Friday, March 11, 2011

What's Wrong With This Picture?


You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines,though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain.
Isaiah 17:10,11


I struggled to find a suitable (and royalty-free) blog header. I knew I wanted a Bible and coffee, so it would be like having coffee with Jesus. :) Of course, I simply could not stop there- I had to make it look super-snazzy! After all, this was an Amy Allen-designed blog, I had to give her some material worthy of her endless creativity! I also thought about the other parts of my life and how I needed to capture them. After all, my inspiration comes from my life, right? How would I manage that? It seemed impossible! That, of course, is where my favorite web designer and her HTML genius comes in handy. :) She found the answer to my dilemma, a collage layout! With only my list of possible picture ideas, she finished my header faster than I can order a latte at Cutters Point. It was beautiful. It was appropriate. It was (I thought) complete.

After two days of blogging, I was awakened in the night with a rather embarrassing realization. Something very important was missing! I had the tongue-in-cheek fifties housewife and hubby graphic, the boys, the pets, laundry, a loaf of gluten-free bread, and (of course), coffee. What did I forget in my devotional blog about Jesus? A Bible! I smacked my forehead in embarrassment. Really? Did I include a picture of a chicken and forget to put a Bible in there? I emailed Amy first thing in the morning to fix my big oopsie. We talked about how that is so typical of us to do in our daily lives, and I mentioned it would make a good blog entry some time. I had no idea how appropriate it would be for the day about to unfold before me!

My morning began in a rather startling fashion; a tsunami watch on the coast. With my parents living five minutes from the ocean, I was naturally concerned. Even though it was a "watch" and not a "warning," I called my parents and made sure they knew what was going on. Naturally, my parents were already dressed and had bottles of water in the car, just in case. I urged them to head inland at the slightest hint of conditions growing worse. They agreed and urged me to go back to bed. After watching the news for another 30 minutes, I drifted back to sleep, completely forgetting to do something useful. While I worried about my parents, warned my parents and yes, even told people who had changed my diapers what to do, I never prayed for them. A vital piece of that picture was missing.

When I was just beginning to start my day, I was reminded of a meeting that I had completely forgotten about. It was today, and it was at MY HOUSE! Since the boys didn't have school, we were planning on having a relaxing pajama day. Well, the pajama part was right. Relaxing? Not so much. The boys already had a plethora of toys all over the floor, the dogs are in the middle of blowing out their winter coats and I'd washed, dried and neglected 4 loads of laundry over the course of this busy week. I also planned on having Wyatt's buddy over that afternoon. I did not completely lose my mind and attempt to get the house spotless, but we most certainly were going to find the floor beneath the Legos and dog hair! I then began to fret about dinner. On a day with so much unexpected excitement, I refused to change my plans to try (and alter) a brand new recipe, which of course, I had to do prep work for. I also wanted to make sure to have the dishes from said prep work clean as a whistle before she arrived, all while doing other project and caring for two little boys who did not have school. Was this destined to add complications? You betcha. Did I check in with God to ask His opinion of all this? I'm afraid not.

After a two hour meeting (which took place in the middle of Wyatt's play date and my husband arriving home from work), I was exhausted and my brain was fried. Sadly, what was not yet fried was dinner! My hubby had hiked that afternoon, the boys were (as usual) hungry and my recipe was simply not cooperating. After over an hour of doctoring and re-vamping, dinner was finally ready. Thank goodness the masses were hungry, less picky folk probably wouldn't have eaten it! While I remembered to complain, blame, pout and go berserk on anyone who dared to breathe wrong, I didn't come to my Father for help. No wonder everything was a mess- most of all, me!

All day long, I tried to keep things going according to my plan. I had tried to maintain my vision for the day. The verse in Isaiah is most certainly true: when we forget about God, it's not a pretty picture! Things might look okay for a while, but it's eventually going to fall apart on you! A life that works without regular encounters with God is as unrealistic as Suzie Homemaker's waistline. We end up out of balance, exhausted, stressed, angry and ready to give up altogether; all because we won't ask for guidance from the One who actually has the answers we so desperately seek.

I'm glad Amy put the Bible on top of my header, that is where I need to place my time with God. I thought about Him, talked about Him, even Sang about Him as I cleaned the shower. What was missing was communing with Him. Lord, help me to stop planning and start PRAYING!

In Lenten Love and Friendship,
Amy

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