my dad shot a MOOSE!

eyes to see

i think God always wants to show me new things if i'm willing to have the eyes to see...

tomorrow is cardboard recycling day.  my grandpa already pushed the carboard recycling cart to the end of the driveway, but twice tonight, they have somehow found more cardboard that needs to be recycled.  so they call me from downstairs and ask if i can walk the cardboard out to the street.  and usually i don't mind... i love any excuse to go outside. 

i've had a headache all day and i've been kind of edgy because i don't feel very well.  i still love to go outside, but you know... when you have a headache, you just want to be left alone in silence.  but... i got called upstairs to take care of the cardboard.  i step outside, walk to the end of the driveway, drop the things in the cart, and turn around to walk inside.  ho hum.  but then i see the sky.  it's dark, the moon is out... and the moonlight is just illuminating the clouds... and there are a few stars already out.  it's the perfect temperature too... cool but i don't need a coat.  wow, i loved that sky.

skies always teach me things.  i live life as if it revolves around me... and then i look at the sky.  it's so BIG, and when i look up for a while, small little me seems to disappear into the bigness of that sky.  and i feel like God speaks to my heart and reminds me that He has a big picture that He is working towards and that i am a part of that big picture... but i am not the center of it.  and once again, i bow my heart and submit myself to Him.  and i'm learning that it is necessary for me to take this posture SEVERAL times a day.  because before i know it, life becomes about me again... and then God uses a sky or a Jehovah's Witness or a bouncing deer or whatever He chooses to remind me that He is God, He is my Father, I am His child.  the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to children... to the poor in spirit... who aren't afraid to admit how much they need Him.

Today I was humbled.  And I need it... I so need it.  I walked into the Dunkin Donuts to pick up some coffee for my cousin and me, and I noticed that there was a pretty, older lady in a skirt standing at the counter.  My first thought was "maybe she's going to chuch..."  She must have been ordering for a whole busload of people because she took FOREVER... and I was running late to meet my cousin.  I was getting slightly aggravated.  Finally, my turn came and I ordered the coffee for us and a cookie for Simeon.  The woman was still standing there, and I began to notice that she was trying to get my attention.  I was about to give her my attention when I saw what she was holding in her hand... several copies of the "Watchtower" magazine.  And then I noticed that the other two ladies standing with her were also wearing skirts-- Jehovah's Witnesses!  I was immediately irritated and moved away from the woman.  How many times have these people stopped me when I am running in a grocery store or the Wawa?  They always seem to stop me at the WORST times.  And today, once again, I was running late.  And in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, "Hey, lady, if you try to talk to me today, it's not going to be pretty."  But the lady turns to talk to me anyway... and she says, "Miss, I have a whole bunch of coupons here and I was wondering if you'd like to use some of them.  They might save you some money."  Instead of trying to hand me a "Watchtower", she hands me coupons.  Ouch... shot right at my heart... I humbly thanked her, paid, grabbed the coffee and Simeon's cookie, and walked out of the store with my head hanging slightly downwards.

I know Jesus, but I was the one walking around irritated, aggravated, and avoiding people.  She does not know Jesus, but she reached out in kindness to me.  To any observer this morning, it would have sure seemed like she was the follower of Jesus... and I was just another miserable American.

I know that even followers of Jesus have bad days... but I also know that I go through too many of my days running late to everything, being constantly behind, and getting irritated at anyone who gets in my way.  I often follow my own agenda and do not leave room for too many deviations from it.  I don't often give my days to God... sadly, I think I tend to more withhold days from Him because I don't think I can spare the time for Him to mess up my already full agenda. 

OK, Bethany, who's God here?  You? or the real, true, and living God?  Yeah, there's an obvious answer to that one.  I need to be humbled... and I need to be continually reminded that He is the Potter, I am the clay.  He is the Shepherd, I am the sheep.  He is the Creator, I am His creation.  He is the Father, I am the child.  He loves me... He is for me... and He KNOWS me.  Problems happen when I start to think that I know more than He does... and when I try to play the part of Potter, Creator, etc.  I am in the best place possible when I am yielded to Him, when I place my own plans, dreams, and agenda at His feet, and when I say, "Father, I'm Yours.  I trust You." So tonight once again, I bring myself before Him, all of me--even the parts that want to get up and run away--and I say to Him that I'm His and that I want Him to have His way in me.

the image of God