Unsatisfied By Average

The Musings of a Stubborn Believer

Category: misty mornings

No Substitute

September 11, 2013 / / 9 Comments

I’m as sure as the sunrise. This is the secret…

I stand at my front door and watch Africa stir, listen to the jungle morning. But my thoughts are far away. I cry and He answers. And though we better our acquaintance daily, most days He still catches me off guard. And some days when I’m only half done with my rant he silences me with one word, burned in silence across the wall of my soul.

“… And say I not well that I am ‘a Samaritan’?
Say I not well that Thou deservest more and better?–“

“Say I not well that there is only one of you in the world, and in My heart you’re irreplaceable?”

There is one thing that binds me to the cross. One thing that is to be thanked for any progress, any strength, any accomplishment.
And that one thing is not my commitment, my abandonment, my faith, my hope, my experience, my choice, my will, my power, or my surrender.

It is the mercy of Christ.

The love that doesn’t want “more and better” as a substitute for broken me.

Bloom Anyway!

September 19, 2011 / / 1 Comment

Part of me is not ready for summer to be over.
Not ready to watch the yard change out its summer coat for dusty brown, one blade at a time. Up here we tend to flower beds, fruit trees, and turf 10 months out of the year, so that 2 months can be beautiful– August, and September.

But part of me is ready.
I tip-toed over to Chantée’s rock garden yesterday, as if one false step would chase away the perfect mountain morning. We’re past due for frost, but still rainclouds from a zealous monsoon have kept the heat in every night…
And so in the chill of an almost-October morning at 8,000 feet there were still flowers singing glory amongst the rocks.

Thought I:
Boy, you’d think it was about time for hibernation. Seriously, all this praise will come to a screeching halt in a few days, for frost can’t be all that far away. Be quick and spread seed. The time for blooms is past…


Or is it?

When I tiptoed back away from the garden, little flowers that wordlessly sing hallelujah had taught me another lesson…

Bloom anyway.

Let the frost come! For one last glorious moment color will shine through crystal, and then the flower’s work will be done.
Sing to the finish.

If spring is time for growing, and summer is time for loving, then fall is time for giving.

And that’s the most beautiful thing of all…

Brightest Stars…

November 19, 2010 / / 2 Comments
Sitting on the futon in my office wrapped in a blanket, and staring out glass french doors at the birth of another frosty morning, I am intrigued–
One by one the lights of heaven –suns burning bright and hot in their places lifetimes away– go out. The promise of another blue sky reaching farther and farther west washes them from remembrance, at least for today.
But one remains. It’s not the largest, hottest, or whitest… In fact, it’s not a star. 
But that’s ok. It’s the brightest.
Now my eyes and my heart turn back to my office, my morning, my life.
There are plenty of “bright stars” in life’s night sky. 
But those who shine brightest and longest have no light of their own. They’re simply reflectors. 
We’re no stars anyway!
But that’s ok. As long as He can shine brightest through us…
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure… That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”
Philippians 2:13, 15

A Little Secret…

June 6, 2010 / / 0 Comments
I love misty late-spring mornings.
Maybe it’s because God hides behind mist when He reveals His glory… Or maybe it’s because on such mornings, everything heavy and oppressive is driven away, and nature sings its sweetest melody. Or maybe it’s because the mist makes things grow…
Whatever the case, I’m really drawn. And never does such a morning pass without awakening in me an extra special desire to grow myself. 
Welcome “100 days of Summer.” 
Not the State Police’s vigorous seatbelt/DWI/speeding enforcement initiative, but just a tad bit like it. They set their summer goals and then get extra serious about their jobs during the busy season, and their efforts pay off in decreased accidents and crime. Now what if Christians set tangible goals for growth and service, and then got extra serious about doing their little part, and praying for the rest? Just for 100 days… Do you think it might pay off?
I’ve got a little secret. It would.
I know, because I (along with some of my nearest and dearest) did “100 days of Spring.” 
So join us if you will… Pray about what God wants you to accomplish this summer, and put it on paper. Then work. Check your progress every day. Pray like you’ve never prayed before, and then share your story with someone…
_________________________
That was just the preface. I wanted to tell you what I learned this morning… 🙂
What is about to follow (tomorrow, and the next day, and the next) is a series of posts on my favorite Old Testament book. Since today is day 1, I read chapter 1. Tomorrow, I’ll read chapter 2. Perhaps you’ll read it too, and tell me what strikes you… Even if it is just three words. 🙂 I’ll try to post every day, unless I’m somewhere where neither iPad nor Blackberry have access to the outside world. 
Ok, so here goes… (I love this!)
(Next Post)

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