I Hope You Dance!

"And David danced before the LORD with all of his might..."

~ 2 Sam. 6:14 ~

“And David danced…”

David danced! I love that! David danced!

Do you?

It's intriguing to me that David danced. And now I wonder if you do? If I do? If you have? If you could? If you would? If you should? “David danced before the LORD with all of his might.” Could the same thing be said of you? If your name and if your story were penned and placed in Scripture, inspired by God and engraved on His pages, exposed for the world to read, would one verse hold words to say of you - that you "danced before the LORD with all of (your) might"? Have you ever danced before Him? Has God seen your dance?

"Danced" - is actually the Hebrew word karar. This particular word for dance is used only twice in Holy Writ, both defining David's dance before his LORD. It seems more special somehow when only ‘one’ is worded as wearing it. David danced. Danced / karar means: to whirl, to dance, a whirling, dancing. Whirling and twirling..... before and toward and to and for his God alone! David danced! It was:

• An internal feeling - externalizing itself!
• A feeling so huge INside - that it moved the out!
• A sensation so vast - that the OUTside had to give demonstration of the IN!
• An overflow of the heart - that was so filled that it flowed over into movement and moved the whole body that it was carried in.

Thus, David danced for his LORD! His in-ternal feeling had no choice other than to exposed itself out! It had to! I could no longer keep itself bottled silently and stayed still!

David gave dance to the songs that he sung.

David danced.

It’s as if his song, as if his verbalized words put with melody, needed step! As if his feelings INside needed to show OUTside how he felt! As if his vibrating feeling from within vibrated the whole vessel that carried it. So he danced to the tune that his heart did sing!

In the psalms David wrote words to pen his feelings to the LORD, and in one specific psalm he wrote:

"You turned my wailing into dancing;

You removed my sackcloth

and clothed me with joy,

that my heart may sing to You

and not be silent.

O LORD my God,

I will give You thanks forever."

~ Ps. 30:11-12 ~

So indeed, his heart did sing... and his legs moved to dance the feeling it felt!

Perhaps you've had cause for "wailing" as David did? And you've wailed! Go on, then, do! Wail on! Wail as long as you need to. If you've had reason or have reason to now for wailing, then wail! Wail out loud and lament with all your might! Wail on! God knows your heart, sees your hurt, and can handle your loudest wail. WAIL! If your heart needs wailing, then yell your WAIL… or wail your yell, whichever best suits you!

This word "wailing" is from a Hebrew root word (caphad) that means "to beat the breast, as a sign of grief; especially for the dead..... It is sometimes so used as to be applied to the voice of the mourners."

With that said, I’ve taken it upon myself to define it this way:

• A wail – is a voice of the mourner!
• A wail – puts sound to the hurt.
• A wail – is an utterance of the grief.
• A wail – is a vocalized weep.
• A wail – is an outward expression in verbal form of the grief of the heart in mourning for the death of a thing!

Have you had something to die? And you grieve its death? Are you caught in the horror of its hurt?

What died?

A dream?

Hope?

Health?

Happiness?

Joy?

Peace?

Love?

A friend?

A marriage?

Something you wanted?

A desire?

A need?

A job?

Some freedom?

A ____ ? (What was (is) it for you?)

What died? What pain caused such hurt to the heart that your hands balled themselves into clinched fists and raised themselves to beat its ache? What caused your sounds to pass what’s called a cry and grew into a wailing? Are you wailing now?... And, if so, how long has it been since you have been wailing? Have you grown comfortable to its sound and in your cover of sackcloth that came with its cry?

“You turned my wailing into dancing…… You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy…”

Sackcloth?

Sackcloth is “saq” in the Hebrew. And ‘saq’ is defined as: “sackcloth, sack, sacking, worn in mourning or humiliation. The word saq when used as “sack” (as in a “bag”) is a flexible container that may be closed for holding, storing, or carrying something in.”

Everything has its season. But woe, did you “sack” your sorrow in the bag ("the “flexible container”) of your own body; and now, do you still hold and store and carry your wailing after it is way past its season of carrying? Does the stench of it reek to all who near you? Truly, I won’t argue the fact of your cause to wail, we've all been given times to. BUT, have you kept yours sacked and stored and bagged within you, and are you still holding on to it and still carrying it way past its season?

“There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,

… a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance.”

~ Ecc. 3:1,2,4 ~

What “time” do you find yourself in?

And are you living in a season that’s past its “time”? Have you never gone past your mourning to get to your dance? Have you stayed yourself in your “weeping” and never journeyed further to find your “laughter”? Have you (in your sacked horror) “died” before your “time” while you've still been left here breathing?

No matter the what that brought your wail, God can “turn” your wailing into dancing! He can remove your sackcloth, pull you out of its “bag,” and clothe you with a “joy” that not only sings its song but must dance! It won't be able to help it! It'll have to! Yet the question is: Will we let Him? Or will we (waaaay past it’s “time”) wallow forever in our wail?

That “joy” that God will clothe us in (if we let Him) means: joy, gladness, gaiety, pleasure. Do you want to have joy? Do you wish to be glad? Do you dance with gaiety? Do you know what it’s like to dance in His pleasure? What are you presently wearing: sackcloth? or gladness? Do you mourn? Or do you dance? What season are you in? And are you living in your season? Or, are you living in yesterday’s season? Or maybe even last year’s? Or... are you still in your yesteryear’s wail?

My heart has fallen for a guy that I was introduced to through my sister via the Internet. He doesn’t know me, but I admire him from afar. I’ve prayed for him, grieved for him, felt for him, loved him, laughed with him, mourned with him, danced with him, celebrated with him, been inspired by him, spent lots of time reading his Blogs, and I’ve spent a tremendous amount of time just thinking about him. I’ve talked about him to so many people: my husband, my children, my friends, their friend’s friends, my Bible class students, myself, GOD(!)…… he stays on my heart and in my mind, I so totally truly LIKE this guy! His name is Kenny. He is 28 years old and he's beautiful! He’s a gorgeously handsome guy! I've known him (without him knowing me) for 4 years now. February 11th was the 5th year anniversary of a skiing accident that he had in 2004. He went on a skiing adventure for fun, and came back from it changed forever. He returned forever frozen since then in total paralysis from his neck down.

Why do I like him? And why does he inspire me so? This is my reason: he cannot walk, he can’t move unless someone moves him, he has to be carried whenever he’s moved, he can’t feel (yet still feels – inside, not out)… his whole world fell to its horror when he did on that day…… yet he still dances his dance with the only “legs” that’s been left him,… he writes. Writes, not whines mind you, but writes with such a humor that you can’t help but love and admire him! He dances with what he’s got. He dances with his words and his song is still sung!!!! He is one of the most gorgeous guys I’ve ever seen, He was full of life and lived it to its full…… and yet when the steps he used to take was taken from him…… never did he loose his song!!!! Weeping came for a night, but he chose joy’s laughter in the morning! He’s not living in yesterday’s season! If you won’t dance for yourself, then could you choose to dance for Kenny? He would love to have what you have!.... yet he doesn’t wallow in his wail that he does not.

"..David danced before the LORD with all of his might..." … David danced before God with all of the strength he had in him. Kenny dances “with all of his might.” What “might” you have, and do you dance with the might you've been given?

I’ll end with the words of LeeAnn Wommack’s song, sung by her voice and words penned on her album, but for today penned from my hand and my heart to yours! For, with all of my heart I hope you dance and I sincerely hope that whenever you see me that you'll see me dancing too!

I Hope You Dance

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,

You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,

May you never take one single breath for granted,

God forbid love ever leave you empty handed,

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,

Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,

Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance.... I hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,

Never settle for the path of least resistance

Livin’ might mean takin’ chances but they’re worth takin’,

Lovin’ might be a mistake but it’s worth makin’,

Don’t let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,

When you come close to sellin’ out reconsider,

Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....i hope you dance.

I hope you dance....i hope you dance.

(time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,

Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,

Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,

Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

Dance....i hope you dance.

I hope you dance....i hope you dance.

I hope you dance....i hope you dance..

(time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along

Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.)

We serve a God with Un-Quit-able Love!

I shared a verse here in yesterday's post that I found in my yesterday's immediate-need-of-the-moment. I knew it in the NIV, but was encouraged further by seeing it afresh in The Message's wording. It’s found in Psalm 136:23-26, and it says, "God remembered us when we were down, His love never quits. Rescued us from the trampling boot, His love never quits. Takes care of everyone in time of need. His love never quits. Thank God, who did it all! His love never quits!"

Taking that verse that God used in energizing me in my moment of despair, I went back to it again today to reread it again and then to read the whole chapter. First in The Message, then the NIV, then the KVJ..... and once started, who could stop there? I could NOT help myself, an elaboration HAD TO BE made. I did what any sensible-awed-with-wonder person would do, I pulled out my defining equipment and here's where I went with it.

Psalm 136:

Thank God!
He deserves your thanks.

His love never quits.

Thank the God of all gods,
His love never quits.

Thank the Lord of all lords,
His love never quits.

Thank the miracle-working God,
His love never quits.

The God whose skill formed the cosmos,
His love never quits.

The God who laid out earth on ocean foundations,

His love never quits.

The God who filled the skies with light,

His love never quits.

The sun to watch over the day,

His love never quits.

Moon and stars as guardians of the night,

His love never quits.

The God who struck down the Egyptian firstborn,

His love never quits.

And rescued Israel from Egypt's oppression,

His love never quits.

Split the Red Sea right in half,

His love never quits.

Led Israel right through the middle,

His love never quits.

Dumped Pharaoh and his army in the sea,

His love never quits.

The God who marched His people through the desert,

His love never quits.

Smashed huge kingdoms right and left,

His love never quits.

Struck down the famous kings,

His love never quits.

Struck Sihon the Amorite king,

His love never quits.

Struck Og the Bashanite king,

His love never quits.

Then distributed their land as booty,

His love never quits.

Handed the land over to Israel,

His love never quits.

God remembered us when we were down,

His love never quits.

Rescued us from the trampling boots,

His love never quits.

Takes care of everyone in time of need,

His love never quits.

Thank God who did it all!

His love never quits!

Now in the KJV  :)

Oh give thanks
[thank, laud, praise, confess, cast out, throw]
unto the LORD;
for He is good: for
His mercy
[His checed - His goodness, His kindness, His lovingkindness, His faithfulness]
endureth forever
[owlam – for ever, always, continuous existence, perpetual, everlasting, indefinitely, unendingly, eternally].

O give thanks to the Lord of lords:

for His mercy endureth forever.

To Him who alone doeth [works, makes, fashions, accomplishes, produces, prepares, puts in order, ordains, orders, brings about] great [large, loud, great, distinguished, powerful, mighty] wonders [marvels, to be wonderful, to be surpassing, to be extraordinary, to be beyond one’s power, to be difficult to do, to be difficult to understand, to do extraordinary or hard or difficult things, to do wondrously, to show oneself wonderful or marvelous]:

for His mercy endureth forever.

To Him that by wisdom made the heavens:

for His mercy endureth forever.

To Him that stretched out the earth above the waters:

for His mercy endureth forever.

To Him that made great lights:

for His mercy endureth forever.

The sun to rule by day:

for His mercy endureth forever.

The moon and stars to rule by night:

for His mercy endureth forever.

To Him that smote Egypt in their firstborn:

for His mercy endureth forever.

And brought out [to bring out, to lead out, delivered out] Israel from among [from within them, from the middle of them, from in them] them:

for His mercy endureth forever.

With a strong [strong, stout, mighty, firm] hand, and with a stretched out [extended, held out, stretched forth] arm:

for His mercy endureth forever.To Him which divided the Red sea into parts:

for His mercy endureth forever.

And made Israel to pass through the midst of it:

for His mercy endureth forever.

But overthrew [to shake off, to overthrow] Pharaoh [“a great house”] and his host [his strength, his might, his army, his power] in the Red sea:

for His mercy endureth forever.

To Him which led [walked with, proceeded with, moved with, went with; to lead, to bring, to CARRY, to cause to walk] His people through the wilderness:

for His mercy endureth forever.

To Him which smote [killed, beat, slay] great [larger, loud, great, powerful, mighty, important] kings:

for His mercy endureth forever.

And slew [to kill, slay, murder, destroy] famous [great, majestic, nobles, famous] kings:

for His mercy endureth forever.

Sihon [“warrior”, “sweeping away”, i.e. a leader carrying everything before him] king of the Amorites [“a sayer”… from amar – to say, speak, utter, to say in one’s heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend, to tell, to call / i.e. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made, He said to the woman, “Did God really say?”]:

for His mercy endureth forever.

And Og [“long-necked”, “gigantic”, a king in Bashan celebrated for his great size] the king of Bashan [“fruitful”]:

for His mercy endureth forever.

And gave their land for an heritage:

for His mercy endureth forever.

Even an heritage unto Israel His servant:

for His mercy endureth forever.

Who remembered us in our low estate [lowliness, low estate, low condition, wretched condition;… sink, humbled, humiliated]:

for His mercy endureth forever.

And hath redeemed [tore us apart, tore us away, broke us away, snatched us away, rescued us, redeemed us, delivered us] us from our enemies [our adversary, our trouble, our distress, our affliction, our foes, our sorrow, our oppressor, our narrow place, where we are bound, where we are tied up, where we are shut up, where we’re besieged, hard pressed, suffering distress, vexed, harassed]:

for His mercy endureth forever.

Who giveth food to all flesh:

for His mercy endureth forever.

O give thanks unto God of heaven:

for His mercy endureth forever.

What can I say? He is a GOoD God! He does deliver! He does save! His love lasts forever! There’s nothing we can do to separate ourselves from it. We can never get away from His love. For His love never quits. No matter what we do. No matter what we’ve done.

How can I say that? How can I believe that? What about when there is still sickness and sorrow? Still harm and hurt? Still pain and prisons? What about then? How can we still say this then? How can we believe still in our God when He doesn’t rescue us completely from the horror of some pits? when we’re still locked in some prisons?

I don’t know all the answers. But this I’m convinced of. It doesn’t matter who asks Him to, if anyone will believe in Him and His Son that came to save, He will give them eternal life. Life without pain or sin or sorrow or suffering in the next one. He’s warned us that we’ll still have troubles here. It’s a fallen world, where we’re not freed from evil. But we can miraculously be freed and live the promised abundant life no matter our surroundings or circumstances.

.

No. Not one!

My yesterday's erupted feeling wanted to cry, "It's all TOO BIG, Lord, and so much all the time everywhere!"

But with each invasion of my thinking another thought immediately tagged along and quickly followed behind it, "But NOT for You, Lord! None, nothing, no-thing, not a whole lot of everything everywhere (even if all the time) is ever too big for You." And so, I was automatically comforted in my eruption of emotions.

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14).

Nope!

Not ever.

Not even this thing. Or that.

Not my thing. Or yours.

Not his thing. Or hers.

Not my needs. Or your needs. Or theirs.

"Nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37).

""I am the LORD, the God of all mankind, Is anything too hard for Me?"" (Jeremiah 32:26).

"Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear" (Isaiah 59:1).

""Ah, Sovereign LORD, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for You"" (Jeremiah 32:17).


Is His arm too short to save?

Never ever, Lord, and what relief there is in that knowing.

The storms still rage in all the places that they did yesterday, but yet God has peaced and stilled my feelings in the midst of the winds. After all, He warned us that they'd come. He didn't just predict, but knew, that the winds would blow hard against our houses, in a forceful effort to huff and puff and blow our houses down, our faith, our hope, our comfort our confidence.

"I have told you these things, so that IN ME you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! [But take heart! BUT TAKE HEART! BUT TAKE HEART! I......] I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). He died to save. Still seeks to save. Still wants to save. Still delivers.
 
.

How do people do life without God being their Hope?

I want to cry about everything. It's one of those days (and it's not even noon yet). The whole world hurts and needs help, and I have no control.

I can't stop anything, fix anything, mend anything, or heal anything.

What do you do with that?

God!

Oh Lord, help! For You Alone are our Hope!

"This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all of his troubles" (Psalm 34:6).

"God is our refuge and strength, a VERY PRESENT help in times of trouble" (Psalm 46:1).

"Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us. Selah" (Psalm 62:8).

"God remembered us when we were down, His love never quits. Rescued us from the trampling boot, His love never quits. Takes care of everyone in time of need. His love never quits. Thank God, who did it all! His love never quits!" (The Message - Psalm 136:23).

"But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." (Psalm 59:16).

"Those who sow in tears WILL REAP with songs of joy" (Psalm 126:5).

.

Pain in Childbearing / Thorns and Thistles

When reading Genesis 3:16 in The Message, you'll find the words to that verse to say this:

"He told the Woman, "I'll multiply your pains in childbirth;

you'll give birth to your babies in pain...."

The reminder of those words prompted my thinking about moms all over the world today, and their pain in their child-births! But just because our children grow and get older, I don't know that we ever quit "birthing" our babies and find an end to our pain. We continue laboring on with them in every next new thing that they do. Paining through each new stage and paining through each new age. Birthing new things, new steps, new phases: bottles to sippy cups, diapers to pull-ups, gnawing on everything that they can put their hands on to cutting that 1st new tooth, ear infections and colds and shots, 1st words that aren’t even decipherable yet except to you!, crawling and falling, car seats and strollers, pulling-up & holding-on in efforts to finally stand on their own!, taking that 1st step!, cheered on from the 1st step to the 2nd >>> clapping to “Come to momma!” till walking alone, McDonald’s Happy Meals, gibberish to talking in full sentences, potty training, tricycling to bicycling, skinned knees, hurt elbows, Mother's Day Out programs, biting, Kindergarten, time-outs, notes home from the teacher, 1st grade(!), new friends, mean kids, kind teachers, strict ones, good grades.... bad(!), 2nd grade ... 3rd.... 4th..... 5th….. 6th, girlfriends, boyfriends, telephone talking, texting(!), ballgames, swinging >>>> but only striking out!, swinging >>> and running home!, graduation, college, serious dating, serious breakups, weddings, marriage, babies (and so much that I skipped over and left out!) …………………… A continual cycle of ‘birthing’ our babies…… “in PAIN”!

If you’ll continue to read in Genesis 3 after reading what God told the woman, you'll find next what He told the man:

"He told the Man ...
The very ground is cursed because of you;
getting food from the ground will be as painful as having babies is for your wife;
you'll be working in pain all your life long.
The ground will sprout thorns and weeds,
you'll get your food the hard way,
planting and tilling and harvesting,

sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk,
until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried..."

Ever wonder "Why?" your spouse is having a stressful time of it at work and thinking constantly and consistently of his job and all that it entails? While you're paining in childbirth ... he's paining in "getting his food the hard way." We wives must remember that it's just as "painful for him" as having babies is for us. While he’s "sweating in the field from dawn to dusk" we're sweating at home trying to figure out what to do with the children we've got.............

It just now dawned on me how badly our feelings can get hurt because the other can't relate and sympathize to our pain. Husbands can’t relate to wives. Wives can’t relate to their husbands. Bless our hearts, we are both dealing with and consumed in and hurting through our own pain! And we're pained even more at our spouse’s lack of feeling our pain! Hmmmm.... who has time to? We're both busy licking our own wounds ... leaving not a lot of time left to lick the other's wounds ... especially when we're wishing that they would lick ours!

What if next time we want to whine about them not giving enough attention to us we rather instead remember that they need some extra attention of their own? For both of us are laboring in the curse of the pain we've been given. It's plain out hard and frustrating for everybody! We were warned that 'In this world we would have trouble, but take heart, Jesus has overcome the world!'

Pain in childbearing? Thorns and Thistles? Okay, shall we all be happy now, we're par on course, right on target, right where we were told we would be.

(((*smile*))) Now go, and enjoy the blessings we've been given (both our children and our work!); for where would we be without them?

.

It's always HARD (and painful!) when birthing a baby!

A friend of mine is in the process of adoption. She's becoming wearied in the wait. She's in the throes of the labor. She's getting impatient. She's tired. SHE WANTS HER BABY! Now!

She doesn't see the point of waiting another two months (or three, or four, or more), another week, another day, another hour, another minute. Not another second if she had anything to do with it.

I wrote a letter to encourage her. I think, instead, she'll probably hate me after she reads it.

Here's what I said:



My forever dearest sweetest friend,

Laboring is never easy, is it? I suppose, truth be told, it's not supposed to be. Shall we be reminded of that faithful verse in Genesis 3? The one that warns us of our horror in birthing a child from the very beginning?

"To the woman He said,

I will greatly multiply your grief and your suffering

in pregnancy

and the pangs of childbearing;

with spasms of distress you will bring forth children..."

Does that make you feel any better after reading that? Or would you like to slap me now?.. and run from our friendship forever?

If you're still with me though, I'll continue....

I couldn't help but wonder as I was pondering that verse again. Does that word "greatly" really mean greatly? And what's it mean by greatly if it does? How greatly is greatly? Just how greatly is God talking about?

Would you be surprised if I told you that I looked "greatly"s meaning up? (And of course, you wouldn't, here's what I found.)

"greatly" - rabah =

• to be or become great
• to be or become much
• to be or become numerous (Hmm??? I guess that means alot?)
• to become many
• to GROW GREAT
• to MULTIPLY
• to be multiplied
• to increase greatly
• to INCREASE EXCEEDINGLY

Uh, that sounds pretty "greatly" to me!

What was it that He was gonna "greatly" do?

"I will greatly multiply..." Another defining moment awaiting me! Here goes again:

"multiply" hmmm... - "rabah"  It's that very same word as the "greatly" one used again. So, it's saying all of that to say that it's a DOUBLE DOOZY! It's GREATLY GREATLY! Or, our GREATLY is INCREASED! And increased EXCEEDINGLY!

Ow, already!

It is: to be or become:

• great great
• much much
• many many
• exceedingly exceedingly
• multiplingly multiplied!

Ewe!... A WHOLE L-O-T, huh?

Shall I hush now? Go home? Close the email? Stop writing? Stop typing? Stop talking? Hush?

Have you slammed the door in my face without my knowing it? Or, in the obligation to our friendship, do you travel on with me in this note to humor me while balling your fists with a greatly multiplying desire to punch someone (Hopefully, not me!)?

If you're still with me, I can't resist from continuing....

What's growing? What's multiplying? What's exceeding? What's increasing? What is it that will be getting greater? "Much" of what? "Many, many" what exactly???

"I will greatly multiply your grief and your suffering in pregnancy."

Wow! Those kinds of mathematics coupled with the two descriptive words such as the two the verse has chosen sounds too frustrating and painful to be able to handle. Are you living it now? And feeling the magnifying: grief and suffering of this pregnancy that we're promised to have?

Here we go again. Let's define them!

"grief and suffering" - itstsabown =

• pain, labor, hardship, sorrow, toil.... It means to HURT, to be in PAIN, to be GRIEVED / to have DISPLEASURE / to be TORTURED / TO BE VEXED

Or,

• Great, great pain!
• Much much labor!
• Many many hardships!
• Exceedingly exceeding sorrow!
• Multiple multiplied torture!
• To HURT greatly and in increasing greatness!
• OW! OW! OW!

Ouch! Is that you? When you look up the meanings to find their definitions, are you seeing your face behind the picture of their words? If so, then guess what? You're having a baby! I do believe you're pregnant! Your labor's begun!

Webster defines labor as:

• an expenditure of physical or mental effort especially when difficult or compulsory
• the physical activities involved in giving birth
• to exert one's powers of body or mind especially with painful or strenuous effort: work.

Okay... Are you thinking that I must have waaay tooo much time on my hands? I'm so sorry. I was just trying to help you breathe in the process.

Okay... okay... okay.... I'll hush now! I won't finish defining the rest of the sentence. I can see that that might be pushing the envelope! Wearing out my welcome. Saying more than needs to be said! I can tell when I've gone too far. I'm going to bed! I was just wondering if the "much much" / "great great" seemed to be an overkill of way too much?........................

Too truthful?

Shooosh.... I'm outta here!

Night! and LOVE you! Hope you sleep well! :)

.

Where is yesterday, Lord?

What do You do with yesterday, Lord?

Do You have it?

Do You keep it?

Is it sitting beside You somewhere? Or maybe behind You in a corner?

Do You keep it in Your pocket? Or save it some place safe in Your cabinet?

Is it still around?

Some of mine are....

Does Yours visit with You as mine sometimes does me? What do You think of it if it does?

Some yesterdays were mean, Lord. What do You do with those?

Do You use them? Dispose them? Bury them deep in a hole?

Does Yesterday mingle with Today as well as Tomorrow? Is all Time the same to You? How does all that work?

If You are the God Who Is, the God Who Was, and the God Who Is Yet to Come all at the very same time.... then, what is Yesterday to you in comparison to ours?

Does the God Who Is and the God Who Was invite our yesterdays to our today? Does the God Who Is To Come use our yesterdays to make better tomorrows?

Where is yesterday, Lord? What do You do with it?

Do You use it?

You do, don't You, Lord? You mix it with our today and rework it to make it good.

If we give them to You, will You heal our yesterdays, Lord?

Will You bring them into submission? Ransom them, redeem them, restore them... and use them for Your Glory.... no matter how bad they were when they were happening?

Will You take my yesterday, Lord, and bring beauty from its ashes? Will You take them to be a witness of my Savior, to be a Display of Your Splendor?

To You, Who makes everything beautiful in its Time (Ecc 3:11).... I trust You with my yesterday.

Take my yesterday, Lord... and make it beautiful in the Time that You mean to!

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He Keeps My Tears In His Bottle

I'm reluctant to admit it and embarrassed to say so, but I cried really hard the other day. (Who doesn't? But who likes to outwardly expose it?) It was mostly because of a total overwhelmation of everything. I was already way too tired by going too many nights in a row without sleep and then that was topped off with too many things hitting me all at different angles and… all at the very same time. Hard hits! And mean ones! That and I suppose a girl just needs a good cry every now and then. I try so hard to be "macho" most of the time....... but I can only hide it for so long, I sometimes can't do anything at all to help it... Every once in a while I just can't control it anymore and my ‘girl’ just boils over and spills out.

I can honestly say that I didn't see it coming. (Sometimes I'm good at even hiding my feelings from myself. I stifle them down and paint a big smile and hope my feelings believe it.) I sat down to do my make-up and so many things were weighing on my mind that I felt that before "making" the face I must stop to talk to my Father first. So. I knelt on my knees and put my head in my hands and before I could say very much at all I found myself sobbing before Him. I told Him there was so much that I didn't know where to begin. That I felt like everything was such a mess that I needed Him to help me everywhere, but that I didn't even know what to say or what in the world to ask Him for. I felt I couldn't even begin my "list" of things I needed, because it was everything and too many to number. So... like I said, I just held my head in my hands and cried there. Then, I felt Him ask me, "Just one thing then, Sharon? Just name Me one. And we'll start with that one and come back to the rest tomorrow."

Well... if you know how that works, tenderness towards someone already tendered only makes them more tender….so I sobbed even harder.

It was the wildest thing. I wouldn't have even shared all of this with you if it weren't for this part...

The tears that I cried literally dripped from my lashes into my cupped hands and held there. When I had finished my cry and picked up my head and saw those two puddles of tears I thought, "He keeps each one. He bottles each tear. Each drop speaks its own unique hurt. Each shapes to the exact detail of the pain that birthed it. Not one is missed. Not one overlooked. Not one shed in vain. Not one weighed worthless, or even deemed weightier than the other. Not one wiped away except by the tenderest touch by the nail-scarred hands that hung on a cross to save me from mine." And I knew as I looked at them that though they'd dissipate from my hands in a very few moments and that I would no longer be able to see them, I knew that they wouldn't be forgotten by my Father. I knew that He held them and that they were safe in His hands. I knew that He not only sees me when I sob, and that He not only hears my heart in its hurt, but that He cares. He cares when we cry! He knows! And He even understands why! Better yet, He even understands why when we don’t!

I know that! You know that. And not only are we told that He hears us when we cry, but we're told too that He runs to our rescue when we do. We may not see it yet, but Help's on its way. I can mark it down and count on it. I can wait… KNOWING… and anxiously anticipating the help of my Father, my God, my Lord and my Savior, my Creator, my Maker, my Ransomer, my Redeemer, my Restorer.

What was so incredibly amazing to me at that particular moment is the thought that some feelings are felt so huge and so deeply that they can’t be hidden and stifled and kept secret without showing themselves. They show up (whether we want them to or not) by welling up and pooling over and pouring out into a liquidized formation.

Huge!

Who would have thought it but God? That we would have a need of such a release from somewhere so deep?! And that once grievously showered that we'd feel better after the laborious cleansing? And then to KNOW that God keeps that liquidized feeling that was cried from within until out....??? Wow, at His love towards us! How precious we really must be to Him! How much He must care that He would take that salty-watered feeling and bottle it to keep it with Him!

It's found in Psalm 56:8. That's where it tells us, "Thou tellest my wanderings: put Thou my tears into Thy bottle: are they not in Thy book?" Can you imagine the tears that are spilled to be read in the book that He's written? Can you imagine the words, the stories, the feelings, the emotions, the pain, the joys, the passions that those tears tell in their talk? For tears are an expression of feelings that can't be said by sandwiching them into words. They are definite and unique expressions that say much more than mere words could ever begin to verbalize. Tears have their own voice when our voices can’t talk, when our voices cannot fathom what it is or how to say it. Those tears tell where our thoughts have walked and where they’ve both wandered and wondered. Sometimes words don’t need to be (or cannot be) said, but feelings cannot help but to be vocalized through the flooding of a tearful tale… a river of feelings in a water-falled trail. Tears speak in a universal tongue. No words need to be spoken for another to understand its unspoken expressing. They are messengers of our overwhelming sorrow or the wetted delight of our soul flooding over. It’s our overwhelming emotion so enormously filled that it’s automatically moved to spill out.... because it's too huge to keep silenced within.

We're given the promise in Psalm 126:5 that, "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy." I'm living proof of that truth again and again and again. For woe at the songs that He's given me to sing after many a tear has been shed… and the joy that I now have in my life after such tremendous sorrow!

And woe, too, at the ultimate of when the end has come when "the Lord GOD will wipe away all tears from off all of the faces" (Isaiah 25:8). Whoa at the thought!!!! For can you even begin to imagine the feel from the sweet tender touch of His hand???

Four times Psalm 107 says, "Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble........ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble...... Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble..... They they cried out to the LORD in their trouble." And then... in verse 20 of that psalm we're told that God "sent forth His word and He healed them." He sends forth His word to heal!.... for those that seek a word from Him to heal them He sends one! If that's not the sweetest thing, then I don't know what is! To me, I take that as His word being our tissue to wipe away our tears and mend our sorrows in the meantime, until we reach Heaven when His very Own fingers will wipe them away from our faces forever!

Dare I end this without pointing out this fact as well. After each of those four times that this chapter has stated, "Then then cried out to the LORD in their troubles" it says just as many times, "and He saved them (delivered them) from their distress...... and He saved them from their distress...... and He saved them from their distress...... and HE SAVED THEM FROM their distress!"

What hope those words are to me! If you've got a distress, then cry! But don't just cry to just anyone! Don't waste your tears! Cry out to the LORD who can SAVE you from it! He can deliver you from your distress! He can save you and free you from it!

My tears???? And yours!!!... He's bottled them and keeps them. Now how's that for a God!

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Who cares if it's pink?

My man-child just left for a retreat at Fort Faith (love the name) for the weekend. He drove up in the muddiest truck this side of the pit (I'll have to share that story with you later) dressed in the nastiest muddy boots to match it and wearing his camo jacket.... looking as red-neck as they come. But, might I tell you what proof I had that showed him completely comfortable in his masculinity? I stood beside him as he packed. And as I did I watched him smoosh two very, very, very pink towels into his bag. I asked if he wouldn't rather a different color, I could go get him some. "No," he answered, "I don't care if they're pink." "Oh well," I told him, "you won't have to worry about getting yours mixed up with someone else's." And we both laughed.

Hmmm... the difference between girls and boys? Girls, at that age (and maybe sometimes at ours), would have wanted new ones, pretty ones, specifically picked out to match their theme of the moment. He didn't take much thought of what went in his bag, he just wanted to make sure he had something to put on to wear when we got there. He didn't care if it matched. Didn't care how old it was. Didn't care if it had holes in it. Didn't care what name-brand. Didn't care if it was in style. Didn't care if it wasn't. Didn't care if it was wrinkled. Didn't care if anyone thought he looked cute in it. He didn't care to impress. That's not what he was going for.

Man, I wish I could learn to pack like he does!

Interestingly the way my son packed showed security and showed that he hadn't mixed up his reason for going. Sad to say, that is NOT how I pack! I wouldn't have recognized it so much without seeing him do it. I would have called myself secure before then. Confident, maybe? Not vain. But after seeing his packing and knowing how I pack, I'm embarrassed to admit it, but vanity fills my luggage!

I pack in 'over-sized' cases. I'm the over-packed traveler that the airline people dread to see coming. I'm the one that has to pay extra to bring along my load. I'm the one with the tag dangling off all the bags that she's dragging, "Heavy. Bend your knees. Assisted lift may be required"!



Woe! Do I seriously need to take all that I take with me when I go?

Really?

Do I truly need the dryer that blows my hair when it's wet? And the hot iron that irons it straight to keep it from waving? Do I have to take both the shampoo and the conditioner, and the gel to save it from frizzing? Is the hair spray totally necessary, wouldn't it be better if I didn't freeze it in place? Do I seriously need the make-up mirror that's been broken for years because of all of the places that it's traveled with me and the fact that it's OLD? Is a hand-mirror absolutely positively indispensable, can I truly not leave home without it? And maybe most of all, is it totally necessary to "make-up" while I'm gone; is it completely essential, do I truly need ALL OF THIS PAINT?

Will one pair of shoes truly not do? And if not, can I honestly not settle for two? Can not even one of my outfits not share the same shoes, or does each one require their own individual uniqueness? Do I need the earrings that specifically match, and all of my belts, and every single one of those bracelets? I could go on with my list...... but I will stop here with my wonder: What is it with my packing?

Ugh............. Okay, after thinking about it. Next time I'm traveling I'll do my dead-level best to let go of a pair of shoes or two; but I can't see how I can let go of my face, all of my paint is still going with me! :)

Like I said before, I'll have to say it again: Man, I wish I could learn to pack like he does!

Let's be honest though, aren't we silly in the things we take with us. Why do we pack such a load??? Not just physically; but mentally and spiritually as well. We're often "Heavy Load" packers! "Assisted lifting is often required".... by our friends, by our family, by any of those that will help carry us. We fail too often to "Bend our knees" when it's God alone that can help to unload us!

His yoke is easy..... His burden is light!

Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Are you tired from all that you carry?

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Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall...

"Once upon a time... we were little girls. By day we read from our books of fairy tales, and by night we dreamed of the way our lives would turn out. On Sunday nights we parked in our pajamas two inches away from the television. Tinkerbell would fly out waving her wand and putting fairy dust on all the letters on the screen, signifying that magic was about to begin. The music would swell, and we would hold our breath with excitement as we watched our favorite stories unfold...

Cinderella arrived at the ball, and everyone recognized her as a true princess, and we just knew our day to go to the ball was coming...

Sleeping Beauty was sleeping beautifully, dreaming of her prince, and we dreamed of the day that our prince would come...

Snow White was singing as she got the dwarfs off to work, and we imagined humming a happy tune, getting our children off to school...

We dreamed of beautiful castles, knowing in our hearts that we would one day ride off in a white carriage and live happily ever after...

Do we ever wonder, What happened? Does it seem that somewhere among the prince, the kids, the laundry, and the carpool the fairy-tale company must have been bought out and is now bankrupt? Does it seem that life played a cruel trick on us? Most of us would openly acknowledge that what we ended up with is so very different than our dreams. It's not exactly like we really were Snow White or Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. But please, shouldn't there be a few recognizable parallels?

This is where the voice of reason reminds us we can't compare our lives to theirs because they were fairy-tale women in very different times. Theirs would be totally different stories if they had to face what we do today. Walt's women wouldn't have it so easy if they had to make it in today's world.

Can't you just see Cinderella on the Stairmaster trying to keep those thighs firm? She's out of breath, talking on her cell phone: "I'll be there as soon as I can, Charming. I have to finish my workout and then stop by the grocery and pick up the flowers for the table. Will the carriage be arriving at six?"

What about Sleeping Beauty, propped up in bed on all her pillows, talking anxiously on the phone? "No, Mother, you didn't wake me. I can't sleep. No, I haven't heard from the prince yet, so don't ask me about it. Yes, I'm sure he's still coming."

Or Snow White, sitting in a tangle of computer wires, writing the Christmas letter? "Sleepy is in the second grade now and stays awake through fourth period. We're so proud of him. Grumpy is taking his Ritalin, and it's really helping him."

It would be interesting to watch each of them face some of our struggles and try to stay positive in our over-whelmingly negative world. Let them deal with the reality of the modern world. Too often we can't tell whether what we are doing matters, and our hopeful hearts grow weary and defeated. Nowadays when we watch those fairy tales with our kids or grandkids, we feel more like the wicked stepmother than the woman with the dreams. If we were to ask, "Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" it would probably answer, "Stop asking me! It's not you, for crying out loud!""


That is an excerpt out of a torn book with a hole in it that I found several years ago in the basement of an out of the way place in Gatlinburg on a quick spur-of-the-moment all-by-myself stop in search for some long lost treasure that cost me a whole 97 cents to purchase (Keeping a Princess Heart in a Not-So-Fairy-Tale World). There are lots of things that I liked about the book, but it was that last line that I quoted that I hit me the funniest, "Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" it would probably answer, "Stop asking me! It's not you, for crying out loud!"

What would your "mirror" say if you asked it?

I bet that you think that our "mirrors" don't talk. But may I suggest to you that they do? And that they have lots to tell you. It's just that too often we don't recognize our mirrors. We fail to see them as such, even while we're staring straight into our reflections that are staring back at us in them!

I read something in an email once that was only three sentences long. The first simply said that "People are mirrors for each other." Because through them and the things that they do, how we react to what they've done or what they've said to us reflects ourselves.

The last sentence said that, "This is G-d's great kindness to us, for without this device we would never be able to determine our true faults."

Though I'd not thought about it before, I totally agree what the writer was saying. I've thought about it a lot since I read it. A whole lot. Because if you watch your reaction to others or how you respond to things that happen around you, my goodness, it does seem as if a mirror. Not that you reflect each other and look the same as the other person does.., but that it helps you better to see yourself. And a self that you wouldn't have seen or noticed before otherwise.

I was at the office last week and my sister (Beth), actually only kidding around, was talking about another girl (Tara) that works there. Tara's office is sandwiched between mine and Beth's. So Beth is hollering from hers to mine knowing that Tara is listening. I can't remember what she said now, but she was "telling on" Tara so to speak.. talking ugly about her in a kidding way. So I hollered back to Beth, "Yeah, but I just read the other day that people are like mirrors to us. And how we react to them reflects who we are." Then I asked her, "So after what you've just said, what does that mean you're reflecting?" For she (had she truly been serious) had been painting Tara as ugly, but in doing so had painted herself even uglier.

We all laughed. It was all in fun. Just joking and kidding around. Tara then hollered something back to me to the effect of, "Thanks for taking up for me, Sharon. Your sister can be really mean about...." And of course, when she finished (and me still loving this thought that I'd recently fallen upon) said back to her, "Ut-oh Tara, now what is your mirror reflecting?" For everybody's mirror was proving to show themselves ugly.

We did it all day long. It was such fun! But it also made a point to all of us and it impacted the truth of it to me even more than I'd been impacted with it before. It made me want to watch myself even closer to see me (and sometimes the rather UGLY me) in my mirrored reflectors so that I could work on things that needed some working.

It's helped me to look at things a whole lot differently. I think that it's not only helped me not to be as ugly or as mean as my first reaction sometime wants to be, but it's also defused the ugly feeling. It's help me to look at myself, rather than pointing my finger at the one that's hurt me. It's turned my focus back onto myself and onto my own weaknesses instead of focusing in on theirs. And when you do that, you even see the person that's hurt you in a whole new light. It gives you (me anyway!) a grieving heart toward my own sinful flesh nature and then it also surprisingly gives me a compassion for the one being ugly and a sincere want and need to pray for the one I that normally would have been angered toward or ugly to or offended with.


We're told not to return evil with evil (1 Peter 3:9)... [and when we do, we're reflecting ourselves to prove just as evil as they are. Our wrong, because of their wrong, doesn't make our wrong any righter!]. We're not to return insult with insult (1 Peter 3:9). We've been "called" to bless those that curse us (1 Peter 3:9 / Luke 6:27-49). To do good to those that persecute us, and to those that despitefully use us (Luke 6:27-49). To turn the other cheek (Luke 6:27-49). To love our enemies (Matt 5:44). We're reminded that if we love only those that love us, what credit is that to us, even sinners do that (Luke 6:27-49)? We're told to pray for those that mistreat you (Luke 6:27-49). If someone takes your cloak don't stop him, give him your tunic also (Luke 6:27-49). If someone takes something from you, don't demand it back (Luke 6:27-49). We're told not to judge (Luke 6:27-49). And to forgive.. as we've been forgiven (Luke 6:27-49).

We're asked why do we look at the mote in our brother's eye and ignore the plank in our own (Luke 6:27-49)? We're told that we are recognized by our fruit (Luke 6:27-49). And right after being told that Jesus asks us, "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do what I say?" (Luke 6:27-49). He says that if you don't love your brother, then you don't love Him (1 John 4:20). And He tells us that trials prove ourselves to be "genuine"... or not (1 Peter 1:6,7)............. So, what are your trials "proving"? What are your tests showing? What do you see in your mirror from your reactions? What are your reactions reflecting?

Seriously, let something aggravating, hurtful, or frustrating happen to you and watch (in yourself) who you see looking back at you then. Let someone insult you and watch how you handle it. When someone smacks you, says something bad about you, mistreats your children, says something about them, tempts you or taunts you... when these kinds of things happen, watch what inside you that comes and shows out. Notice what they cause to reflect of the inside of your heart, and at times you'll be appalled at what you're seeing!

I was telling a friend (Michele) about all of this the other day and she wrote me back, "...wouldnt it be so cool to be the kind of person that when you look in the mirror you see Jesus staring back..after all isn't He supposed to live inside of us.."

To which I replied, "AMEN! It's what I strive for. IF only I could MOVE this ME over and let HIM IN completely! I wish.... truly do desire, to be a skin that encases only HIM! It's not always so easy though. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is so weak!"

We might all want to ask ourselves the question as we stop to take a peek, "Mirror, Mirror on the wall......"

I'm just asking from your reactions... What's reflecting back to you in the mirror in which you're looking?

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I had posted my thinking about this on another blog site, and a very kind gentleman left such a profound thought that I felt this blog incomplete without also posting it here to share it. He said,

"I felt that I should point out that before these fairy-tale Princesses BECAME Princesses their lives were not very nice, to say the least. Well, Pricess Aurora was always a princess, but being sent to your room for several years can't be too pleasant. I mean washing up after interloping step-sisters, poison apples, Having the Queen put a hit out on you...these are hardly the stuff of a "fairy tale" existence."

To which I replied, "PROFOUND THINKING, Mr. Stephen!!! Yes, you are so incredibly right! And though we're talking "princess" here, for a minute let's also relate it to two "princes" of which we've been told of in Scripture. For we have to remember Joseph being in his pit, then his Potiphar's wife's testing of fire, then his prison, before he was put in his palace!   And what about King David? Woe, the thrashing and throes of the king's tantrums that he had to dodge and to run from for YEARS AFTER he'd been anointed king! I suppose we can conclude from these two examples that: to make royalty the world first has to beat the world out of you so that nothing is left but Divine?

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall"???   Sure. It's a smart thing to take notice of. And may we be ever so careful to listen to what they tell us when they talk!

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