Learning to Recognize God's Love

My beautiful daisies and blanket flowers, gifts from Tina in Rexburg!
Also my beautiful Salvia from one of my neighbor friends!

In my last post I mentioned the book Choosing Real by Bekah Pogue.  The book gave me more than one gift, and the one today was about recognizing, and seeing God through all of our senses.  This resonated with me because I see His love so easily in the beauty of nature, and in His amazing creativity shown through the amazing variety of people, plants, animals, bugs, etc.  I even see his love in the silly turkeys that show up in the Winter when I am dealing with the winter blues, and make me smile.

I have found His love in answers to prayer that come in the form of sounds.  In the familiar tune of a hymn, or a song, or the gobbling of turkeys (when I was worried about them and hadn't seen them in so long that I asked if they were okay and heard them that very day!).  I remembered today that, for me, even the sound of a clock can be a reminder of both sets of grandparents (who were gifted the same clock by my parents) and how I would go to sleep at their houses listening to the ticking of the clock.

Derek and I tend to be anti-perfume, and avoid some smells, but I love the smell of pine trees and cinnamon.  They remind me of Christmas, one of the best reminders of Heavenly Father's love for all of us since He sent us Jesus.  I love the smell of baking bread because it takes me back to my Mom's kitchen and because fresh baked bread and honey has been a favorite snack for a very long time.  What a blessing to know that smell, and to have a Mom who made bread!  I love the smell of rose soap made by Avon, and Dove soap because it takes me back to Grandma Fuller's house.

Taste is another great reminder of the creativity of God and His kindness in making so many flavors.  I sure don't like them all, but Grandma's applesauce cake was sure a favorite!  I love soft vanilla ice cream, fresh baked cookies of many kinds, but soft ginger ones with cream cheese frosting?  Mmmmm!

And then there is the gift of feeling.  I love hugs, and a soft touch on the shoulder to say hello or goodbye.  I love the wind on my face, and the feel of waves lapping at my feet.  I realized today that I can even be grateful for the feel of a numb, tingly shoulder that is annoying because this body God created is letting me know something is wrong that needs to be fixed.  

Reading Bekah's chapter about this had me paying more attention to the now.  It had me smiling as I walked through Walmart, and being grateful for all of the people, whether they smiled back or not.  Of course, I was extra thankful for the lady who told me I was beautiful!  Hopefully she thought that because I was smiling, and she could feel God's love for her in my smile!  That would be awesome!

Looking At Lonely

Here is a moment where I could look up with awe at the gift and beauty of creation!

The other day I was stuck in a problem that I wanted fixed and I was about to try to find the "perfect" book on the issue to help solve it.  Then I remembered that I was not going to do frantic searching and study to solve problems anymore.  I can still search, and study, but I am NOT going to panic and be frantic, and looking for a book to buy felt like panic.  I am going to trust that God is aware of my problems and that it is not my job to solve them all alone.  So, instead of looking for just the right book on the topic I was worrying about, I just looked through my Kindle and found a book that I had gotten for free that sounded interesting.  I picked "Choosing REAL" by Bekah Jane Pogue.  I honestly don't remember what the exact problem of the moment was, but her writing has given me a few gifts.  One was about being lonely.

Feeling lonely is a problem I struggle with every now and again.  I have wonderful family and friends but sometimes, when I am feeling down, it is very hard to reach out to anyone.  It is easy to get stuck focusing inward on what isn't; to feel sorry for myself, and like I am forgotten.  In Choosing Real Bekah tells the story of meeting a friend at a favorite restaurant in a corner booth.  They talked and talked and Bekah found herself crying and expressing how lonely she is and how she wished there were more people in her life.  She wanted more friends to come over, more people who called.  She felt like she was prepared for a whole party of people and nobody showed up.  

Her friend listened and then said, "I'm curious if perhaps Jesus wants to first sit with you at a cozy corner booth like this one, and over time will provide the right people in the right seats.  Maybe your dinner party isn't a long banquet table for many but an intimate corner booth for the two of you first."  Bekah suggests that a whole party full of people won't fill us the way being with Jesus can.

I keep thinking about this.  It is like the quiet time that I am trying to take in the morning.  It is time sitting in gratitude for what is around me.  It is time breathing, and being thankful that I can.  It is remembering that I am loved even if I can't feel it in the moment.  It is even sitting and seeing someone else that Jesus loves who maybe I can reach out to that day.  It may be an idea that comes to mind of something I can do to help me!  

Sometimes, if the night was rough, and the morning didn't go smoothly, and maybe I couldn't take the time to sit, I run across those lonely feelings later in the day.  This story reminds me that I don't have to choose one time to sit with Jesus.  I can be met where I am.  I can run to Him, trust Him, and let go of panic, and the need to solve everything myself.  He may even give me the strength to reach out when I really do need somebody.

I hope you will find your metaphorical corner booth, and will get a dose of love, peace, and hope.