Conversations With God

"God, I am really sorry about today. I promise I will give you more time tomorrow." How often do I wage these apologies, full of excuses and reasons of why I failed to fall on one knee? I still feel his hands on my heart, waiting patiently for me, as I rumble through life and all of the responsibilities that resemble a perpetual hamster wheel.
The day ends and I have forgotten to say thank you.

 Another sunrise, another beautiful day encroaches and I am angry and irritated at people who fail my expectations. "I am sorry God, it's just a bad time right now. Stay there, I will be back in a minute." And yet another moment of procrastination with the Father. I can feel his arms hug me in the warm breeze as I walk to my car. He is still there. Oh good, I'll visit with Him tomorrow, I think to myself, as I cram in lists of what needs to be done by noon. The day ends and I have forgotten to say thank you.

A beautiful rain storm and cool breeze follow the next day. I am frustrated over my plans being canceled because of the weather. I gather my to-do list and try to accomplish as much as I can on this one day... to make the most of it, again failing to "fill my tank" so to speak. "Ok God, I will devote some time with you as soon as I am done, maybe I will crack the bible a little later." I pull in to the driveway and see that my lawn looks greener than it has in the past and the hibiscus looks happy and healthy. As I walk under the tree, I feel tears on my shoulder. Raindrops falling from the leaves penetrate my shirt. "I know God, I overlooked you again, I will do better." Another missed opportunity to rest in His arms that remain open and patiently waiting for me to surrender. The day ends and I have forgotten to say thank you.

Another day passes and I am blessed repeatedly... blessed by my husband who is the most wonderful man ever created for me, blessed by my children, all of them, mine and his....blessed by my grandchildren who are gifts straight from Heaven. I am blessed by the friends that He designed just for me. The day is filled with laughter and food and sharing. Goodness abounds and I feel like I can conquer the world. "God, I am having a great day, I am going to get back with you tonight and I am going to bend a knee and acknowledge all that you have given me." The day passes in to night and I am so exhausted that I fall asleep on the couch until my husband gently reminds me to go to bed. Another day and I have forgotten to say thank you.

How many of these conversations have I had? Endless weeks of "busy"...endless weeks of "I'll get back to you" and yet I know that He is always there. The very second that I take a moment to reflect on Him, it is as if I never left. I know as a Christian woman that there are valleys and peaks in my relationship with my Creator. I have fervently pursued His word and His will for my life, and there are times I have selfishly procrastinated. Even with all of that, there is never a time that I have felt abandoned. The very second that I reach out, He is there, reaching for me. I don't deserve that kind of patience or loyalty or grace, but it is there. He doesn't know any other way to love us. That's just who He is.

Peggy

So Much Goodness!

Do you ever just sit in amazement at how good God is? It's as if He delights in blessing us. Oh, wait...His Word says that's exactly how He feels, doesn't it? Well, knowing God is good doesn't stop me from being blown away when He lavishes His love on me in such abundance, and that's exactly what He did this week.

Tuesday night was the annual fundraising banquet for our local Crisis Pregnancy Center and, several months ago, Pam Tebow committed to be the guest speaker for the event. I was grocery shopping right before Christmas when I ran into the Center's Executive Director. Knowing that I went to UF and love all things Gator, she asked me if my husband and I would like to sit at her table for dinner with Mrs. Tebow on April 10. That was an easy question to answer! In early March, she and I met again at a fundraiser for another ministry, and she asked if I would decorate our table that night, in keeping with the banquet's football theme. Since I just happen to have a few orange and blue things laying around, I happily agreed to do so. Then on Monday evening as I was putting the table's centerpiece together, my friend came and asked me if I would like to take Mrs. Tebow to the airport on Wednesday morning. Ummm....let me think about it....YES!

Pam Tebow is a beautiful woman with a passion for the Word of God. Her message at the banquet to over 1700 people communicated her commitment to life and family, and I was convicted about how many opportunities I've lost over the years with my own children. More than that though, I was reminded of how big God is (big enough to redeem my failures) and how worthy He is of my devotion and service. His plans for each of us...even the unborn...are for our welfare and not calamity, to give us a future and a hope. He really does delight in delighting His child, and the best way to insure He can do that is for me to cling to Him and rely on Him to plant dreams in my heart and then help me realize them.

That's obviously what He has done in the Tebow family. It's also obvious to me now that Tim's humility and charitable heart are genuine because I have seen those same qualities in his mother. When I picked her up at her hotel yesterday, she hugged me and made me feel like we were old friends, and that feeling only grew as we chatted on the ride. She is from Tampa, so we talked about "home". Her oldest daughter who is a missionary in Thailand was a Music major in college, so we had that in common as well. It took us over 45 minutes to make a 30 minute trip because of a traffic back-up on the interstate; it was as if God wanted to give me every second He could with this delightful woman, this walking example of Proverbs 31. Mrs. T and I talked for another five minutes or so in the drop-off zone at the airport and then prayed together in my car. She jotted some words in my husband's copy of her son's book and, because I had mentioned earlier that my daughter had a "wall of encouragement" in her dorm room, Pam wrote her a sweet note that she'll receive tomorrow. What struck me the most as we hugged goodbye was really not anything about Mrs.Tebow, myself, or even my friend who had provided me with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Rather, I was just acutely aware that God had been very much with me on this little trip. He was the reason there were no awkward silences in the car. His love created the fellowship. His hand was the one doling out blessings.

When was the last time you stopped to think about all the ways, including those creative and subtle ones, that God demonstrates His love for you? As if His death and resurrection had not been enough and despite our failings, He gives us His presence, power, and so many gifts each day - grace to bear the bad news you've been dreading, the ability to meet that deadline you thought you'd surely miss, a simple hug from your child that lets you know he really does appreciate you, a husband who does something before you ask him to, a washing machine that spontaneously starts working after three days of not working--saving you from an expensive repair bill, or an hour alone with Pam Tebow. God-smiles, I call them. I'll never understand why He does it, but I'm going to try to do a better job of acknowledging His goodness, thanking him for it, and paying it forward.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from The Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." - James 1:17

~Maria

Passover Remembered.

OH HOLY NIGHT.

Exodus 12:6-  The date of the 14th of Nisan given for Passover.  Sunset on April 6, 2012
Exodus 12:13, 14- God commands it be an everlasting ordinance. 
Luke 22:7- Christ commands disciples to go prepare Passover so He can partake of it with them.  This would of course have been on the 14th of Nisan.
Luke 22:14 Christ shares Passover meal with disciples the evening before He is crucified. (our April 7th)
Luke 22:19,20- Christ reveals Himself as the Passover... the bread and the wine... the body and blood.
Luke 22:39- Christ shows the very depth of His "man" in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Sorrowful scriptures.
1 Corinthians 5:7- Christ, OUR Passover lamb.
John 3:16- All because He loves us THAT much.  "God so loved the world..."

Oh HOLY Night.  How blessed we are to have the WORD of God to give us such insight and personal connection with our Creator and Savior.  How blessed we are to know the very days of such Sacred and Holy events that changed the universe.

Oh to really, really, really grasp and understand THAT LOVE!

"... that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."  Ephesians 3:17-19~  

THAT YOU MAY BE FILLED WITH ALLLL THE FULLNESS OF GOD!!!!!!!!!

Praise Him!

All to Him I Owe

I woke up this morning feeling the weight of my sin. Good Friday is just a day on the calendar, and by that I mean that I'm no more guilty today than I was yesterday. Still, it's a day on the calendar designed to remind me, remind us all, that God paid the ultimate price to free us. How could my freedom mean that much to The Creator of the universe? I can't wrap my head around it, and I suppose that's why so many intellectuals choose not to believe. But it's not about intellect. "For it is by grace you are saved, through faith, not of yourselves so that no man can boast." I'm so grateful for His grace, but I'm just as thankful for the gift of faith to believe.

Chuck Colson shared the following a couple of years ago on his radio broadcast. I thought it worth sharing again this morning.

Can it really be just three months ago we gathered with loved ones to celebrate Christmas? What joy we felt as we celebrated the birth of the baby Jesus. Emmanuel. God with us.

But today, on Good Friday, we reflect on how that beautiful babe in the manger came to fulfill a mission. A terrible and glorious mission! God invaded planet Earth. He became a human child, to live as one of us, to call us to repent, to love God with our whole heart, minds, and souls, and our neighbors as ourselves.

And today we should tremble and shudder as we remember the horrible climax of His mission. Beaten, scourged, mocked, and stabbed, Jesus mounted the cross, receiving the just punishment for your sins. For my sins. For the sins of the world.

This is why He came and died.

Yes, Easter is coming. The light is at the end of the tunnel. But that’s days away. Today, stop. Think about why He came and died.

He came because He knew that mankind was lost. He knew that we would kill our own babies in the womb by the millions. And that many would call this horrible evil good.

This is why He came and died.

He knew that hatred would drive men and women to strap bombs to themselves to kill innocent people in the name of religion.

This is why He came and died.

He knew that man would deny that God was his creator. That man would seek to remake himself in his own image, tamper with the genetic code, and treat human life as mere test-tube material.

This is why He came and died.

And He knew that His own bride, the Church, would grow cold and distant, forgetful of the faith given once for all. Comfortable with the world and its ways. Seeking relevance instead of love, pleasure instead of holiness.

This is why He came and died.

And He knew that you and I, covered with sin, could never stand before God, our all-holy Father, without His supreme sacrifice.

So today, don’t look ahead to Easter. Instead, reflect on the Passion. Examine your life. And repent! Repent of your sins, repent of your coldness of heart. Ask God to grant you the desire to serve Him, your Lord and Master, with all your strength.

And then, please, ask God for a spirit of repentance and revival to sweep down upon the Church—and upon the nations of the world. It is our only hope in these terrible, dark times.

May God Bless you on this terrible, wonderful day.
~Maria