I am gaining steam this morning and thats a good thing for Monday morning and a busy week ahead. This past weekend Carol, Kyle and I were invited the beach and I very much enjoy being at the beach. There is nothing better than getting alone for a little while and just taking in all that God has created and all that God is doing.
This past Saturday I really found myself in a worship mode that I have not been in in a long time. It was so refreshing to really feel God being close and feeling His loving hands touching my heart. It was really awesome and Kyle and I spent a lot of time together Saturday, walking on the beach, hitting the inlet and looking through the tide pools at low tide, a view from the 18th floor at the hotel up the street as well as talking with all the fisherman. One fisherman we stopped to talk with spoke of my cross on my neck and he was telling us in broken English that Christ saved him a few months ago when a stingray stung him and the stinger went all the way through 2 fingers and into his hand. He said the pain was unreal and the doctors told him and his family he would lose both fingers. He had all of them Saturday and a scar to prove the story. Kyle and I also got to hang for a wedding that was taken place on the beach and as the pictures started and the celebration got under way - Dolphins jumped in the water not far from where we were. The topping was the sunset that evening and I couldnt help but to think about my mom. She loved the beach and I spent extra time picking up shells and just taking in all that was unfolding around us.
I am reminded this morning that no matter where you are in life. No matter how hard things are or you're feeling in the dumps because of your job, your marriage or that boyfriend or girl friend is just not working out. No matter if you are struggling with an illness or 12 years old or 45+.
Psalm 62:11-12 puts everything into focus.
One thing God has spoken;
Two things I have heard:
That you Oh God are strong;
and that you, Oh Lord, are loving.
Surely You will reward each person
according to what they have done.
God tells us 2 things in this passage and its a reminder for us all- that He is great and that he is good. Those are the 2 basic child like faith foundation pieces that we all have to grab hold of and hang on to no matter what we are dealing with, how bad things are, or even how awesome life is today.
Mom, I miss waking in the morning and smelling the coffee brewing, the bacon cooking and the warmth from the kitchen. I rejoice in the mornings because you were a morning person and it delighted you SO much to have your son home and sleeping in the back room. I smile when I remember you getting up at 5 to make your biscuits and I would come walking down the hallway and sit at the table, half asleep and you would smile at me and walk over with a cup of coffee and place it in front of me. I remember the "Good Mornings" and then talk through the day ahead. We would talk until it was all worked out and our hearts were in the right place and everything was ok. I miss you mom and the beach this weekend reminded me that all is ok. Bad things happen in this broken world but ignoring all the things this life hands us - I can rest in the fact that God is great and that He is good. My prayers this weekend had some extra zeal to them - not only for me but also for my family and for a few of the kids that are in my life who are like my own. God knew before I did that I would have many children - I smile thinking about that.
God for sure has given me a life so much bigger than I ever imagined living on my own. I couldn't live with my heart wide open like this without Him being the center of it.
It changes everything.........You mom were a big part in that. You raised my expectations in my life. Something that I get to try to do for the youth in my life and who's heart I get to touch. Christ calls us to rise up and raise the bar high in life - aim high and you will hit high-
While many of today's teens are lining up to see the movie Twilight - some are feeding thousands, some are raising awareness, some are leading youth groups in their schools, some are shining bright for Christ, some are clearing lunch rooms, some are leading their families.....
For me mom, it began with a those early morning talks over a cup of coffee with bacon cooking on the stove and your biscuits rising to the occasion.
Life is smaller than we make it out to be ... but then - sometimes we get it backwards and then our life IS bigger than we make it out to be and thats because ... some live insignificantly so we can do something significant.
Only God could vision that plan for our lives.
SO grateful this morning.....
Lonnie~
1 comment:
I've been thinking about your momma a lot lately. I, too, get up around 5 or 6:00 in the mornings and I like to get the paper and sit & read and wander around the house trying to not wake Uncle Buster up. I think of how she was such a morning person and I think of how she used to have already been up for two or three hours by the time I would get up when I was visiting at her house. She would keep a pitcher of pancake mix in the refrigerator for Scott, he loved her pancakes. She was always so fresh and alert in the mornings, always had her "face" on and her hair done. She loved to cook breakfast, and all other meals too for that matter. She always said "I don't want anyone to come to my house and go away hungry" and they never did! She was always happy to see yours and Craig's friends at the house. She was loved by all of them as a special Mom. Just as I know you and Carol are loved by so many of Kyle's friends.
Now I'm awake so early and I think of her in the quiet mornings and sometimes I say "good morning Sis" as I walk outside to see the day starting out. Sometimes I think of what she had to go through in her life to get where she is now. Sometimes I think, poor Sis, then I realize, it's me that's poor Sis, I'm the one that's left here, she's already made that journey.
I know you miss her so much. You can't think of the morning and not think of her. Most every day, whether the sun is shining or the rain is falling, whether the leaves are orange and falling, or snow on the ground, I think "Sis would have loved this day" she appreciated God's beauty so much. I think to myself, she loved the Fall, but she loved the Winter, she loved the Spring, and she loved the Summer. I'm not sure she loved any season any more than the others. She just absolutely loved them all with a passion! She loved life, and the older she got the more she loved it, and the more loved she showed others. You were so blessed to have her for your momma and I was so blessed to have her for my sister and best friend, for 53 years. Of course, I know you know this, and she is so close to us in our hearts.
Looking so forward to the day we see her again,
love you.....aunt Sharon
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