Just call me...Sponge "Bec" Lead Pants!

Do you ever feel like your head is so full of new information that you are moving in slow motion on everything that normally comes easy?

Well, I am! I'm usually pretty good at multi-tasking, simplifying, streamlining, problem-solving, you-name-it...until recently. There is just SO much to learn, solve, plan and put into action with my writing, family issues, and general responsibilities that I'm feeling like a water-logged "sponge" lately. Try jogging in the pool sometime, and you'll know!

The only thing to do??? Learn to scuba dive, I guess! After all, swimming is FUN, right? Well, as long as you can still access that one little necessary element called OXYGEN--Gasp! If you're with me on this adventure then make sure you grab a tank of air, or in this case--"breath"!

I'm a huge fan of Rob Bell's NOOMA films. In one titled "Breathe", he explains that, "In the Bible, the word for 'breath' is the same as the word for 'spirit'." So I'm thinking a tank of God's Spirit, is just what I need to keep trolling along.

"And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts
by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." ~Romans 5:5

"But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding" ~Job 32:8

When things get tough believe me, I'm the first one sinking, sputtering, and flailing around. So in diving deeper lately, I'm beginning to realize that I don't need to tread water anymore, coming up gasping for breath...wide-eyed looking for help.
Nope, I just need to remember that God's spirit is the one giving me life and breath, even on those head-under-water days!

Trying to share as I learn,
Rebecca



(from Julie Taylor Gallery, South Florida Divers, Inc.)

A Lifetime of Adventure--Part 1—Let’s Hit the Road!

“Therefore my dear friends…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. ( Phillipians 2: 12-13)

The funny thing about being a christian, is that no matter how long it’s been since my spiritual quest began, how close I've grown to God, or how much I love and trust Jesus Christ for setting me free--there is and will always be another “challenge”!

I like how this passage reminds us that our salvation continues to be “worked out with fear and trembling”. Isn’t that SO true? I turn a new corner every week in life and find something new to “work out”, don’t you?

Why FEAR and TREMBLING, I ask?? Doesn’t God promise peace and rest, love and hope?

What then does anxiety, or for crying out loud- sheer panic have to do with it?

Well, I don’t know about you, but that’s pretty much what happens to me when I step out of my natural comfort zone—my “built in” sin nature tendency towards self-preservation, control, and fulfillment of personal desires starts SCREAMING, “no, no, no, no ,No…!!”

Salvation isn’t stagnant. It begins a journey with an adventure around every corner and a treasure behind every hill.

Hence my challenge to you and myself—no matter what comes along, let’s lay ourselves down --past, present and future! Yes, with some nail-biting and knee knocking, and at times even a great lack of sleep, but with the hope and knowledge that the God of heaven, who created us, is working things out for a good purpose!!

If he would die for us, then why not trust that his plan, rather than ours, has the most good in mind? Let’s give him the freedom to help us…and in doing so, find our own!

Ummmm, yeah...once you begin, the list of things you can apply this to does get longer and longer each day! Pretty much everything goes:

Writing- sure,
Work- yep,
Marriage- of course
Parenting- don’t even get me started!
Friendships- check,
Family Matters-check
Health- check, check…

and the list goes on and on and on and on!!!!!

The exciting thing is, that in every area we’re laying ourselves down, there will be an end result better than anything we, silly selfish people, could ever have coordinated or planned. I know, I know, some of us are pretty good planners and co-ordinators, if we do say so ourselves—even so, would any of us DARE to compare with perfection????

Well, it's time to hit the road in one way or another—send our “selves” packing, drop to our knees before God, get moving in the right direction, whatever sacrifice of pride that it takes, cause…hey, the adventure’s just barely begun!!

Today, I'm working on laying myself down when it comes to teenager's, who insist on believing that
the "dish fairy" is going appear and miraculously move their discards from the sink to the washer. LOL =)
(Mind you I'm not endorsing a lack of parental guidance, rather the "attitude" that happens to come with mine!)

What’s on your list this week???

In Peace-

Rebecca