Have a Blessed Day!
Andee
Friday, January 14, 2011
Getting Started
I think I created this blog like 2 years ago and then never posting anything. I figured it was time for me to join the club (my dad even has a blog for Pete's sake). I posted a few things I had in notes on fb for some time to get the ball rolling. I'd love to hear your comments on my thoughts. Maybe we'll strike up a friendship.
Ponderings at Age 29 (That Still Remain True Today)
I truly feel as though I have recently reached a turning point in my life of only 29 years. I have been somewhat consumed as of late with heavenly things. Things I have yet to understand, but already believe to be true. Things about God.
My soul has been stirring inside of me for about a year now and in the more recent months has actually been painfully boiling. I say that only to mean that the questions I had and the answers I knew were right there just kept rolling over and over one another building up this immense pressure of hopes and longing to the point where the little kettle that is my life was screaming. All the things I knew about Love and Life and Purpose were at my fingertips, yet I wasn't able to grasp them or make any sense of them at all. The steam built up and up and up until I wanted was to shout "Tip Me Over and Pour Me Out!"
"What a profound thought," I told myself as I settled back to earth from this emotional awakening. I then proceeded into the following thought process:
"What? There is nothing profound about The Little Tea Pot! You are not one of those over-stressed pre-school moms who reads any children's book she can get her hands on (probably within reach of the driver's seat while speeding down the highway with her screaming two-year-old half-strapped into her car seat) in search of spiritual insight that could possibly be worth sharing in her last-minute-mom's-club-devo she had forgotten to prepare even though she was the one who signed her name on the blank line just last month. Now the only thing she's got is a cheesy devotion about a Little Tea Pot. Agh, why hadn't she just signed up to bring the tea?"
"I'm a Little Tea Pot, Short and Stout."
"Here is my handle, here is my Spout
When I get all steamed up, hear me Shout,
Tip me over and pour me out."
“No! I can't do this. It's too cliché!”
But who was I to question the Holy Spirit? I was soon resolved to say that I was not going to let one little nursery rhyme deter me from seeing a divine truth! This boiling inside of me was so strong. When I finally found words to express it, shouldn't I assume that those words came from God, Himself?
And really, it's the entire concept of the Little Tea Pot, not the verse itself that carries the real expression of what I need to say. Jesus has been that thing stirring inside of me. The desire to know him is what has me boiling inside. But how did I even get here? Why am I reaching this boiling point now? I think it's because He lit a fire under my butt!
And then He sat there...
and sat there...
and sat there.
I wondered why He sat there. Then I realized that "His eye is on the Sparrow, and I know He watches me," and we also know that according to my grandmother, "a watched pot never boils." so...
How long had He been waiting? How long has this fire been burning? Since I was baptized at the age of 9? Had He been anxiously waiting for me for the next 20 years? Yes! Because no matter how true it might seem to us that a watched pot never boils, how true indeed, is that it surely will!
So here I am with my pants on fire, and all these questions are rolling over and around all the answers I know are there. They are all just in there colliding, yet rolling away from each other and everything seems so cloudy and the friction builds. I have more questions, more illusive answers, and more building, and steam until I can't take it anymore and I begin to whistle incessantly!
No, really. I whistle constantly. I come by it naturally I guess. My father's mother was known for her bird-like song among all the people who lived near to her beloved Ozark Mountain hallow. I was not aware of this until after her passing, but I love to imagine her walking the country roads, whistling the old hymns she loved so dearly, as she stopped to pick up pretty rocks for her garden, or to keep to pass on to me whenever I came to visit. I do in fact remember that as our entire family gathered under the old oak tree to sing those reverend hymns in praise to our blessed creator that her singing soon turned to whistling in beautiful harmony with the voices of her kinfolk. I miss her. But, as you can see, my writing echoes my whistling in that I tend to warble and ramble off course to no rhyme or reason, but I truly know that both give me great strength and comfort on this journey of life.
I began to think about the whistling tea pot. When the tea kettle is boiling and eventually builds up enough steam to shoot it out of the whistle; what do you do when the pot starts screaming? You stop what you are doing, get up, and turn down the heat. Because you, Lord, know that when the water of life inside this stout little vessel is HOT it will no longer remain lukewarm. This is my life, you have purified it with your fire and it is now full of living water that is ready to be used. And here I am screaming it to you, "I AM READY!"
And I will keep screaming (and whistling) until you, Lord, quietly get up from your comfy chair, restfully lay down your daily reading of "Chicken Soup from the Lamb's Book of Life", take off your grandfatherly reading glasses and say with a contented sigh..."She's Ready."
And in your own gentle timing you will remove me from this burning fire, tip my world over. And as you pour out all that you find from this HOT Little Pot into the lives of others...
Filter me with your Word,
Flavor me with your Goodness,
Sweeten me with your Grace & Joy,
And make my aroma Holy and Pleasing to the Lord.
I am ready. Hear me Shout.
My soul has been stirring inside of me for about a year now and in the more recent months has actually been painfully boiling. I say that only to mean that the questions I had and the answers I knew were right there just kept rolling over and over one another building up this immense pressure of hopes and longing to the point where the little kettle that is my life was screaming. All the things I knew about Love and Life and Purpose were at my fingertips, yet I wasn't able to grasp them or make any sense of them at all. The steam built up and up and up until I wanted was to shout "Tip Me Over and Pour Me Out!"
"What a profound thought," I told myself as I settled back to earth from this emotional awakening. I then proceeded into the following thought process:
"What? There is nothing profound about The Little Tea Pot! You are not one of those over-stressed pre-school moms who reads any children's book she can get her hands on (probably within reach of the driver's seat while speeding down the highway with her screaming two-year-old half-strapped into her car seat) in search of spiritual insight that could possibly be worth sharing in her last-minute-mom's-club-devo she had forgotten to prepare even though she was the one who signed her name on the blank line just last month. Now the only thing she's got is a cheesy devotion about a Little Tea Pot. Agh, why hadn't she just signed up to bring the tea?"
But then I thought, "OK, maybe there's something to this." Could this sudden outburst of juvenile poetry really be worth looking into? So I gave it a shot:
"I'm a Little Tea Pot, Short and Stout."Hmmm. Well, since I do in fact reside at a personal altitude of only 5' 3" and my dress size does in fact carry and ID with a number greater than one digit. I would have to say th
at this is true. And the Holy Spirit was so gracious to point it out to me in such delicate terms. But never mind that - that's a personal issue - what else?
"Here is my handle, here is my Spout
When I get all steamed up, hear me Shout,
Tip me over and pour me out."
“No! I can't do this. It's too cliché!”
But who was I to question the Holy Spirit? I was soon resolved to say that I was not going to let one little nursery rhyme deter me from seeing a divine truth! This boiling inside of me was so strong. When I finally found words to express it, shouldn't I assume that those words came from God, Himself?
And really, it's the entire concept of the Little Tea Pot, not the verse itself that carries the real expression of what I need to say. Jesus has been that thing stirring inside of me. The desire to know him is what has me boiling inside. But how did I even get here? Why am I reaching this boiling point now? I think it's because He lit a fire under my butt!
And then He sat there...
and sat there...
and sat there.
I wondered why He sat there. Then I realized that "His eye is on the Sparrow, and I know He watches me," and we also know that according to my grandmother, "a watched pot never boils." so...
How long had He been waiting? How long has this fire been burning? Since I was baptized at the age of 9? Had He been anxiously waiting for me for the next 20 years? Yes! Because no matter how true it might seem to us that a watched pot never boils, how true indeed, is that it surely will!
So here I am with my pants on fire, and all these questions are rolling over and around all the answers I know are there. They are all just in there colliding, yet rolling away from each other and everything seems so cloudy and the friction builds. I have more questions, more illusive answers, and more building, and steam until I can't take it anymore and I begin to whistle incessantly!
No, really. I whistle constantly. I come by it naturally I guess. My father's mother was known for her bird-like song among all the people who lived near to her beloved Ozark Mountain hallow. I was not aware of this until after her passing, but I love to imagine her walking the country roads, whistling the old hymns she loved so dearly, as she stopped to pick up pretty rocks for her garden, or to keep to pass on to me whenever I came to visit. I do in fact remember that as our entire family gathered under the old oak tree to sing those reverend hymns in praise to our blessed creator that her singing soon turned to whistling in beautiful harmony with the voices of her kinfolk. I miss her. But, as you can see, my writing echoes my whistling in that I tend to warble and ramble off course to no rhyme or reason, but I truly know that both give me great strength and comfort on this journey of life.
I began to think about the whistling tea pot. When the tea kettle is boiling and eventually builds up enough steam to shoot it out of the whistle; what do you do when the pot starts screaming? You stop what you are doing, get up, and turn down the heat. Because you, Lord, know that when the water of life inside this stout little vessel is HOT it will no longer remain lukewarm. This is my life, you have purified it with your fire and it is now full of living water that is ready to be used. And here I am screaming it to you, "I AM READY!"
And I will keep screaming (and whistling) until you, Lord, quietly get up from your comfy chair, restfully lay down your daily reading of "Chicken Soup from the Lamb's Book of Life", take off your grandfatherly reading glasses and say with a contented sigh..."She's Ready."
And in your own gentle timing you will remove me from this burning fire, tip my world over. And as you pour out all that you find from this HOT Little Pot into the lives of others...
Filter me with your Word,
Flavor me with your Goodness,
Sweeten me with your Grace & Joy,
And make my aroma Holy and Pleasing to the Lord.
I am ready. Hear me Shout.
Wait upon the Lord
I love how the scriptures speak to my life in a never ending circle of truth. Each passage I find that speaks to me here and now is tied to another, then another, then another. I line them up, compare and contrast - and suddenly, there is my own heart broken and spilled out onto the page:
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in
accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. (Romans12:3-6a)
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (I Peter 4:10-13)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (I Peter 5:6-11)
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,we will wait upon the Lord,
we will wait upon the Lord,
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,
we will wait upon the Lord,
we will wait upon the Lord.
Our God, You reign forever!
Our Hope, Our Strong Deliverer!
You are the Everlasting God,
the Everlasting God,
You do not faint you won’t grow weary.
You’re the Defender of the weak,
you comfort those in need,
you lift us up on wings like eagles. (Everlasting God - Based on Isaiah 40:28-30)
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning. (Psalm 130: 5-6)
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD. (Psalm 27:13-14)
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