Spring Cleaning ~ Surrendering to the Light

Pittock Mansion by Brittany
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If you found your way here from (re)fresh, welcome!

"God is light; in him there is no darkness at all." 1 John 1:5

The days are longer now. Morning creeps in under the shades of my bedroom window at 5 a.m. like a slinking cat reaching its front paws towards me for a morning stretch. My almost-half-century body rises less reluctantly, (yet with a few more kinks than the year before), now that light guides me safely from my slumber.

I face the day with great expectancy with a spring of hope in every step and a few more hours of sun light to accomplish great things. But as I walk from room to room throughout the day, things gone unnoticed in the darkness of winter now distract me in the light of spring. I catch a glimpse of dusty cobwebs hanging from every corner of my ceilings; once-white curtains are now a dingy gray; scrapes and scratches appear from nowhere all over my tired, painted walls. Finger prints mar every mirrored surface and I think something is growing underneath my bed. Surrendering to the light, unable to hide what it reveals, I put aside the great things and focus on spring cleaning.

Saturday, words from a former self spilled over my lips like an overflowing bucket of dirty water. Ooooops! That monster named Unforgiveness had snuck back in under the cover of darkness and drowned me with my own words. How appropriate. Words...my passion and my weakness. There they were. My dirty words spilled out for all to hear revealing my heart. I couldn't hide. I couldn't take them back or mop them up. I just ignored the puddle hoping it would silence them.

It's been a few days. Sleep has been restless like trying to ignore the glow of the night light from across the room. Finally, I surrendered to the Light. God's light. The light revealed by His glory. It's just there because He is. It's not a condemning light. He's not shaking his finger at me saying, "Naughty girl." He's just being...in my heart...revealing what was hiding in the darkness...showing me what's in need of spring cleaning. I can't always get those "hard to reach" places where monsters like Unforgiveness live, but God can. I'm letting Him do some spring cleaning because I'd like to get on with the great things He has in store.

What about your spring cleaning? Do you need a little more light?

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through (Him) the Spirit who gives you life has set you free..." Romans 8: 1-2a

"If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:6-7

No More Facebook Fuming

...so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Philippians 2:14-16a

 

 

Five years ago, I created my Facebook account just to share photos of my granddaughter with extended family members. No more waiting in line for my one-day-developing at the local pharmacy or stalking the mailbox for that thick envelope of glossy paper prints. Facebook and the Internet brought instant cyber-satisfaction.

 

Daily cyber reunions filled my evenings as one-by-one I reconnected with high school and college classmates I hadn't seen or spoken with since graduation. After a few weeks and lengthy notes our daily (hourly) FB status reports kept us connected and informed. It was like reading Christmas letters in little daily spurts.

 

Welcomed or not, Facebook not only gave me a daily dose of friendship, but it gave the writer-me an instant platform from which to share my wordy-passion. Where else could a no-name author share her opinions and stories with an instant world-wide audience? So, I started blogging and thinking out loud on Facebook.

So did the rest of the world.

It's crazy out there in Facebook-land. Everyone has an opinion and many aren't so kind or wise or thoughtful. Many just grumble. I call it Facebook fuming. Some people just love to share the awfulness of their day in hopes that misery loves company and somebody will join them. I don't know. I mean, sometimes it does feels good to vomit all the negativity in some pithy post, but seriously, on a daily or hourly basis? It's just not healthy.

While I mostly process life on my blog, I carefully choose words that tell truth in love and encourage one another because that's how Jesus instructs us to speak. As believers in the gospel (good news) how much more important to encourage one another in the "permanent" written words that can be read repeatedly? We are called to be the Light in the darkness that bring hope to this lost earth. Why then, do some feel it necessary to add to the darkness?

While I'm willing to share life on a heart to heart level - and life doesn't always come with rainbows and roses - let's share life's journey in such as way that encourages one another and brings God glory?

Paul says, "...encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." I Thessalonians 5:14b-18
 

Let's make a conscious effort, whether in a blog post or a status update, that all our words reflect God's goodness in EVERY circumstance, encourage our readers and shine God's Light. Join me?

 

Walking in the Dark

"Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:5 NKJV

Mom taught me how to navigate through the dark.

She was (and still is) an early riser - like 4 AM early. I've always like the mornings, but not that early and certainly not in highschool when studying and a part-time job pushed me past midnight. So to compensate for our opposite schedules, we learned to maneuver around our tiny, two bedroom apartment with only natural light or darkness, especially when the other was sleeping. 

Walking in the dark is slow going at first as you train your other senses to be your eyes. But then, when you've mastered the traffic pattern - commited it to memory - you start picking up speed and it's almost as easy as walking in the light.

But, you do miss the light - being able to see far ahead.

Right now, I'm feeling my way around in the dark, seeing only shadows, and I'm kinda missing the bright lights. Headed to another writer's conference in July carrying the same book in my sachel as the year before - the one I know God's commissioned me to write - the story that tells how God healed my wounded heart and freed me up inside and out, where God offers that freedom trail to other sisters - I'm hungry for more light. 

I've spent the year growing up in the dark, committing God's ways to memory, honing my senses to hear His footsteps and look for shadows of His presence so I might follow His lead, and move a little further down the trail.

In Psalm 119:105, David writes:

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."

We don't have to see far ahead if we stay in close relationship with our heavenly Father, learn to trust him. His word, His promises will shed just enough light on our path, like a small lamp or a candle, that we won't trip. He promises that if we commit our way (our hopes, our dreams) to Him and His purposes, He will make it come to pass.

At last year's conference, God set this lesson before me: "Do not despise the small beginnings." And it's been a year of just that - small beginnings that when strung together form a long path that leads toward the bigger goal. In the midst of small beginings we get to feel our way through the dark slowly and safely until we're moving almost as easily as we do in the light.

Do you ever feel like you're walking around in the dark? What are some lessons God's teaching you as you walk in the dark? What promises has He light your path with that keep you trusting and moving forward?

God Can't Resist Blowing Bubbles

"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."
1Peter 1:8

Perch a little kid above a tall glass of cold milk with a straw and what comes next? An irresistible urge to blow bubbles!

He heaves a tiny breath and blows gently. Blub.

Again. Blub, blub. A giggle escapes.

He blows a bit harder. Blub, blub, blub.  Joy overwhelms him.

He can't resist watching those bubbles rise so he blows harder. Blub, blub, blub, blub, blub, blub, blub.

Bubbles rise and fill and spill, filling him with uncontrollable laughter, until Mom walks in and says, "Mop up that mess!"

He sucks down those milk-fed bubbles and sops up all the joy he can--still giggling--savoring the fullness of the moment that carries him through his day.

Entering God's presence is like placing a glass of milk and a straw in front of a child--God can't resist blowing bubbles. The more we focus on his goodness, sing praises to his name the more his Holy Spirit rises within us, filling us with heaven's joy. And the more God hears us giggle the harder he blows, filling us with more and more of his Spirit until our joy rises and fills and spills.

I use to think God's joy eluded me. Try as I might to fill myself with God's joy, I always came up lacking. Reread that statement. We cannot experience heaven's joy simply by wishing or willing. Rather, joy comes only as an overflow of God's presence in our lives--not by his choice because God is a gentleman--never forcing himself on us. Rather, he simply knocks, waits for an invitation and an open door.

And when we let him in? When he sits at our table? He's like a little boy perched above that cold glass of milk with a straw! All darkness dissipates and the room fills with his light, his joy, his laughter. And laughter is contagious.

Today, I experienced true laughter--just me and God--alone in His presence. It shocked me at first. I felt like a crazy woman laughing at nothing. But I'm not crazy and I'm not alone. Peter said, "even though you do not see {Jesus} now, you are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy" (1 Peter 1:8). And when we are filled with God's Holy Spirit there is freedom--freedom that bubbles and fills and spills over with laughter!

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2Corinthians 3:17

Are you searching for true joy in your own strength and coming up empty? Won't you find a quiet spot and set a table for two? Just you and God. Put on some soft music and fill the room with praise and thanksgiving. Then open the door and invite him in--trust in his goodness and let his Spirit fill and rise and spill over you.

God can't resist blowing bubbles!

Pause for Thanksgiving: Light-Bright

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." 2 Corinthians 4:6

Did you own a Lite Brite by Hasbro? You know the jingle, "Lite Brite, makin' thi-ings with li-i-ight. Outta sight, makin' things with Lite Brite." I never owned one but I bought one for myself--*cough, *cough--I mean, bought one for my kids when they knew electric sockets were for plugs NOT fingers.

Lite Brite’s simple design--a hollow, plastic, triangular shell with a pegboard screen and a light bulb inside--didn't impress my kids at first glance. After all, what's so exciting about a bunch of white stamped dots on black, back-lit paper? But once they saw the pattern emerging from the illuminated colored pegs, their excitement grew and their fingers flew faster from pegs to board.

I got to thinking, we're a lot like a Lite Brite: born by God's design, embodying great potential and color with his imprint on our souls.

Following the design--setting one peg at a time in its place--is a slow, tedious process. Unlike Lite Brite's stamped patterns, our life is not a DIY design with easy, numbered instructions. Instead, God only reveals his pattern for our lives as we seek intimate relationship with him through his son, Jesus Christ (plug into the Source).

Once we take that step, the Bible says the Holy Spirit lives in us (1 Corinthians 3:16) and illuminates us to the knowledge and glory of God by salvation through Christ:

"And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will." Romans 8:27

 Learning to follow God's lead through the promptings of his Holy Spirit takes patience too. We must set time aside to listen for and recognize God's voice from within, through Scripture, and through other believers. Once we recognize his voice, we have a choice--to willingly obey him or go our own way.

Taking little steps of obedience are like placing the colored pegs on the Lite Brite pattern. Each peg--each step--illuminates God's Holy Spirit from within. When the last peg is placed or the last step is taken we can step back and see the result of perfect cooperation between us and the Master Designer.

Imagine your life as a Lite Brite, today and ask yourself these questions:

• Am I plugged into God, the source of Light?
• Do I spend time listening for God's voice?
• Am I following God's pattern by obeying His voice?
• Have I lost patience, given up and gone my own way?

Lord, thank you for the gift of Light through the life, death and resurrection of your son, Jesus. I accept your gift and ask that your Holy Spirit shine brightly through me according to your plan for my life. Grant me patience to persevere when I'm frustrated with following the pattern or just weary from life so that in the end, your glory shines through as a beautiful masterpiece. Amen

"But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” John 3:21