Daddy Time

Sometimes it is challenging for me to hang out with Abba without thinking about my to do list.  It is usually a spiritual kind of to do list concerning people I want to get in touch with, etc.  Sometimes it is a practical to do list as well, at which point I wonder if I am ADD. (I am NOT – distraction is a common tool used by the enemy of our souls.)

This morning I remembered what it used to be like to have a meal with my earthly Daddy.  We would laugh, talk, eat, and I realize now, I would usually be inspired and feel great afterwards.  I was ready to conquer the world, just because we were hanging out.  His presence lit fires in me – in great ways! J  

We hadn’t planned on having some big inspirational time during those meals (Although my Dad often planned those times as well – which weren’t always as fun as the spontaneous, no agenda, times.)  Even as I write this I realize I still don’t enjoy agendas as much as I do spontaneity.  I completely understand they have their place and are often very helpful, but I am a girl who responds to the flow of relationship and moderate adventure. Lol.

My parents cultivated this trait. They did things like pick us up after school on a Friday with our bags packed and announce we were going on a weekend trip to some glorious destination. We hit the road with snacks in hand and poodles on our laps!  My Mom and my Granny were notorious storm chasers before it was “the thing” to do.  Mom was the one who instigated the late night dashes to Dairy Queen or the romps in the fresh snow at 1:00 a.m.!

I digress.  Bunny trails are a specialty with me.  My Christian Studies girls used to say I was the BTQ – Bunny Trail Queen. J

As I was trying to focus on being in HIS PRESENCE this morning, I felt that God reminded me of what it was like to be in my Dad’s presence.  I once again had to remember to just be myself, to let go of any agenda and just ENJOY it! Here is what Father God, my loving heavenly Daddy, showed me as we enjoyed each other.

When I was with my earthly Dad we did three things:

We Laughed – It was fun, natural, funny, enjoyable, lighthearted, and even gleeful!  Does our Daddy in heaven enjoy lightheartedness?  Was Jesus a man on the earth who experienced ALL we experience? (He was FULLY human!  Check out the first several chapters of Hebrews – so rich and awesome.)  The benefits of joy and laughter are numerous and documented even in the secular world.  Let me tell you, I have found that there is no joy like HIS joy!!

We Talked – Ohhhhhh I do love to listen and talk!  I am a communicator!  I am easily stirred by others and have a great propensity to encourage, cheer on, and empathize.  I drink in the wisdom of God through other people’s experiences and knowledge.  I ALWAYS go away from spending time with a friend or loved one feeling better and ready to DO STUFF!  The more TIME I spend, the DEEPER we go, the more we are both impacted.  Hence, the world is impacted, one person at a time.  So, talking with God?  Listening to God?  Do you think He LOVES it???  Do you think He waits for us?  I do.  The only regret I ever have in the presence of God is that I have to leave the intensity of that place to go do the stuff.  Ha ha ha!  The Presence never really leaves us though - we carry it.

We Ate - Don’t you love to eat?  Most people do.  We love it when it’s yummy, and we are proud of ourselves if it’s healthy!  We are strengthened when we eat. If we don’t eat for too long we get shaky, foggy, weak, and weary.  That’s how I am when I don’t feed myself the Word of God and His very LIFE through His Presence.  I neeeed strength!  I don’t want foggy thinking and distorted decisions!  It is interesting how easy it is to resist fasting food, yet we have no problem not eating the Bread of Life every day.  OUCH Lord.  That is a powerful revelation.  I mean, I know it, but did He just say it like that?  Ummm...yeah, He did. Whoa – conviction anyone? My hand is totally raised right now. 

I learned a lot this morning hanging out with God.  Got some fires lit! Thanks for sharing this time with me.  Going back for seconds.

He Knows!

“Come to Me with your defenses down, ready to be blessed and filled with My Presence.  RELAX, and feel the relief of being totally open and authentic with Me, You have nothing to hide and nothing to disclose, because I know everything about you already.”

This is a passage from the devotional, Jesus Calling written by Sarah Young.  It is a current favorite and often as I read Sarah’s conversations with God and study the scriptures provided I am provoked to deep thought and encouraged by the journeys taken with The Holy Spirit.

I recently shared with my daughter that I always considered myself to be a person who could “relax” easily.  I am happy and often energetic, but also really enjoy just “vegging out”.  However, on a recent anniversary trip to a secluded location I realized total relaxation and “mind quieting” if you will, took me a couple of days to achieve.  I was shocked.  My total and complete relaxation set in about day 3, and then it was almost time to go back to reality!

The same thing can happen with our time with God.  How do we allow ourselves to be “filled with His Presence” if it is not a habitual practice?  Have you ever felt like you couldn’t just enjoy the Word or the worship songs or the “Be still and know that I am God” moments in your private time with God because there was so much clatter in your head? We have all been there too many times and it can be frustrating. 

I think Sarah’s impression from God is a key.  Although we often come to God sullied by the world and our own failures, HE KNOWS.  HE is not shocked, and His love for, and forgiveness to us is rushing and flowing over the riverbanks like a flood!!  WE are burdened, possibly ready to rationalize our sin or defend our actions, or afraid of being authentic.  So silly, aren’t we?  He is GOD after all, and He’s a really Great Guy!

Don’t skip your time with Him because you think you have “dirty laundry list” to clear up before you can just enjoy Him.  I would be so sad if my children felt that way about me.  Can you imagine the people you love to spend time with just not coming to hang out because they were worried about what you were thinking of them?

I have found that the key to having regular time with God is to just HAVE IT!!  Ha-ha!  Really!  Just decide to do it!  Stop analyzing it.  Stop making excuses.  Stop putting it off until “the perfect time”.  Stop looking for a “formula” or a “system”.   We are always looking for “things” that will change our lives for the better.  We look to relationships, money, doctors, material things, etc. Here is a guarantee.  Enjoy his Presence, Seek Him, and ALL these things will be added to you!

I close with something I told my Christian Studies girls once.  Every morning I get up, brush my teeth, put my pink fuzzy robe and slippers on and make my way to the kitchen to brew my morning tea.  When I come out of the kitchen I have a choice.  I can turn right, curl up in my chair, turn on the T.V. and the computer and “wake up”.  OR – I can turn left, go into my office/prayer closet, curl up on my couch, turn on my IPod and begin my day with THE ONLY PRESENCE that changes EVERYTHING.  It is always a choice.  The devil is real and he wants to steal our time with God because He knows he is defeated when we get fresh manna and remember to access the power of the Cross!

The more you do it, the easier it gets.  Go for it friends!  Be Blessed and BE FILLED!

The Butterflies are FREE!!! (And the necklace appeared!)

This blog goes out to Susan Ceglio, a facebook friend I hope to hug enthusiastically one day!  When she commented on my first blog she "gently" said, "No pressure, but I hope there will be more."  This just shows a bit of the essence of the kind of person I perceive her to be - sweet, encouraging, creative and oh so full of love and life.  I assured her many more blog posts were coming!  And they are......however the little butterfly thoughts and stories have been flying quickly by before I can purposely capture them in my net, share them, and release!  THE BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE!!   I know Elton John says the butterflies can fly away - but I say NO, not yet!  (Are you tracking with me here, because if so I am impressed!)

So, tonight, I have 75 minutes to post so that I will at least have had 1 post a month since I began!  Hahaha!  I predict August will be a prolific blog month.

Since my butterflies are free and it's dark outside I can't find them right now.  So, let me be purposeful.  I will capture a meandering thought.        Hmmmmmmm      Waiting.        Waiting.    Praying now....should have done that first.

Got it!!  Stories are the best, don't you think?  Love to hear them, love to tell them.  Let me tell you a true story from when I was a little girl. There's an angel in this story.  You'll like it.

It was Christmas Eve and I was about 11 years old.  We were raised in a great Catholic home and it was our tradition to open gifts on Christmas Eve and then go to midnight mass.  It was really hard to stay awake after all of the excitement, but I loved going.  It was a magical thing to wear a beautiful, wintry Christmas dress, gloves, a lacy veil, and sometimes to carry a velvety little purse.  We would gather with so many people we would all be squished in together.  We lit candles and sang meaningful and long Christmas songs about baby Jesus and Wise Men and JOY to the World!  When the people talked and we sat, my brother and I would lean up tight against my Mommy.  She would put her arms around us, rub our backs and kiss our heads.  We glowed in her love.  We tried not to fall asleep.  After mass we would go close to the manger scene and look in awe as the characters represented there came to life in my imagination.  We took pictures in front of it every year.

There was something different about this year.  It was my own sad little secret that no one knew except God.  I had a silver necklace with a tiny little silver cross on it.  There was a teeny-tiny diamond in the middle of the cross and I thought it was the most treasured and beautiful thing I had ever seen. It had been a gift from my parents and I only wore that necklace on very special days.  I kept it on my dresser in a round, ornate little jewelry box with a red velvet lining.  It was the only thing I put in there.  That night, before church, I opened my box and the necklace was gone!  I looked everywhere for it and was sure I had misplaced it or lost it somehow.  I didn't tell anyone because I was afraid I might get in trouble for losing it, and I was so sad I didn't really want to talk about it.

I remember standing at my french provincial dresser, near my pink canopied bed, just looking in the empty box and simply asking God to please bring my necklace back to me.  My parents called, and it was time to go.  We got home sooooo late for such a little girl.  Daddy offered to make us breakfast but we wanted SLEEP!  I walked into my room to put my silky Christmas P.J.s on and there on my dresser was my cross necklace!! It was perfectly arranged, just waiting for me to gently pick it up and hug it to my neck!  I was overjoyed!  Since I HAD it I asked Mom and Dad if they had put it there - they said no. I asked my little brother Jay and he looked at me as if I was crazy to think HE would touch my girly necklace!  Remember, I hadn't told anyone - EXCEPT GOD - about my loss.  

Now you may think this a simple story, with a logical explanation, but I beg to differ.  I remember the night as if it were last night.  I remember the prayer, the deep sadness, the heart cry.  When I asked God to bring my necklace back I thought I would find it later in my room somewhere.  When I walked into my room that night I KNEW that I KNEW that I KNEW that an angel had delivered my treasure and placed it lovingly there for me to find.  Even at that early age I recognized the presence of God and His angels.  My family didn't really know that - it was pretty private.  I didn't even fully understand it.  I do now, and how deeply grateful I am to have had a few angelic experiences in my lifetime.  I know there will be many more.  The next time we talk about angels I'll tell you the first time I saw my guardian angel as she cared for me in the night hours.

God cares about the little things.  He always has, and He always will.  What little thing do you want to ask Him for tonight?  I know He'll answer.

Be Careful Means I Love You

Tonight I was on the way out the door to look at a bicycle I had found listed on Craig's List.  I got instructions from my sweet husband on how to tell if the frame was bent - that tip made me feel like I really knew what I was doing.  Awesome.  Let's hunt it down, check it out, and bring it home - I AM WOMAN!


As I was leaving the house I knocked on my Mama's door to let her know about my little adventure.  She got "that look" on her face.  You know the one.  Eyebrows scrunched together, head tilted slightly forward, mouth with just a touch of downturn.  "Is it at someones' house?" she asks.  "Yeah." I say nonchalantly trying to sidle out the door before she can ask another question.  Quickly she says, "Are you going by yourself?"  "Yup", I say in a lilty kind of tone, "I'll be right back!"  And then - the two words that always make me feel like I'm a 5 year old trying to cross a freeway by myself - BE CAREFUL!!!  She doesn't actually say the words loudly, as the capital letters would suggest, that's just the way I hear them.


This has been going on my entire life.  I am a happy go lucky, Type A personality.  I am sensible, but also convinced that nothing bad is going to happen to me.  My sweet Mom is a bit of a worrier - hopefully getting less so all the time.  She LOOOOOOOOOOOVES her family so very much.  She often thinks of all of the boogie men in the world as soon as you tell her where you're going.  She can imagine each and every scenario that could happen with all of those "crazy people" out there - and she does it in an instant!  You can see her wheels turning!


I am ashamed to admit that tonight I actually ROLLED MY EYES at my Mom as I was leaving.  Now this might be common for some, but shouldn't be when I am in my 50's and she in her 70's!!  I haven't done that in so many years I didn't realize I still knew how!  I said good-bye and that I would "be careful" in a tone of voice that could only be used by one who didn't think there was anything to fear and  you were being silly if you thought there was. Yikes.  I hate to even write this and tell on myself.


I felt convicted of my ridiculous reaction before I ever got out of the driveway.  I knew I would apologize sincerely as soon as I got home.  I asked God to forgive me for being so rude to my precious Mom who loves me in the way only a mother can.  I began to think about the phrase "be careful" and why she ALWAYS says it.  


For my Mom be careful means I know bad things happen to good people all of the time.  She has learned that the last time you see someone step out the door could really be the last time.  She knows that driving can be dangerous, accidents happen, strangers are not always nice, and sometimes we just do things that are not safe without realizing it.  She is "sure" I'll be fine, but not completely sure.  She is only sure of that when we are side by side.  She wants to do whatever she can to have everything go perfectly - even if I'm just going to the corner store (especially if it is dark.).  She is a Mom.  She takes care of me.  And I take care of her.


I realize that I have told my own adult children to "be careful".  I laugh at myself when I do it and I know they feel the same way I do.  I am not a big worrier so it doesn't happen often, but I try not to let it happen at all.  Even though, it has become clear to me that "be careful" really just means, I love you and I want you to always be safe.


So tonight I learned two valuable things.  I took that tip from my hubby and spun that bike wheel around only to see it wobble like wild weeble!  The bike did not come home.  The second, and far more valuable lesson is to accept and treasure my mother's love and care for me - any way she says it!


Be careful Mom - and I will too.