Sometimes God is in special moments.  Fun.  Joy. Sharing.  This was one of those moments.  My girl got a new Barbie fingernail printer for his big Christmas gift.  She is helping get her Mamaw all dolled up and refreshed.  They giggled, played, and had fun.

SEEING GOD IN NEWNESS:

My big guy, playing basketball away, sick, toughing it out, resolved to make it through the week and pursue dreams and goals.   Sick as a dog.

Newness in my daughter, such a young lady now.  Showing responsibility, making her own decisions, trying new things, reaching for goals, considering the future, pursuing clubs that require work because she knows it’s good for her.

Newness in my youngest, feeling like a big guy with his new iPod touch (courtesy of Big Brother, who got an upgraded version for Christmas).

Scripture Today: Sermon on the Mount, Part B

The privacy of the most genuine spirituality.

The gift of service is  to God.  Quietly.

No personal reward needed or sought except His.

All…especially for Him, only for Him.

Not shared.

Purity of heart, simplicity of approach.

Honest.  Genuine.  Personal.

RESPONSE:

Lord, help me to remember that you desire a quiet gift of service, not a loud one.  You desire a personal approach to you over a public one.  All for you.  Quiet, pure, service.

The scripture that stood out most to me was when we show mercy, will will be shown mercy.  I have a situation where I probably need to show mercy.  Sometimes, a cause is worth more than petty emotion. I’ll keep praying.  ”Love overlooks an offense.”  I Cor. 13.

God Sightings:

I can’t say that I saw “newness” today, per the instructions for this week, but God was my help and rescue several times, and showed me favor when I needed it to help one of my kids at school.  My gas pedal on my van got stuck today, even more than it has been on a daily basis right after I back out of the garage.  My husband got me all settled down and safe, and a mechanic gave me good advice.  I’ll hopefully get that taken care of tomorrow.

As to newness…FedEx brought my new microwave I ordered exactly a month ago.  Whew.  For about six months, I’ve functioned with only the 4,5,7, and 8 buttons–I’m very excited about getting it installed.

NEWNESS!  It is good!

No kid’s church tonight, so I brought the youngest home and caught up on my NT reading during church.  I hope to get both trees down tonight before frigid weather hits next week.  (Update:  one tree down, two remaining.  Hope to get much cleaning down tomorrow.)

Food for thought:

After Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert, then was tempted and withstood, his healing ministry began.

When Jesus saw people working, he turned those skills into evangelism skills, and they were fulfilled in that calling.

God sightings:

Today has been a trying day.  Waiting at businesses, no service, waiting more, distracted service, conversational service.  So hard to slow down, be sweet, and just let the day “be”.

I saw God…

changing my attitude, making it new, calling me to embrace the “clean up” jobs that seem more monotonous with the family gone back to work and school.  Filling the day, dirty clothes, dirty dishes, clean clothes, clean dishes, drying clothes, drying dishes, putting away clothes, putting away dishes.   And in between, crums, and cooking, and stresses, and demands.

Prayer:

Lord, help me embrace the scripture I read from my friend, Laura, today on facebook.  ”‎”Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can undersatnd. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” -
Philippians 4:6-7

Confession:

I am worried about one of my kids.  How easy it is to miss something at school that causes them to not succeed.  Lord, fix that!  I am so dependent on what they tell me, and notes they write.  Sometimes their success is dependent on things they are not just strong in yet, and it’s frustrating.  I want to help them learn in spite of some of their weak areas–give me patience and insight. Give us favor to help us when things get tough.

I See God: Trying to help me slow down.  Giving me peace.  Helping me serve my family.

I checked a sample of the reading companion online, and found that it would require 5 copies for each member of our family…a lot to purchase and keep up with, though averaged out over a year, not too bad.  Still, was looking for a way to us to find the assignments and share with one another without all the literature.  Turns out there is a virtual companion guide online.   I can’t seem to get my God Sightings journal to save there, so I’m going to copy and paste my journal here on a free blog for now.  This may move to facebook, but I want to explore that idea with church staff first.

Assignment: Week 1  (abridged) “This week, look for beginnings. For new life. Fresh starts. Clean slates. You’ll see them everywhere. And each beginning is an echo of God’s creative work in the world—a God Sighting.”

DATE:  Sunday, Jan. 1-2, 2010

• Seeing the birth of new baby Jenkins, and the new liver function of her little sister, Cassidy
• The new year.
• New technological ways we can view God together.
• Renewed health in myself after a cold.
• Fresh clean rooms after post-Christmas clutter.
• Clean desk.  Clean calendars.
• New points of view (see below).

The other day I was doing laundry and thought, “I don’t feel like doing this right now.  There are other things…” and I heard from Jesus, “I do.”  I said, “Well, you go to it then!”  He did do it.  And I stopped.  Only  my hands kept going, and there was new attitude…His.   He wants to serve, bless, meets needs, above all other agendas.  How great He is!

I want to invite you to join below in comments to share your God Sightings.  I’m not in a Sunday School class due to teaching, so I will enjoy other people’s “spottings”.

Light.

Cleaning.

Cheer.

Thoughtful observations:  dish cleaning brushes, one rounded and soft, one hard and square.  Both needed.

Reading Matthew 3–Jesus Baptized by John, and Tempted

Thoughts:

• Jesus, the most powerful on earth, was tempted with power
• Jesus, the bread of life, was tempted with bread
• Jesus, the miracle man, was tempted with magic

Satan does not necessarily tempt us in our weakest areas, but often in our strongest, our very identity, twisting the truth just enough to turn focus on self rather than others.

“We shall not waste our time in looking for extraordinary experiences in our life, but live by pure faith, ever watchful and ready for his coming by doing our day-to-day duties with extraordinary love and devotion.”

Went back to bed to pray and said, “Give me anything, Lord.  Encourage me today.”

I love verses read many times that come to place, even if it is not “the voice of the Lord”, it is the word of the Lord.

The word said, “Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows.”

Isaiah 53:4
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows,

He has.  Praise God he has.  I may as well let him do what he already did.  And let go.  And praise him all the more.  He “took them up”.  He “carried them”.  If the Lord of the universe has done this for me…why on earth would I want to pick them and try to carry them?  He is mighty and strong.  He could, and he did.  I thank Him.  I let them go, and praise Him that he took the weight of them.

Prov. 3:18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

Sometimes, we feel we get more and more tired and worn…but the path of the righteous just keeps shining brighter and brighter.  How encouraging1

Proverbs 2: 17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.

Pleasant…all her ways.  Peaceful…all her paths.

19 By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations,

I love this verse…I’m not sure why.  I think because it points to Jesus as being there in the beginning.  He was the word, the spoken wisdom of God, brining into being all that was created, right there with God.  Perhaps it points to the working together of the Trinity in ways we don’t always clearly see between Jesus and God in the beginning.  It gives us a sense of the way things were between jesus and God before Jesus came to earth.  They functioned together.