Wednesday, August 13, 2014

What's Right?

disclaimer: I am terrible with grammar.  I do not profess to be a 'writer' of sorts.  I write like I talk.  I suppose, those that read and know me well, can probably 'hear' me saying what I write.  If you don't know me that well, or have never had a conversation with me, please overlook the typos.  Thank you :-)

I sat down this morning to greet my day.  Some call it a 'quiet time (QT).' I actually just reintroduced my quiet time, as having Jaelyn (per my last post) threw me off my game.  Now that she's caught onto the whole sleep thing, I'm rolling out of bed before the chaos of our daily life ensues.  There's just something about the quiet of that time of day.  

Let me digress a moment.  

I feel so led to share about quiet times. 

In the church-y circles in which I hang, it is encouraged that we, as Christians, 'have a QT' on a daily basis.  You'll hear things like,  

"My QT was really rich!" 
or 
"They've been so dry lately, I feel like I'm not connecting." 
or 
"(sigh) I really should DO a QT, but I just don't know how / what to do." 

And it can become a racket!  It can become the litman's test of where you rank 'as a Christian' among fellow Christians.  (tsk, tsk...'She's not having a QT? Hhhmmm...<eyebrow raised>)  You follow me?  

THAT SAID...I was on a roll a few years ago.  I started the Jesus study by Beth Moore (90 day study) and that really launched a consistent, daily, greet-the-day-with-God routine.  Some days / weeks were rich and great. Some...eh...pretty mediocre, but nonetheless, it was the practice and the quiet that was important.  It is actually what got me through our Jordan Journey in 2009.  Fast forward, baby, sleepless nights...etc.

could. 
not. 
get. 
it. 
together!  

SO...I asked (in prayer), "HOW do you want me to do this, Lord?"

***we interrupt this post for a 
non-emergency announcement***
When using terms like 
"I was told..."
"Felt led..."
in reference to God / Abba / The Lord 'speaking' to me, it is
not to imply that a text was sent from above or that I heard
an actual, audible voice.  Again, in our church-y type circles,
it's a figure of speech.  Christianese, if you will...heehee  
***this non-emergency announcement 
is now over - thank you***

And he told me.
     You have the Jesus Calling Devotion.
     It has passages at the end of each one.
     You have three questions that Pantego provided months ago.

Hhmmm...ok, got it.
Read the JC devo, look up the passages, answer the questions.  I can do that.

Set my alarm for 5a.
It went off.
I hit snooze until 7a, like any decent human being would do.  

And the Christian Guilt set in, feeling like a failure.  (sigh)

Let's try this again...

2:00...AM...as in, IN the morning, my oldest comes in, having had an awful dream.  I went to lay down with her for a few minutes, then walked back to my room.  I stood at my bedroom door, but I sensed that 'nudge' to go and do my QT.  Here's the conversation in my head:

"(sigh) It's 2 o'clock...IN THE MORNING!!!" 

"I'm aware of the time, Kim.  I created it."

"You can't possibly be serious!  Can't you see how tired I am?"
(as I make my eyes drowsy...like a child...see, see...I'm so sleepy)

"Yes, but you told me you wanted to do this.  If you take time now, you can sleep a little more later."

"But...I'm so tired.  Besides, what are we going to talk about?"  
And I crawled into bed...for about 5 seconds.

"You'll never know unless you obey this nudge."

Out to the chair I go, stomping like the proverbial 40-something child, maybe even pouting a little bit; just a little.

And wouldn't ya know it?  FanTabULous time with my Abba.  

I was led to pray for some friends serving in a remote area.  

I prayed for some friends that are in marriage crisis.

I prayed over my family and God brought to mind people I don't know that well, so I prayed for them too.

He even made a joke when I wrote in my journal, 
"2AM?  Really?  I was thinking more like 5AM"  

And he said, "I AM the great I AM!"  
Get it?!  HA!!!  Love. It!

But this was the kicker.  This was 'my sign' - if you will.  At church that morning, I open my bulletin and inside was...

The card with the three questions.

The card that has not been IN the bulletins for several weeks.

Talk about complete and total affirmation.

Lovely.  
Nice.  
Thank you, Kim for that tirade about QT's and rubbing in how spiritual you are touting to be...la-dee-dah (sigh).

What about this post title, 'What's Right?'
Get to the point!!

If I had not started a week ago, I would have missed the richness of this morning's quiet time.  I'll fess up, since my 'ah-ha' moment two weeks ago, my quiet times have been 'eh.'  This morning though, the following nugget was impressed upon my heart.

How often do you ask, throughout the day, "What's wrong?"  
I do.  
I see a cross look on someone's face and I ask, "What's wrong?"  
Someone sighs heavily, "What's wrong?"  
One of my girls rolls their eyes...oh wait, that's normal...ha!!! 

What if we all started asking...wait for it...

What's Right?

How would that transform a day?  Your thoughts?  THEIR thoughts?

What's Right?

I'll tell you what's right in my world:
My health.
My freckles.
My red hair (all three compliments of da Lord who made me!)
A husband that loves me enough to buy me perfume 'just because' (or maybe I just stink...)
Bright, terrific daughters that are responsible and helpful.
My mom who has been a supportive, helpful & loving since the first time she laid eyes on me.
Coffee.  
Friends.
Facebook, that allows me to connect with friends near and far.
Quiet times. (amen, right?!)
Pampered Chef.
Cell phones.
My sweet Rottie's!

I could go on and on, but I already have.  

As you go forward, I encourage you to begin asking, 

What's right?

Humbled, Buoyed and Blessed,
Mama Fox

WHAT are the three questions, Kimberly?!!?!?!  
Ok, ok...I'll tell you:
1)  How has God made Himself known to you today?
2)  How is God changing you today?
3)  What is God calling you to do today?
can be found on www.pantego.org / I take no credit for these



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