New Years Scrooge

There's something about New Years Eve that I just don't like.

Maybe it's because I'm not a huge night owl.

Maybe it's because as a child I had a fear of fireworks, that the ashes would rain down and light my hair on fire.

Maybe it's because at this point, I feel a little overwhelmed with celebration.

But when I start to really think about it, I think it's because New Years Eve is celebrating a year of unknown, a year which I have no idea what it will look like.

I know what 2013 held.

But when I try to imagine 2014, my mind starts to shut down from the number of sheer possibilities.

It's scary,

It's terrifying really.

And that's why I think New Years Eve might be God's favorite holiday.

It's they one time each year even the biggest control freak has to take a deep breath and realize,

That I have no control over the next 365 days of my life.

And I could fight against that,

Rebel,

Try to plan what might lay ahead,

Or I could simply sit back,

And look back on the blessings that the past year held,

And offer up the next 365 days,

No matter how scary,

No matter how terrifying,

To the God that has already planned out every minute of each of those days.

To the God that loves to surprise us,

And comfort us,

And walk beside us in each and every minute,

Every hour,

Of every day.

So tonight,

Whether I celebrate with sparklers and confetti, 

Or accidentally fall asleep on the couch,

I can celebrate in knowing that 2014 is already planned out for me, 

Each and every footstep.

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. (Proverbs 16:9 NLT)

Surprise at Daybreak

I love surprises.

In fact, there are few things I can say I love more then surprises.

Want to make my day?

Leave a note on my desk.

Want to make my week?

Add a Diet Coke to that note.

Want to make my year?

Add a twelve pack of Diet Coke to that note.

I don't know why I love surprises so much.

Maybe it's because a surprise means that someone was thinking about you, when they didn't have to.

Maybe it's because a surprise can make what seems like an average day when you first open your eyes in the morning, far exceed your expectations when you lay down your head to close your eyes again that night.

Maybe it's simply because everyone likes to have some sort of physical representation that they are loved.

Recently, I've been praying for God to surprise me.

I desire know that God is thinking about me, thinking about my smallest steps, when I know He doesn't have to.

I desire for everyday to far exceed my expectations, to never know what God has planned, to be excited when I open my eyes in the morning, and beyond grateful for when I close my eyes at night.

And, as trivial as it might sound, somedays, I just really need some kind of physical representation that the Lord that can surprise us with the sunlight every morning,

" Surprise us with love at daybreak; then we'll skip and dance all the day long." ( Psalms 90:14)

Can, 

And adores,

showing us that He loves us.

In the small,

and the large.

I'm praying for small surprises daily.

And the large surprises, that I still continue to prayerfully expect.

Joyful in the Rest

Ive never been very good at rest.

I imagine it's the whole idea of sitting still-why would I be resting when there is so much to do?

So much to see?

So much to taste?

So much to experience?

Why would I rest when I can act?

Why would I rest when my future could practically be outside my door?

I know God knows this about me.

God created me to be this way.

But, he also knows that sometimes my ability to always be moving puts me at a handicap.

When you're moving 100 miles an hour, how can you notice the small details?

When you're moving 100 miles an hour, how can you stop and notice that those blurs on the side of the road are actually flowers?

When you're moving 100 miles an hour, how can you stop and notice that the sweetness of this season of your life may actually be in the resting and the waiting?

That sometimes God doesn't move in huge earth shattering ways.

That sometimes, God moves in the quiet,

And the stillness,

And He may be moving the most in the times you think He may not be moving at all.

Right now, I feel like God is trying to work in the stillness,

And the rest,

And the waiting.

And although I may hate the waiting,

It's my job to pump the breaks,

Take a moment,

Rest my heart,

And joyfully wait and see how The Lord is trying to move.

It's my job to see that those blurs are actually flowers,

And to rejoice in the fact that if my life had been moving at the speed that I wished it was,

I would never have gotten to see those blessings myself.

I would never have developed sweet friendships, that turn a new town into a home,

Or Saturday mornings, filled with Pom poms, crooked smiles, and hugs that will melt your heart,

Or precious moments over a new found love for vanilla lattes that allow me to reflect over all of these blessings.

So today, I choose to rest.

And I choose to rest with a rejoicing heart.

I choose to see the blessings in the small moments.

I choose to be still.

 

And listen.

And be prayerfully,

And joyfully,

Expectant.

"Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest in hope". Acts 2:26