Week of Blogging Day 1: LOVE me some Jesus

My dear readers, whomever of you have patiently hung around to see if I would ever post again! 

Let's just say, life the past several months has not been usual.  Lingering illness, glycemic issues and food experiments, crazy CRAZY school life, feeling most of the time that I am barely keeping my head above water. 

I think I am not the only one going through such a phase--Stacy, I'm thinking of you--and most of my in-town friends have been dealing with similar things. 

But it is over!!!!!  Officially as of last Saturday afternoon, and for sure this upcoming Sunday.  I have been wanting to share so many things with you all for the past couple of months, and have a handful of abandoned, half-finished posts waiting for attention, and a head and heart full of things I can't wait to tell you about.  Some silly, some beautiful, some probably stupid and writing them will be more like purging the mental cache than adding something meaningful to the world. . . but I'm not going to think about that, I'm just going to make a goal of blogging EVERY DAY for the next week.  Starting today, Weds.  Which my "neat-package" brain does not like (Monday is of course the appropriate day to begin a week of anything), BUT anyone who knows FlyLady knows Wednesday is Anti-Procrastination Day, and so thus the perfect day to start a delayed week of anything. ; )

So I'm going to jump in right where I am, and share what's in my heart and mind this morning--those old posts I will finish when I can and you all will just have to follow the jumps in time and sequence.  This is, of course, no demand.  But those of you who seem to like my ramblings, if you have some free time and a cup of your favorite hot beverage, please stop by for some girlfriend time!  There just might be some tidbit that gives you a smile or a boost. 

Oh, and I want you all to know that I pray for you!  My dear readers--family, friends, blog-friends, regulars, lurkers--I find myself thinking about you all at various times of the week (usually in the shower, or washing dishes, for some reason, and when I can't sleep at night), and I pray for you.  And sometimes I learn one of you have been praying for me--thank you!  By all means, let's spread the love!

And that's what I have to write about this morning.  Several of you have asked if I ever got to have Teatime with Jesus.  Yes, I did, (English breakfast with milk and a huge dark chocolate caramel pecan turtle. Oh, yes.) and it was lovely.  Totally heart there with Him, savoring every moment.  The Lented wrap-up is one of the things I want to write about in a separate post, but let me just say that it left me completely hungry for God, for Jesus, for the Holy Spirit.  I just can't get enough of Him in all His Triune glory this week, and BOY is that a welcome feeling!  I don't know about you all, but this has been a fairly dry year--longer?  can't remember--and while God has been active and present in my life throughout, I have been meh about Him (I am being ashamedly honest here, folks).  I have not longed for His word.  I have not been interested in musical worship much.  I have somehow stopped reading the Bible with my kids (used to be a breakfast ritual for years, even if not daily) and we stopped memorizing new verses.  I have been praying, but often rotely.  Somehow I let the daily experience of God fall out of our lives, and I am thinking I see fallout from that in myself and in my family life. 

How did it happen?  When did it happen?  I am not sure, but the notable thing is that this dry spell has been oddly comfortable.  Comfortably dusty and, yes, numb.  Like when I wrote about thinking that sitting down had become a problem for me, so I was going to try to remedy it through Lent--sitting feels really good.  Really comfortable.  Sure, I'm stiff when I get up, but that's ok, because it will feel fine when I sit down again soon.  Sure, I wish I was not out of breath after just walking 20 feet briskly, but I'll catch my breath once I sit down.  Sure, my body kind of even wants to move, but that urge will pass once I sit down again.  Lethargy begets more lethargy. 

And there are even legitimate reasons for the lethargy--but at some point, I still have to make a choice to break it, no matter how hard it seems.  And of course, as soon as I do, the body might be a little less mobile than usual, and the muscles get tired and sore faster, but the next day when I listen to my body, its aches tell me. . . that felt great.  let's do more.  The urge to sit diminishes.  And so, if I am disciplined, using energy leads to more energy, and soon I am back to feeling right with my physical self.

The spiritual life is no different.  I don't know how or why I started spiritually sitting down all the time, but I am sure there was legitimate reason--these last few months of overwhelming unusualness make it understandable.  But still, regrettable.  Do any of you remember that old poem, "The Difference," which I just posted?  That pretty much sums up what has happened, I assume.  The days are full, the nights are short, there are always things to do, or ways to escape from them even though I shouldn't, and my time with God is the first thing squeezed out of the day.  Which turns into a week.  Which turns into a life pattern.

So Hallelujah that spell has been broken!  Just like I am moving more, and longing to move more, so my spirit is wide open with aching for God, and wanting to experience more God, in all His Persons.

And I'm feeling good*.

This morning I got everybody taken care of, sat down with my tea and breakfast, and started reading the updates from the blogs on my sidebar.  One of the blogs introduced me to a new one, and when I opened the blog page, it started to play music.  Now, honestly, I don't like it when I get music thrust at me from blogs. I usually don't have my speakers on anyway, but when I do, I turn the sound down while I read.  It's just distracting, even if the music is good.  For some strange Reason this morning, the speakers were already on, and I did not turn the music down.  I started reading, and was moved by a scary story about her 5-year-old daughter having a seizure and turning blue the other day, when she was home alone with five little ones--it turned out ok--and then suddenly the music was speaking to me, and my thankfullness swelled along with it, and I literally almost choked on a mouthful of tea, and had to put down the mug and stand up and dance, tears streaming (so like me), arms raised high (so not like me):

You opened my eyes to your wonders anew
You captured my heart with this love
Because nothing on Earth is as beautiful as you (Jesus)
You opened my eyes to your wonders anew
You captured my heart with this love
Because nothing on Earth is as beautiful as you.

from Beautiful One,** by Jeremy Camp


Song I hear at church, never before caught my attention much--look how the words match my experience this week!  Oh, my dear readers, I can't wait to share some of the back story, some of the things going on recently that have led my heart to be so open, so ready to hear and see and feel again!

So, until tomorrow, may all of you who seek Him today find Him in all His beauty!
With an overflowing of love,

blessed



*Go, listen.  turn up the sound and turn off the image, and listen to the words, the emotion.  This is me this week!  Whoo-hoo!!!!!! 

**Then go, listen.  This is God, always.  WHOO-HOO!!!!