Laced With Grace

“Busyness is not a spiritual gift.”
From an interview with
~ Lisa Harper ~

Spring Cleaning. (Still…. I may never be caught up!) Mopping. Toilet scrubbing. Laundry. Cooking. Writing projects. Supervising homework. Arguing about homework. Being the computer nazi. (IF you don’t get off that computer right now- I’ll pull the PLUG! Oh, the joys of having teens) Scraping playdough off the dog. (Teens and a preschooler- an interesting combination.) Knitting for charity, and fun. Bible-study. Mom Stuff.

Then there are the personal things….Showering, washing and drying my hair, make-up application. Which requires strict attention- or I could accidently use my eye-liner as a lip liner again! Making feeble attempts to shave both legs on a given day. (I’m Italian… sometimes it takes a bit of TIME to accomplish this goal! I have been known to get interrupted in the shower- and only do one leg… that’s a look, I’ll tell you!) Sending/ responding to email on 3 different accounts. IMing my husband. (sometimes it’s the most we get to talk….he travels a lot) Paying bills. (mostly even on time;)

Each of us has our own list of chores and responsibilities. Maybe your list includes a “for-pay” job, volunteer responsibilities, older loved ones to care for, or myriad other things to do. We’re busy. None of it is bad. (Trust me, it’s better for my marriage love life if both legs are shaved ocassionally;) It’s just, well, BUSY. Very busy.

The thing is… sometimes I get so caught up in the “doings” of my life, that I forget to just “be.”

I forget to be:

Quiet. And listen. To Him, the sheep know the shepherd’s voice. When was the last time I was quiet enough to hear it?
Still and experience Him through His creation.
Spontaneous, and enjoy my loved ones- even if there is a load of wash that needs to be done.

I wonder why I continue to allow myself to be so busy? Am I trying to earn brownie points with God? (Yeah- He died on a cross, I’m sure He’ll be impressed with my constant service.) Am I trying to be perfect, or make the things around me perfect? (With three boys, that one would be pretty tough to accomplish!) Am I trying to avoid the quiet? Boredom? Am I trying to keep afloat in a life crashing with waves of “extra” things, that I should cut out of my schedule completely? Am I just plain too busy?

I’m not sure. But, I’m asking God to show me.

And, I do know this: “Busyness, is not a spiritual gift”
~ Lisa Harper ~

Dear Jesus- Today, as we go through our day- help us to take time to BE… remind us that busyness is not a spiritual gift- it may even be a spiritual pitfall. Lord- you’ve breathed the breath of life into us- help us not to waste it by being busy. Keep our eyes focused on you- and on balancing our lives, moment by moment in a way that honors you…. maybe just by BEING with you. Give us wisdom to know what needs to be done— and what needs to not, be done. I love you Jesus- Amen-

Genesis 2:7

…the LORD God formed the man The Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah) it is also the name Adam (see Gen. 2:20). from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
~ 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (ESV)

Although we don’t know what Paul’s thorn was (that is really not what I want to focus on); we do know that Paul boasted in the strength of Christ. And he was supported by the members of the Way (I like that word “The Way” – maybe we should revert to that)…

Within the last week, three of my sweet sisters in Christ were under spiritual attack. I am certain that more are under attack, but I know these three sisters intimately. They have grown very close to my heart. One might wonder why they were under this attack. Personally, I am not surprised. They confess Christ as their Lord and Savior; they share their knowledge with anyone who will listen that He is the Only Way to heaven…

Guess, who doesn’t like it…Yeah, he is getting scared. You see, the Internet reaches around the world. Even to countries where Christianity is forbidden. We all know that people are searching—they are searching for truth—the Truth that will set them free.

When we are under such attack, we need not to fear. We have two huge weapons—His Word and the ‘sisterhood’ of believers in Christ. The ‘sisterhood’ is strong, believe me. Little by little we are breaking down the walls of denomination. I think that is why Satan is so scared. He can no longer hold us in that boundary. Because we are standing united to defeat the only enemy we have. We are united in Him who gives us the strength to stand.

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
~ 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (ESV)

My beloved sisters in Christ—carry on proclaiming His glorious name to the end of the earth with your keyboards. His Spirit will guide you—the ‘sisterhood’ will cover you in prayer.

Lord of Heaven and Earth. Many will say that You will never rescue us. We know that You will be watching over us as we sleep and all our waking moments. Victory comes from You, Oh Lord. In the precious name of Jesus we pray ~ Amen!

This is going to be a very short post – I”m at my mom and dad’s house, with very slow dial-up. It’s good to be here, after not seeing them for a while, but I miss my cable modem

One of their neighbors is a Mennonite family that own farm and along with that business run a bulk food store that we love to visit when we are here. It’s about a one mile walk so Manda and I walked over there today. Like most farmer, animals are all over the place and there’s a cute little dog that hangs out by the door. We said “hi” to the dog (we always do) and bought lots of good stuff and headed back to my dad’s house.

We had not gone very far when the little dog came up next to us and started to follow us home. We laughed (oh, no, we’re stealing the Mennonites dog) and planned on driving her back later on the way to town. After a little while a car drove by and she chased off after car (going to the store)

It hit me that we can be like that little dog. It’s nice to hang out at home, where we belong…but then somebody (or something new) comes along and we follow – even if we don’t really know who they are or where they’re headed. And something else new comes along and we’re off in another direction.

It’s only when we remain grounded at home (in the Word) that we are able to stay on the right track and recognize when we don’t “know” that which we’re following.

Who am I following today?
Who are you following today?