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New day…new week…new realization <3

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It is so pretty and sunny here today…and yet, so very cold. 

There was a long standing code amongst the folks of this part of the country that stated you are safe to plant your flowers by Mother’s Day. 

Well…last night we had to cover the few things that we have put out and our precious little Japanese Maple to protect from…shudder…the frost warning. 

Sigh. 

Looking at the forecast for the next week plus it appears we are safe from any more of that nonsense, but we will still be running the furnace for a while if the National Weather Service knows what they are talking about. 

We had a sweet visit from our Sarah Saturday and Sunday and Rachel and her crew came down while Zach was working. With that and a call from John, it was a lovely Mother’s Day/Family Day…we just always miss the ones who can’t be with us. 

And by being with us, they aren’t with others, so they are being missed and thus goes the story of family and holidays. 

For my thoughts today, I wanted to share a little moment of revelation I had during communion yesterday. 

As we finished taking the Bread and Cup and rose to join in the post-communion worship song, the words led me to the visual of laying things down on the altar. 

In the process of participating in my heart, mind and spirit with what my body was singing, I pictured things that I needed to lay down. 

Suddenly I was stricken with the totally inappropriate things I was placing before God as an offering…my short-comings, my knack for hurting people when I am super focused on something I am concentrating on, my tendency to compare and contrast my life with others, my inability to set aside my preferences and go with the flow of what others are doing, my pride…pretty much all the ways I fail and all the things I lack. 

It dawned on me that those were not the things to be laid on the altar before God as a gift. 

Good grief…

That stuff should be confessed and burned outside the presence of His holiness on a trash heap. 

Sometimes what I “lay down” are the unmet expectations and unanswered prayers and unfinished business of half done projects. This is not worthy of Him either.

Oh yes, I need to hand them over to Him and take my hands off of them…this is very true. But the altar in the Old Testament was for the best of the best. Unblemished gifts worthy of our Holy God.

I realized that what I should be laying down before Him are all the beautiful and wonderful and most precious parts of my life. 

So as we sang, I pictured laying down before Him this husband of mine that I don’t deserve, the children He gave us and the grandchildren we cherish so much. 

The beauty of life that surrounds me daily. 

The provisions He has blessed us with.

All the happy memories and best moments. 

The friends that love us and share life with us. 

All the gifts and talents and abilities He has placed in me. 

I thought back over the years and included the soft fur of our dog Mitzi that surrounded her sweet face, the meals I have enjoyed preparing and eating, the happiest and loveliest memories stored in thousands of pixels on our computer. 

On and on I thought of the very best I have been given to lay back down on the altar as a sacrifice to Him. 

To hold up all the treasures this life has been filled with and intentionally give them away.

Perhaps you are shaking your head thinking…well…yes…that is what laying it all down means, but this was a new thought for this old dog. She has learned something new and as with all revelations, once revealed I won’t have to work to remember. 

It is a daily application now…praise Him.

As things arise that are unlovely, to confess and throw out with the garbage. 

As things arise that are beautiful and precious, lay them down as a gift before Him in thanksgiving. 

 <3

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2 Comments

  1. Thank you, Laura. This resonated with me in a few ways. And you bring a smile to my face too! Have a lovely week…and soon it will be hot!

    1. I am glad it spoke to you and made you smile!! Yes, it will be hot and I will be the first to complain!!! Ha!

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