Saturday, August 19, 2017

Speak: Five Minute Friday

It's Saturday morning and I am linking up for Five Minute Friday  I really did intend to post this yesterday, but it's going to post exactly in the order it's needed.


The prompt is speak.
Go!

"I'm finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it's okay
The last thing I need is to be heard
But to hear what You would say

[CHORUS]
Word of God speak
Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
To be still and know
That You're in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness 
Word of God speak

I'm finding myself in the midst of You
Beyond the music, beyond the noise
All that I need is to be with You
And in the quiet hear Your voice

[REPEAT CHORUS 2x]

I'm finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it's okay"

Instantly,
this was the song in my head when I heard the prompt.

Mercy Me released the song in 2002, but in the current age, a stillness and a quiet appeal to me greatly.

I can hear all the angry and sad and fearful voices clamoring on the internet and in the newspaper but what I really want is to hear God speak.

His words are alive and they bring life.

One verse came up in a Facebook memory today and seems appropriate to share.

Psalm 142:1-3

"I cry out to the Lord;
    I plead for the Lord’s mercy.
I pour out my complaints before him
    and tell him all my troubles.
When I am overwhelmed,
    you alone know the way I should turn."

Overwhelmed is a great word to describe how I have been feeling, deep in my soul.
I hope you and I can just rest in the Word of God and His holiness.

Turn on a worship song, something that ministers to you, and let the hopelessness subside.


~Tammy

Friday, August 11, 2017

Place: Five Minute Friday

It's Friday and I'm joining the link-up again with so many beautiful people whose hearts are aligned! Here's the link, I hope you'll try it!

This week's prompt is:

Place.

Immediately, Michael W. Smith's "Place in this world" popped into my head.
I remember the first time I heard it on a secular station, shocked that a "Christian" artist would be played on a "secular" station.

If you examine the lyrics, they're not overtly Christian, though. He wrote it along with Amy Grant and Wayne Kirkpatrick.

"The wind is moving
But I am standing still
A life of pages
Waiting to be filled
A heart that's hopeful
A head that's full of dreams
But this becoming
Is harder than it seems
Feels like I'm

Looking for a reason
Roaming through the night to find
My place in this world
My place in this world
Not a lot to lean on
I need Your light to help me find
My place in this world
My place in this world

If there are millions
Down on their knees
Among the many
Can you still hear me?
Hear me asking
Where do I belong?
Is there a vision
That I can call my own?
Show me I'm

Looking for a reason
Roaming through the night to find
My place in this world
My place in this world
Not a lot to lean on
I need Your light to help me find
My place in this world
My place in this world"

I think it reflects the human heart well. We want to have a plan for our lives and a purpose. Well, our purpose is to glorify God and the details of the plan? Those are not always revealed to us.

I spent time with a friend recently who told me her first remembrance of me. We were in a parent panel, interviewing candidates for administrator of our school. She came in with a different background and was concerned about his financial plans. I would not have thought to ask about those. I, instead, asked him what his view was of chapel and its importance. I was currently teaching the preschool and elementary chapels, but knew that our high school needed to be spiritually fed and not put into the "church box" where it's adult church at school and unappealing.

It left an impression on her that I was concerned about the spiritual state of our school, because it's God's school. And, that if we're doing what He asks us to do, then He will definitely provide financially.

It had been my prayer that year (After reading "The Circle Maker") that our school would become God's dwelling place. That our chapel would be set apart, a sacred place (much like the church sanctuary is not the fellowship hall). Currently, our chapel services are in our cafeteria, as are the elementary and kindergarten/preschool concerts.
***Timer ended here***

*wrapping up my thoughts here*
If God's place is our place, if we're consumed by wanting to be aware of His presence in every place we are, then we will find "our place in this world."

At the FMF Retreat, I wasn't sure what my place was. When you have a lot of gifts, people expect to define you by one thing, and you are sometimes at a loss to define yourself. Am I a writer? A musician? A teacher? A mom? A wife? Well, yes, but even if I lost all of that, I'd have Jesus. I'd have His Spirit dwelling within me. So, I am (in Darlene Zschech's wise words) a paper cup. God fills me up and I pour out His overflow on others.

:D
Love,
Tammy
(please leave me your url or linkup number in the comments so I can find you!)

Now I want to wear light denim jeans, with a white t-shirt, and a matching denim jacket. Ha ha ha!

Friday, August 4, 2017

Try: Five Minute Friday

Woo-hoo! It's Friday again and already time for another linkup. I missed the Twitter party last night (it hits at dinnertime out here in Oregon, and my girls and I were preparing to see the community theater production of Mary Poppins.)
This week's linkup is the word Try.

Test
Results
Yielded

As I was pondering the word "try", I thought of "tried and true" and being "tried in front of a jury".
All the trying was a result of proving and testing.

So, a poem.

Try, try, try again.
Failure is a part of the learning process.
What leads to success in one's own eyes may be quite the opposite in another's.
The light bulb glows with a flick of a switch,
energy pouring from wires into more wires encapsulated in blown glass.
Over 99 times, this energy did not produce light.

In the beginning, God said "let there be light".
There is no need for God to "try", but for us, we are constantly trying.
Our weakest efforts are the beginning of His handiwork.
He flows in us and through us like the electric currents pouring into the tiny wires that are coiled precisely until light begins to dimly glow then brightly beam.
His glories stream into that sacred place
our bodies bearers of His grace
our eyes bear image of His face
and all He asks us to do is try.
If we are plugged into His source
we will not need to force
His power to flow for us to glow.


Love,
Tammy