{Date | Day 29 of 31}

Ready? Go.

Some days you never forget. The date is etched in your heart and mind long after it has passed. The memories attached are sometimes sweet, sometimes not. Yeah, I have a catalog of those kinds of dates.  It's good to remember. I've found over time, as God works things out in me, those dates that represented pain come to mean something more than that. He does turn mourning to joy, after all. Yesterday, I added a new date to my catalog.

Julia, my four-year-old, was playing in her room. I was using the restroom, her big sister was in the shower, her big brother visiting a friend, and her dad was working at his desk. I heard her running down the hallway, and before I knew it, the bathroom door flew open. She was standing there, tears streaming down her face, looking utterly terrified. “I swallowed a penny,” she stammered and then she started getting sick. She turned around and ran offto find her Dad. Besides being indisposed, I must have looked a bit afraid. I gathered myself and headed down to find her. I’m not going to tell you that I wasn’t a bit of a mess. The tears filled my eyes and about the same time, my stomach started doing somersaults. I couldn’t find my words, but managed to squeak out a one-word plea toward heaven. My mind has a nasty habit of immediately taking me to the worst-case scenario when something like this happens. 

I made it downstairs and saw my little one standing on a towel, bent over, heaving and vomiting. Here dad was with her. I turned right back around, more tears, and lost my breakfast in the stairway. On my hands and knees, I had to remind myself to keep it together. The conversation in my head went something like this: Come on, Valerie. Don't you know who you belong to. Stop it. Ask for His help. I managed to squeak out another prayer. “God, please help her.”

About that time, I heard Julia. “There it is, I got it out.” She was pointing at a quarter lying in the mess on the towel. A quarter. That’s quite a bit bigger than a penny. I found a seat on the steps and she hopped into my lap. We were both covered in stuff I’d rather not discuss. Thank. You. God. I said it over and over again. 

This morning, Julia climbed up beside me in bed and we had a chat. She was feeling fine; she explained that her throat wasn’t hurting today. I asked her if she understood that God helped her when she swallowed that quarter. She shook her head and told me, “I was talking to Him in my head. I couldn’t talk out loud because I was throwing up.” I reminded her that we needed to thank God for keeping her safe and helping her.

A few minutes later she was chatting with her Dad. She was holding up a quarter. She thought it was THE quarter. (I don’t know how in the world she had another quarter.) “Daddy, this is the quarter. I swallowed it and God reached down and pulled it out of my tummy.” “I was asking Him in my head, and He did.” 

Yes. He absolutely did. 

STOP.

{Sign | Day 25 of 31}

Ready? Go.

Last summer, my family and I had a big decision to make. It was a big deal to us -- we were deciding whether to stay at our church or not. We'd been invited to join a leadership team at a 2-year-old church plant. We toiled over the decision. There were prayers, fasting, conversations. I asked God to make it undeniably clear if this was a yes. I needed a sign. Have you ever been there? In hindsight, I wonder if perhaps I shouldn't have been more precise in my prayers. You know, like Gideon in Judges 6.

We truly thought we got it right. But after only a few months in, it seemed painfully clear that we didn't. Or, at least, it wasn't the best yes. My family is still sorting through the fragmented pieces and jagged edges left from that season trying to make sense of it. We're trusting God to fill in the gaps and smooth the rough edges. And, He will.

But, I can't help but wonder how I missed it?  Why did I miss it? Nevermind that. I suppose the important thing is that I am confident I am never beyond His reach. And, I am never out of His sight. And nothing is beyond being used for His purpose and His glory.  And so, it's been a Psalm 139 kind of season. He goes before. He comes behind. He hems me in. I'm grateful He works all things for good.

Stop.

{Post-It | Day 9 of 31}

Ready? GO.

Because I have no clue where to go with this particular prompt, I will make a list. I love to make lists. On post-its, in notebooks, in my calendar. But mostly, on post-its. I can imagine the suspense is killing you, so here are nine of my favorite things to do with post-its.

1. Leave love notes for my husband around the house.
2. Leave love notes for my kids on the bathroom mirror.
3. Leave notes with Scripture on my bathroom mirror.
4. Use them as bookmarks (multiple post-its in one book, color-coded).
5. Collect them (all colors, all sizes).
6. Leave reminders for myself in the car. (i.e. get gas)
7. Make a short shopping list, usually for Target.
8. Doodle (with a sharpie).
9. Doodle some more.

Post-its are the best.

STOP.

{Walk | Day 1 of 31}

I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Five Minute Friday writing community. So, I decided to join the 31 day writing challenge. If you aren’t familiar, Five Minute Friday means unplanned, unedited, straight-from-the-heart-to-the-paper writing. Yep, you write whatever comes out based on a prompt you're given - five minutes flat.

So…here’s to the Write 31 Days challenge,  five-minute Friday style! I'm all in, and I'm glad you stopped by. I hope at the end of the 31 days, I have a collection of posts that encourage you while at the same time stir something deep in your soul. At the very least, perhaps we can be reminded that we aren’t alone.  

Day 1 {WALK}.

Ready? Go.

Our pup, Ruby, is a dream. We love her to pieces. But, alas, she has overtaken one small area in our yard for, well . . . doing her business. Ahem. Our preschooler, who is four, loves to run in the back yard with Ruby. Sometimes, barefoot. And, if she happens to wander into the forbidden section of the yard, she comes back inside the house with a mess on the bottom of her foot. She’s learning where to run and where not to run. Thankfully. Because, I’m not so good with cleaning up the mess on the bottom of the foot. Not good at all.

It got me thinking. Don’t we sometimes do that as believers? We veer off path toward areas where we’re likely to step into a mess, and we just plow ahead, unaware. I’ve been there. Sometimes, it’s because I’m inviting the wrong counsel to speak into my situation. Yeah, there’s that. Psalm 1 talks about where we walk. Scripture admonishes here us not to walk in step with the wicked. It says we’re blessed when we don’t. The next verse explains what we should do instead — delight ourselves in the law of the Lord. Yes. 

When we seek counsel in and delight in God’s word, aren’t we less likely to step into a mess because of disobedience? Here’s the thing: there are only two directions in which to walk. We either walk in obedience or we don’t. Does that mean we always get it right? No way. But, when we cherish God’s word and hold it up as the standard for our lives, it changes the way we live. It changes the way we make decisions. It changes us. He. Changes. Us. Then, we find ourselves in step with Him, walking close behind Him, following with intention,  clinging to Him with all we've got. Because we learn that He is trustworthy. And, even more than that, He is always moving us in the direction of the Father.  That’s where I always want to be. 

Stop.

---

{Five Minute Friday | Collect}

Yesterday was Five Minute Friday. That means unplanned, unedited, straight-from-the-heart-to-the-paper writing. Yep, you just write whatever comes out based on a word you're given. I'm a day late to the party, but I made it! If you have five minutes, you should give it a try!  Find out how here.

This week the prompt is {COLLECT}.

Ready? GO.

I came into my bedroom and found a pile of random papers, books, and pictures on the floor beside my bed. Sitting just off to the side was my ever-curious daughter playing with a few items that she chose when she rummaged through the drawer of my bedside table. She had a coin purse or pouch, a small notebook, an ink pen, and a satin ribbon. I sent her off with her treasures so I could clean up the mess. I did what anyone would do. I tried to shove it all back into the drawer. It barely fit. And, the drawer wouldn't close.

Somehow over the years, I collected all these things in the drawer that I didn't even know I had. As I sorted through it, I found some treasures. I also found lots of junk. I'm sure I started collecting things in the drawer with well-meaning intention. Eventually, I decided it was a good place to stuff cough drop wrappers and broken pencils. The good stuff buried among the not-so-good. I rarely opened the drawer far enough to see what was happening. I certainly couldn't see the good things buried in the mess. So, what was meant to be a collection of treasures turned into a collection of this and that. But, when I found those things in the drawer that I wanted, that I kept on purpose, well, you know . . .it's good for the soul to remember the sweet moments those treasures represented.

There have been seasons of my life that mirror the same thing that happened with that drawer. Days cluttered with dirty laundry, too many bills and not enough money, lost friendships, betrayal, heartache. The drawer of my heart and mind crammed full. God taught me a valuable lesson in those seasons. He showed me how to find and collect the life-giving moments in the midst of the mess. You know the kind. Those moments meant to be cherished. The ones where you find joy and hope. Contentment. Yes. And you can breathe. When you let Him show you how to do that, you learn to close the drawer in your heart and mind to the things that aren't so good and only collect and keep the things that matter. It makes a world of difference.

Scripture lays it out for us. I love how Eugene Peterson paraphrased it in The Message. 

"Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. "  Philippians 4: 8

Yes, do that.

STOP.