This posting will be brief, as it took eight hours instead of five to drive from Maryland to our home today. On any future trips I will gladly go out of my way to avoid I-95!
I am weary.
I always enjoyed driving, but not so much anymore.
Maybe because I have to do all the driving now, because I am certain that it doesn't have anything to do with getting older!
One of the blessings of becoming...I am groping for the right words.... Maturing? Aging? Growing older? EEK! None of those sound good....None are a good fit, at least not for me. I don't feel an age and in many ways don't see myself that way.
Yet, I do enjoy the fact that I have reached the season of my life where I am more comfortable in my own skin. I have also come to a place where I treasure my friendships more dearly and am free to enjoy they more deeply.
So I was eager to stop overnight at my dear friend Kathy's in Maryland on our way back from Virginia. As always it was refreshing to be able to visit for a bit.
A couple of years ago someone shared with me a vision that the LORD had shown them for me. She said that she saw me going down a path that Papa had laid out before me. Alongside the path were all kinds of lovely flowers that filled the air with their fragrances. Among all the beautiful colors there were special treasures for me. Treasures to take to myself and hold close.
I believe those treasures are my dear friends.
Some friends are close by, some you get to spend time with on a regular basis, others are not in your everyday life whether near or far. However, our Gracious God weaves our lives together so that we connect at just the perfect times.
This weekend had a few challenges. As we all know, family can bring some of life's greatest joys and deepest hurts and sorrows. Mix in fatigue and ongoing responsibilities and it is easy to become weighted down.
Papa knew I would need a word to carry me through.
There is a special woman whom I have known for seventeen or eighteen years. We use to be in each other's life on a regular basis. No more. I miss that.
However, shared experiences are never lost, nor forgotten.
Once lives have connected, the connection continues....
Friday the submission in the Lenten devotional that I am reading was by my friend.
She spoke of a vision that the LORD gave her, a vision of the three persons of God in a circle dance together. This dance was one of joyful abandon; a fellowship marked by love, acceptance and enjoyment.
So many have learned to picture God as some severe, stuffy judge holding Himself aloof from mere humans; ready to come down on them for every little infraction.
So a picture of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit enjoying one another would be foreign to them. This view is lifeless and is so foreign to the true picture of who God is.
As the structures and false pictures press in on us we might begin to wonder if this is all He has for us and then ask. as the writer did, "Is this as good as it gets?"
He answered with the vision of the circle dance!
Imagine a Hand extending to us from the circle of Dancers! Amazingly the invitation has been extended for us to join the circle dance!
What an encouraging picture!
If you have read this blog for any period of time you know that I love to dance in worship to my God and at times have pictured dancing with Him.
Now He is calling for me to forget the precise dance steps and simply frolic with Him!
As my friend spoke of the invitation she reminded the reader that it is much more delightful than sitting outside the circle fretting, worrying, working or pouting. I would add that we also need to let go of whatever we are clutching in our hands, as our hands need to be free to be able to grasp the Hands that are extended to us in invitation!
Can we trust those Hands?
Yes, they hold the mark of love that is the guarantee that we are indeed safe in them......those Hands are nail-scarred.
As I leave behind that which I was fretting and pouting over; releasing all that I had clutching in my hands, running to join the circle dance, I experience a deep sense of freedom and joy; an assurance that I am free to frolic!
If I were to look back I would not find any of my cares scattered about.
No, they have all been gathered up by my loving God.
He will tend to all of it without missing one opportunity to dance!
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