In Heaven

I've been reading Selwyn Hughes's powerful devotional, Every Day with Jesus:The Lord's Prayer.

Phrase by phrase, he reminds me that right focus equals right praying, and that focus is on God.

I must begin to pray remembering that I'm speaking to the One Who loves me as the Perfect Father, Who is not bound by Earth or my understanding, Who is above all holy.

When the transcendence of the Lord fills my praying, my unbelief dissolves, and I worship in His holy presence.

Be blessed today, 

Ginger

Linking here. 

Hello Monday Evening

Hello, Monday evening!

Hello, delicious coolness!  I hope you make this a permanent thing.

Hello, history tests.  You're the academic flavor of the day.

Hello, groove; we're in the work, the routine, and, yes, the frustrations of the school year in full force.

Hello, coffee+prayer.  I want need a Word.

Hello, color and light and black-eyed susies

 

 and blue skies.

 

Camera session calling my name.

Be blessed,

Ginger

Thursday in Four Acts

Act I

Primping

The new hair pic I promised (and what is, quite possibly, the most awkward photographic moment ever):

  Humidity + curls + early grays=a whole summer of bad hair days,so I'm lovin' this cut.

Act II

Pascal's Principle and Other Goodies

One child in 8th grade Advanced Science and a junior in Honors Chemistry mean I'm relearning a bunch of vocabulary I haven't used since high school.  Want to know about potential energy?  How about exothermic reactions?  Just ask.  Better yet, ask my children.

Act III

Puppies

10:00 pm last night--My dogs barking.

10:45--Dogs still barking.

11:00--Neighbor's dog joins the fun.

1:30 am--Dogs are asleep.  I'm not.

Act IV

Pillows

Teenage girls,presumably intelligent enough to be taking aforementioned science classes, are pillow-fighting in the living room over the relative quality of Adele and Taylor Swift.  

I need intermission.

Be blessed today.

Ginger

Hello Monday

Hello Monday!

Hello, temps in the low 70's!  I heart, heart, heart you.  Autumn is the best.

Speaking of which, hello goldenrod!

Blurry picture; no time to pick another one

  

I wish you didn't shed and Big Red didn't complain when I pick you and bring you inside.  You look lovely with zinnias, if only temporarily.

Hello, new morning routine. Prayer and coffee--that's all.  No exercise, no laundry, no guilt.  I'm following you until God tells me to go back to the old one.  I think I'm going to like you.

Hello, menu planner!

  

You are a lifesaver.  Paired with some meal-prepping from here, you have saved my sanity so far this school year.

Hello, mini blog-redesign.  You're still in my head, and you'll probably be there a bit longer, but since I've mentioned you, I have to follow through.

Hello, new perspective.  After the Beth Moore simulcast, you're planted in my heart, and I'm grateful.

What are you saying hello to this week?

Be blessed,

Ginger

This is the Post Where I Should Tell You Something Profound

But I won't, I don't think.

You see, this has just been one of those weeks. 

The ones when I'm reminded less of how far we've come and more of how far we have yet to go.

One when my world is full of "uns":

undone dishes

unwashed clothes

ungraded papers

a counter full of overripe tomatoes left unattended

a heart left unguarded, too sleepy and rushed in the small hours to really rest in the presence of God

One when I lose my Mom-of-the-Year, Wife-of-the-Year nomination.

Darn.

So this afternoon (Friday afternoon! Glorious Friday!), I sit and read blogposts that remind me who I am and Who He is, and I want to unwrap the presents of spying an upside-down squirrel on a sunflower stalk, cutting zinnias that stand like a candy-store display, eating pizza,watching Captain America.
I'm tired of life getting in the way of living.
So the something profound I should tell you is just this:
next week, I'm praying for God to change me, not everyone else.
I want to come undone in His presence,and watch and see what He unwraps.
Be blessed,
Ginger

Scripture and a Snapshot: Beauty Rest

I haven't been around here this week because I've had nothing to say--except maybe "I'm so stinkin' busy I might implode" or "I'm tired", neither of which you really want to hear.

In the wee dark morning hours when I am the only one awake yet, coffee cup in hand, I peer into 1 Peter 3:3-4.

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes."

(Check! Can do; I'm a little long in the tooth for braids, and unless you count accessories from Cato's, there's not an abundance of gold around here!)

" Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth to God."

(Hmm...gentle and quiet. Big,fat fail.  I wonder what that even looks like.  Gentle and quiet aren't exactly the first words that come to mind about me.)

In Jesus Calling, Sarah Young talks a lot about letting go of the picture in our heads of a controlled, neat-and-tidy life. 

 The Presence replaces the "perfect".

One commentary said that the word "fine" in verse three isn't in the original.  In other words, there are no bonus points for being frugal or plain.  Ordinary me, extraordinary me--it isn't about me at all.

In my busy, tired, messy life, Christ will guide me and give me rest. He quiets my anxious, overwrought spirit.

That's beautiful. 

Be blessed,

Ginger

Linking here.