Just an ordinary day...

First, I want to clear up something I said in my last blog... The reference for "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer" is not Proverbs 3:5-6, it is Psalm 19:14. The other one is "Trust in the Lord with all your heart..." (also a good one, lol). Anyway, just wanted to clear that up...

Ok, so... Let me just be honest. With all the craziness of the holidays and working nights this past week, I have just been going going going or trying to catch up on sleep. My time in the Word has been suffering for it and I have felt the distance growing in the few days I've been struggling. Not good... But thank God for His neverending mercy... "O, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His mercy endures forever!" Psalm 136. BUT I have also noticed how in just a few days my perspective starts to change and I am more tuned towards MY desires instead of HIS desires... Not being with Him EVERY day is like me telling Him I don't have time for Him or He doesn't deserve the hours in that day of my life--He gave those very moments to me to worship Him with my every breath. I realize we all have days when we mess up--If we didn't, then we'd have no need of Him. But how sad is it that we waste so many days because we think our way is best? I don't understand it sometimes... Anyway, speaking of moments, what I wanted to share with you brings this song to mind:

"Our lives are made in these small hours
These little wonders, these twists and turns of fate
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours still remain"
--"Little Wonders", Rob Thomas

Only this time I'm not talking about fate... I'm talking about God orchestrating "little wonders" for us to see how much we really need Him and how joy-filled life is when we walk with Him daily.

So as I said, I haven't made much time to be still and quiet. Last night I finally had a little time to just sit and read and pray and I was able to recharge. This morning I woke up and wanted to get the day started the right way so as I was eating breakfast I was reading my Bible.
My dad was sweeping in the kitchen and asked what I was reading. I told him, "My Bible". He says, "What?" and I said, "My Bible". He asked what again and I was starting to wonder about his hearing (haha) when he clarified what he meant and said, "What in the Bible are you reading?" I told him Exodus and he asked if I would read some to him.
At first I started to find another passage because I was reading about the specifications of the tabernacle, but he told me just to start where I was. So I did. I was in Exodus 26 and when I finished, my dad says, "Wow. God is really specific" and we laughed.
I usually summarize what I read or jot down thoughts in a journal and when my dad passed back through the kitchen and saw me doing that he asked, "What could you be writing in your journal about that?" and I told him I was just summarizing. Then I told him that the footnotes helped me better understand what I was reading...
Exodus 26 starts to wrap up like this, starting in verse 31: "Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the covenant law behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Put the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law in the Most Holy Place."
The footnote says, "Perhaps the most beautiful and intricate of all the fabrics in the tabernacle, the veil was to hang from pillars by clasps, dividing the chamber into two separate rooms. The larger room would be called the holy place and the smaller room the Most Holy Place. The Hebrew expression can also be translated "the Holiest Place" or "the Holy of Holies""

I went on to read the next couple of chapters that talk about Aaron's role as priest and the consequences of entering the holy place with sin... The consequence was death. And now, because of His great mercy on His children, we can "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

Not only was this moment between my dad and I very sweet and something I will probably remember for a long time (if he thought as much of it as I did this morning, I don't know, but I know it was great for me!), but God also used it to remind me just what I needed reminding of. I should NEVER take for granted what a privilege it is to enter His presence. May we DAILY come boldly to the throne of grace in reverence and worship of the One who deserves the very lives He has given to us.

I know this was long (wondering if anyone will read all the way to the end :) ) but I wanted to remind myself of it sometime later too. :) Hope you and yours are having a wonderful end-of-the-year. As for me, I am about to play a game with my sister and head to bed soon. Goodnight, all!

Blessings,
Becca

"O, Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His mercy endures forever!"

A Time For Everything

A few weeks ago someone suggested I write a blog. Well, here goes.
I don't know if anyone will read any of these or how often I will sit down to put thoughts onto paper (or in this case, computer screen).
All I know is that I will never know it all. We learn from each other. Maybe my thoughts will inspire someone else's thoughts, and growth will result. Maybe this will just be a way of organizing all the things bouncing around in this brain of mine. Whatever the result, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." Proverbs 3:5-6

This was on my mind today:

¹ There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens:
 ² a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,
 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,
 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I don't have some fantastic insight to this passage, I just have my own thoughts. And they're simple, really. The only thing that stays the same is change. Life is a process, and we just have to keep moving through it one day at a time (Matthew 6:34). Sometimes things go just as we hoped, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes people are utterly predictable and sometimes you turn around and they're not the same person they once were. But, as this passage says, there is a time for everything. There comes a point where things can no longer stay the same. And though change is scary sometimes, there is often comfort in it, simply because it is the only consistent thing.

But wait. That's wrong. GOD is the only One that stays the same. Little changes happen every single day, but God is the same today as He was 2,000 years ago. Take comfort in knowing that when everything around you suddenly flips upside down, when plans are disrupted, when people turn their back on you, God is the Rock of Ages, the Everlasting God, our Strong Tower, our Salvation. He will NEVER change. There is a time to worship, and a time to worship. Live like it.

God, help me to take my refuge only in You, the only consistent One who has never changed and never will. Life sometimes seems ruled by uncertainties and upsets and plan changes, but You are the Rock. You are worthy of all my worship, from "life's first cry to final breath." I am Yours.