All there...

Jim Elliot once said, "Wherever you are, be all there."
So, where are you?
Are you all there? Are you only/entirely/wholly there?
It's easy to give an appearance of being all in a situation without really giving up anything. i.e. being in a relationship with God and still having other idols alongside Him. I find that I often set up pedestals and raise them next to God without even realizing it. (I only recognize them when God takes them away.)
So, again, are you all there? In that situation where you feel like you want to run away? Or in that moment when you could be ministering and don't feel like it?
I know I'm not...
I read a great post at "A Sojourner Rests" yesterday and wanted to share it with you,

"When we first moved to the desert I was amazed at so many things I had never seen before. As a homeschool family we did unit studies on the Sonoran, Mojave, Chihuahuan, and the Great Basin deserts of North America.... and my amazement grew.
I am not sure the children enjoyed all of our field trips and studies but we learned names of cacti, trees and animal life that we had never encountered before.
It was all new to us and we got excited the first time we saw mirages, saguaro cactus, a scorpion or a road runner and marveled at how anything could live in the hot, dry, arid climate.

Then we began to learn other things that weren't so fun and interesting."
click here to read the rest

So, how are you going to be all there this day? This hour? This minute?

The Beauty of the Bible...

I've recently been reading as the Spirit leads me...or trying to. It's hard to fall out of a reading program because I'm so fond of schedules. This morning, I read Psalms 40.
When I reached the end, I thought, "I need to share this on the blog today!" Then I reconsidered. "But it's just a Psalm," I thought, "Nobody will want to read it."
But I still felt like I should post it.
I felt ashamed that I would think that I should share a special blog post that I had written and would blow your mind with the revelation of it...
I think too often we get caught up in words of our own when we should be consumed by the Word of God.
And I have to ask myself, "How often do I sit in awe of the fact that the God of Eternity used humble human hands to write letters of love to me?"
There shouldn't be anything that captures my heart or my love more than the beauty of His Words:

"To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth--Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart." I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness In the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O Lord, You Yourself know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly. Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me."

You have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses...

I opened my Bible a few nights ago and came upon Isaiah 43. Sometimes I feel so moved by the Spirit that I can't stop until I read the rest of the story (even if I've read it before). This rarely happens; I admit, it's hard for me to always enjoy reading the Bible. Anyway, I decided to get out a pencil and underline the verses that "spoke" to me.
These are the verses that have stuck with me throughout the week:

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

"Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel. You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense. You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses.

"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

This line really struck me:

"You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses."

I felt so guilty and had to ask myself: How many times do I use God and treat Him like a dump for my sins when I should be on my knees to worship Him at all times?

God's everlasting love is such a wonderful mystery to behold. He is ever-faithful to remember my sins no more.

And, even so, I continue to forget the wonders of His love.

What a wonderful God we serve!

September...

I can hardly believe it's already September.
Soon enough it'll be Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then the New Year!
Christmas is my favorite time of year and sometimes I wish we could skip right over the 'boring' months like September and October.
But if I did that, I'd miss the celebration of my Mother's birthday!
And I have the best Mother in the whole world...
I owe so much to my mom. She's done more than I can ever do in return. When I think of my mother, I am reminded of the self-sacrificing spirit of Jesus. I'm so thankful that she sacrifices so much of her time to give so much to my family.
My favorite thing about my Mother is her gift of reading aloud. Ever since I was little, I can remember all four of us flocking to her when she opened a book. Even now, we still gather around to have her read to us. Just yesterday she began reading "Her Mother's Hope" by Francine Rivers to me and my sister.
Brett Harris wrote a beautiful poem to his Mother who passed away in July.

"You need a mother very badly!

she always used to say

And I agreed when loads of laundry needed washing

or when my stomach stole my lunch and

held it ransom for a midday snack, and I

always told her she was right

because it made her

Smile, knowing she was loved."

Continue reading...

I'm so thankful to have my Mother. Even now, as my season of homeschooling is coming to a close, she still continues to teach me, read to me, and give her time to me.
Thank you, Mother, I love you!
So, what are some things that your Mother does/did for you?