Eternal Beauty

As I watched the peonies in my garden, over the past couple of weeks,  I observed large green buds, then sepals falling away revealing a burst of color, and finally seemingly over night the flowers exploded in frilled brilliance.

But, I know how quickly peonies fade and I am  reminded of how quickly our days here on earth are gone.

I am guilty of rushing.

Living for the moment and forgetting what lies ahead.

Peonies are gorgeous and their scent so light and calming, but their beauty is short lived.  They bloom and display their bright colored ruffles and then they quickly begin to brown.  If hard rain comes the sweet perfumed mop heads droop to the ground dropping their petals and withering away. Their beauty is spent.

 

 

 

In the light of eternity our days here on this earth are few.  The Lord has been pressing upon me this question, “How are you serving me this day?”   He is calling me to view my day in the light of His eternity.  On this day what will I chose?  Will I chose to fold the fifth basket of laundry with praise on my lips or will I wither and droop.  Will I chose, on this day, to enjoy the chatter of my children or will the edges of my heart show the beginning of fade when I beg for a moment of peace?  On this day, the day the Lord has given me, will I choose to give my every thought to Christ, keeping my eyes fixed on Him, or will just live in the moment flaunting my abilities for the here and now? 

If I don’t keep my eye on the eternal then, I am like a fast fading peony and by the end of the day I’m dragging my head in the dirt, muttering all the way.

My God given beauty withering away.

 

 

 

I’ve been rushing my moments.  Pushing through as a mom and a wife, doing what has to be done, just because it needs to be done, but with none of the beauty.

 

 

 

 

The beauty comes from a  heart fully committed to the Lord and fully embracing what He has placed before me. 

Sometimes I am thick headed.

I’m searching for a grand mission field.  Asking God what He has for me now.

It’s right before me.  The people in my life.  The people that I know. The people that I may meet. 

This is what God has for me.  It starts in my home, and I so often get distracted from this. 

Pushing, rushing, straining ahead of what God is calling me to. 

He is calling for the beauty of service in my life.  A life willing to be poured out for Him,  EXCESSIVELY!,  whatever that call may be.  If it’s scrubbing toilets and folding laundry, then I pray I do it with a heart willing to glorify God.  If it’s talking to a stranger at the grocery store, then I will rely on His boldness.  If it is praying with someone in a desperate situation, I will stand in the promise that the Holy Spirit will use me.

I don’t have to know the big picture. I just need to be faithful in the moment, in this short, blink of an eye, time. 

That’s when the beauty will show, God’s beauty and that beauty will travel a lifetime and beyond into eternity.

I Fell Off the Blogging Merry-Go-Round

I have fallen off the Merry-Go-Round, my friends.

I’ve been whirling around on this ride for almost 5 years and I have come to the conclusion that even if I loosen my grip and get flung off, it’s okay.  The pressure to stay on right in the center of things is too much of a struggle. When I’m holding on so tightly just trying to keep from slipping to the outer fringes of the Merry-Go-Round, I find my stress level going up.   You know that whirring and blurring and centripetal force that is pulling, pulling, pulling against you the faster you go. That’s what blogging was feeling like for me.  Finally, I knew that God was telling me to let go.  He wasn’t going to pry my fingers off of the metal bar for me, though.  I had to do the releasing. 

It’s been hard, because I love to write.

But, the Lord showed me a hard truth.

I loved the attention and comments more.

So, I let go.  I found myself safely transplanted to the grass just clear of the hard packed dirt circle created by so many others before me.

And its been good. I’m enjoying other things right now and learning so much about staying in the presence of the Lord all day long.

 

 

Country living is keeping right in His presence. 

 

 

I’m captivated daily by the beauty I see around me.  God’s glory is never so evident to me as when I am outdoors.

 

 

 

 

And so, God is calling me to higher things.  I know I will still write.  I will just have to learn to write for myself and ditch my emotional connection to the comments.  I know I will still share my photography, because it speaks so highly of my Savior for whom it was all created.

 

 

 

 

I will still stop by at your blogs when I can, but I’m not going to cling to those metal bars any longer.  It’s silly really, sitting there in the center with my legs and arms twisted around the post just trying to fight what God wants for me.

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And what He wants, is me.

 

 

Not part of me, when I can squeeze Him in, but all of me.  Every moment of every day, practicing His presence.  I’m finding that this is a difficult discipline, but one He has called me to pursue.  And since I am sold out to Him I am leaving behind what He is telling me to.  He has a purpose and a plan for my life. That is this… Love me with all of your heart, and all of your soul, and all of your strength (Duet. 6:5).   To do that I must release all that hinders me.  I’m  running toward my Savior, ready to be broken and poured out for Him!