Broken Frame

Awhile ago, a picture frame fell off the wall and the glass cover shattered.  I thought I cleaned it all up. But then today I found another small piece.
When I had my impacted wisdom teeth removed in my 20's it turned out that they had shattered under my  gums.  The result of that was that for several years after I would have little fragments of the tooth work their ways to the surface, finally cutting through the gum and out.
I'm  tired of having to pick up the shattered remnants of brokenness.  Thinking I was done cleaning up that mess, only to find more work to do. But thank God I could take care of it- so that no one else gets hurt b.
Because of my clumsiness, I learned some years back to praise God ( much better than cussing) when I dropped or spilled something, and look at it as an opportunity to get my floor cleaner, while getting rid of a little more excess stuff.
Thank God that His love never fails and He is always working to clean up our messes. Thank God that  in our brokenness He works more of His goodness, if we can praise Him in the midst of it.  And we end up better than before.  

Pressing in...

I have been getting this sense all year that it's time to press in to more of God. A need to be filled more with His Love, to move more in His Spirit. To be filled with Him so that I'm prepared for whatever is looming around the corner.  ( The parable of the 10 virgins: 5 had oil jars filled and ready, 5 not.)
 That it's time.
Time to be prepared.
And I find myself wondering, "What does that mean, really?"
Press. It contains so much:  to push,  to squish,  to flatten, to take out all wrinkles. It feels like a lot of straining going on.
It's the root of so many words.  Express, impress, depress, suppress.  Pressure.
So how does one press in to God.  Push into a Spiritual Entity larger than the Universes He created?  To feel like I need to impress Him with my efforts? I don't think so.
To express. To express my deepest desires, to express my heart's cry to be closer to Him, to be used by Him, to be changed into a more loving, caring image of His love and care?  I think so.
I have found in my walk with God over the past 38 years that when I draw close to Him, He draws close to me.   I learned a great song last summer that really expressed it:
The more I seek you,
The more I find you
The more I find you, the more I love you

I wanna sit at your feet
Drink from the cup in your hand.
Lay back against you and breath, feel your heart beat
This love is so deep, it's more than I can stand.
I melt in your peace, it's overwhelming

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/k/kari_jobe/

I think I tend to make everything too hard. It's not like we can pressure God into doing something. It's like those who HUNGER, who really hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied.  
And pressing in to One who  has so emptied Himself, even becoming one of us depressing  humans, because He wanted us so badly- is not an exercise in presumption. It's  an adventure into the heart of the ultimate presser-inner- the Hound Of Heaven! This is the One who has been wooing us back to His arms of Love with every sunset and sweetly singing bird. With friends and comfort and countless answers to prayers not even recognized by so many of us so much of the time. 

Such love, that I go to an old passage with a new passion, " Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me...
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Phil 3:12;14

Kari Jobe - The More I Seek You w/lyrics

What? ( Or , post about almost nothing

As I get older, there are ways that I get more like my mom. For instance, hearing. We used to tease Mom about the time I told her my feet hurt and her reply was, "Go to the dentist."
And we always were saying , "What?" I'm saying it more now. But you know how when people tell you about a hearing issue, and your smart-aleck reply is, "What?" Very fun, especially when they don't get it at first. (Well funny to some of us old farts...)
So, I'm standing in a long, boring line in the pharmacy, waiting. I look to my right, and I see this sign:
Hearing aides: blocks out other noises, making hearing clearer.
And I say, "What?" And laugh at myself because I've just said "what" to a product hanging on a shelf.