Wednesday, April 25, 2012
You can’t get to know God from a distance. James 4:8 says, “Draw
near to God and He will draw near to you.” Something inside me the past two
years has yearned to draw nearer to Him, to know Him better, to allow Him to
reveal more truth to me. I receive this desire as a reward for taking time to
seek Him. I’m grateful to the tools He used to draw me to Him:
1. The
Lord’s Table
2. Anne
Streeter’s Inductive Bible Study on Colossians
3. Daniel
Fast during Lent 2011
My struggle lately has been
learning to love my husband more and more. I desperately want to be that couple
married 50+ years claiming they love each other now more than the day they wed.
And then while being taught James 4:8 yesterday, I realized that while Christ
is my first and last bridegroom, Derrick is my bridegroom here in human flesh.
Am I drawing nearer to him? My mentor told me, “Look at Derrick like when you first fell in love.” I have wrestled
with what that looks like for three days and then in this teaching, God reveals
it to me. I have to draw near to Derrick to really know him. I have to
sacrifice getting more done in my day, having the dishes all put away, doing
what I want to do in the evening, on the weekend. And even last night as I prayed
with him before drifting off to sleep, I felt like I knew him and saw him in
that first love’s light. Once more, God’s amazing blessing after obedience.
4. Sunlight
pouring through puffy thunderheads
5. Respect
being learned
6. Zodiates
7. Black
stamens inside the tulip that stand in contrast to the light petals
8. Ribbon
9. Snow
in July
10. Warm
spring evening drive alone
11. Music
that lifts spirits and pierces heart
12. Allrecipes
app
13. Maps
14. Jewelry
15. Last
of the trees finally budding out
16. Getting
to know women better
17. Spring
bling catching the sunlight and reflecting all over kitchen walls
18. Calculated
one’s repentant heart
19. Look
in the engineer’s eyes that says how much he loves me
20. Finding
the Bluetooth
21. Joyous
anticipation of a weekend at a cabin
22. Mother-in-law
that radiates peace, calm and servanthood
23. Caringbridge
website
24. Doorbell
ringing
25. Verbal
affirmation from the engineer
26. Trimming
the Maple “bushes” into trees
27. Garden
all tilled
28. Long
dark eyelashes
29. Crockpots
30. Roadtrips
31. Nectar
so that bees make honey
32. Alarm
clocks not set
33. Lilacs
beautiful green and aromatic flowers
34. Walmart
35. Missing
my older sister…it means we have relationship
36. Planting
time
37. Pencil,
paper and planning
38. Singing
while playing piano
39. Montana
pumpkin seeds in Minnesota soil
40. Order
and organization
41. Sleepy
bed eyes that find mom to snuggle
42. Sleeping
in “sister’s” room
43. The
engineer hogging the bed
44. Smell
of ham in the oven
45. Bright
green crinkle in spinach leaves
46. Unique
shape of seeds
47. Catching
rainwater in buckets
48. Fertilizer
49. Preen
50. 2-4-D
51. Joy
that bright yellow dandelions bring little girls
52. Lumber
yard in town
53. Milk and orange juice in a bag
54. Punch
card for milk club
55. Sisters
playing school
56. Beating
the rain
57. “Tomorrow”
sung somewhat in unison by three golden heads
58. Potlucks
59. New
recipes
60. Endless
variety of fabric...choices
61. Leftovers
for lunch
62. Song
of rain on windows
63. Shelves
64. Overhearing
imaginative play
65. Dirty
blonde hair
66. Dress
jammies
67. Sun
freckles
68. Lori
69. Balance
70. Cowlicks
71. The
engineer’s first soufflé
72. “I’ll
lick your cookie for you.”
73. Sleeping
in forts
74. Sleepbags
and pillows for padding against a concrete floor
75. Nightlights
76. Bedtime
prayers in the fort
77. Panentheism
– Colossians 1:15-17
78. Playing
Hearts in the fort
79. Allrecipes
app
80. Golden
heads not fighting
81. Naps
that revive a spirit
82. Emergen-C
83. Garage
organized
84. The
peacefulness felt by the engineer after the organization
85. Mirrors
that give more to see
86. Straight
orderly arch of irrigation system
87. Alianese
88. “Mom,
you are gorgeous.”
89. Moving
the dining room chair closer to sister
90. Nascar
91. The
engineer picking – it makes him him
92. Blueberries
93. Burps
(or something worse) followed by “excuse me”
94. Graceful
flight of birds
95. Pointy
leaves of a maple
96. Mystical
haze in the morning air
97. Silhouette
of a small evergreen, zigzags from point to base
98. Ical
99. Squint
of eyes that protect from sun, bugs & small flying dust particles
100. Ingenious
Creator
101. Basil
in a pot
102. New
mercies every morning
103. Google
104. Eagerness
of the girls to spend time with mom and dad
105. The
engineer’s hand on me at daybreak, inviting me to snuggle closer
106. Destination
Dairy Queen bike ride
107. Eight
yellow turning black goslings swim and waddle between parents
