I joined Facebook last week. Several friends at church suggested I do it...and I thought, "Just another thing for me to do." But everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun with it, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. And it has been fun! So far, in less than a week, I have 75 friends!
What has really been wonderful is the people who have "found" me! Three people who were very important to me at particular times in my life, who for whatever reason I lost contact with, have reconnected with me. I know two of them actually searched for me, which makes me feel good. Will we really reconnect? I don't know. But it's good to know they still think about me like I think about them. I wonder why we lost touch in the first place? Why did God send me down different roads than some of the people I thought I could never lose touch with?
The last couple of days on Facebook there has been a fun thing circulating among my friends called "25 Random Things About Me." I wrote mine...of course much more wordy than most everyone else's...talk a lot...write a lot...something everyone already knows about me!
What I noticed when I was reading some of the lists my friends wrote, as well as my own, was there were a number of comments like, "I used to do...." "I used to be..." "I want to do..." For some reason I started thinking about those comments. Add to that the people I "used to be" so close to. And I began to think about the path God leads us down in our lives, and where we go and what we do when we take the wheel, or when we let God do the driving.
This morning, I checked on Pattie's blog, and she posted this really neat poem about guidance. It's called "Dancing With God." There's a great analogy in it, and I'm not going to try to summarize it here, other than to say it tied in perfectly with what I've been mulling over since last night. So click on the word "poem" above and read it for yourself.
Most of our "used to's" and "want to's" came from the fact that right now we are mothers, and sometime I think we feel that motherhood is an interruption of what we really wanted to do...especially on difficult days! I remember reading somewhere a woman talking about that, and how she wondered what her purpose in life is while she was washing the dishes after a long day of mothering and taking care of the house. It occurred to her that there was no reason to think that God's purpose for her at that moment in time was to be...washing the dishes! Right now, her purpose was to be a mother. I know that's no big revelation, but I know I forget that sometimes. Recently, one of our Elder's wives shared with us that she now believes her main purpose in life was to be the mother of one particular child out of her children.
I'm also thinking of our latest American hero, Capt. "Sully" Sullenberger who landed that plane perfectly in the Hudson River. Many times it's been reported that he learned to fly at 14, he has flown in the Air Force, piloted jets for US Airways since 1980, owns a consulting firm that specializes in airline emergencies, studied the psychology of airline emergencies, and in his spare time is a certified glider pilot! He and many others have said that his life was a preparation for that exact moment in time that he had to land that plane. Maybe Sully wanted to do different things at some point in his life. And if he had, would he have been able to land a plane with no engine power in a river in a way that spared the lives of every person on board?
How many of us will ever know those exact moments in time that God has been preparing them for? Is it one great moment, or many "everyday" moments?
There are many things I would like to do, things I wish I could continued to do, things I wish I never did, or never happened. As a Christian, I have to decide every moment whether or not to "dance with God." Sometimes I'm sure God "cut in" and danced with me whether I liked it or not! The longer I have been a Christian, the more I can see how my past experiences prepare me for situations that meet me in life. Sometimes it's a repeat, and I know what I did last time helps me to handle it better this time. Sometimes it SO obvious that God has prepared me for an exact moment in time that I know without a doubt that I can confidently allow Him to direct me. And what He usually tells me is to rely on what He's taught me in the past, whether I drove, or He drove. And something that would have sent me into a tailspin not long ago, I can now face with peace.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way, walk in it." Isaiah 30:21
For this God is our God forever and ever; he will be our guide until the end." Psalm 48:14
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, " plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
What has really been wonderful is the people who have "found" me! Three people who were very important to me at particular times in my life, who for whatever reason I lost contact with, have reconnected with me. I know two of them actually searched for me, which makes me feel good. Will we really reconnect? I don't know. But it's good to know they still think about me like I think about them. I wonder why we lost touch in the first place? Why did God send me down different roads than some of the people I thought I could never lose touch with?
The last couple of days on Facebook there has been a fun thing circulating among my friends called "25 Random Things About Me." I wrote mine...of course much more wordy than most everyone else's...talk a lot...write a lot...something everyone already knows about me!
What I noticed when I was reading some of the lists my friends wrote, as well as my own, was there were a number of comments like, "I used to do...." "I used to be..." "I want to do..." For some reason I started thinking about those comments. Add to that the people I "used to be" so close to. And I began to think about the path God leads us down in our lives, and where we go and what we do when we take the wheel, or when we let God do the driving.
This morning, I checked on Pattie's blog, and she posted this really neat poem about guidance. It's called "Dancing With God." There's a great analogy in it, and I'm not going to try to summarize it here, other than to say it tied in perfectly with what I've been mulling over since last night. So click on the word "poem" above and read it for yourself.
Most of our "used to's" and "want to's" came from the fact that right now we are mothers, and sometime I think we feel that motherhood is an interruption of what we really wanted to do...especially on difficult days! I remember reading somewhere a woman talking about that, and how she wondered what her purpose in life is while she was washing the dishes after a long day of mothering and taking care of the house. It occurred to her that there was no reason to think that God's purpose for her at that moment in time was to be...washing the dishes! Right now, her purpose was to be a mother. I know that's no big revelation, but I know I forget that sometimes. Recently, one of our Elder's wives shared with us that she now believes her main purpose in life was to be the mother of one particular child out of her children.
I'm also thinking of our latest American hero, Capt. "Sully" Sullenberger who landed that plane perfectly in the Hudson River. Many times it's been reported that he learned to fly at 14, he has flown in the Air Force, piloted jets for US Airways since 1980, owns a consulting firm that specializes in airline emergencies, studied the psychology of airline emergencies, and in his spare time is a certified glider pilot! He and many others have said that his life was a preparation for that exact moment in time that he had to land that plane. Maybe Sully wanted to do different things at some point in his life. And if he had, would he have been able to land a plane with no engine power in a river in a way that spared the lives of every person on board?
How many of us will ever know those exact moments in time that God has been preparing them for? Is it one great moment, or many "everyday" moments?
There are many things I would like to do, things I wish I could continued to do, things I wish I never did, or never happened. As a Christian, I have to decide every moment whether or not to "dance with God." Sometimes I'm sure God "cut in" and danced with me whether I liked it or not! The longer I have been a Christian, the more I can see how my past experiences prepare me for situations that meet me in life. Sometimes it's a repeat, and I know what I did last time helps me to handle it better this time. Sometimes it SO obvious that God has prepared me for an exact moment in time that I know without a doubt that I can confidently allow Him to direct me. And what He usually tells me is to rely on what He's taught me in the past, whether I drove, or He drove. And something that would have sent me into a tailspin not long ago, I can now face with peace.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way, walk in it." Isaiah 30:21
For this God is our God forever and ever; he will be our guide until the end." Psalm 48:14
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, " plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
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