Memoirs of a Moorings

Beauty Will Rise

"One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching."

My dad with one of his favorite little guys.

As I write this post, we have celebrated our big boy's 6th birthday. But it's been a bittersweet day. My dad was so looking forward to coming down to celebrate with us. Instead he'sis fighting for his life in ICU. Life can take a turn so quick that it leaves you blindsided. 

After a couple of times of being blindsided, it would be easy to shake my fist at the sky and blame God. Curse Him for all this sorrow and pain. 

Instead I find my heart spilling over with sweet praises. He's still good. He's still God. We live in a fallen world and ugly things like this sometimes happen. 

As I write this, "See" by Steven Curtis Chapman is playing in the background. A freak accident took the life of one of Steven Curtis Chapman's little adopted daughters last year, Although Steven began to feel as though he'd never be able to write or sing again, in time he found his voice again and the songs on his new album Beauty Will Rise were born. 

As I type this I wonder, how will beauty rise again. But it will. I believe it will.

Yep. He's the God Who Sees

"He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees." Psalm 10:11

 

(Shayne playing peek-a-boo..thinking he can't be seen. Photo by T. Gardner..best daycare provider in the world!)

Sometimes you just gotta close your eyes and look through eyes of faith.

Especially when God's given you a promise and what you have looks nothing like what God promised. Makes me think of Hagar. The maidservant of Sarai, who was shunned after becoming pregnant by Abram. Shunned by the very woman who caused all the madness. So she fled the meanness and the mayhem. (Read the backstory here.)

And she fled to a spring in the desert of all places. I love how God works. In her brokenness, He provided a bright spot. In her dry place, He provided a spring in the desert and that's where He spoke to her. A promise. "Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered." Genesis 16:13-14.

God saw Hagar. He saw her rejection. He saw her confusion. But none of that took away the promise that He held in His hand. Sometimes we confuse the desert with a forsaken promise. But God sees the desert as the springwell of promises. A place where promises pour forth like fresh water. 

We get it twisted. Yet God never does.

God sees me.

God sees you.

And if we stop running long enough, we'll see the springs in our own deserts.

Listen More Slowly

"People ought to listen more slowly." ~ Jean Spark Ducey

 

I've had a love affair with words for as far back as I can remember. A career working with the written word was the only one that I dreamed of as a child--well that and being a ballerina--but that was short-lived. (I could pull in stomach, make sure my shoulders were straight but tucking my bottom under was always a challenge. Do they realize how hard that is for black girls? Okay, I digress.) Translating my thoughts into words is like breathing. Like Snoopy, sometimes the thoughts come so fast and furious I can hardly type them out. Or sometimes, I'm scrambling for a piece of paper, the back of a receipt anything to capture the steady stream of thoughts that pour forth from like my head running water. I've had this cartoon strip cut out for decades and posted on my bulletin board to remind me that sometimes the words just don't come and that's okay.

Lately my words have been sitting quiet in my head like shy butterflies. Lots to say, but I'm feeling like God is telling me to hush a little and listen. As people, we are so often prone to running here and there listening to other people's opinions about our lives and what they think we should do...when God is standing to the side waiting for us to come to Him and get the real answer. The one that outshines them all.

So I'm not going to run from this season of listening. Instead I'm going to take heed to those gentle nudges to turn off the TV and the mp3 player and simply sit in God's presence and listen. Instead of reading a whole chapter, I can sit and meditate with a verse and really hear what God is trying to say. He's talking all the time. It's just a matter of how quiet are we to hear His still small voice.

I'm taking some time to listen more slowly. Wanna join me?