Thursday, May 19, 2016

So We Wait


The past few days have been a blur. My sweet Nonno was taken to the hospital and has been there for over a week now. I was devastated when I first saw him. When I left, my Nonno whispered "pray for me". I came home that night and buried my face into the cold wooden floor and sobbed to God. 

Through mumbles, I promised God if He would just heal my grandfather and not take him away yet... I'd give it all back to Him. I promised I wouldn't let everyday life make me forget what's really important, and that I wouldn't waste anymore time.

The truth is, we wait. We wait for too long to spend time with our grandparents. We wait until that big party to see everyone. We wait until our lives are "placed together" to visit someone we love. And then something unexpected happens. 

I've realized that there are too many "I love yous" left unsaid. I want to love someone and talk to someone when they are alive... not just talk about how amazing they were when they're not there anymore. 

I'm praising the Lord today because while my grandfather is still in the hospital, he is no longer in the ICU. He's been healing and he was his old self again, joking and talking to everyone when I visited him. That's God's unending grace. 

And so we wait. We wait for the Lord to heal and to restore. But let's not wait to love. Let's not wait to run to God only if something happens. Let's choose to live and to love right now.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.// Philippians 4: 6-7

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Woven into the Details

Details. Take a look around you... what do you see? Are you sitting at a table in a chair with maybe a coffee cup right next to you? Or maybe scrolling on your phone that has some sort of patterned cover over it?

If you're like me... I'm sitting at my dining room table looking out the window on this rainy day... and I see wet green and red trees. I also see squirrels running around on those wet trees. If I look a little more, I can see the branches being moved by the howling wind... which I can hear along with the raindrops clinking onto my glass window. 

Everything has details. Nothing is merely just what it is... if you look a little bit closer, you'll begin to see the world that lives within the everyday picture. 

I've decided to start reading the bible from the very beginning (as opposed to sorting through chapters), and the more I read the more I've noticed something. 

Every. story. is. detailed

I was AMAZED at how the Lord gave Moses specific instructions to create the Tabernacle. It was so detailed that nothing was left out... even how many curtain loops were to be placed along with the color of the vails. I think God and I share a love for interior design perhaps? Seriously though, read it in Exodus 26: 1-37.

In Psalm 147:4, it says how the Lord determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Even the stars have names!!

And so I started to think. If God is this detailed with everything He created on Earth and how He wanted things done... why is it that when I pray I'm not detailed?

I can think of a number of times when I have asked for something in the moment which was not that big of a deal (like a parking spot), and the Lord actually provided. 

So why do we think talking to Him about the small detailed things are silly? Do we think God doesn't have time to listen to our little prayers?

Truth is, I think we underestimate what God can really do with our prayers.

And so we just give Him the overview... that's if we even talk to Him at all. But the funny thing is He already knows exactly what we need... so why don't we just talk to Him about it?

We talk to our friends for hours about details and situations... soooo why wouldn't we think the God who created us is the same way? 

BAM. I know crazy right?!? God wants to hear from us just as much as our mom, brother, best friend, counselor and anyone else you talk to might want to. 

So let's talk. Let's pour out every single part of our lives to Him.... He's waiting to hear your voice.