A new song for Ivory lately is "Fill up my cup... let it overfloat." It's cute (and in our current stage of toddler-hood, not everything is), but more than that, it always brings to mind an image of a cup just absolutely brimming, filled to capacity, spilling over and out - unbelievably full. Life right now is that cup, and our blessings are what's inside of it. In Christ we are so rich.
Being rich is living in central Illinois in the fall. It's working together to make a house, a home. It's being close to family and even closer to friends. It's having a job where I can talk to my co-workers about how God brought me to where at am and how He redeems brokenness for beauty, even in D50... and they know what I mean because they have experienced it too. It's having not just one but two babysitters who I can trust completely because of tight bonds of faith and fellowship. It's having a husband who knows the Lord. It's being able to forgive hurts and move on from the past. It's being able to release both the past and the future to the One who actually knows.
"And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest and he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him rest. Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered." II Chronicles 14:6-7.
Sometimes I seek God like that... I question the motives behind His goodness. I ask Him, "really? really? you would give me this?!" I seek Him, I seek Him, and He has given me rest on every side.
In my weakest moments I worry that if I sink into the comforts of His blessings too much, I won't be prepared to face adversity when it comes. But when unrest did come...
"Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many or with them that have no power, help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude, O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. So the Lord smote the Ethiopains before Asa."
... and they still carried away "abundance" anyway.
I just checked your blog and there were several new posts! And again I feel refreshed and blessed by the thoughts and verses you have shared. Keep shining! Love you and look forward to seeing you in a few weeks :)
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