BEHOLD BEFORE YOU BUILD

My thought life reminds me of a child's. I think about God and what He must be like, and then I think about what I'm going to fix for dinner. I'm either a clandestine ADD or I'm normal. For me to focus on something takes concentration. I'm a doer, and I love to see what I've done. I want to get "on" with whatever I do. It's hard for me to "soak." (Soaking is a relatively new term in Christianity for an ancient practice. The term, "soaking,"means to immerse oneself in the awareness of God's love. ) Soaking requires stillness --at least in the heart. It's not about outward movement, but inward "beholding."

You can say whatever you want about the Toronto Blessing, but Toronto is where God finally caught up with me. In November of 1994, I went there with my husband, my son and a few friends. It was the first time I really succumbed to the urge to yield my outer man to God, when I did, I fell on the floor and God began to speak to me. Not with an audible voice, but with an auditory impression. He said those words that everyone longs to hear from the lips of God: "Well, I finally got you where I want you!"

God wanted me down. He wanted me to be still. I had been trying to serve Him with my own efforts, completely throwing myself into planting a church! I didn't realize it then, but I was going about it with my human strength which was a slave to my carnal thoughts. God could have thousands of congregations if He wanted them; but now I knew that it wasn't what I could DO that he wanted, it was me.

Lying there I began to sense that God was so much bigger than me. He just wanted me to look at Him. I've spent the last twenty years in and out of my own awareness of God's presence, but He has always been aware of my presence. In fact, He's on the inside of me, looking out at my surroundings and my friends and acquaintances. He knows them all and how to "get them where He wants them."

When I am still, just for a moment, I stop doing things my way and just rest in the fact that He loves me. He's got the Heavenly Agenda and doesn't need my help. He just wants me to love Him and because I now know that, He wants me to simply love the folks around me. If I can do that, I start flowing in His power which accomplishes His agenda. If I love the people around me, His love is the foundation for experiencing His power and seeing Him do what He wants in the lives of other people.
Love is the invisible thread sewing the kingdom of Heaven together. It's visible only to God.

What are you building?  God would much rather you stop building and start beholding. "But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of The Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory..."( Corinthians 3:18) When you behold Him, what you build will be totally different from what you thought you should build. It may not even be visible to anyone else but Him.

I'm trying to learn to be content with that because that's what takes real faith. What if you devote your whole life to love? Maybe then we could stop spinning our own designs out of the visible threads that everyone else uses and do it only for Him. He would probably love that. What do you think?

Texas Bluebonnet Wall Hanging

I love my home state of Texas and have chosen it as one of the design themes for my house. This is how I made this wall hanging for my guest room: I traced around the outline of Texas using an old highway map onto a  product called Steam-a-Seam II, cut it out and applied it to background fabric with an iron. Using my  Viking  Designer I sewing machine, I appliquéd the map to the fabric by stitching around the border. To create the bluebonnet/windmill scene, I used an embroidery program of Texas icons which included a 3- step stitch out of the windmill. ( I stitched the embroidery onto the map before I appliquéd it onto the background fabric.)

 I created the rest of the scene by fussy cutting pieces of existing fabric and attaching them to the map with Steam-A-Seam. In order to add depth, I spilled flowers over the border of the map in the same manner. I then appliquéd the flowers to the map and background fabric  with my sewing machine. I sewed 2.5 " strips together and rotary cut them into 6" sets. The back of the hanging is muslin, sewn with the right sides together and with a rod pocket sewn to the back.

Hope you like it!

My Shabby Chic Chest

In September I purchased this chest for $39 at a charity shop. I stripped off the years of wax and grime with stripper. After five coats of latex primer, the old finish still leaked through as pink. I finally purchased a quart of Kilz oil based primer. After one coat, my husband painted the green coat with a latex eggshell, the same color as our dining room walls. ("Tightly curled bud" by Sherwin Williams) it was worth the learning effort! The chest contains all my placemats, napkins and tablecloths! Hope you like it!

Smoking or Non-smoking?

It's been several months since my last blog. I'm embarrassed, but right after the last one, I lost my friend, Mary Tepper. My friends, Ron and Kim Cipcic, lost their daughter a month later. This stuff takes the wind out of my sails. I find it hard to process events like this, but I need to get used to it. I used to wonder why  my mother's letters read like the obituaries in my hometown, but now I know. The older you get, the more friends you lose.

I'm spiritually ready to die anytime God wants me, but naturally speaking, I don't want to go yet. I want to see my grandkids grow up and see what happens next. I also pray that when my time comes, my passing will be quick and painless. I've got more blogs to write and quilts to make. I've already told my kids to cremate me and go to the beach. In fact, if I lose my memory before I go, stuff me in a nursing home and go to the beach. 

How does someone prepare for the inevitable?

It's important to know where you are going. There are only two destinations, smoking or non-smoking. If I want to end up in the eternal smoking section, I just try to be good and hope for the best. If I'm really serious though, I realize that I'm a sinner ( one who has missed the mark) and that I cannot save myself. Jesus died to make the non-smoking section available to anyone. All you have to do is ask Him humbly to save you from your sins, to forgive you for them.

Have you done that today?

I think people should stop "praying" and start talking to God. He's an understanding Father who doesn't excuse your stuff, He erases it. If you are not absolutely sure that you are headed for heaven, settle your destination right now. (I John says, "These things are written that you may know that you have eternal life...")

I promise to do better at blogging. I've been reading FACEBOOK AND TWITTER for DUMMIES FOR SENIORS. I will be sharing what's on my mind and any recipes or hints for plain living. If you want to hear what I have to say, please join my followers. Let's be friends, and please, stay out of the "smoking section" of eternity.
Melinda Fish <>{