Friday, October 28, 2016

The word is Eat. Five Minute Friday with Kate Motaung

//Grazing on His Grace With Praise

Possibly the one thing I do most often during the day is eat. It is by far the one thing many people think I minimally do, unless you know me and follow me around. My weight fluctuates between 103 and 107 and I:m of average height. By medical standards, yes, I'm underweight. I have been here since I gave birth to my first son, 35 years ago. Before then I struggled with extra pounds, diets and dreaded exercise.

What happened? I guess I blame it on a combination of metabolism, stress and choices. And don't get me wrong here, I can binge just as easily as the next person and I have my food addictions. I also get it that everyone is different. I find for me, however, that grazing throughout the day seems to help keep things in balance.

There is a spiritual way to eat which includes grazing. One thing the Lord loves is balance. "A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight." Psa 11:1. A life out of balance falls and can bring down everything it is holding on to.

"Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning for in thee do I trust. Cause me to know the way I should walk, for I lift up me soul unto thee." Psa 143:8.//

"And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long."Psa 35:28

"My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice." Psa 63:5-7.

Morning, all day long, and night, Jesus is available to me. Whether it's reading scripture, singing praise, meditating on His presence or praying for wisdom and guidance He never sleeps, He is never too busy. That is His balance and it will help keep my life in balance.


Monday, October 24, 2016

A Hopeful Reflection of Tears

The only thing that has more water than the seas are the tears of the brokenhearted. We dry them as  quickly as they come, but the Lord catches each one, keeps them in a bottle and records them in a book.

Our tears are never wasted. They cleanse as they release our wordless emotions.

Hope postponed grieves the heart but when a dream comes true life is full and sweet. Pr 13:12 (the voice)

Look to the hope that is already come in Christ Jesus.

Friday, October 21, 2016

Park

Let's park here for a while with  the engine running and the heat on. We can open the windows just enough to balance the temperature. We want to be comfortable, not too hot, not too cold. Let's  not move. Let's idle in complacency. We can talk about going and growing so much until we really believe it is happening. Oh, but then, suddenly, the engine stops.

I don't have to be moving for the tank to run dry.

Five minute Friday with Kate Montaug


Friday, October 14, 2016

The word is mail

//When All You Have Left is Mail

I sat across the table and we sipped coffee. Mine was laced with cinnamon. Of all the times I've been to that small café this is the first time I added cinnamon. I chose the small round table across the room near the window. I was always invited to choose.

As we sat and talked I found myself keenly aware of details such as the sound of his voice, the contour of his face and the intent of his words. The comfortability of being in his own skin made it easy for me to do the same. Often in the past a few would come in he knew and I would have to share the time. I found myself grateful to have exclusivity.

What has this to do with mail? I was preparing myself for his departure. I will be relying now solely on e-mail from this time forth. Now instead of interpreting his voice, his body language and his facial expressions, I will be left with the white space between the words keyed onto a computer screen. Our relationship, however, has been established. Some things I won't have to figure out. I will know, because I know him.//

It makes me think of the Bible, God's letter to us. He chose to give us mail before seeing his face. If I have a relationship with Him through His word when I see Him I will know Him so much more. His mail to me describes what I need to know now. I will already be His friend. Our relationship will be a continuing one, not one that is fearfully just beginning. Maybe my place in eternity will be by a window away from everyone else for a while. Perhaps I will have exclusivity with Him alone. He lets me choose it while I am here and I will know it when I arrive. He is a gentleman, just like my friend.

What will I remember about my last encounter? More than the cinnamon.


Friday, October 7, 2016

Writing with Kate Motaung, Five Minute Friday
The word is test.

//Who Is Being Tested?

“...Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty…” Mal 3:10

I keep forgetting my turns on “Words With Friends”. If you forget long enough the computer assumes your resignation and loss. Really, all players lose. All that's left is a bunch of random words with simulated value that say nothing and remain in limbo.

I feel now like the game is over. No winners here. We are just tired of playing and no one is saying it out loud. I guess each of us think we have spoken over time, but the words never connected and became relationship. //

Is it all a test of our performance? Relationship goes much deeper than that. My relationship with Christ is never based on my performance. He is not just waiting for me to take my turn. I am not being tested. It is His faithfulness to me that is being proven.

No matter what things look like He doesn't pack up the pieces and resign. He bids me to trust Him and walk with Him where He walks. It is not about passing or failing. It is knowing Him. When I am in relationship with Him, then will I be content.

Right now I feel empty, a vacuum for God to fill. That is my only hope.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

When I don't Feel All There



Fall is definitely here. The colors are changing but slower than last year. Peak season is next weekend and unless we get a killer frost before then, leaf peepers will be scarce and disappointed. Without the vibrant colors Fall is just the erasing of warm temperatures. It's the splendor in the dying that makes the cold approachable.

 Sunlight streams onto my side and around my shoulders. I lean into it as I write to draw all the warmth it can give me. The chill I feel is internal, so I still shiver.

There is beauty in dying when we realize it is the only way to life. No alternative route, no shortcut will do. Freedom cannot fully exist without dying to all that imprisons you. I can't fully enjoy the warmth if inside I'm still cold.

The surrender of me to God's will must be all, inside and out. Until it is, I will be displayed like a delayed season, here but not quite as beautiful as I can be; righteous in God's eyes, yet never quite revealing that righteousness. Life was given to be eternal. Sin brought death, but God in His redeeming love through Christ made death to be a beautiful thing.

I feel the sun shift and I lean in closer so it covers more of me. I feel the chill less now. As I draw closer to God I see His life more a desire and my dying a radiant thing. And the cold is more bearable.