All tagged The plank-eyed girl
The View From “My Chair” this morning - Matthew 7:11. Rounding the corner, my eyes scan the room and like a dart, hitting it’s mark, the realization overtakes my brain that these women standing in front of me are the mothers of some of the girls we have met in the girl’s home over the last few days. They are the “Service Providers” of the Red Light District. Standing in stunned silence, my ears are filled with the sound of their voices worshiping our God. I can’t understand their words, but my heart leaps at hearing their worship. It’s intense. It’s desperate. It’s beautiful. My mind can barely comprehend all of this.
My View From “The Chair” this morning -Psalm 21:13. As we strolled the piazza a few minutes ago selecting last minute items for our trek to India, a lone musician stood playing and singing. His music was serindipitous. His worn guitar case lay open like a hand awaiting a gift for his efforts. Without a second thought, my Mr. strolls over and makes a contribution. THIS is just one of many things I love about this man. His generosity towards those in need is effortless. In our marriage, we have had little and we have had much and ALWAYS the Lord has supplied.
My View From “The Chair” this morning - Psalm 32:8 Being in new places is both exhilarating and petrifying all at once for me. I love adventure and new things, but there is a piece of me that also likes comfort and familiar. Anyone else like me? Landing in Perth two weeks ago, I was totally out of my comfort zone. Everything was new and I only had my phone’s WiFi to rely on (I did not have cell service) otherwise, I had to rely on old fashion printed maps and bus schedules. Honestly, I had all kinds of doubts that the printed materials and signs were “up-to-date”. Know what? They were and I got along marvelously.
My View From “The Chair” this morning - 2 Corinthians 9:6,7. I am completely self-deceived at moments. I’ve said that creature comforts aren’t important to me. I’ve said that clothes, cars, my home isn’t important to me. I’ve said that my job, titles, reputations aren’t important to me. So, with only a backpack, I headed out this summer to serve (with my Mr.) at a YWAM base in Perth, Australia and in the Red Light District of Nagpur, India. We are now almost three weeks into this journey and I’m finding myself realizing how many creature comforts I usually enjoy and take for granted. Different clothes and shoes to wear each day. A LARGE wash machine, dryer, and refrigerator at my disposal whenever I want or need them. As many Q-tips as I want or need for whatever purposes. A fun sports car to get me wherever I desire to go. The ability to be generous with my resources. These are creature comforts my the Lord’s blessings and my working power have allowed me to have. They are not wrong or sinful. Up until now, I would’ve classified myself as sold out and generous. God has been exceptionally gracious to me.
My View From “The Chair” This Morning - John 15:12. Sitting with a homeschool student here on the Perth YWAM base yesterday, I was helping her with a project. I’m sure you’ll remember what it was like to be told you had to do something for school and you had no idea what or how to do it. Pretty frustrating. Suddenly, like a hummingbird seeing a source of food, she picks up her pencil and starts to write a fanciful big “L”. She is using all her might. She is pressing so hard her pencil breaks several times. I’m thinking she is frustrated. Then, she pauses, looks at me and says, “God’s Love for us is not eraseable!” Then she picks up a big eraser and tries to erase it. No matter how hard she pushes or how many times she rubs, it is still faintly on the paper. I sat in awe absorbing the truth of what I just saw and heard from this ten year old. She went back and finished the rest of the word and I sat, stunned, in silence.
My view from “The Chair” this morning - Psalm 141:2. When was the last time you walked into a room and the smell was simply deliciousful. Tahitian Vanilla. Fresh Lemon. Plumeria. I grew up in a home that ALWAYS smelled wonderful! My mother made sure that there was pleasant aromas placed throughout the home. Still to this day, when I encounter certain smells, I am instantly transported back to my childhood. Go ahead and pause for a moment and let your mind wander to an aroma that has pleasant memories for you. Incense is a vehicle used to bring an aroma to wherever it’s placed. Incense is a tool, it is not a particular scent or odor.
My view from “The Chair” this morning - Psalm 138:3. Standing in the presence of God on the YWAM base in Perth, Australia with 150+ hungry souls is life altering. The music starts and voices rise. Closing my eyes, I drink deeply of the symphony of voices and dialects from all over this planet. They are all focused on worshiping our God. It is marvelous. It is heaven on this side of eternity. It is something my soul longs to drink deeply of. I am carried into the ocean of His presence. That is when I hear Him. He is just repeating my name. Can I just be honest, I’m not really sure how we ended up in Perth, Australia other than we just wanted to visit the country and others had recommended this base. I’ve been asking God to really confirm some things this summer. I don’t want to be wasteful with His resources and if I’m headed in the wrong direction, then I need Him to redirect. Worship continued for an hour. As it ended, I made my way back to a table to work on some writing stuff. That was when she appeared.
Since confession is good for the soul, can I confess something to you? Every night I wake up in the dead of night with all consuming thoughts of worry and almost instantly become filled with anxiety. It seems like as soon as I am not in control of what is going on in my thoughts (in other words, I’m not conscious), my mind starts unpacking all the nice little tidy boxes that I’ve put the days worries in and allows them to run free like a clowns at a crazy carnival circus. Am I the only one attending this type of circus in the dead of night? Some how I don’t think so.
My view from “The Chair” this morning - John 6:9. I have a secret! As I read this passage over and over and over I realized something that is literally life changing and I believe we have missed over and over. Want to know what it is? It’s so simple it’s easy to miss. When this boy willingly handed his lunch to Jesus, he surrendered his rights and agenda with his ordinary lunch that was in his hands to Jesus. His thoughts went from self-absorbtion (I have food and they don’t. This is going to taste so good!) to outward focused (how Jesus was going to use my simple ordinary lunch to feed everyone). In other words, he surrendered the lunch that his mom had packed him and allowed Jesus to use it for His kingdom purposes. The bread wasn’t gourmet seed bread and the fish wasn’t delicious sushi. His lunch was “Ordinary”. It was his “normal” lunch. Yet, his act of surrendering what was in his hands changed EVERYTHING!
