A Few Ways to Acknowledge God Everyday

As the season of Lent begins (yesterday was Ash Wednesday), I look for ways to focus on God. Something I want to do is acknowledge God more in all my little everyday activities. It is too easy to get wrapped up in your own thoughts, tasks, and worries, and lose sight of why we are able to do anything (it's because of God!). That is why it is so important to let that go and acknowledge God into every moment.

1. Start the day with your favourite cup of coffee and a few minutes of reading Scripture, praying, and making a few notes in a journal.

2. As you drive to work, give thanks to God for the sunshine (or the rain), the cereal you ate, the trees you drive by, and the day itself. You will find that the list keeps growing.

3. Set a timer at work for several times a day, to stop and have a quiet few minutes of prayer and reflection.

4. Incorporate prayer requests and prayers together at meetings with co-workers.

5. Write a memory verse (and change it every week or so) in a location that you will see often and be able to repeat in your head (on a white board or post-it note).

Letters from Rilke

...have patience with all unsolved problems in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms, or books that are written in a foreign tongue. Do not search now for the answers, which cannot be given you, because you could not live them. That is the point, to live everything. Now you must live your problems. And perhaps gradually, without noticing it, you will live your way into the answer some distant day.

-from a letter of Rainer Maria Rilke

As one who loves to write and as one who has many unanswered questions (well, who doesn't?), Rainer Rilke's letters are so inspiring. Not because they provide answers but because they remind me that it is okay to live all those unanswered questions.

Written between 1903-1904 this collection of letters is called Letters to a Young Poet, and I feel like Rilke is writing these letters today, to me. I am already a fan of his poetry (and wish I could read it all in the original German) and I find myself gravitating to my books of his poetry pretty often. These words he writes as encouragement to a distant friend who is a poet are oftentimes read by me when some wise words are needed.

Nobody writes real letters these days. It is a forgotten method of sharing deep thoughts, trials, encouragement, and ideas with one another and I think we are missing out. Sure we have email and social media to share thoughts with the world, but it is not the same as sitting thoughtfully with a blank sheet of paper and writing it out by hand. I argue that there is something therapeutic about writing thoughts out with a pen. That is why I prefer to journal in that way.

But I also admit that I don't write as many letters as I would like to.

We are subjects in a modern world with modern conveniences that somehow speed things up but don't slow us down. So I will be taking a few minutes to slow down and read some excellent and encouraging letters by Rilke.

Blooms

One moment, I am not paying attention because life is so fast-paced and the next moment it's Spring! It hit me the other day that our prettiest flowers are in bloom and I have barely noticed. My path through these busy days has been so narrowly viewed that I literally haven't stopped to smell the roses. Except I don't see any roses, but the pinks and yellows of these full blooms, falling and carpeting the grass all around. This photo was taken at my church. In the spirit of feeling like a little kid who wants to go out and play in the pleasant weather, I wrote a silly little poem that could have been written by a younger me.

You fill the air with pollen
and our eyes get watery
But when we clear our eyes
it's such a sight to see
Blooms bursting busily
on trees along the street
And the little girl inside me
want to dance and meet
The lovely colours vibrant
brighter than the norm
And they only stick around
until the next rainstorm

Merry March

He'll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.
- Philippians 3.21

I say goodbye to February with a pang of sadness, mainly because the coldest months are now behind us and the chances grow slimmer for many more days of the glorious chill. However, we've had a few recent days that started off chilly, much to my delight, and I indulged in an extra french press coffee to celebrate. I wore my new favourite army green jacket and moccasins, even though it warmed up later.

I read this verse as I drank coffee and I mused about how it displays God as currently working all the pieces into place. He's not just sitting idly nearby, watching. He is above, and everything else is below and around Him. He is presently moving parts so that things fall into place according to His plan.

We shall say that March will be merry, to keep with a catchy alliteration. I like the cheerfulness that the word 'merry' invokes and I refuse to confine such a lovely word to December only. I think March deserves to be just as merry as December.

Do Your Creative Best

Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.

- Galatians 6.4-5

We all have a serious challenge set before us, don't we? We are charged with the big responsibility of finding who we are and then using those talents to the best creative ability of ourselves. It is quite a journey to undertake, and so full of goodness because it is about finding what you are best at and discovering ways to do good with it.

Then the warning comes. The reminder of our frailties. Do not compare yourself with others, which is the trap we so easily fall into. Nothing good will come of comparing yourself to another person. There truly is no way to win in comparison. Your paths are so different. Your talents vary. Your strengths are not the same. Don't compare yourself with others, but expand beyond yourself so that you appreciate other people's strengths, successes, and dreams, knowing that you have your own as well.

You were given specific qualities and talents. Sink yourself into those, thinking about how you can utilize each quality in your every day to help or encourage others. If you compare yourself to others, you are too busy looking at yourself and what you don't have rather than looking toward those out there who can use someone like you.

Let encouragement be our initial response and not comparison.

A Cozy Office

While I was out and about on the weekend meeting up with my friend and relaxing at home, my boss and his wife were in my office, re-decorating. Little elves working during the night. Okay, not really. But we recently moved into a new office building, and I bought some new decorations to make my office cozy, but hadn't had the chance to thoughtfully place things (we have been more than a little bit busy).

And that's where the dynamic duo, Colin and Cayla, set to work, using my decorations to rearrange and display everything in such a beautiful way. I stepped into my office on Monday with the best surprise of the coziest office space fresh and new. I mean, don't you want to work in here?

The time and the effort they took, using my items to decorate is so special. I am very thankful for such a caring boss and his wife who enjoy doing kind things for me like this. Every day is a good day!

What God Does for Us

Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right. "The person who believes God, is set right by God - and that's the real life."
- Galatians 3.12 

The infinite grace of God is already upon us who believes in Him. We sometimes act as if we still need to win Him over, though. We feel guilty for missing church or not being able to take part in something asked of us. I am not saying we shouldn't go to church or shouldn't take part in activities of church, but if works we are doing are in hopes of getting on God's "good side" we have missed something critical.

Paul tells us we are already loved by God and there's nothing we can do to be more loved. We are called to do something so simple, and yet it is so difficult for us. To accept and believe in God with our whole heart. At that point life is changed. Instead of living selfishly, our outlook is altered to looking toward the good of others, with a love we had never known before because it never lived in us. To love God is to live a new life.

Isn't it a joy to behold? Nothing we have done and nothing we could do dictates God's love! We don't have to be successful or have a big house with a pool or have 500 friends. We do have to be ourselves - exactly as God created you to be - and to believe in Him and let Him dwell in our hearts.

I love that I can be me, through and through. He loves me for who I am, including all the quirks that make me so different from others.

I rejoice in that.

Southwest Style

For some reason, a little hint of a Southwest style has been making its way into my attire and decor. It is not something I was drawn to before, but there is something charming in it, a sense of history, and a connection to earthy tones. Not to mention it represents a dry desert climate, which is very different from what I am used to, which is fun to me.

The geometric designs are eye-catching. Mix that with earth tones that I already like and you have something very attractive to me. Perhaps the organizational and structured presence of the designs are also quite appealing to me.

My moccasins are some of my most comfortable shoes, and I would wear them everyday if I could. I am most definitely a fan.

Cacti are my new favourite plants. They barely need any watering and don't need pruning. They just need sunlight.

Well, I daresay you'll be seeing some snapshots of more Southwest styles on here from time to time.

Prickly Questions

Sometimes I just want some answers to spill over the silence and provide some details of clarification. Do you ever wish you had more answers to questions you have about life that keep showing up in your mind? Those prickly questions that are always there? Each scenario has its own complexities and we just want a simple answer.

Maybe we aren't ready for the answer.

I remind myself that it is okay to live the unanswered questions. Just keep going. Move forward toward a goal, a dream, an opportunity. Don't let the prickly questions stop you from enjoying life right in front of you. I believe if something is meant to happen, God will pave a way for you to follow. And if a door is slammed, there is a reason for that.

But if that happens, move forward and brush the dust off your feet.

Thin shrouds cover the situations and it is almost as if you can see through it to the truth, but it comes to be another layer of questions.

Move onward. Whatever the situation, we all go through dry seasons where it seems like no rain is on the horizon. But there is. That season is temporary.

Someday the answer may spill over the cup and into the saucer, and there you can swirl in the meaning.

I don't think we are always meant to know everything right away. God's not keeping you in the dark, but He is showing you the way and leading you in His light so you emerge from that darkness.

Breakfast Scene

You groped your way through the murk once, but no longer. You're out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true - these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please God, and then do it.
- Ephesians 5. 8-10

Maybe some mornings are better left open for coffee brewing, yogurt, and space for thoughts to rustle as they wake up. Let the sunshine stream through the thin, white curtains casting a soft glow in the kitchen.

I love mornings and the freshness they have. Elements of the new encourage thinking of all the day's possibilities. A good night's sleep brings me into the new day with open eyes. It is because I have been going to bed earlier as I have been so tired.

White porcelain adorns my table. Fresh and clean looks. I will admit to you here, that I am a sucker for dishes. It is hard for me to resist them when in a store, especially when they are very affordable.

My morning scenes are full of light and white. My home is cozy and quiet. Most of my neighbors go to work before me. Birds chirp outside and I even hear the owl who hangs out in the neighborhood.

I am so thankful for my morning scenes. They start my day off with a glowing beginning.