Archive for February, 2012
Do You Need a Friend?
Posted by: | Comments“You just call out my name, and you know wherever I am, I’ll come running to see you again…” I awakened to the sounds of James Taylor singing in my head. With some good coffee in hand, I clicked my computer over to YouTube and listened to James. Ahh, the words are hauntingly beautiful. Beautiful, because they express a longing for which we were created. Haunting, because we often don’t live in the full reality of that kind of relationship.
One of the comments underneath the song provided a commentary of a broken heart, “This must have been written about a dog.” We may all smile, but yet most of us know the feeling well for others have failed us in relationship and we have, also, failed in this way ourselves.
The words to this song have resonated with millions as the longing for lasting relationship exists in the hearts of all. This heart longing for a sense of belonging and community was created by God Himself. He made us for relationship, both with Him and with others.
Spiritual communities have the sacred privilege to gather together and offer relationship based on Christ and his presence. We come together and stay together based on who we are in Christ. When friendship and relationship are at their best, we are restored and refreshed through them. We listen to each other. We work together. We encourage one another. We pray for each other, hug each other, work through hurts and misunderstandings, and love each other.
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Red Velvet Rampage
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Valentine’s Day. Ah, hearts, roses, candy, love….I felt inspired. With my heart riding high on the atmosphere of love, I decided I would do something a little special for my family. Pinterest added fuel to my thoughts and then, there it was… a recipe for Red Velvet Cookies. Yes, that was it. I’d make a batch of the mouth-watering beauties for all my sweethearts for Valentine’s Day.
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Do You Need a Vacation?
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My idea of a true vacation has changed radically in the last few years. I’ve transitioned from loving the busy, busy, busy days of site-seeing, event-oriented vacations, to deeply longing for quiet, rest, relaxation, and restoration. From soaking in multi-colored sunsets to quiet hours of soul satisfying reading to lengthy conversations with those I love, I find joy and fulfillment in being instead of doing.
Whether I am just becoming older or more mature, lol, or I’ve just been there and done that and got the t-shirt, I find that simple pleasures are the best ones.
And yet, life tends to pull me into a stream of busy swirling activity. I must purposefully mark my calendar with times of non-activity. Times to watch movies with my husband. Times to read that book. Times to watch that sunrise. Times for communing with God. Times to watch my granddaughter laugh and dance and play.
The times when I resist the busyness provides deep fulfillment and restoration for my soul. They allow me to be present and aware during the busy moments of life, not missing the voice of my heart or the voice of my God. And yet, my current reality is that my tank is running a bit empty right now. I find myself longing for naps on the beach, mornings in the mountains, long afternoons with nothing to do but soak in the sun.
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Can You Remember Your First Love?
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Ah, the first love. The one who first consumed our hearts, our thoughts, our dreams. What do you remember about that one? Often thoughts of first love are mixtures of happy thoughts of hopes and dreams and painful memories of crushed hearts. Later we may wonder if it was really love at all because we more clearly identify the blind desires with which we embraced another in immaturity. Yet there is a reality of a first love that is true.
The apostle John wrote to the church of Ephesus to remind them of their first love experiences with God. He spoke these painful words to them, “…you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen…” (Rev. 2:4-5).
Ouch. Those words must have stung when the believers at Ephesus read them. Left. Fallen. No fault on God’s part obviously. The Ephesian believers had moved away from the place of first love.
How did it happen?
They were still involved in working for God. “I know your works, your labor…”
Their lives still bore evidence of the fruit of His Spirit. “I know you patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and found them liars, and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My names’ sake and have not become weary.” Patience. Discernment. Steadfastness.
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