Here it is, October 19...I haven't posted since October 6. I was beginning to think that this blogging thing was just a thing. But I'm back and going to try to be more "faithful" to posting, for no other reason than my own sanity and therapy.
Since last here, I have seen the concept of "Life's Seasons" in the Women's Bible Study in which I am participating, in my Sunday School lesson, and in the Daily Prayer Challenge I read occasionally. It's funny how things work that way. I think about something, and then, lo and behold, I see it everywhere. Maybe it's because of the targeted audience that I have seen in my readings, but it happens quite often.
For instance, I have been recently considering what God has in mind for my ministry in this particular "Life Season." I am pretty sure of what He has in mind because He is bringing it to me over and over again. And, once again, lo and behold...I was reading my latest copy of Southern Living, and a floral designer was featured arranges "extra" flowers and takes them to the local hospice. What a lovely idea..How wonderful for those who are confined inside and who are approaching the final "Life Season." I KNOW God is leading me toward a ministry with some sort of hospice care group. How it touched my heart when I read "Until you are actually in that situation, you have no idea what that family is going through. It gives you a deeper compassion for them" and "You don't have to have the talent for flower arranging, but you do have to know the meaning of giving."
I want to "know" the meaning of giving and to know it intimately. I need to turn my focus outward. I need to quit worrying only about me and my situation, and know that many, MANY others are in dire straits and in far worse places that I will ever be.
The Season of my Life has brought me to this. You gain more by caring about others. Wow...what a novel concept. I think I've heard that before -- Yep..."Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" – Matthew 22:37-39. And how about this one: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me." Matthew 25:40.
The center of my world is no longer the center of my world. The world does not really revolve around me. Don't get me wrong. I have to continually remind myself of these concepts. I am forever slipping back into the "all about me" life that I have lived for 55 years now. It's not easy changing old habits, especially when the old habits center around my wants and desires.
Verses from the Bible keep coming to me in a variety of modes. Coincidence? I think not. Some answers to life's questions are just too easy. In Micah 6:8, He pretty much lays it out there: "...what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
I'm trying. God knows I am trying.
No comments:
Post a Comment