Loving God and Loving Others

To surrender means to let go and to trust another. To release control that I want into the hands of someone else. This morning I'm praying for that deep surrender. In prayer for this day I felt a wave of a long to-do list wash over me and the feeling of panic over the too-many-things-on-my-plate thing that happens so often. Christmas is nearly here and there's much to do before then and we return to our home abroad soon after it is over. The urge to get up and "do" is strong and runs contrary to the calling to stillness that I sense the Lord speaking to me this morning. Surrender raises some difficult questions for us. Are we willing to trust God with our everything? Sometimes it seems easier to trust Him with the larger life-things. My future. But to trust Him my todays are harder. Sure I pray each day and commit things to the Lord, but I also jump in faster than I know He wants me to into fixing things, getting things done. What might happen today if I simply tr...

The clutter in our home overwhelmed me today. I found myself in a pile of papers, schoolbooks, and forms this morning. Sitting on the floor I sorted, filed, and recycled. Attacking the mess took a lot of effort since I would rather straighten up the pile rather than do something with it. I've asked the Lord to help me this Advent to do things that are hard in my life and I know this is one of them. Dealing with the messes. Physical ones are easier, heart messes more difficult. As I continue to think about Mary's journey I am wondering today how she felt. Lonely, I'm sure. I wonder if there was a friend in her life who though it seemed implausible, chose to believe what Mary told her. Did she have a friend walk her through the days of pregnancy? I am sure that there were moments of overwhelming emotion. Perhaps days. Thinking about this puts her visit to Elizabeth her cousin into better perspective. Here was a woman who, too understood the miracles of God. Elizabeth was ...