Today’s blog post is being written in the back seat of a rental car hurtling through California eastward toward Utah. Gotta love technology!
Spent the morning working down my to do list. Getting things prepped for our trip and simultaneously battling the temptation to allow the ticking clock to ruin my focus on being thankful.
The battle really isn’t obvious (for the most part), but is internal; fought on the battlefield of the mind. That’s the place where I, where we, can make choices. Do we believe time controls us or do we believe the One who controls time? God invites us to be at peace in His abiding Presence at the same moment as the ticking clock tries to distract us.
I don’t always make the restful choice; for about 15 minutes today I had a meltdown. The issue was a missing wallet and a time obligation colliding. True confession: I have too many purses. Good thing for me I keep them all hanging on parallel racks on the back of the closet door so it’s easy to switch from one to another. Except when I don’t use a purse at all just to confuse things and keep me on my organizational toes. That was my recent mistake. So I didn’t know where I had put said wallet. Clock ticking. friend waiting. Peace slipping away.
I stood in my closet and cried. Out loud I apologized to the Lord; telling Him I was wrong to launch in to this hunt without asking Him first where that errant wallet was hiding. Sniffing, I went back downstairs, looking through my office where I had already hunted and come up empty. I knelt down to look through a basket, again, and saw the illusive wallet peaking out of the pocket of my briefcase.
Was it the position of bowing low and slowing down or the tearful acknowledgment of my control issues that helped me see? Either or both. Whatever it took for the Lord to get my attention was good. I smiled, thanked Him for directing my steps and moved ahead.
When you are thankful during this Thanksgiving week, who are you thankful to?
Thanks for this, and all your recent posts (come to think of it). Esp appreciate your perspective on being at peace. Some would say “being in the moment” and maybe its the same thing? Either way, thanks for the reminder and heart check that I obviously needed!
I’m thankful that you’ve been encouraged through these posts. I’ve realized I just want people to know the simplicity and freedom I’ve found in being authentic. Jesus really DOES mean what He says! “Come to Me…and I will give you rest.” Miss seeing you regularly by the way.