HURRIED FORGETFULNESS: A Meditation

7/8/13 Recent post had me pondering some questions about worrying and hurrying. Pondering those resulted in some guided meditation. (Allen Bible Church, 7/5/10) Pondering brought focus!

Listen to His will: Focus. Pray. Rejoice. Give thanks.

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

The Lord gives His will but also gives His warning so that hurry & worry won't result in low-grade joylessness---aka as a life more filled with "blahs" than "ahs."

In David's Psalms (his journal, of sorts) he reminds us to remember all that God has done for us. 

Remember His warning:

Bless the Lord, O my soul and FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS. (Psalm 103:2)

It might take a little time to recall God's benefits and to say thank you. But....as author Timothy Jones states, "As I take time to enjoy God, I find myself lifted out of life's littleness."

Hurried people become forgetful & ungrateful, which can lead to lives of irritation & "demandedness." One demands more from God & others in order to serve self.

Grateful people don't forget to say thank-you. 

Our forget-filled lives: Hurried.Worried. Ho-Hum.

His will: Be Thankful

His warning: BEWARE OF HURRIED FORGETFULNESS!

Thankful Thursday

Blessed beyond measure.

5/31/13 Glancing at the calendar on my beside table jogged my memory. 

I often forget what day it is and even confuse months sometimes. 

Lately, I think I have let Thankful Thursdays slip by me. Which is obvious since this is Friday. 

Actually I did ponder those blessings yesterday. 

So many blessings noted--a thankful heart begins to see God's hand in every aspect of life and is grateful. 

I'm grateful. Are you? 

Look for Him even in the little things & thankfulness will flow, even if it's NOT Thursday. 

Dotsy Tech Delays & Dilemmas

7/20/11 computer probs---will post as I have access---

There is no trouble so great or grave that it cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea. (Bernard Paul Heroux)

Normally I would agree with Mr. Heroux, whoever he is, but right now it would take the whole pot of tea and a side of Alleve, or some such drug to ease the tension of the in and out, off and on problems of our Comcast connections! It has me tense and that tension is spilling over big time to hubby because account is in his name and I want it FIXED----like yesterday or before.

How spiritual does that sound! Can you tell I have been reading two books and taking copious notes on the the thankful heart and transformation of grace in our lives when we have the right focus----God's viewpoint, specifically. I must have spiritual Alzheimer's. How quickly I'm forgetting these truths.

Here I was thinking that stress would no longer be the word that punctuated my thought life now that I am not working. Yet, this unreliable access to the internet has me stressed. E-mails going unanswered might send the wrong message, some e-mails needing to be written seem EXTREMELY important. Coupons need to be printed before they expire. I need to send the "work day" pics to church for a newsletter. A prayer letter with scripture references for our friends' mission trip had to be typed out because biblegateway.com was inaccessible,etc.

"In His presence is fulness of joy." (Psalm 16:11) Even sitting all knotted up in front of this computer, I need to get a spiritual grip! What gets me to that joy is seeing His goodness---even in the midst of technology snafus. I need a gratitude check right now----grateful I have a computer, grateful that (at this moment) green light (for on-line) is blinking. Grateful hubby had a cell so we could call Comcast when service went down. Grateful hubby was willing to wait on "hold" for a long time. Grateful hubby didn't tell me to "take a hike" when I said, I HAVE TO BLOG!

Mo Lips---

3/7/10 ….no “mo” lips’ stories. I’ve learned my lesson.
Have you ever made a serious sensitivity faux pas? Recently Larry and I (under duress) had our picture made for the church directory. It was relatively painless except Larry said I needed to relax so I wouldn’t look constipated. You get the idea of the trauma I was under.

After our couple pose, the photographer wanted to do a single shot of me. I, (with my"cancer mouth" surgery scars) less than graciously, declined.  To make matters worse, we then went back out to the “holding” area to wait a turn to preview the pix. I and my big mouth (1/2 of it is big, anyway) preceded to announce that I declined to take the individual shot. “Why would anyone want a single picture of this old lady?” I asked in a somewhat deprecating manner. I guess I could use it as a coffin picture I jokingly said. Then I looked across the aisle at a precious, godly widow who no longer had someone to join her in her photo. I wanted to crawl under the chair. Where was my sensitivity? This world doesn’t revolve around my face and my surgeries---a mind’s eye photo of self-preoccupation loomed large and ugly.

That emotional shock really came home to me last week as I received the 8x10 picture in the mail. (At first, it loomed large and ugly to me.) I even saw Larry wince as he looked at it. But, it’s not about my semi-incorrectly aligned mouth any more. It’s about gratitude. I’m grateful that I don’t need a coffin picture yet. I’m grateful that God forgave my insensitivity faux pas. I’m grateful for life lessons taught by a loving God and embraced by a forgiving widow.