This morning as I was making my bed, Austin was watching with real interest. He has just graduated to a big boy twin bed and is learning how to make it correctly every morning. I picked up each of my pillows and fluffed them.
"What are ya doin' that for, mom?", Austin asked.
ME: "Well, see how the pillows get all saggy after you sleep on them all night? When you fluff them, they get all full and comfy again. It puts everything back where it's supposed to be instead of it being all flat in the middle."
Austin: "Do I need to do that to my pillows too when I make my bed?"
ME: "Yeah, if you want to keep your pillows nice and fluffy, ya do."
He thought that was funny and promised to start fluffing his pillows every single day so they wouldn't have a head-shaped dent in them.
ME: "I think you might need a little fluffin' yourself, boy!" I ran over to try and catch him and pick him up. " Did ya know, when you are sleeping, all your insides get all out of place. Your stomach falls down into your legs and your heart gets all sideways and stuff."
Austin: "No mom!!!! You can't catch me!!!!"
I grabbed him up and gently "Fluffed" him out and sat him back down as he laughed hysterically.
ME: "Now, everything is all back in place on your insides."
Austin: "You are just pickin' my chain, mom. That don't really happen when you sleep!"
Smart kid I'm raising!
There are lots of things we have to maintain in our daily lives. Just like fluffing pillows, some things have to be done on a regular basis in order to keep things where they are supposed to be and running in tip-top shape. Maintaining your spiritual life takes getting into God's word a bit and doing whatever it tells you to do. Go give yourself a good "fluffin'"!
Titus 3:8- "This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men ."
2 Samuel 22:22- "For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God."
Talk to you soon!
Love and Blessings,
Starr
It’s the worst thing that can happen to a writer. It’s bad. Really bad. A large portion of my manuscripts and articles has vanished from the face of the earth. I don’t know how it happened. I certainly do not know why it happened, but it did. I have asked, no, pleaded, with God to please show me to where they have disappeared. So far, I have not received an answer from Him.
“Where are your back-up copies?” you may wonder. Well, I am an old-fashioned southern girl and I have no back-up copies. I write all my God-given words down with pen and paper. Most never even make it to the computer until ready for publication. I keep several tote bags full of my “stuff”. I always keep them together in the same designated place. But, this particular one has escaped. Wouldn’t you know it? It contains my favorite writer’s possessions. Included are my favorite Bible, two different books that were autographed by the authors just for me, and several composition books full of my best stories. Not to mention, a book I have been developing for 18 years on parenting experiences that was intended for eventual publication.
To say the least, this entire experience has thrown me for a loop. I am obsessed with trying to find my lost treasures. It is actually driving me over the edge. I have searched
and searched every inch of my house. I still feel as though I have overlooked something, so, every day, I search and search again, to no avail. I can’t sleep at night. I am having
extreme headaches. I am getting grouchy with my family. It has been a real upset for my whole household. I am loosing control, I tell you, and I don’t know how to let it go.
Several nights I have cried myself to sleep wondering why God allowed this to happen to me. Now, I know in comparison to what some people have going on in their lives, this is no biggie. However, it is monstrous in my little world. I always considered myself to be a strong person spiritually. I still do, but I find myself questioning God constantly about the “whys” and the “whats”. What does He want me to learn from this? What can I possibly do in order to find my lost items? Why is He keeping the answer from me? After all, I know he has my tote bag in sight. Why won’t He show it to me? Even if I can’t get it back, I sure would love to know where it ended up. I have moments when I am able to let it go, and then I will find myself needing one of the missing items for a writing project and the anxiety floods over me once again.
I have to fight really hard to avoid worry and anxiety. By nature, I am easily flustered when things get out of control. God has shown me many things over the years about how to trust Him and let things go. This one incident has just put the brakes on my journey
to worry-free living. I have no words of wisdom to offer today about how to get over something like this. But, I can share what I feel God telling me along the way.
For starters, He has shown me the Serenity Prayer. I have read it many times, as I’m sure you have. This seems to be a perfect time to refresh it in my mind, though.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace; Taking, as he did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.
I know that somehow, this hardship will produce an attitude of trust and peace within me. I certainly cannot do anything to change the fact that I have lost something very dear to me, even though it is superficial in the big scheme of things. I do know that my God has only the best plans for me and that His purposes will prevail, no matter what the circumstances look like. I also know that there are many positive aspects in my life that are in no way effected by this ordeal; Except when I allow my frustration to bleed over and stain them.
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I am asking for closure. I am asking for peace. I am asking for joy. I am asking for forgiveness for the way I have let this control my mind and the way I have held on to it
instead of trusting my All-Knowing Creator. So what if I have a large writer’s conference
coming up in a few weeks. I trust God to give me the words I need and the wisdom to get them down on paper (or maybe on the computer and a back-up disc) in plenty of time. I trust Him to fill the empty space this loss has left me with. I trust Him to flood me with Himself, so that all else shrinks in comparison. I have seen that whatever my treasure is will determine my actions. Thank You, Jesus, for being my True Treasure. Thank You, Father, for your unfailing grace.
Psalm 37:7- “Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself…..” (AMP)
Matthew 6:21- “ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
I have a flip calendar that gives me a new inspirational saying every day. Today's was really cool. I wanted to pass it along to you all, my friendly neighborhood blog readers, in hopes that you may be inspired by it, as I was. It is written by an anonymous contributor. Here it is:
If God is going to do something wonderful, He starts with a problem. If God is going to do something spectacular, He starts with an impossibility.
How cool is that!!!! In that case, my life should be keeping Him pretty busy!!! But, I am sure He can fit your life in there somewhere, too!
Hang on tight and be looking for something SPECTACULAR, okay?
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, AMEN!!!!!!!!" (Ephesians 3:20 NIV)
Starr (AKA: your friendly neighborhood blogger!)
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