girls study: You Are Loved.

I needed to set aside the time to know this:

"Christ went to great lengths to demonstrate His love for us….he died on a cross.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”- Romans 5:8

Christ’s death is proof of His unconquerable love for us. He went to such great lengths to demonstrate His love so that we will be secure in knowing we are loved by Him.

“A person who feels loved, lives with relief that they do not have to perform. They live with joy to know they are acceptable as they are. They live with hope because they are not alone.”- Sally Clarkson, You Are Loved

You are not alone.

You are loved."

We can know this in the quiet, in the rest, in the whitespace times...what does 'whitespace' mean? Ask read Bonnie!

Journey

It is quite some time since I joined in with Faith Jam Thursdays. Now, at the beginning of Lent, I am prompted to jump in again.
With the theme, today, of Journey.

Journey. The word
conjures excitement
and trepidation.

When I was younger
a journey was 
a wondrous thing
opening doors
of adventure

but

now I am older
a life journey
seems fraught
with fearsome
possibilities

life is full of 
the unknowns of
retirement and 
living other places
and health.

But with Jesus
the journey of life
can be, shall be
one of joy, deep satisfaction
and promise.

Dare I step out,
join in,
embrace 
with open heart
my Journey?

Intentional - not.

I stand, twisting pastry dough between my fingers. I have used leftover scraps, grated cheese, a rolling pin and a sharp knife to form strips. I twist them between my fingers to form unappetizing raw dough into beautiful spirals. I will bake them, in a hot oven. They will become delicious cheese twists.

I am reminded of who I am.

I am a cheese twist.

I have felt left over, left out, left friendless from the pain of rejection. My emotions and nerves have, at times, been grated raw, leaving me crumbled and small. I have felt crushed under the weight of circumstances, the heaviness of chronic illness, the pressure of life.  And I have been cut - oh, so many, many times. Left looking - and feeling - unappetizing.  Only to suffer the heat of the furnace.

God is the Master Chef.
He is the Potter, I am the Clay.
He is the Cook, I am the Ingredients.

I need to remember that it is He who moulds me, refines me, transforms me into beauty I cannot even imagine.
I am to humble myself even as Jesus did. Even to the Cross, to dying to myself.

Yet how do I hold this in tension with ideas of being intentional, as I have just read on a (wonderful, inspiring yet so out of reach) blog over at Intentional Today? The author is a successful writer, successful businesswoman, successful Christian, dispensing wise-beyond-her-years advice. Really USEFUL wisdom: how to navigate financial difficulties in marriage, how to protect your marriage, build up your spouse, deal with your past, follow your dreams...how to be INTENTIONAL.

As if I have any control over my life at all?

This is tension. As I follow Jesus, I let Him mould me, change me, use me. I submit with as much humility as I dare, as I can muster up courage to die to self, to give up my own agenda...

...and I INTENTIONALLY keep my eyes and heart open to the possibilities He brings me.

I am a perfect cheese twist in the making, designed to serve others.

There.

Inspired by pastry on the day Bonnie from Faith Barista invited me to her Faith Jam.

Vulnerable...

It's been a while since I joined in with Faith Barista's JamWithMe Thursdays.
                     
I've missed it. I've missed the challenge of writing specifically on a topic to a deadline. I've missed reading other bloggers' thoughts.
So when I saw the topic this week - ' Vulnerable' - my first thought was 'How long is a piece of string?'
Because it is one of those heart-close topics which, particularly at VULNERABLE times in our lives, begs to be unwrapped.
Then I watched this video a friend sent me.

Caring for vulnerable children.
What more is there to say? Doesn't this put our own preoccupations when we are 'feeling vulnerable' into perspective?

A new word

The 'buzz' on the blogs for the new year seemed to be about choosing a 'word' for the year. Others challenged us to ask God for a 'picture'. I wondered about a 'song'.  All good ideas, but what?
I could only think of 'mercy'.  To dwell on God's mercy, to aim to extend mercy, to be merciful...this is the word that has stayed with me. 
Mercy. To be compassionate, forbearing, kind...It implies forgiveness, indulgence, clemency, leniency, lenity, tenderness, mildness. 
Most of those words do not come naturally to me. I am decisive, with no natural inclination to 'suffer fools gladly'.
At least, that was definitely the teenage me.  Several decades on, I am glad to say that I am far more merciful than I used to be.
Yet still, mercy is a good word for me this year. A new word in my life.
Now I have another word, arising from the Good Morning Girls study on Ephesians. This comes from chapter 1.
Fearless. Fearlessly.

Because I am  because I am redeemed, saved, paid for, rescued...I am safe, and can live fear less! And because of that, I can also live FEARLESSLY. 

So I pray I will respond to compassionate instincts, not hold back, examine, assess, weighing up risks...but acting with mercy and kindness towards those around me.

A good idea for a new year.

(I still haven't had a 'picture' yet.)
Faith Barista offered this challenge. I love the tagcloud she made of all the words which others had been given for this year. 
                                               
Interestingly, I can't see 'mercy'.  Or 'fearless'.  Hmmm...

"I write to discover what it is I really think."

This is what Bonnie over at Faith Barista has written.  I've been really short of energy and time the last few weeks, so shall repost her thoughts here: 

"I love to write.

It’s not because I like to hear myself talk.

I write to discover what it is I really think.

For better or worse, I’ve learned to filter my words before I speak.

It’s a good thing — the practice of seasoning our words with grace to others.

It’s self-control.

But, there’s a line between being wise with our words and hiding behind them –

because we’re afraid to express our true feelings.

because we struggle with being needy.

because we don’t want others to think we are needy.

So, we filter our conversations, but we’re left with the emotional and spiritual grinds in our soul.

This is why I write.

I write to keep it real.

I write to shake out soul grinds in front of God, one sentence at a time.

Somewhere between the first word I write and last word I end with, my voice emerges and so does God’s.

I hear my true voice –

The girl that laughs loud and isn’t shy about being happy.

The woman who thinks things through too much and feels them deeply.

The poet who sees art in everyday life and wax sentimental.

The child who is never short on questions and always looking for re-assurances as much as friendship.

…

Writing Becomes a Prayer

Everyday, a different part of our soul emerges as the day brings us through different experiences.  We encounter a conversation, a book, a song.

If we dare to give ourselves the space to let our soul speak through words, we can encounter God.

Writing becomes a prayer.

We allow ourselves to be vulnerable.

Writing becomes a soul conversation.

Dare To Have a Soul Conversation

If you enjoy this self-discovery that inevitably leads to God-discovery, I want to encourage you to have an unfiltered soul conversation.

Take some time write a journal entry.

It can be any piece of paper.

It can be on your computer.

It doesn’t matter if you just write this one time.

Share what’s on your heart.

Write a letter to yourself.

Write a letter to God.

Whatever you do, write honestly and keep it real..." 

I really like this.  In fact, I love this whole post.  It's nice when folk read my blog and comment, but it is in the writing and thinking thoughts into being and coherency and sense that is important.  Thank you, Bonnie!

Sharing a moment...

Something happened recently which I recorded in my journal but didn't think I'd blog about. But Connie over at Faith Barista asked us to share a thought arising from our 'whitespace' (times alone with God). It's quite a long story, but worth recording.
Firstly, my 'whitespace' is often in a church service. I attend a traditional Anglican church: this was God's choice, not my natural comfort zone! My husband and I left our lively evangelical church to help support the vicar with a tiny, elderly congregation, finding it quite challenging. Happiest in a non-denominational, charismatic service, I often find the formal Anglican liturgy...well, less than inspiring. Yet it is often at these 'drier' moments that I have 'God thoughts' which I jot down in a tiny journal I carry with me.  Occasionally, I attend services and events at another church and my 'whitespace' moments may happen in the middle of a lively worship session. They also happen in quieter prayer moments or when I am listening to the Bible reading. They happen most often in church though during a sermon or talk, when God 'speaks' to me quite directly through the words spoken.
That happened to me a week or two ago.
A visiting pastor, who I know slightly, related a story where he had been greatly encouraged. Jon had been adopted as a baby by older parents and was very much loved. His mother died a few years ago and then his father more recently. He talked about how lonely and abandoned he had been feeling since his fathers' death a few months' previously - despite having a loving wife and three beautiful daughters!
One day, Jon had to go home at lunchtime to meet some workmen. Instead of driving home directly, he found himself travelling by a roundabout route and, in the process, came across a visitor struggling with the map. The man was thin, quite bedraggled, almost scruffily dressed, and Portuguese: he spoke almost no English at all. However, he spoke a little French, which Jon is fluent in and so Jon was able to understand where the man wanted to go: to a hotel very near Jon's house. So he offered him a lift.
As soon as they started driving off in Jon's open-top car, the man - 'Pedro' - started pulling all kinds of papers out of a bag he was carrying, which almost started flying away. As Jon negotiated the narrow, winding lanes of our little island of Guernsey, he tried to encourage the man to put them away and managed to arrive at the hotel without losing anything. Arriving, the man motioned for Jon to drive round the back of the hotel into the car park, which made Jon think that perhaps the man had been there before and was maybe returning for a job interview, as our island has quite a few Portuguese people working in the hotel industry.  The man got out, thanking Jon for the lift and had begun to walk off when Jon noticed a crumpled Guernsey £1 note lying on the passenger seat. He picked it up and called to 'Pedro' that he had forgotten it, whereupon Pedro motioned for Jon to keep it, shouting "Pour l'essence!" ('For the fuel'), so Jon put it in his pocket, thanked him and drove off.
Some time later, as Jon was leaving his house, he remembered the note and pulled it out. Inside, folded up into a small rectangle of a few square centimeters, was a piece of paper. On it was written, in French, words to the effect that 'you are my adopted son, you are not alone, I am with you...'
As Jon said this, he looked over at me while he read the words on the paper and I felt tears. I knew God was speaking to me.
Now, I am not adopted but I have been feeling quite alone and burdened in my church situation. I just knew this was a word from God for me, that I did not need to feel alone or discouraged. I thought there might be added confirmation during a prayer time at the end but, as the story had taken a long time to tell, there was just a brief prayer and a closing song.
It didn't matter. I knew God had spoken to me through Jon.
Yet, a few minutes after the end, Jon came over.
"I have a word for you," he said.
"I know!" was my reply. "I saw you look over at me while you were speaking."
He looked a little puzzled, but continued, "I don't know if this makes any sense, but I felt God say this to you: 'Angie —don't fear I am with you. You are not alone. I will not leave you. God hears your cry - his strength is made perfect in weakness. You are supporting someone, which is draining you, but you will not run dry. He will supply a supporting friend - so you can be supported and continue to support too.'
I couldn't stop smiling. God had spoken to me in my 'whitespace' and confirmed it through Jon. I knew I was not alone.
PS the end of Jon's story was that he then rushed back to the hotel, to find no trace of 'Pedro'. He asked us: "Do you think 'Pedro' might possibly have been an angel?"
Hmmm.....

Finding beauty in everyday life

Today, over at Faith Barista, Bonnie talks about finding beauty in everyday life.

Hmmm...
Finding beauty. In everyday life.

I could give the ‘beauty in nature’ answer. The glorious sunsets and sunrises. The quiet of a cool evening. The birds singing their hearts out as dusk approaches. The exclamations of flowers: spilling out of window boxes, jostling in gardens, scattered over the fields, exploding from the stone walls which line my journey to work. The myriad shades of a turquoise sea lapping the islands where I live. I could give that as an answer.

But I find beauty in other ways. Beauty which is called encouragement, inspiration, warmth, friendship, love.

Beauty in character. Where beauty is seen which has nothing to do with physical appearance.
Beauty in an affirming email or card, responding to a tiny kindness.
Beauty in my elderly friend, courageously living a life plagued with infirmity and illness.
Beauty in an insecure child I teach, as his personality and confidence begin to blossom.
Beauty in the security of my church house group: beauty as we seek to grow together in love.
Beauty in a smile.
The most beautiful thing of all: Jesus.

Because God has made everything beautiful in his time. The writer of Ecclesiastes talks about setting eternity in the hearts of men, yet we cannot understand the extent of what God has done...except through faith. Faith gives us hope, gives us purpose, gives us direction as we live out who we are meant to be - to become truly beautiful. Even the smallest thing we do can be beautiful: Jesus tells us so.

And so, everything is beautiful – EVERYTHING. We just have to open our eyes to see beauty, our ears to hear it, our hearts to experience it. To see Jesus in everything we do, say, experience – finding JESUS in everyday life.

Faith

Faith Barista's Thursday Jam is about Faith. Last week, Bonnie blogged that "The truth is, your faith in Jesus holds extraordinary value to Him....It doesn’t matter how small our faith is. What matters is that we use whatever faith we have. It doesn’t matter how little of it we have to give."
And so here I am, back to small things again. And again. Because my faith feels very, very, very small.
I can't get my head round Jesus talking about if I had faith 'as small as a mustard seed'. It's a bit like talking about trying to 'bottle' enthusiasm, or joy, or affectionate behaviour, or...well, you get my drift. Faith is intangible - but is it immeasurable or unquantifiable? Jesus commented that some people had great faith, others little...it's a mystery.
But this I know about faith. That Jesus is faithful. As Bonnie says:  '...remember Jesus is faithful. 
to create something beautiful in you.
bring life to others through you.

to carry you to safety.

to make a way you cannot see.

to put you back together again.

to return laughter where you taste sorrow.

to give you courage to start over (again and again).

to use every loss and every triumph for His glory.'

And this I also know: 

that, however 'big' or 'small' my faith seems to me, it

sets me right with God

makes me fit for him

gives me peace with him

gives me his grace

rests on God's power

and is what I should live for.

Because faith is being sure of what I hope for and certain of what I cannot see.

My faith doesn't 'feel' big, but I know what I hope for, indeed. I'm certain of that.


For more on faith, visit Faith Barista's post Facing What You Fear to Live a Significant Life

A refill of encouragement

Bonnie over at Faith Barista asks in what area (e.g. work, parenting, marriage, friendship, ministry, faith, health, finances, or ___? ) I’d like a ‘refill’ of encouragement. 

Hmmm... what area WOULDN’T I like to be encouraged in??

This week I’ve needed encouragement in my relationships: at work, as a parent, in my friendships. A combination of over-tiredness and difficult circumstances have left me feeling depleted, down to the dregs. I can see the coffee grounds of unkind words, ignored suggestions, excluded conversations, derogatory laughter, inadequacy and lack of understanding.  The fragrance of a fresh, reviving brew has long since gone.

It all came to a head yesterday morning. A hectic time at work made me over-tired and over-busy; church commitments all came together (last week was a breeze) at the same time as my daughter came home for a brief visit, leaving less time with her. She was busy catching up with friends in any case, and a combination of circumstances left me feeling discouraged as a parent. Lies came crowding in as coping strategies fled: I wobbled and tipped over. Any feelings of self-worth I had in me spilt, trickling away, soaked up in deception.

Today, my cup of encouragement has been refilled. In small ways.

I have been reading through Jeremiah of late. Deeply depressing in some ways, but I gained a lot of strength from him as I read his complaint (Jeremiah 20:7 – 18).

&  1. I was encouraged as I realised that, whatever I felt like, things really WEREN’T so bad when I compared my ‘difficulties’ with Jeremiah’s. My friends ARE my friends, my colleagues DO like and appreciate me and, most importantly, my daughter loves me very much.

I hear many whispering,

   “Terror on every side!

   Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!”

All my friends  are waiting for me to slip, saying,

“Perhaps he will be deceived;

   then we will prevail over him

   and take our revenge on him.” (v10)

2. I was encouraged as I realised that GOD IS WITH ME. Regardless of how I might FEEL, He is always there and has my best in mind.

 But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior;

   so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.

They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;

   their dishonor will never be forgotten.

LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous

   and probe the heart and mind,

let me see your vengeance on them,

   for to you I have committed my cause. (vv11 – 12)

&  3. I was encouraged as I realised that GOD is great, and that all my worries and concerns pale into insignificance into comparison with his

  Sing to the LORD!

   Give praise to the LORD!

He rescues the life of the needy

   from the hands of the wicked. (v13)

It’s easy to write this, NOW.  I am sometimes too easily discouraged. When I am, I just have to remember to go back to God’s word – because that is a source of never-ending liquid nourishment. Life-giving water is the Bible’s analogy, but sometimes it might just be that first-of-the-day steaming cup of coffee.

My God-sized dreams

Bonnie, over at Faith Barista, talks about ‘God-sized dreams’ being a buzz word at the moment in books, blog posts and talk among friends.  It’s the topic for this week’s Faith Jam on Thursday.

Of course, I immediately started thinking about my dreams of people actually reading my blog; or my dreams of someone liking my writing enough to publish it.  Then there are my dreams for my family: for good health for my husband;  or for fulfilling, God-centred, PAID work for my children. (Well, two out of three isn’t bad: getting paid is a minor issue, really, as long as there is enough income coming in to live on. Especially if you haven’t reached the grand age of 25 yet.)  They are ‘God-sized’: big, not-achievable-by-my-own-efforts dreams.

They might be ‘God-sized’ but they are not necessarily ‘God-centred’.

I’ve just come from a memorial service. Giving thanks for the life of a dear, godly friend. The kind of woman who is rare – someone who just oozed God’s love out of every pore. Sheila’s smile melted hearts.

The key text was Philippians 3:7-14

‘But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’

Just before a tragic accident took Sheila from this world to the next, she wrote these words:

‘That I might know Him and the power of His resurrection,

That I might know Him and the strength of His love for me,

That I might share in the fellowship of His suffering

And understand what it cost to set me free.’

This is my ‘God-sized dream’.  It is big, and not-achievable-by-my-own-efforts. I dream of becoming a woman like Sheila, and Renee, and Lisa, and Tami, and Karyn, and Sarah, and Ruth, and Esther...to know Jesus as they did, and do. Something I can do only by God’s grace and in the strength – the God-sized strength – He gives me.