Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I have been pondering much a worshiper's heart and what is inside. What sets apart some people as worshipers who find it easy to rejoice in all life's ups and downs? Where is my heart?
I have been counting gifts as the days pass. I am not necessarily writing them down, but the heart captures them as they float on by.
I have been thinking about the upcoming months as those are the months that are soul dark and I search for Light, but cannot see. Where I must trust and lean on my God who supports and supplies my every need.
I have been convicted that this one life I have been given to live should not be about me (as I so often live it to be). I feel the Lord gently nudging me and prompting me to do this for the year. (Eek--a year of consistency?--oh, help!)
What is this going to look like? I can't give you the details as I am along for the journey as well, the individual steps are illuminated, the whole passage is, as of yet, dark.
But I am excited. I want, no, need to learn to turn everything back into praise to Him. The mundane is holy because I serve Him. The dirty dishes are holy because I feed my family for Him. And that is all good. But God is holy. He is to be my focus this year. Not to look for him in the mundane, but to see him despite the mundane. To acclaim him.
Because of this focus, this place, Heart Reflections will be quiet for a while. I hope friends will join me and if you have a story where you can say 'Bravo!', then please share it with me! Joy is multiplied when shared with friends.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
5 Minute Fridays
Five Minute Fridays: Write for 5 minutes flat, no editing, no back-tracking. Just write for the joy of writing.
Connected. All my life I have longed for connection. And I have received it. And it has been taken away. But through it all, the One who Sees, is the one with whom I stay connected through it all.
If only I would remember. To remember the Babe who became flesh so I could know him. To remember the grace that connects me to the Father when this life spins and twirls me about and I cannot find the center.
It is the daily 'Good Mornings, Lord' and the mid morning, 'what next, Lord?', and the lunch time crazies when He is the strength that gives me courage to keep on marching. It is in those little daily reminders of His presence that I stay connected to the One who gives me life and breath.
And when I am connected to Him, I am connected, fully, in a way that I cannot describe, to my family and friends.
Connected. This Babe, this God who became Flesh, this Christ crucified, the King resurrected....He is the connection of us all.
Merry Christmas!
Jessica
Connected. All my life I have longed for connection. And I have received it. And it has been taken away. But through it all, the One who Sees, is the one with whom I stay connected through it all.
If only I would remember. To remember the Babe who became flesh so I could know him. To remember the grace that connects me to the Father when this life spins and twirls me about and I cannot find the center.
It is the daily 'Good Mornings, Lord' and the mid morning, 'what next, Lord?', and the lunch time crazies when He is the strength that gives me courage to keep on marching. It is in those little daily reminders of His presence that I stay connected to the One who gives me life and breath.
And when I am connected to Him, I am connected, fully, in a way that I cannot describe, to my family and friends.
Connected. This Babe, this God who became Flesh, this Christ crucified, the King resurrected....He is the connection of us all.
Merry Christmas!
Jessica
Sunday, December 11, 2011
He is my Trust
I hear it as a whisper in the wind as it rattles the windows and rushes around the corner of the eaves.
I hear it in the clank of dishes being loaded into the dishwasher.
I hear it in the unsticking of a sock on the sticky spot on the floor, that 'ssshhlunk' that only a sock can make as it unsticks.
I hear it in the wonderment of 'it's already 5?'
I hear it whisper in the chaos of the day. The teaching, the loving, the messes.
The message?
'Trust me.'
Trust. It's one I have long struggled to hold onto. It's the key to successful days at home. It's the key when I do disappoint these loves. It's what goes missing when I lash out that the little one is not moving fast enough and the big one is not catching on quick enough. Trust is what's missing when the mess of everyday life overwhelms. The sticky floors. The floors that I can't remember when I last scrubbed them. The moldy shower curtain that needs replacing and I forget, once again, to buy a new one. The cobwebs on the light fixtures and corners of the rooms.
If trust somehow gets lost, life overwhelms.
'What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?' Romans 8:31-32
God is for me. God is for you. How can trust get lost when we keep this Truth tucked in close to our hearts?
This is my challenge this week. To remember not to fret and worry and be overwhelmed, but to trust what he says. He is for me! To lay my days and my agenda at the altar of His love and say--'I trust you'.
Blessings,
Jessica
I hear it in the clank of dishes being loaded into the dishwasher.
I hear it in the unsticking of a sock on the sticky spot on the floor, that 'ssshhlunk' that only a sock can make as it unsticks.
I hear it in the wonderment of 'it's already 5?'
I hear it whisper in the chaos of the day. The teaching, the loving, the messes.
The message?
'Trust me.'
Trust. It's one I have long struggled to hold onto. It's the key to successful days at home. It's the key when I do disappoint these loves. It's what goes missing when I lash out that the little one is not moving fast enough and the big one is not catching on quick enough. Trust is what's missing when the mess of everyday life overwhelms. The sticky floors. The floors that I can't remember when I last scrubbed them. The moldy shower curtain that needs replacing and I forget, once again, to buy a new one. The cobwebs on the light fixtures and corners of the rooms.
If trust somehow gets lost, life overwhelms.
'What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?' Romans 8:31-32
God is for me. God is for you. How can trust get lost when we keep this Truth tucked in close to our hearts?
This is my challenge this week. To remember not to fret and worry and be overwhelmed, but to trust what he says. He is for me! To lay my days and my agenda at the altar of His love and say--'I trust you'.
Blessings,
Jessica
Monday, December 5, 2011
A Heart that Beats for His
'I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.' Jeremiah 24:7
This verse has been on my heart this week. I want a heart to know Him. For He is the reason I live and breathe. This verse is a reminder to slow down and acknowledge the God who created me and you and all we see.
You see, I can get caught in the whirlpool of doing all the right things. The church thing. The devotional thing. The worship thing. But it's not. about. me. and what I do. It's not. These things are good, but it is God who turns my heart towards himself.
And it is true for my children as well. Taking them to church, giving them a Christian education, living the Word before them, talking about Jesus as we sit and lay down and walk along the way. These things are good and necessary in our home, but it is God who turns the children toward His heart and this is what I pray for.
Jesus, the Living Water,
I pray that you would call my heart to your heart. That you would capture my kids' heart. That we would know you. That you would be our God and we would be your people. Yes and Amen.
Blessings be poured down like rain,
Jess
This verse has been on my heart this week. I want a heart to know Him. For He is the reason I live and breathe. This verse is a reminder to slow down and acknowledge the God who created me and you and all we see.
You see, I can get caught in the whirlpool of doing all the right things. The church thing. The devotional thing. The worship thing. But it's not. about. me. and what I do. It's not. These things are good, but it is God who turns my heart towards himself.
And it is true for my children as well. Taking them to church, giving them a Christian education, living the Word before them, talking about Jesus as we sit and lay down and walk along the way. These things are good and necessary in our home, but it is God who turns the children toward His heart and this is what I pray for.
Jesus, the Living Water,
I pray that you would call my heart to your heart. That you would capture my kids' heart. That we would know you. That you would be our God and we would be your people. Yes and Amen.
Blessings be poured down like rain,
Jess
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