Whither thou goest...

Our Daily Life
I remember the song based on the speech by Ruth to Naomi: Whither thou goest, I will go.  The irony is that song is sung at weddings a lot.  It was originally spoken by one woman to another (a mother in law)!

I liked the devotional summary:

In all the setbacks of your life as a believer,
God is plotting for your joy. —John Piper

The question I have for us is: Are we ready to accept God's joy?  Are we ready to have the quiet, confident joy that only God can give no matter what our circumstances?  For me, my mind usually tries to manufacture stuff like this, then my heart finally follows along much later.  ;-p  For example, my mind thought I was over some anger towards a friend.  My heart pushed me to lash back after he hurt me in an email last week.  I thought my mind and heart had both moved past the "you hurt me, I hurt you" cycle.  We are fine now after I apologized (he didn't even realize what he said).  I am praying that he has more sensitivity.

Prepare for joy.  Accept it.  Don't live in the past.

Lord, thank you for the joy you offer me each day.  Help me to accept it -- joyfully!  


Teaching Tuesday
I have been thinking and praying about some stuff lately.  That is good, right?  ;-)  I have been trying to do some centering prayer where I focus for a while on listening to God and being more sensitive to listening throughout the day.

I am also trying to focus my prayers since I am still learning about discernment.  Yes, I am honest with God about what I want -- healing, peace, a relationship, etc.  I am also sensitive to the fact that there may be reasons for things not happening or not happening when I want them to happen.  God is not a jeanie in a bottle.  He is the almighty God.  He wants us all to be whole.  Being whole can mean different things for different people.  For example, I finally asked God to help me with the root cause of some of my illnesses - my eating habits and my weight.  It seems simple, but why should God heal me of my diabetes-related illnesses if I am going to continue my destructive behavior of eating poorly?  It only makes sense.

Think and pray about these things in your life.  God will listen.  God wants to make you whole -- whatever that means for you.

Other Stuff
I went to see Mr Popper's Penguins last night.  I enjoyed it much more than I planned...  hehehe  Very cute movie.

I was very tired, so I came home and went to bed.  Whew...  I feel better this morning.

Hang in there, my friends!  I will be upbeat and steady.  That is what I do...