It is so easy to get wrapped up in life and all it’s loudness…so easy that in one moment you slip into it and don’t even realize it.  The volume gets turned up, you adjust to it and it plays on and on…and then you forget how to turn down the volume!

Our first evening of vacation was spent in the Sacramento Mountains at the United Methodist Camp.  The director gives free restorative visits for Methodist clergy!

We left a record breaking Texas summer with highs near 110 and a drought to boot!  Texas is literally burning up, as are its residents!

As we drove into the mountain, the clouds appeared, dark and low.  The sound of thunder was thrilling, causing us to giggle together.  The very moment we drove into the camp and stepped out of our car, it began to rain.  It felt just as if God was welcoming us, restoring our dry souls!  And I believe He was.

It has been my experience with God that He has just the right way to bring about restoration.  All in perfection, as it was with every breath we took of the rain freshened air, each wild-flower seen, the lovely scent of the pines, the buzzing of the hummingbirds.

We were met by the director who showed us the way to our cabin.  It was perfect! 

We were so very tired from the long drive, having left Texas at 2 a.m., but we didn’t dare miss a moment of the peace this place had already brought us.

We immediately found a trail to hike and of all things it was named the Emmaus Trail.

For those unfamiliar with The Walk to Emmaus, it is a spiritual weekend Christians participate in to become closer to God.  Luke 24 is the scripture it is based on when the 2 were walking on the road to Emmaus and were met by Jesus who opened their eyes to all that is true and perfect in Him.  Rick and I have both participated in walks, as pilgrims (students) and workers.  With each walk we have joined, our hearts are “strangely warmed”, in every unimaginable way.  So to find this Emmaus Trail was indeed a spiritual moment for us both.

It was on this trail that we were reminded of how loud our lives had gotten.  The higher we climbed, the more apparent it became as God’s artistic expressions danced all around us.

Life demands loudness.  It is a necessary part as we go about the business demanded of us.  But it is also just as necessary to listen to the quietness that God offers us, to drink in the goodness of His graces that we are surrounded by.

As we descended from the trail and back into the camp, we joined others for supper.  It was there that we noticed it…that look upon each face…it was the Emmaus glow…The Holy Spirit was so strong that you could not help but to be overwhelmed by the sweetness, the closeness, the utter assurance that all was good.

It was that feeling that the loudness of life had captured and I needed, more than anything else, to experience it again.  It was a great gift!  This song, by Sherri Youngward,  captures perfectly, the feeling I had at that moment.   Thank you sweet Jesus for giving us your Spirit!

Restore My Soul  by Sherri Youngward

07 – Restore My Soul(1)  (click on link to hear her sing…you’ll be glad you did)

Lyrics…

Lead me beside
The water so still
Let me catch my breath
Let me drink my fill
Let me lie in fields of green
Where only gentle breezes blow
I’ll reach out my empty hands
For the cup that over flows

Restore my soul, Restore my soul,
Restore my soul, Restore my soul

I’ve stood too long here in these shadows
These valley walls are all I see
I need the skilled eyes of my Shepherd
Now my vision’s failing me

Restore my soul, Restore my soul,
Restore my soul, Restore my soul

Then I will run and not be weary
I will walk and not faint
I will soar with wings of eagles
In God alone is my strength

Restore my soul, Restore my soul,
Restore my soul, Restore my soul

Surely goodness and mercy
Will find their way
to me
And I will live with them forever
I will have no more need
The Lord is my Shepherd
He is my God
I will live with Him forever
I shall not want

May God’s blessings fill your life with quiet moments!

More vacation stories to come…thanks for reading…

Tracie

Many of you will recognize this theme song from the 1975 movie Mahogony.  It was sung by Diana Ross.

Do You Know Where You\’re Going To?

Do you know where you’re going to?
Do you like the things that life is showing you?
Where are you going to, do you know?
Do you get what you’re hoping for?
When you look behind you there’s no open door,
What are you hoping for, do you know?

As I read those words I can do nothing less than to ponder them and I ask myself, do I know in what direction my life is going?  What do I hope for?
As I look behind me, and see the experiences of life that have shaped and formed me I am joyful for them.   Notice I didn’t say ‘happy’, but joyful, for many of the experiences were rough going and I would not want to experience them again.  And I’ve made mistakes.  But as I look in the mirror to what I have become, and where I am going, I am joyful in the Lord!  He has blessed me with life shaping experiences that have led to lifelong Christian formation.  I can now look behind me to see closed doors and smile inwardly as to the invaluable experiences.

We cannot know the exact direction our life is going, but we can set the course through planning and preparation.  We begin this process very early in life usually with the aid of another (parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, etc.)  They set our course, give us the directions, and then set us free hopefully with all the right tools.

If you were to list the tools you’ve had in life, those you have passed on, what would that list look like?

As some of you are reading this, you may be thinking of your children and asking yourself, what have/did I pass on?  Did I include the very ones that matter the most; the teachings that are for lifelong Christian formation?

What are you hoping for, do you know?

Lifelong Spiritual Formation is the essential tool to the whole of life.  If we have given/received nothing but spiritual directives then we have given/received the love of our Maker and Redeemer, the tools that are life sustaining.

It’s not too late you know.  If you were not given the directions of life, you can still receive them with some effort.  It takes effort to learn the ways of the Lord; it takes effort to teach the ways of the Lord.  But we have a responsibility to ourselves and our younger generations.  We have a responsibility to our Lord and our church family.

Many of us hope for, we yearn for that one thing in life that is solid, strong, never failing and life sustaining.  And it is right in front of you.  Grab it, hold on to it and never let it go.

“For the Word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”                               Hebrews 4:12-13

Where are you going to, do you know?

Come to the gathering of believers, to your church, with no pretense, with the doors of the past closed, ready to open doors to the future.   Join a Sunday school class and/or the Wednesday evening Bible Studies for that is where lifelong spiritual formation begins.

Receive and give the tools of life and then you will know, you will be assured of hope and direction.

“Growing spiritually is an exciting adventure. As individual and as communities, we change, we are renewed, and we share in renewing God’s creation every day. As Christians who claim life in the power of the Holy Spirit, we live and rejoice in what God already has done, what God is doing, and what God wants for us. Spiritual growth is a lifelong process, and spiritual disciplines are the means by which we continue that process.”
Foundations: Shaping the Ministry of Christian Education in your congregation.

I love Easter for with it comes Spring; new life, warmer temps, flowers blooming, trees coming alive again. I like getting outside playing in the dirt as I prepare my flower beds in order that they grow vibrant and healthy. If I don?t prepare their soil properly, they won?t grow properly, if at all.

How appropriate it is that the season of Lent coincides with Spring for it too involves preparation; the preparation of our lives for the resurrection of our Christ. As we began the Season of Lent, Rick asked me what I would be giving up this year. I told him, “self”. For me, Lent is a time I take to seriously consider my attitude, my actions toward others, my “love level”. In other words, I ask myself how much closer I am to having the spirit of Christ than the previous year and what do I need to do to attain that? Christ was certainly selfless in all he did. It requires a lot of prayer, a lot of self examining, a lot of truth finding about the self. It is an act of preparing in order that my soul grows vibrant and healthy.

Self denial…the deliberate refusal to satisfy ones desires, as a method of disciplining oneself or making it possible to help others. Resurrect…to bring back to life, to bring back to memory or into use Vibrant…full of life and energy As we are nearing Easter and I look back upon this lent season I have to say that I could’ve done better, but I did better than the previous year. Of course, it is all just the beginning and doesn’t end with Easter, for Easter is the time of resurrection.

The next time you?re out working in your yard, ask yourself how you are preparing your life for vibrant growth. Is your life full with the love of Christ or is it lying dormant in need of some care?

God loves you immensely!

Tracie

The pursuit of happiness is a frivolous American affair which confuses fun with the greater life of finding joy in mind, body, and spirit.

Fun is often a market driven state of mind with little redeeming quality outside of the extreme state of the moment.  Though it should be a part of the enlightened state of joyful living it is often so obsessed over that it must be purchased and often in the form of a chemical alteration to the brain or other parts of the body.  It can lead to an obsessive and compulsive behavior attempting to maintain the heightened sense of excitement or pleasure.  It can and will be disrupted by most or all things which interfere with the pleasing moment or the perceived attainment of social, mental, financial or physical goals.

The enlightened state of joyful living begins with spirit and moves to mind and body.  If the mind and body are dysfunctional the spirit can carry the person who has found contentment.  In the Judeo-Christian tradition this state of joy filled spirit and living is found in the simultaneously devoted journey with and toward God.  In his/her God given faith the sojourner learns to desire the thoughts and ways of the Creator.   The power of well being grows from the experience that the Lord God will care for them even in the absolute worst situation.  This confidence of understanding does not depend on continuous pleasures but grows from the very troubles life does contain.

Because God is the ultimate source of life and healing the person does not depend upon purchased or exotic fun for fulfillment.  Instead the peace of a God centered life is enjoyed with moments of fun scattered throughout but not depended upon.  Life is celebrated because of the loving presence of God, not due to something purchased, perceived to have been earned, or social acclaim.

RD