Body Language

I have discovered that movement makes a difference. Postures of the body matter. When my mind embraces truth and my body uses movement and posture to express it, my emotions are awakened. When I move my body in worship, the action completes the words that I am expressing, and I worship with my whole being - spirit, heart (mind, emotions), body.

I have discovered that I love to dance. It all started with ballroom dancing lessons that my husband gave us for Christmas a few years ago. What a blast to actually know what to do with my feet! I learned a few steps, what steps to do with different kinds of music, gained a little confidence, and I was hooked. I have always liked to move. I loved playing sports and being active, but I never knew how much fun dancing could be. I love being able to move my body in rhythm, inspired by music and emotion. It has become for me a new language to express my heart to God.

My favorite worship/dance song these days is "I'm Alive" by Celine Dion. Yes, a secular song with a powerful beat (I love a good, strong beat) and words that I can direct towards God. There is something about that song that makes me want to move. I cannot listen to it without my body entering into it. I turn off the lights, (no neighbors, please) crank up the sound loud and go for it! O, it makes me feel so full of life and refreshes my soul. I love that my body joins my spirit in worshiping my wonderful, amazing savior and friend. I can resonate with "I'm Alive" !!!

I didn't grow up being expressive in worship at all. I learned to worship standing in one place with my hands holding the hymnbook. I loved to sing, and I found meaning in participating in the liturgy, but that was pretty much it, as far as being demonstrative went. It wasn't that anything else was frowned upon, it just wasn't what we did. It didn't even enter my head to clap or raise my hands. I am not putting down any style of worship. God's Spirit is not limited in his expression, and we are free to express our love for him in any way that is meaningful. It is always a matter of the heart. I, however, am just enjoying so much the physical aspects of worship that have come to be so meaningful to me.

Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately for those watching, especially my children) I am not so free in my expression on a Sunday morning at church as I am at home. God is freeing this middle aged woman up a little at a time to not care too much about what others will think. But in my heart, (and when I'm alone) I am like David who lost himself in sincere, earnest worship. And David danced before the LORD with all his might. 2 Samuel 6:14 (Read the rest of the story to see David's (and God's) response to the critics.)

If you haven't ever tried it, I want to encourage you to include your body in the experience of what you are expressing with your mouth and with your spirit. Offer yourself, the members of your body, in worship to God. No one's looking, not really, except the One who will be extremely pleased to have you join him.

(Celebrate Your Life Painting by Cher Odum)

No Time to Pray

I knelt to pray but not for long,
I had too much to do.
I had to hurry and get to work
For bills would soon be due.

So I knelt and said a hurried prayer,
And jumped up off my knees.
My Christian duty was now done
My soul could rest at ease.

All day long I had no time
To spread a word of cheer.
No time to speak of Christ to friends,
They’d laugh at me I’d fear.

No time, no time, too much to do,
That was my constant cry,
No time to give to souls in need
But at last the time, the time to die.

I went before the Lord,
I came, I stood with downcast eyes.
For in his hands God held a book;
It was the book of life.

God looked into his book and said
“Your name I cannot find.
I once was going to write it down…
But never found the time”

Haven't we all experienced this? We go through our day and are too busy to recognize the Giver of Life and thank Him for our existence. I am guilty of that too. I needed this to remind me to daily look to Him and take time to be with Him.... don't worry about what others say.

"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you."
~Hosea 10:12

How do you like to spend time with God? What does resting in Jesus look like to you?

Live Where Your Feet Are

Hi! I’m glad you’re here. :) I hope you’ve made yourself comfortable. Take a deep breath in. Hold it. Now breathe out slowly. Relax your shoulders. Take another deep breath and slowly exhale while you close your eyes. There. You slowed down for a brief moment.

Life is made up of moments. My guess is that as you read the first paragraph and took those relaxing breaths, you weren’t thinking of much else besides what you were doing in the moment. (Unless of course you tried to quickly read this while your little one was fussing, your dog was letting you know she needed to go out, or the phone just rang.) There are so many things that clamor for our attention each day, but we can learn to savour the pleasurable moments, no matter how brief, and therein be refreshed.

One year while I was working through the spring and summer months, I was bemoaning the fact that we couldn’t take a couple of weeks off work. Thankfully I came to the realization that, although I wasn’t getting the extended holiday I was wishing for, I could have mini holidays… even every day… mini being the key word. When the sunshine broke through the clouds just as my day at work was ending, I recognized this was the moment to celebrate - the moment to delight in and be refreshed. Another day, it was enjoying an unhurried dinner on the deck with music in the background. Taking a long bath and enjoying it for what it truly is – a wonderful luxury. Relaxing as I read a few chapters in a novel that transported me to a different time and place. Having tea with a friend (haven’t learned to like coffee yet). A morning walk… an evening walk…a late night walk. Getting my bare hands into the soft, cool dirt as I transplanted flowers. Playing a game with my daughter. Cuddling my grandbaby. Watching a video with my husband or family.

That year I became aware of celebrating and cherishing the moments… without wishing for something more than I had. In this time when we’re possibly faced with more financial challenges, this attitude can guard our hearts. We can savour the simple things. We can be thankful for what we have. And not give way to fear.

That’s the second part of this - to not give way to fear. The concerns and worries that we have can keep us from fully engaging in the moment. You know… your body’s here but your mind is off somewhere else. Here’s where we need to stop again. Take a look at your feet. You don’t have to take off your socks or slippers, just look down at your feet. Where are they? Now where are you?

Hopefully I’ve managed to hold your attention and you also are where your feet are. The title of today’s blog is my latest saying that I often remind myself of. Live where your feet are. If my feet are under the kitchen table during dinner, be there – be engaging there. If my foot is on the gas pedal of my car, enjoy the drive. How many times has the concern of being late made me resent the red lights, the stupid driver in front of me, my kids for being too slow, and myself for not being more organized? Countless! Enjoy the drive. I’ll get there when I get there.

And what of those worries! That’s been subject material for several blogs at Soul Kitchen. You’ll find them under “anxious thoughts.” We invent worries and then live in response to what we’ve conjured up in our minds. Or more accurately, we live according to the fears the enemy speaks to our minds. I quote a comment someone made on another blog I sometimes read, “My worries hardly ever do provide what they promise.”

This comment convicted me. I thought back to all the things I had worried about – feared. And with each fear, I recalled the emotions, the tears or in some cases outbursts, and also plans of action I made to prepare for that worry’s inevitable outcome. And did the worry provide what it promised? No. So, all that time, energy, and emotion was for…nothing. I just got hurt by the process and others were hurt as well.

Consider this. God’s promises are sure. He always provides what He promises. The Word of God is full of promises. You probably have many tucked away in your heart that you cling to. If not, ask God to show you some of His promises that He wants to encourage you with. When I read 1 Peter 5:7 in The Message, God made that message go to the core of my being and the result was a tremendous freedom for me.

Live carefree before God; He is most careful with you.

We can trust God. He is faithful to all His promises. He is good and He is God. He came so that we might have life and have it to the full. Rest in Him, and live where your feet are.

Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance The Lord be with you all! 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Painting: 'Dancing on the Shore' by Steve Hanks

Water for the thirsty...

A couple of weekends ago, I was involved in a missions conference.  It was one of those weekends that was gruelingly long with little time to rest in between.  We had scheduled meetings throughout the day,  Friday afternoon, through Sunday night.  However, at the pace we had been going, I was getting sick and there was no time to think about pulling back and recuperating.  I began taking cold medication for head congestion but it didn't seem to be helping a lot.

Saturday was a day of planned festivities.  There was music, and cultural dances, plays and skits and food from other countries.  A lot of people were in their native dress and the colors and decorations of the different countries involved brought about a lot of excitement.

My husband and I were responsible for a booth and we also had to find ways to entertain the young people.  I couldn't imagine that I could entertain anyone in my present condition.  My husband, however, did come up with a game that he had played with  young people before and it could entertain for hours.  He really didn't have to do anything but explain it and find some teens to help him with it... I went in search of some water.

I spotted a booth that was serving snacks, and water.  Approaching the booth, I could see a barrel of bottled water behind the lady at the counter.  "Could I have a bottle of water, please," I asked the lady.  "I'm not feeling well and I need to take some medication."  "I'm sorry," she said, "I don't think I can give you any water.  I don't know how  many bottles I have and I don't know how many I will need.  We will be giving them out with lunch later."  She could see I was disappointed and offered to give me money for a drink machine somewhere.  But, I just thanked her and said that it was okay...  However, as I walked away, I thought of the scripture in Mark 9:41, where Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in My Name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward."

I found water.... if you are thirsty enough, you will keep searching until you find it.  I took my medication, and went back to my booth.  Later, I saw the lady again... It seemed as though she had been looking for me.  "I am so embarrassed," she said.  "I should have given you water.  I asked someone else and they said, "of course, it would have been fine."  I told her not to worry about it... I had found some water.

We cannot survive with water.  It quenches our thirst.  It cleanses us... It helps us get our medication down.  It soothes a dry throat.  When we start thinking about water... nothing else will satisfy us.  Jesus knew how important it was to give someone a cup of cold water.  At times, our very lives depend on it.  But more importantly, He knows our need for the living water.  Jesus asked the woman at the well for a drink of water.

"The Samaritan woman said to Him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman.  How can You ask me for a drink?''(For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

"Jesus answered her,  "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water."

"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep.  Where can you get this living water?  Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

"Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

                             John 4:9:14

By Sunday evening of the conference, I found that I had been drinking of the living water that Jesus had spoken about.  God worked in my heart and gave me a hunger and thirst to want to be near Him.  Though, it was an exhausting weekend physically... God had done something in my heart... 

The woman at the well said to Jesus, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."(John 4:15)

She found the found the living water that Jesus was talking about and told all of the people in town and brought them to Jesus.... They drank of the living water...

"Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony.  He told me everything I did.  So when the Samaritans came to Him, they urged Him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.  And because of His words many more became believers."

"They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

                 John 4:39-42

Have you had a taste of the living water?  There is nothing like it!!

The Pantry

My kitchen didn't come with a pantry. So, the hall closet became the pantry. My husband, bless his dear heart, just built me one....in the kitchen. It has been so exciting watching it come together and being in on the planning....if you've ever not had a pantry in the kitchen...you will understand my excitement. I couldn't wait to move all of the contents of the hall closet into my new pantry in the kitchen...to organize it and just open the door and stare at it with satisfaction.

Well....that was about 5 days ago. I started the move...but began rethinking the practical aspects of my kitchen accessories and the such and what should go into the hall closet now, which resulted in cleaning out the china cabinet (full of all kinds of things), and then the hard to reach places underneath my kitchen cupboards, which resulted in finding all kinds of tupperware and (you can't get rid of tupperware can you?...even if you haven't used it in 5 years because...well...its tupperware). A little while later, I found my self "sorting" through all my cookbooks and cooking magazines....an hour later, after looking through all of the recipes that I'm going to make..."someday".....with a dining room table, a kitchen table and a kitchen countertop overloaded with all of my reorganizing endeavours...I looked around and realized that what started out as one little home improvement had me all of a sudden overwhelmed with all of the other areas around me that needed work.

Then my girlfriend called...and saved me. Talked me through a little bit of the mountain I was describing to her...gave me some help with what to get rid of and what to keep. Then another girlfriend stopped by and encouraged me. Hope restored...... and although I'm not done....the tables and countertops are clear and everything that needed a space now has one.

It so reminds me of my heart. Sometimes Jesus wants to do a home improvement in my heart...He sees something that needs fixing and reveals it to me and then begins the work. Sometimes seeing something in my life that needs fixing...opens up other doors or areas of my heart and I start noticing all kinds of things about me that need fixing. When that happens, I can become overwhelmed and burdened and even discouraged at the woman I see in me. I start pulling it all out and looking at it and my whole life becomes a mountain.

But Jesus...He just takes one thing at a time and deals with it and puts it where it needs to go. He is patient with me. He reminds me of the woman He sees in me. He sends me people that care for my heart and can speak truth into me and encourage me in my journey and my hope is restored...I can get through it.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Ah, mornings.

Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning.
Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I direct my prayer to you and watch. Psalm 5:1-3

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Psalm 143:8

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14

Oh, how we need him in the mornings, whether they are a relief from the night before, an invitation to a day full of life and adventure, or an unwelcome reminder that nothing has changed since yesterday.

We need to know that he hears our words and considers our groaning.
We need to know that he pays attention to the sounds of our cries.
He hears our voices... and we wait for him, expectantly, to answer.

We need to hear over and over and over again of his love for us, because he is the one who we trust for everything. We need to know we are loved by the one to whom we lift up our souls.

We need to be satisfied with his unfailing love, because we truly want to rejoice in life and be glad all our days, no matter what the circumstances happen to be.

Thank you, Lord, for understanding about mornings and giving us your word to answer our need. We love you and offer our days to you.

"All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too."
~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (The Message)

Last week I wrote about Psalm 23 and how our journey doesn’t take us around the valleys but that we need to go through them to draw near to God. The journey through the valley is not always easy yet the rewards when we get to the other side are awesome. Sometimes it would be nice to see God's gameplan so we know how our journey will end. Unfortunately God doesn't work that way.

A journey God has me on over the past couple years is something very personal. I struggle with when this journey will end and when I will get to the other side of the valley. There are many days where I think I catch glimpses of the sunshine peeking over the edge and it’s a boost to get me to continue on this journey. Over the last few years I have struggled with depression. Because of this I have had many days where I have felt I’ve been in the pit of hell and others where I feel really good and can get a lot accomplished. For me this journey has been a time where God has shown me to step back and rest…. this is my season to receive. I’ve always been a giver and give myself to others. I love serving others and doing special things for them and it pains me that I cannot give of myself to others in this quiet journey. Most days I need to be by myself and not take on too much. I get overwhelmed very easy and cannot have too much on my schedule before it overwhelms me. I need to do things spontaneously because each day is a hit and miss on how I’m feeling.

The enemy uses this time to bring me down and fill my head with lies. He can take things that have been said to me and use them when I am feeling alone to make me feel worse. I wish I could honestly say that each time that happens I pull out my Bible and rebuke Satan and speak God’s truth but I don’t. It’s hard to describe that this valley I’m going through is a good time for me where God is teaching me many things that I’ve never thought I needed to learn before.

The reason I’m writing about depression is that I know there are many women (and men) who struggle with this like I do. For some it’s very mild and others the depression is very difficult and dark. Each person’s journey through the valley of depression is different from someone else and you cannot compare yourself to how others handled it. When I first got “diagnosed” with depression I had many people tell me that I wasn’t trusting in God enough and that it had to do with my relationship with God and that I had to make things right to get out of it. Others simply told me to snap out of it without understanding how I couldn’t.

A dear friend who God brought into my life on this journey helped me to rest in Jesus in this time. She walked this journey too and has come to the green pastures after walking through the valley of depression. She told me to allow God to meet me in the dark moments. I used to be a person who could sing and pray all day long and this was strange to me to need to be alone and not talk to anyone. She encouraged me to ask God to just rest with me and be beside me and allow him to be near. Let me tell you that changed this journey for me. I can go through my day and I have confidence that God is right there beside me. I cannot always converse with him or feel my heart overflowing with love for him but I know he’s there. I invite him into my dark and lonely moments and fill a void only he can fill.

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him." Ps 62:1

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him." Ps 62:5

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." Ps 91:1

Just like God is beside me as I walk through this valley in my life, He's with you. I want to encourage you to find rest in God alone. Rest in Jesus.... safe and secure in His arms as you journey together. Invite him to meet you in the darkness. You're not alone on this journey and don't need to be.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28