Good morning, et cetera, folks, and welcome to this obscure little blip in cyberspace! We just got back from catching Bella and Casper (dogs) who found a way to get out of the backyard; we plan to resolve that very soon.
Here is a link to today's Proverb if, like me, you need and are seeking for Wisdom; I read the Proverbs every day in the hopes that it will help.
The weather here is a little strange; a month ago, we dealt with highs in the 90s F, but look at the forecast for today:
Well, leaning into the cooler weather, I have the chance to wear my favorite, comfy dark forest green tiered cotton dress and my cowboy boots, which suits this cooler weather perfectly.
One of my female friends came by for a short chat this morning, just a little while ago; it was great to see her, she's awesome! But now, she's at work. My husband has been getting up with me in the mornings lately and though it does cut into my typical morning devotional time, I'm still appreciating the time together, and am being more flexible with regard to the hard and fast rule I've set for myself of "wake up and immediately read the day's Proverb!" Jesus went off by Himself to pray often, and I do copy His model for that and notice that there are actually several portions of every day that doing so is likely and opportune, I just have to be aware for those times to open up and take advantage of them. I encourage you to do the same. Heck, I can be pushing my cart in Walmart, praying for the people I see around me, asking God to stretch our finances and meet the needs; praying while driving is also great because the other people who see you doing it will probably just think you're on a hands-free phone call, and that suits me just fine. I say these things to say this: there is always opportunity for prayer. There may not always be periods of silence that foster the ability to hear His still, small voice, but, again, those times do occur and it's incumbent upon us to notice these chances and take advantage of them. You don't have to close your eyes, you don't have to bow your head, it's not about posturing or religion. Just let your heart talk to Him and be willing and ready to hear as well - it's a posture of the heart.
So we have lain out a plan to get Dignity House off the ground as early as next month by way of outreach, a plan the Lord dropped into my heart a couple of days ago. Which, I love how He's like "this is the way, now walk in it" and, though He's not showing me the entire journey all at once which is what I'd prefer, He's faithful and true and continues to reveal each "next step" to me in it's time, and none of the small things He's shown me so far has been like "Ok, now you need to jump right up to the top of Mt. Everest" or anything like that. No, it's the small, simple things - things that I can actually handle 😆
One of my female friends came by for a short chat this morning, just a little while ago; it was great to see her, she's awesome! But now, she's at work. My husband has been getting up with me in the mornings lately and though it does cut into my typical morning devotional time, I'm still appreciating the time together, and am being more flexible with regard to the hard and fast rule I've set for myself of "wake up and immediately read the day's Proverb!" Jesus went off by Himself to pray often, and I do copy His model for that and notice that there are actually several portions of every day that doing so is likely and opportune, I just have to be aware for those times to open up and take advantage of them. I encourage you to do the same. Heck, I can be pushing my cart in Walmart, praying for the people I see around me, asking God to stretch our finances and meet the needs; praying while driving is also great because the other people who see you doing it will probably just think you're on a hands-free phone call, and that suits me just fine. I say these things to say this: there is always opportunity for prayer. There may not always be periods of silence that foster the ability to hear His still, small voice, but, again, those times do occur and it's incumbent upon us to notice these chances and take advantage of them. You don't have to close your eyes, you don't have to bow your head, it's not about posturing or religion. Just let your heart talk to Him and be willing and ready to hear as well - it's a posture of the heart.
So we have lain out a plan to get Dignity House off the ground as early as next month by way of outreach, a plan the Lord dropped into my heart a couple of days ago. Which, I love how He's like "this is the way, now walk in it" and, though He's not showing me the entire journey all at once which is what I'd prefer, He's faithful and true and continues to reveal each "next step" to me in it's time, and none of the small things He's shown me so far has been like "Ok, now you need to jump right up to the top of Mt. Everest" or anything like that. No, it's the small, simple things - things that I can actually handle 😆
As I move farther away from wasting my life in online forums (because, for me, that's precisely what it was, I am not saying that it applies to everyone), the vision for the future, for God's plans through our hands, is becoming more and more real by the day. In retrospect, I feel that God dropped His plan on me, I wrote some grant requests and got our EIN, and then I instantly retreated right back into online escapism, for nearly another two years. Sometimes, y'all, I can be SO slow on the uptake! So, if you find that true for you, too, be encouraged, because He is *going* to make His will be known and be done on earth, we can trust and believe that fact up until our very last breath. We have some good examples to go by: look at Moses, he was tripping. He spent forty years in the wilderness! And Jonah, I really identify with him! He's like "Um, no, God" and immediately tried to escape on a boat going the literal opposite direction of Ninevah.
Since I don't relish the idea time spent inside of a massive marine animal, I figured I'd better regroup and get about the Lord's business after all because, like I already said, trust and believe that He WILL see to it that His will is done here on earth. When you hear His voice in your heart... just obey. That's best. I know, we're human! But I'm just trying to encourage you, do the best you can.
Frankly, my calling overwhelms and intimidates me. It's huge, massive, and unfamiliar territory: I have chosen to do the 'homeless' thing more than once as an adult and bring that experience to the table in service to those in that situation now (for whatever reason).
Further, my years in the ministry as a student, graduate, and later staff member, have also all been in preparation to equip me for such a time as this.
The part that is as of yet unfamiliar is being the founder and director of a ministry myself. I've had very powerful, well-paying jobs in leadership roles though, in the secular realm, and pray that the experience gleaned from those are also part of His holy preparation for me for what lies ahead. I've had two different bosses who each chose to call me "the Bulldog" (an attorney in Corpus Christi and a Project Manger in Dallas) for the way I perform in leadership roles and hope this steely determination will be only used for good.
And, be encouraged! I'm here to tell you that it took ME three and a half years to graduate from Fort Worth Teen Challenge and, honey? It's a year-long program! haha! With me, though, they truly had their work cut out! In fact, they had to order more curriculum because I literally did ALL of the coursework in their classroom. For some of us, it takes more; it takes what it takes and there's no judgment in that. This all brings to my mind this little tidbit of truth directly from His Word, in fact:
Since I don't relish the idea time spent inside of a massive marine animal, I figured I'd better regroup and get about the Lord's business after all because, like I already said, trust and believe that He WILL see to it that His will is done here on earth. When you hear His voice in your heart... just obey. That's best. I know, we're human! But I'm just trying to encourage you, do the best you can.
Frankly, my calling overwhelms and intimidates me. It's huge, massive, and unfamiliar territory: I have chosen to do the 'homeless' thing more than once as an adult and bring that experience to the table in service to those in that situation now (for whatever reason).
Further, my years in the ministry as a student, graduate, and later staff member, have also all been in preparation to equip me for such a time as this.
The part that is as of yet unfamiliar is being the founder and director of a ministry myself. I've had very powerful, well-paying jobs in leadership roles though, in the secular realm, and pray that the experience gleaned from those are also part of His holy preparation for me for what lies ahead. I've had two different bosses who each chose to call me "the Bulldog" (an attorney in Corpus Christi and a Project Manger in Dallas) for the way I perform in leadership roles and hope this steely determination will be only used for good.
And, be encouraged! I'm here to tell you that it took ME three and a half years to graduate from Fort Worth Teen Challenge and, honey? It's a year-long program! haha! With me, though, they truly had their work cut out! In fact, they had to order more curriculum because I literally did ALL of the coursework in their classroom. For some of us, it takes more; it takes what it takes and there's no judgment in that. This all brings to my mind this little tidbit of truth directly from His Word, in fact:
That is to say that, if we're just making lateral comparisons of ourselves to the other flawed, imperfect human beings, we're doing it wrong. We are to compare ourselves to Jesus' standard, and we are supposed to compare our current selves to the self of the past, staying accountable to whether or not there is apparent growth, to ferret out where our next weakness is that we need to work on, et cetera. So, folks, if you're comparing yourself in a lateral sense to just other regular human beings, you're doing it wrong. It's fruitless and will do nothing but either fuel arrogant, conceited pride and make you feel (inaccurately) superior to others, or it will serve to make you feel "less than" - so, you see, there's no valid point to it, it's deep spiritual immaturity at best to have that kind of worldly, unfruitful mindset. Comparing ourselves to others is one of those "childish things" that God, in His word, admonishes us to "put away" in order to grow into genuine, actual maturity (and that has little to do with our physical, chronological age).
Anyway! I've got therapy tomorrow afternoon and always look forward to our sessions and am looking forward to sharing the little nuggets of insight that I've been given since our last session. And, since I found a stand for my phone at Dollar Tree, I can finally have those zoom calls in a hands-free manner, which should only enhance my ability to focus.
Have a wonderful day, dear reader! Please remember to pray for this world that so desperately needs it, and thanks for stopping by. 💖
Have a wonderful day, dear reader! Please remember to pray for this world that so desperately needs it, and thanks for stopping by. 💖
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