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Because I’ve Been There

After church, I went out for lunch with my 6 year old. Zoe’s Kitchen is the kind of restaurant where you order at the front, take a number on a stand, then have a seat until a worker brings your food and retrieves the number.

But this was Sunday after church…. So FIND a seat is more accurately what folks were doing.

We had a table and our lunch: we were chatting and eating when she struggled near us. The dragging of the high chair was blocked by the crowded tables. With a baby on her hip, she dipped down so the high chair would be on the crook of her elbow and off the floor. The high chair dropped off her arm, so she hefted the baby a bit higher and dipped lower to try again.

I have been there. When I was a single mom, there were times two hands were simply not enough. A sleeping baby in the carseat, an empty gas tank, and a messed up debit card reader was overwhelming to the point of tears. Even when I was not a single mom, my husband was out of town many weekends. One particular soccer dad would appear at my car as I parked. He would re-tie my daughter’s cleats if needed and carry my chair and the cooler of snacks while I loaded my new baby in the stroller. My mind came back to the present.

“Be right back.” I said to my six year old as I hopped up and took the high chair from the young mom. “Let me help you with this. Where do you want it?” “Way over there.” she said and pointed to a table against the wall. I lifted the chair as high as I could so it would fit through the space. I sat it down at her table, touched the sweet baby on her head and said “There you go.” as I returned to my child and our lunch.

I am not bragging. What I did was tiny. It took little effort and cost absolutely nothing. But I did wonder about all those other people in the restaurant. All those who had obviously just come from church. This 20-something mom had three friends sitting with her, though no one else had kids. No one else had offered to help. Maybe they didn’t notice her struggle – it was crowded. Or maybe they just didn’t get it because they have never been there.

I have been there and I knew.

Where have you been? Is it somewhere that others are now? Is there something you can do to help them through? How is God using where you’ve been to show His love today?

ATTIC,
gigi

It Matters

A reminder from my little one.

Image

1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love….
13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-7, 10 MSG
Oh yeah. It matters about love.

ATTIC,
gigi

Oh So Random

Many people balk at my 45 minute commute to work. But I truly enjoy it. Back roads, beautiful pastures, no traffic, a bridge over a river. It’s my quiet time. Or my loud singing time. Maybe my praying time. But my favorite part is that I drive due east. So it seems the sunrise is just for me.

This morning the sunrise was particularly incredible. Since my drive is fairly long, I watch the transformation. This morning there were clouds glowing and reflecting the rays before the sun was visible. Then the fiery red made an appearance and the whole sky was something new.sunrise

Here’s the random-

I wondered if God liked to watch the sunrise. I wondered if He found it as beautiful as I do. Does He paint it anew each morning? Or has He set up the duties of the sun and just sits and enjoys the incredible show? Since the sun is rising where I am, then it must be setting for someone else. And God can see the whole thing- both sides! He can see the sunset/sunrise as a whole- anytime he pleases. What an incredible view it must be.

God asks Job these questions in Chapter 38:

“Where were you when I created the earth?….Who came up with the blueprints and measurements? How was its foundation poured, and who set the cornerstone, while the morning stars sang in chorus and all the angels shouted praise?”

“And have you ever ordered Morning, ‘Get up!’ told Dawn, ‘Get to work!’?”

“Do you know where Light comes from and where Darkness lives, So you can take them by the hand and lead them home when they get lost?” (excerpts of Job 38:12-21 MSG)

Perhaps there will be a time when I get to witness the command to Dawn to “get to work”, or see God take Light and lead her home. Hmm….

ATTIC,

gigi

Punishment

My momma had knee replacement surgery and was in a rehab facility for a few days. Her roommate was tiny, spunky, 86-year-old Mrs. B.

I first saw Mrs. B in the common area, cradling a large jar of rice in her lap with a small bowl containing paper clips, marbles and other sundries on the table beside her. Mrs. B’s weathered fingers were slowly fishing these tiny items out of the rice. I recognized this as a fine motor skill activity. While getting Momma settled on her first day, she wondered aloud what could be the reason for her roommate’s stay. I suggested perhaps a stroke, explaining to her the rice fishing exercise.

The next day, while visiting Momma, Mrs. B told me she was being punished! “Really? How?” I asked, wondering if I needed to pack Momma’s things and find a way to contact Mrs. B’s family. She told me that the nurse asked her to get a lot of little things out of a big jar of rice, and as soon as she finished the task, the nurse dumped them all back in!! “Boy! Did that make me mad! I don’t like being punished like that!” said Mrs. B. I opened my mouth to explain, but shut it back, shook my head, and said “How frustrating!”

On my drive home, I wondered if we do the same thing with God. If He tells us what is happening, explains to us how this will benefit us in the long run, but we still don’t get it. Immaturely, we pout, complain, and view ourselves as being punished. I was thinking about some current unpleasant situations, and wondering where the good will be. Perhaps I need to adjust my perspective. Perhaps these situations are exercises. An exercise in trust? An exercise in faith? An exercise in patience? An exercise in vulnerability?

Maybe you’ve had similar experiences. I know I will be glad for the day when I can look back and say, “Oh! Now I get it!” Until then, I suppose I will keep fishing my paper clips out of the rice and maybe add a smile. ;)

ATTIC,
gigi

Impossible to Repurpose

purpose

As I talked with Steve about my repurpose blog, he opened my eyes to a totally new perspective.  It’s heart changing to have friends who can do that to you.

So many items can be repurposed.  So many parts and pieces of me are being used for something totally different than what was originally planned.

But ME?  My original purpose??  THAT is impossible to repurpose.

Look at Psalm 139…

13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.

From before time began, my purpose has been to love God and love others.  Yours too.  And no matter what giants we face, no matter what road we travel, no matter what else in our lives has been repurposed, OUR one true purpose remains the same.

ATTIC,

gigi

Ephesians 1

The Message (MSG)

3-6 Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.7-10 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

11-12 It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

13-14 It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.