It is 7 weeks til 2013, next week is Thanksgiving, and then short after we celebrate Christmas. How quickly does the holiday season crouch up on us, I almost didn't feel it coming. These days I find myself so busy. I haven't started a shopping list for gifts, and I haven't even gotten the grocery list together for Thanksgiving dinner. I"m so busy, you are so busy...I'm sure there is more than a handful of people that can relate to what I'm feeling.
Though, I am listing my superficial thoughts above, just below that superficiality there has been one thought that has been on my mind. While I'm working on projects, having lunch/dinner with good friends, going to church, enjoying days of celebration, during studio sessions, I'm thinking "what does God want for me next year". I feel like in the midst of our business, somehow we want more, whether we are busy with school, work, projects, people, ministry, traveling, family, or even the holiday hustle bustle....there is always something subconsciously there that gives us hope for more. Especially when we are busy. Does it count that it is also 7 weeks til the New Year and November, the month of Thanksgiving, also becomes the month where we begin to reevaluate the year, goals, achievements, resolutions, memories etc...
I want to encourage SEAC leaders, followers of Christ, my brothers and sisters to take your thoughts from God, whispers as they may be, seriously. As Thanksgiving comes, may we find a spirit of gratitude, and resolution with our God. Gratitude is different from thanksgiving in the sense, gratitude comes from giving and receiving grace/blessings, even sufferings with a thankful heart that delights in the Lord. In these next few weeks instead of recreating a resolution list of do's and don't, diet/gym plans, or bucket lists. Sit with the Lord and ask him, "God, what do you want to teach me, and where do you want me to go?" The bucket list, the resolution list, and the diet/gym plan will all follow if our thoughts of seeking Him first are in every moment of our daily thoughts.
I like to call it the annual lesson. (it usually has a verse that he wants me to focus on for the year. I began doing this in 2009. My journal is filled with characteristics, places, and lessons that have enriched me under that one umbrella. It has changed my life and my view of our Father. Example: I thought I knew how to celebrate. One year God said, "This is THE year, Own it." I had no clue, celebrating with how God wants to reveal things is way more creative of an adventure than I would've ever imagined. That year, my sister flew me on an overnight trip (literally 24 hrs.) to San Francisco, just to celebrate and wish me a happy birthday. That year, I graduated with my BFA in Illustratioin and began a plan to go to Cambodia to use art as therapy with kids, That year, I went to NYC for 10 days just to celebrate my friends quarter of a century birthday, and saw Phantom of the Opera on BROADWAY. That year, I had my first successful brown and perfect looking turkey (I have a ghetto oven door that doesn't close tightly). Every month there was something worth celebrating, and he said OWN IT. It truly was worth seeking His face and enjoying all that he provided and allowed. Those things healed a lot of scars that remained from my past. That year of OWN IT also had many struggles, but my perspective changed, how to deal with my pain was different because God gave me hope and blessings worth celebrating. He was teaching me how to deal with my stress, my suffering, and my angst with healthier thoughts. It all began with making my heart available for him to work.
Though, I am listing my superficial thoughts above, just below that superficiality there has been one thought that has been on my mind. While I'm working on projects, having lunch/dinner with good friends, going to church, enjoying days of celebration, during studio sessions, I'm thinking "what does God want for me next year". I feel like in the midst of our business, somehow we want more, whether we are busy with school, work, projects, people, ministry, traveling, family, or even the holiday hustle bustle....there is always something subconsciously there that gives us hope for more. Especially when we are busy. Does it count that it is also 7 weeks til the New Year and November, the month of Thanksgiving, also becomes the month where we begin to reevaluate the year, goals, achievements, resolutions, memories etc...
I want to encourage SEAC leaders, followers of Christ, my brothers and sisters to take your thoughts from God, whispers as they may be, seriously. As Thanksgiving comes, may we find a spirit of gratitude, and resolution with our God. Gratitude is different from thanksgiving in the sense, gratitude comes from giving and receiving grace/blessings, even sufferings with a thankful heart that delights in the Lord. In these next few weeks instead of recreating a resolution list of do's and don't, diet/gym plans, or bucket lists. Sit with the Lord and ask him, "God, what do you want to teach me, and where do you want me to go?" The bucket list, the resolution list, and the diet/gym plan will all follow if our thoughts of seeking Him first are in every moment of our daily thoughts.
***A taste through testimony is below, scroll down if your unable to read it at this moment to a very common, but over looked verse. ***
I like to call it the annual lesson. (it usually has a verse that he wants me to focus on for the year. I began doing this in 2009. My journal is filled with characteristics, places, and lessons that have enriched me under that one umbrella. It has changed my life and my view of our Father. Example: I thought I knew how to celebrate. One year God said, "This is THE year, Own it." I had no clue, celebrating with how God wants to reveal things is way more creative of an adventure than I would've ever imagined. That year, my sister flew me on an overnight trip (literally 24 hrs.) to San Francisco, just to celebrate and wish me a happy birthday. That year, I graduated with my BFA in Illustratioin and began a plan to go to Cambodia to use art as therapy with kids, That year, I went to NYC for 10 days just to celebrate my friends quarter of a century birthday, and saw Phantom of the Opera on BROADWAY. That year, I had my first successful brown and perfect looking turkey (I have a ghetto oven door that doesn't close tightly). Every month there was something worth celebrating, and he said OWN IT. It truly was worth seeking His face and enjoying all that he provided and allowed. Those things healed a lot of scars that remained from my past. That year of OWN IT also had many struggles, but my perspective changed, how to deal with my pain was different because God gave me hope and blessings worth celebrating. He was teaching me how to deal with my stress, my suffering, and my angst with healthier thoughts. It all began with making my heart available for him to work.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33
words from your SEAC Prayer Co-ordinator.
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