CHOOSE: ACTION

CHOOSE: Action Verbs might have been a better title choice.

Trust is a noun. Trust is also an action verb when one chooses to "trust" God.

Trust God whether you "feel" like it or not. It's an action of the will.

Like choosing to be faithful, choosing to trust, especially in the hard places of suffering is an internal action. It's a first step. A step that starts in the mind.

When one is hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not despairing, not feeling abandoned in the midst of persecution, or  struck down, but still upright and functioning, those folks have chosen to take action and choose to trust. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

That first step can lead to courage in action. A heart strengthening. Hope. (Psalm 31:24) As The Message states, "Expect God to get there soon."

Courage, strength, hope---all results of one action verb----trust. 

Choose to trust Him, knowing "soon" is the adverb of His timing.

CHOOSE: promp-TEA-tude

Promptitude is truly a word. An important word!
My childhood family valued promptitude. "Promptness is just good manners!" (Mother)

Thus, promptness has been important to me all my life. I wasn't always tolerant of others' timeliness, rather their lack there of!

As a real stickler for being "on time," it has always seemed polite to honor an appointment or engagement in a timely manner---which for me was usually a little early to said destination.  Even if I did not "go in" until the appointed time, I was prompt. Maybe to a fault. I even set kitchen clocks early so we would go out the door with a little "wiggle" room as other family members did not seem to share my obsession with promptitude! (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 1Corinthians 14:40)

But God....recently had me spill my cuppa promp-TEA-tude. And....my daughter was there to point that out! I had an excuse for my 1 minute tardiness, but as in the past, I have not "allowed" for excuses, I was pretty sure I shouldn't even open my mouth to share it.

It appears I needed to add a spoonful of grace to my cuppa promp-TEA-tude,  as well as to remember to serve it to others.

CHOOSE: TO RELINQUISH

Choosing to relinquish, for me, is choosing NOT to choose.
Today, it's choosing not to choose 4F.
4F can be a reference to the basics of evolution, which I would not choose to extrapolate here. 

But....in the spiritual realm, there are "4 Fs" I "try" not to choose.

• Fretting I tend to "stew" about way to much in my life---my family might use the indefinite pronoun "everything" to encapsulate all my fretting. But God....lists several "FRET NOTs" (or fret synonyms) in His word, at least 3 in Psalm 37 alone. "Fret not yourself;" (Psalm 37:8) God says in Proverbs 24:19, "Do NOT fret because of evildoers." (emphasis, mine) The nightly news tends to have me fretting daily at 5:30 pm.
• Fussing (My "F" word for anxiety) Anxious thoughts build. Worry grips. So hard for a world class worrier . There I said it---I exposed my besetting sin. But God....says, "Be anxious for nothing..." (Philippians 4:6, NASB)
• Fruitless I desire to be fruitful, not fruitless. To bear the fruit of the Spirit in my own life (Galatians 5:22-23) being fruitful even through suffering, (Genesis 48:15-21) as well as to bear fruit for His kingdom as I abide in Him. (John 15:4-5)
• Fear "FEAR NOT, for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God: I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10) (emphasis, mine) Enough said.

Therefore, today I choose to relinquish the 4 Fs in my life---or as my little Lucy sings, "Let it go; let it go!"

After all, that's what relinquishing is.....a "letting go and letting God."

CHOOSE: 4 FOR 4th FRIDAY

More marginalia quotes---four for this 4th Friday entry:

• Lament is faith seeking understanding. (C. Huffman)
• Lament happens when grief finds its voice--as one begins to move through the pain and not wallow in it. (C. Huffman)
• Lamenting can be difficult for "stoic southerners" who often seek to deny emotions and endure grief and suffering. (C. Huffman)
• If we need to lament our sin, how much more to rejoice at our pardon! (C. H. Spurgeon)

Trying not to lament or embrace fatalism while revisiting these laments, I chose to begin my day with a Magnum Almond bar for breakfast.

 At least it was a "mini!" That's to make sure I don't "lament" this choice later in the day. 

CHOOSE: TO LOOK UP

Morning scripture had me meditating on "looking up."

My voice shalt Thy hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee and will look up. (Psalm 5:3, KJV)

Then, that verse had me literally looking up all day!

At the kitchen table I looked up as two hummingbirds suddenly swooped in to the feeders. 

Outside I looked up to the top of the magnolia as an newly opened bloom caught  my eye. 

Others in my path were looking up as well---I noticed a toddler looking up to his mom for help in getting up after a fall. What a picture of us looking up for help getting upright when we "fall."

Leaving the Silver Caboose with Elnora, we both looked up at blue skies.  Look what we found!

A "great find" discovered----just by looking up!
A reminder that "looking up" is a good choice!

CHOOSE: TO WAX NOSTALGIC

Does waxing nostalgic occur more as one ages. Certainly more years = more memories. But...it seems that "medicare" folks, in their fascination with the past, tend to "go there" more often,  than others of the younger generations. Gen-Xers and Millennials tend not to waste time "going there" in a contemplative mode, as they are too busy "living."

It isn't regretting and complaining that "life ain't what it used to be." Waxing nostalgic is an emotional journey that remembers experiences and times that gave texture to one's life.
It's like inhaling a mixture of love and sadness---a wistfulness of sorts. Event photos, cards and letters seem to breathe sadness into words as one recalls and shares her past.

Just walking by these fragrant gardenias, given to me yesterday by my dear friend Janice H., had me choosing to wax nostalgic. First my thoughts went back to my childhood days with Mama Davenport, my spiritual mentor. Then, I remembered the big gardenia bush behind our MSU faculty housing on Central where we lived when Buddy was 5 and Josh was born. All those memories shared with hubby.
Not totally painful---but a sort of bittersweet  longing.  Not necessarily a longing to return, but to remember. How special it is when one with whom you share your life has shared some of those memories. Roots and continuity of a shared relationship are such a bond.
As it says in Job 12:12, "wisdom is with aged men and with long life is understanding." When people age together, there's such a strength that results from shared understanding. "Til death do you part" altar promise.

Maybe its okay to "go there," either alone or with with another who has shared that  adventure....but not to stay there. Continuous dwelling in the  past could border on a disorder but the occasional "look back" can refresh one's today.

A refreshing reminder to celebrate moments and keep stocking up memories for future times of choosing to wax nostalgic.

CHOOSE: Perspicasi-TEA

I NEED a BIG cuppa perspicasi-TEA this morning. Some days are like that lately.
Just fill my teapot with a blend of keen mental perception and understanding and serve my cuppa. I will drain it to the dregs.
Decisions need to be made that I don't want to face. Partly due to lack of financial understanding and partly because of fear. I seem to lack confidence in "deciding" best options in many areas. I shun the responsibility that goes with making decisions when the options and possible consequences aren't clear.
"What ifs" rule my thought life.

But God...........in His word reminded me, "if I lacked wisdom, to ask Him" (James 1:5) and because I have believed his commandments, I can ask Him to "teach me good judgment and knowledge." (Psalm 119:66)
So....I can quit stewing and fretting about $$, worrying about a friend's health procedure or family choices and renew my mind with scripture(Romans 12:2) by choosing to apply perspicasity found in His word.

CHOOSE: MAGNOLIA MONDAY

Magnolia Monday aka Quiet Time on the Patio sweetened with the scent of magnolia.

It's overcast. It's breezy. It's delightfully perfect for morning meditation.

Streams In the Desert (5/22) entry also spoke to my heart. Expounding on Psalm 37:5, with the Young's translation, "He worketh it" jumps out. In those words, "when we truly commit, or roll out of our hands into His; the burden of whatever kind it may be; a way of sorrow, of difficulty, of physical need or of anxiety for the conversion os some dear one." 

Once I have put it into His hands, even when I can't see results, I can trust that "He worketh."

Those words are a sweet aroma to my spirit as this magnolia is to my senses. 

So grateful I was able to choose this spot for my Monday morning meditation. 

CHOOSE: Positivi-TEA

Why does my mind tend to embrace negative thoughts these days?

Each morning during my "Tea with Thee" times I seek to serve myself a cuppa positive-tea. 

Lately, my brew has become more of a cuppa negative-TEA.

Maybe my problem is that I'm buying into the world's thinking---"you've got this," Dotsy.

But I don't. Apart from Him I have no good thing. As David said, in Psalm 16:2, "You are  my Lord, I have no good apart from you.

And with Him I have all good things. ".... they that seek the Lord lack no good thing."  (Psalm 34:10)

Now there's a cuppa positivi-TEA worth choosing to sip this morning.*


*By the time I finished my tea and typed this blog entry, I picked up the morning paper, I saw first hand the world's thinking.

"I've got this" must me a buzz phrase, of sorts. What an epitaph!
Seems that these days, positive thinking (about self) and self-confidence can morph into self-grandizement.
But....that kind of thinking can have consequences.

CHOOSE: A HEART OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Choose righteousness and when that seems impossible....
GO right to the heart of the matter----choose the One who is righteous.

...He will be called the LORD, our Righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:6)

Do I hear an AMEN!