When I’m feeling hurried and stressed by the demands that I think the world is projecting onto me and I think I will explode if I’m slowed down by one more obstacle…
…He opens up the heavens and reminds me that He knows and He cares…
this is not my home…and red lights aren’t always a bad thing.
I stumbled upon this passage by Channing and I love the excerpt below.
I think it quite fitting for a Monday as I begin a new day and a new week.
I hope you find this encouraging and motivating.
It’s so easy to get caught up in what the world values. Just remember that it’s fleeting.
I long to focus on what matters…what is lasting…that which is eternal.
“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden, and unconscious grow up through the common.
This is to be my symphony.”
(William Henry Channing, 1810-1884, US clergyman and philosopher.)
How about you? What is your symphony?
When I read the word “Expectation” as the subject for our 5 minutes together today,
I immediately thought of Matthew 6. Only I couldn’t remember that it was Matthew 6 so I had to google the key words and verses. (Just keepin’ it honest with my imperfections.)
I have been thinking a great deal about nature and the way that it surrenders to the Master’s plan.
The intricate detail displayed in a spider’s web is fascinating to me. Today’s post is illustrated with examples of creation and the lack of expectation as it knows the Father is taking care of every need.
25-26“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. 
There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, 
careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27-29“Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
30-33“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People
who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.
God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” ~Matthew 6:25-34
OK, are you ready? What does Expectation mean to you?
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.
Summer in the south is many things.
To capture them all would mean hundreds of photos.
The word summer brings up many emotions and awakens certain memories in my senses.
Here are a few of the things that I think of when I look towards summer…
The fragrant gardenias in the flowerbed that greet you when walking to our front door.
Gardenia
With the flowers, come the bees
the beautiful butterflies
and other interesting insects.
Summer in the south means, popsicles on the front porch
Sticky fingers and faces.
It means little lizards soaking up the sun while blending into the grass.
Summer means that everything is green…winter has passed and spring has brought new life.
The birds return to the feeder and sing their songs of thanksgiving.
Summer means blowing bubbles in the grass until your lightheaded.
It means dirty feet at the end of the day from running around barefoot until well after bedtime.
It’s different now, as an adult, experiencing summer.
Not bad, just different.
My children get so excited about summer! That is by far the best part of the record temperatures and soaring humidity.
There is much to come in the next several weeks.
There will be watermelon and ice cream sandwiches, water balloons and cook outs, slip n slides and human cannonballs into the pool.
When my boys come in from a long summer day smelling “tired” I know that it has been time filled with moments that they will one day recall and smile.
Interpretations of summer by some other stellar photographers and bloggers:
Where’s my backpack?
Nature Through The Lens
Chronicles of Illusions
The Great Escape: Life from behind a lens
Today I’m joining in the five minute Friday conversation through the Gypsy Mama. I have five minutes to write, start to finish on a selected topic.
“We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to run when we were kids.
GO
I’ve heard it said, many times, that “Opportunity knocks.”
Maybe for some, but for me, most of the time, it kicks down the door.
I’m not talking about incredible, money making opportunities or things of that sort. I’m referring to the everyday opportunities that I do not always notice. The kind of opportunities that happen all around me as I’m living life.
When I’m on my computer and my child comes and sits next to me asking, “Will you read this book to me?” That is an opportunity to engage and be fully present with my child. Sadly, I do not always take it, but when I do, I don’t ever regret it.
When I’m in a hurry to get somewhere and cannot be bothered by traffic lights or people and inevitably there is someone moving slower than I would like them to be in the crosswalk. What a beautiful opportunity to, slow down, take a breath, maybe even lift a hand in a friendly wave while smiling and thank God that I have a car to drive and am capable of doing so many things that bring me happiness.
When a friend stops me in the store with an obvious burden that needs to be heard and I am in a hurry to get in and get out. I can stop what I’m doing and listen. I can be genuine and kind without being there for an hour. This is a great opportunity to show through my actions how important relationships are.
When someone lets me go ahead of them and the long line of cars behind them in the drive-thru at Starbucks, it provides an excellent opportunity to pay for their coffee and ask the Barista to tell them, “Thank you! Happy Thursday!” (or whatever day it is.)
How many opportunities do I come across throughout my day to be generous, compassionate, attentive, forgiving, accepting, encouraging, supportive, present, loving and soothing? (just to name a few.) I don’t want to miss those.
Many opportunities are just as important for the provider as for the receiver.
STOP
Related posts by beautiful and talented bloggers:
Opportunity: Leanne Penny
You’ll Find Me in the Closet
Beautiful Things: Five Minute Friday
Uh, You Better Answer That. (Five minute Friday)
Opportunity: Always Alleluia
A constant pursuit: fmf (opportunity)
Pruning Princesses: The Opportunities we give our kids
In the Tangles: Five Minute Friday – Opportunity has a fat backside
Reading List: Five Minute Friday
I grew up in a loving home surrounded by “God-fearing” parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors. My mom says that I prayed to receive Christ at age two. Though she was unable to decipher my words, she’s certain that’s what I did.
I distinctly remember at age seven, sitting at the kitchen counter, across from my mom, when my dad called to say that my grandfather’s long and painful battle with cancer was over. And just like that I learned of mortality…
To continue reading this post, please visit Leanne Penny’s site here where she has started a unique series called, “Beautiful Scars.”
I have so much stirring in my heart…my mind…my gut. Yet, when I sit in front of this screen with a blank page of endless possibilities before me, just waiting for my words to create thoughts that explain something about this crazy journey I’m on…I got nothin’.
So I have avoided coming here…to this place where I bare my soul and reveal my idiosyncrasies. After reading this quote from Anais Nin, “If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write, because our culture has no use for it.” I am back here…in this place…where I can breathe.
There are many things that have been brewing deep down in the parts of my being rarely visited. Things that have been around for a while that I push back down whenever they attempt to surface. The problem is, I’m tired of pushing against the inevitable. Those things needing to be dealt with will eventually burst through, leaving me with no choice but to sift through the wreckage.
Who enjoys that?! Certainly not I. In order to sift through my wreckage I need more than some disposable plastic gloves. I need waders at the very least, but preferably a hazmat suit. It’s ugly and it hurts. It’s like cleaning gravel from a fresh wound. Hurts like hell, but the only way to prevent infection is to destroy the threat.
So here I am…beginning the cleansing process…Of what, I’m not exactly sure…yet. But just as the past has proven, more will be revealed.
I have been looking through pictures as they usually calm my spirit and I came across these two that I love. I love them for many reasons. One being that the first one was taken only minutes after my son was born prematurely via c-section. Another is because his life represents so many wonderful things. Defying the odds. Proving wrong one scary diagnosis after another. This little boy and me, we are not only survivors, we are conquerors.
And there is one very obvious fact that I cannot deny.
It’s this…God is good.
He is faithful.
And because of that, when words fail me, even if in a whisper, I must speak the beautiful name of my Savior.
This is my prayer in the days to come.
Even A Girl Like Me 