WELCOME Holy Spirit

Here I am writing with Lisa-Jo Baker - Five Minute Friday - Today the word is: WELCOME

This is what I felt led to write about regarding WELCOME:

 

WELCOME Holy Spirit

As an evangelical Christian who passionately believes in the trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) I welcomed Jesus into my life and asked Him to be my Lord and Savior.

But how welcome is Holy Spirit?

He is as relevant and essential as God the Father and Jesus His Son.

How do I welcome Him? Do I listen for Him, walk with Him?

Holy Spirit please forgive me for the times I push You aside. I want to lead myself. I want to lean on my own understanding of situations or circumstances instead of seeing with Your insight into them.

I recognize that I am not the utmost Bible scholar but I am capable of doing a Key Word search on Biblegateway.com and being blessed tremendously by the 96 verses listed in the New International Version that speak specifically about Him.

I want to welcome Holy Spirit more. I want to develop the habit of releasing my “own understanding” knowing it is incredibly limited and based on only my own experiences.

I watched the movie “Limitless” a while back. I thought it was a good piece of entertainment. I prayed about the “pills” the character took in the movie that allowed him to utilize his brain to its fullest capacity. I asked God about His limitlessness.

God sent Holy Spirit to me so that I can be “limitless” in Him. He is the power, the strength, the wisdom, the joy, the peace, the understanding I need to navigate all the day-to-day decisions of life and the challenges that arise.

Welcome Holy Spirit! I know You are essential to my life and want You to lead me, guide me, teach me, and show me the way You would have me go. Please show me when I am tempted to push You aside and remind me I committed to listen to You first. Thank You!

 

 

Dishwashers and Gunk

I have noticed a funky smell coming from the dishwasher. Today I decided to do what any mom is trained to do... find the source of the funky smell.

Much to my dismay there was a buildup of unknown but very stinky, sticky, greenish brown stuff in the crack where the door and the main part of the dishwasher meet. I pulled out the silverware thing and it was gunky too! ICK!

QUICK! Grab the sponge, Comet and some elbow grease and get that nasty stuff gone... and then...

subtle whispers and an internal arguement ensue.

This thing CLEANS - how can there be gunk?

It cleans GUNK - and sometimes it gets stuck.

Wait... Wait... Wait...

I clean. I deal with gunk. Does it get stuck to me?

Yes. It does.

Staying clean in a gunky world isn't easy. I need my Jesus to come in and show me where the gunk has built up when things start to stink. He's the only one with the Comet who can show me where to apply the sponge and the elbow grease. If my Love had been home I would have had him help me figure out how to get the door off so I could give it a more complete scrubbing. Sometimes I need help. I will ask when he gets home.

Oh, and if I watch for where the gunk can build up, and I clean it regularly, no stink has time to build up.

Here's to no more build-up!

CHANGE - Perspective

 

Its Friday and I am posting with Lisa-Jo Baker on Five Minute Friday - not Tuesday or Wednesday the following week! YAY!

 

 

For the past couple of weeks I have been battling a whole new layer of anxiety. I have struggled with anxiety/depression for most of my life. Someday I will elaborate on the roots of it all, but it's not relevant for the purpose of this post.

 

Most of my anxiety this time has been related to my kids going back to school. I am sure I am not the only one.

 

I am not only concerned about them returning to their other "life" that is apart from me, where they grow outside the "womb" of our home, but also concerned about how they present themselves to the world.

 

Have I taught them enough?

Will they be a blessing?

Will they reflect who they are in Christ or the sin they have seen in me?

Will others treat them like the amazing people they are?

Will there be enough grace to cover their imperfections and mine?

 

The rapid fire nature of these questions and others can make my heart race with nervous tension and my extremely solid faith in who Christ is in me quake like a 8.0 on the Richter scale.

 

But here is what rose up in my heart this morning:

 

I have given myself to Him - told Him I will do whatever He asks of me, regardless of my comfort and if I have to live like this:  

 

 At first glance its just a pair of little boy thongs, but as you look closely you see that one part is broken (a key part). I shall live - flaws exposed so that His glory may be revealed not only in the parts of me that function well, but in the parts of me that need repair. 

2 Corinthians 12:9
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.


My oldest is plunging into third grade with some learning challenges that will require lots of grace, consistency and encouragement, my middle fella is leaping into second grade with enthusiasm and younger than most second graders, and my youngest, he will be with me, serving wherever the Lord leads, on any given day adding his spicy nature into the mix of ministry and household maintenance.

 

My perspective needs a CHANGE. His has never changed. It's about Him, for Him and because of Him that I live. For those who know Him, for those who don't, and for all who are in the middle, on their journey, not sure it where it will lead - I need to be who He made me to be and teach my fellas to do the same. Every day. No matter where we are.

 

He sees the beauty of the process. He sees the beauty of who I am and who they are. My perspective needs to be His. That is the kind of CHANGE I choose.