Direction and Reflection

How much time have I spent today reflecting on Jesus?

How many times have I found myself in deep thought about myself or my actions or my intentions or my perceptions or my feelings?

How much time today have I spent kneeling before God and thanking Him for His goodness?

How much have I spent worried and anxious about all that I do not have or where my needs will come from?

I cannot tell you how many times I have begun to write a blog and it now sits in my draft folder, unable to be produced any further, because God said “No”, that is not the way I want you to go with this. I used to blame it on writer’s block, but now I am keenly aware it is God’s very intention.

I have written many blogs about reflection on our family’s story, my own life experiences, trials, lessons, losses, but God is now leading me in a new direction and I want to be willing to follow! Always!

And so…here is where the cup of Joe comes into play.

What about Jesus? I could tell you all my stories and I could probably find something about my life that I could talk about all day long, but by the end of the day, I would feel exhausted, you would feel terribly sorry for me, and I would most definitely leave you more depressed and empty than when we first started talking.

But, what if I spent the time telling you about Jesus? What if, for every trial, lesson, season, hurt, pain, I could give you a bit of light by guiding you to His presence? Then how would you feel when you walked away? Would you feel encouraged? Would you feel hopeful? Would you feel filled?

This has always been my goal in my blogging, but God is guiding me more specifically to spend more time reflecting on Him and less on me in my person walk.

Oh to tell you of all He is to me! Oh to tell you of the transformation He and only He is capable of! There is nothing on this earth that can compare to His greatness! There is nothing so majestic, so incredible, so admirable, so immeasurable, as His grace!

I love coffee!  I love it anyway you wanna fix it (so long as you do not use vanilla!). I nearly have a zero function button that cannot be reset until that very first drop of coffee hits my tongue in the morning.  I could go without a meal til mid afternoon.  I could go without water (def not healthy…I do not suggest or encourage that!). But my morning coffee is my solace, my serenity, my go to, my life-line.

I know, that sounds utterly ridiculous coupled right after a full paragraph describing how amazing my God is!  But, what if you could find that one thing you enjoy so much and find the same solace and yearning for God in the same manner!  

Maybe it’s the cup of coffee with the spouse.

Maybe it’s that glass of sweet tea, Dr. Enuf, water (if I may), chocolate…or whatever else you find as refreshing.

So, what if we sat down to chat….and I told you about how hard I struggled today to get my coffee.  Oh, I did eventually get it, but man, what a struggle.  I told you how I ran out of coffee at home, totally unprepared, dumb moment, then I told you how I had spent twenty minutes trying to wake the hubby up before I could finally go to the store.  Then I told you how frustrated my kids were that I was leaving.  Finally made it there and I forgot my wallet. Went all the way home and the gas light came on.  I filled the tank and ran to the store for coffee and the card was declined.  Found just enough cash for the cashier to feel sorry for me and find the remaining 6 cents out of the tip jar and I rushed out the door flushed and embarrassed.  I finally arrived home, growling at my husband, because he fell back asleep while the kids destroyed the house!

In that narrative…did you feel sorry for me?  Did my story resonate with you in anyway? Most likely it made you chuckle a bit.  But if I were to ask you about the coffee, would you be able to tell me anything about it?  Could you describe the cup of coffee to someone else?  Was it hot? Cold? Black? Sweet? Good? Satisfying? WORTH IT?

You don’t know, do you?  Not your fault, mine!  I spent so long describing my journey, I completely lost sight of the good that came out of it…I got my coffee!

*Goosebumps*

Are you seeing where this is going?

I love so much sharing my story with you, and I truly believe God uses and has used every single blog for His good!  Our stories resonate with others and give us the ability to relate.  These are all incredible truths about struggles used for His glory.  But, if we tell our stories, and we do not lead the focus to be about the goodness, faithfulness, grace, mercy, long-suffering, amazingness of a Holy, infinite, perfect God, than what is the point of your story or mine?  

God is pulling me in the direction of taking this time to reflect on who He is and what He has done and what makes Him worthy. Small devotionals directed towards a closer walk with Him.  A morning cup of coffee if you will.  A sweet, savory morsel to start your day with the One who created you.  Sweet honey to your lips, life to your bones, uplifting and encouraging reflections on what an incredible God we serve and how sweet it is to trust Him!  How endless his mercies, how boundless his love, how beautiful His presence, how infinite His grace!

So, I ask you pray for me on this part of the journey as you never have before.  The devil hates hearing about how good God is! He hates the idea of us sharing it with each other!  He hates the transformation that can occur when just one of us catch the fire of God’s goodness and start lighting flames all over! So much can come from you falling in love with Jesus and telling one person, who tells one person, who tells one person, until the whole world hears!  God is so good and his grace is completely and utterly UNSHATTERED!