Taste

'Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.' Psalm 34:8

'My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?' Psalm 42:2

'I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.' Psalm 143:6

Sometimes our hearts cry out, 'Stop! I cannot go any further, I need a break! I want to be known!' But we as women will often push through and ignore that cry because life makes so many demands on us that we feel we have no choice. But the more we ignore that cry, the more parched we become and the more cracked our lives will appear.

At some point we will have to respond. We will come to a point of crisis. The question then becomes, 'What will we reach for?' Often times we will try and fill that weary spot in our soul with everything BUT the living water.

There is nothing like a warm cup of tea at the end of a long day, or the aroma of a good cup of coffee first thing in the morning, but what our souls are really longing for is to taste and see that the Lord is good.

To stop for a moment and notice the Lord's presence in your everyday. To savor the 'now 'instead of dwelling on the 'what is next'. To think on the Lord as you lift a cup of coffee to your lips anticipating the taste. Could this be how we can 'taste and see that the Lord is good?

What are some ways that you 'taste and see that the Lord is good?'
If you have never contemplated this idea, why not?
Why would you want to 'taste the Lord?'

Bookends--Homeschooling Tip #1

Bookends. Bookends serve a purpose whether it is decorative or purposeful. Mostly, I have thought them to be useless. However, I realized that they are the quiet sentinels of order and routine.

I think every homeschooling family can benefit from some sort of 'bookends'. No, not the literal kinds. But the things that we do which can be counted on each and every day. For us it is our meals. Our meals can be counted on to occur at the same time each day with very little variance.
What occurs between those 'bookends' varies by what is happening in our life and in our school. But the bookends rarely change.

What are your bookends? What holds your days together as you go about loving and teaching?

Present or Presence?

Could they be one and the same? If I am to live in the present, in the day to day, could that draw me closer to His presence?

These questions keep rolling around inside my head. His presence is my present.

'Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O lord, They rejoice in your name all day long, they exult in your righteousness. For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn.' Psalm 89:15-17.

Does daily, moment by moment, praise in the daily grind give me the Light of His presence? Is this where I find my strength? I believe so. I have experienced this truth.

Ah, but the difficult thing for me is the 'd' word....Discipline. It takes discipline to remember to praise and give thanks to the Life-Giver throughout the day. It takes constant monitoring of the thoughts racing through my brain. It requires taking myself off 'autopilot' and engaging in the moments of the day.

I am looking for practices to practice the presence of God. I have tried listing the things I am grateful for throughout the day, but that paper or journal gets lost in the midst of the paper dance and clutter explosion, which then becomes a stressor for me instead of a blessing because I have to find it! I am hoping to find a way to record my thanksgiving for Beauty throughout the day. I want to remember the sun streaming in the window and the blue, blue skies. Milk deliverey. Rocks on the table. A new rock collection started!The sound of the dishwasher. A hint of greening grass. The shimmer across corn stubble. These are gifts from I Am who desires me to entire into His present. My present is where I find His presence.

What about you? Do you exult in the Lord's presence throughout the day and how do you record it, if at all? Or do you struggle with the 'autopilot' setting?

In His presence is strength and since He is present, I need to be present. Because I can't do life in my own strength.