Making God Chuckle

My "new" Loaner tiller 

God is so funny. 

Don’t believe me? Then you should have listened to the conversation He and I had earlier. He has a great sense of humor. 

Thankfully He also has patience with me.

Recently I have been showered with some amazing little gifts from God.

1. Our fridge was too small and turned everything to ice, so God gave me a larger newer one for free.

2. Our washer and dryer decided to go out, we were given new ones, $150 to be paid when we can….whenever… how cool is that?

3. I love to garden, but had no tiller to prepare the soil. God gave me a loaner tiller for as long as I wanted one.

I am grateful for every single gift. I have celebrated God’s faithfulness at every turn. He is awesome the way He gives. Sometimes He is funny too.

While moving in the fridge my husband tore a hole in the flooring. Twice. The whole “hole” experience showed me I have some work to do on my attitude and on patience. When I mentioned it to my husband as I apologized for losing my temper, he was pleasantly surprised I noticed my issue. He had been living 18 years with my inability to stay calm and not blow my top when things went sideways. Poor guy. His patience and mercy are just two of the reasons why I love him.

The tiller, well the tiller is so big and powerful that I have no idea what I am going to do with it. I tried to use it today and I nearly ran into a wall, (it is self-propelled) and could not figure out how to make that thing do what I know it can. My small patch of garden is only 10’x11’ and the tiller from front to back is nearly five feet long! Making rows is harder than it sounds. For those of you who have no idea how to run a tiller, do not judge me and for those of you who do, I will take your help anytime.

I may not know how to handle it yet, but I will figure it out. Why? Because I want to be a faithful steward of what God gives me and I have plants coming that have to go into the ground ASAP!

But right now, as I stare a half done till job in my front garden, I feel like Adam when God found them in the garden after the fall. I want to pout and blame Him for my inability to do the job. I want to say “It’s the tiller you gave me Lord”

In reality, it is me. I am the issue. God is using tillers and refrigerators to show me more about myself and what I need to work on. I just wish I was quicker on the uptake so I could learn what I need to and move forward. 

So while I struggle to learn to use a tiller and whatever lesson there is here, I am sure there is a bit of chuckling in heaven going on as my Father looks on in amused fashion with "Oh Dayna...." on His lips. 

I have a long way to go, but patience is definitely on the list….

Has God ever used blessings to teach you a lesson?

Four Gardens - God's Plan for Fellowship

More on Gardens

There used to be a song we sang when I was growing up that said "I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses". This song and the post yesterday has me thinking again about Gardens. This time though I want to talk about four very special gardens.

The Garden of Eden

The garden of Eden was created by God. It was His original plan. Protected, secluded, it was made for man to dwell in so He could fellowship with them in the cool of the evening. Here man missed the mark, they sinned and forever after that were made to earn from their labor everything God had automatically provided before. Now they would face hardships and pain. This garden was lost forever.

Garden of the Sepulcher

The Garden of the Sepulchre was the garden that held the tomb Jesus was buried in. Here Jesus redeemed the first garden by his death, burial, and resurrection. Here he rose to greet the morning and found a woman completely unsuitable by the worlds standard to be the first one trusted with the life changing gospel:Jesus is alive! 

A woman partook of the fruit that separated man from God in the first garden and now a woman was bearing the first fruits of this garden. The first Adam missed the mark and became separated from God forever, the second Adam, Jesus, made a way for God to be reunited with man forever. This place held the redemption of man as much as the cross, if not more because this in this place Jesus had resurrected!

The Garden in Heaven

The garden in heaven: two trees separated by the river of God. One one side the first tree of life, bearing fruit and on the other side a second tree of life, bearing fruit. Each tree bore 12 fruits, 1 a month. God's plan completed. We will rule and reign with Him in heavenly places. We will stand before the throne, from which the river of God flows and see the plan of God fulfilled in those two trees.

Your Secret Garden

We are talking about gardens. In biblical times they were places of solitude and peace. Walled or hedged in these places were protected from the outside world. 

Here all of your senses were engaged: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. You could see the lush greens and hear the sounds of birds and babbling brooks. You could touch the flowers and smell and taste the fruits of the garden.

Jesus sought a garden (Gethsemane)  to pray to seek God. Here He solidified His resolve and honed His purpose. This is something we should do: find our secret garden. It may not be a green space, but it should be a space that engages your senses, that evokes tranquility and allows you time alone with God. 

That is all God has ever desired: time alone with you, walking in a "Garden" together. A place where personal fellowship and worship are the focus. 

It was God's design in Genesis, it was good enough for Jesus, and we should follow this plan too.

Question: Do you have a place you like to go that is like this for you- your "garden"? Share with us you favorite place to be alone with God.

Gardening 101- It is all about the soil!

Seeds I started in my kitchen are ready too plant, but my garden is not ready.

It is spring and I am starting seedlings for my garden. These seedlings have already had some challenges- mainly in the form of my daughter's cat, who thought my zinnias were his new litter box. 

The zinnias are gone, but I still have hope for the green beans, squash, sunflowers, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, eggplants, bell peppers and herbs. 

Alex the Cat

But I have a problem beyond Alex the cat. I have all these seedlings and I haven't prepared the ground yet. Weeds need to be plucked and the ground needs to be turned. I am running behind. 

So, of course, as I ponder the problem God seems to line up things that remind me of the spiritual parallels between gardening and us. 

We are a garden, and we are expected to bear fruit. 

The parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-23 is very clear about the importance of good soil. Jesus talks about 4 types of soil: road, gravel, weeds, and good earth. 

The Road is a person who hears about God, but won’t receive God, so when the enemy comes, the seed of God’s words are easily corrupted and eaten. 

The Gravel, or road side, hears the word and immediately responds, but there is not enough depth there. This is a person that lives by emotion and often is the type of person that flits from one fad to another. When the emotional high wears off, and trouble or testing comes, then they have nothing to show for it, because it was about the experience of the sowing and not about the maintaining or the growing. 

The Weeds are worry. Man, so many of us get caught here. I have before. Weeds seem to be able to grow just about anywhere, but they grow just as well in what could be good ground as they do in the gravel or in a tiny crack in the road. Weeds are hearty things that flourish under even the most inhospitable conditions. 

Weeds are the worries of life. Bills, family, and unexpected obstacles are the worries we allow to grow in our lives. Another class of weeds is false expectations. Jesus did not promise a life full of rainbows and unicorns. Life would not be suddenly perfect because you asked God to rule and reign in your heart. That assures your salvation, but the world is still a broken place. 

When we get wrapped up in the would-a should-a could-a, or we get fixated on desiring more than we are ready for, the weeds of false expectation begin to choke out our peace, and contentment, then they rob us of our faith. These weeds need to be plucked out at every opportunity. 

Who has gained one extra day of life because he worried? No one has. Worry is a faith killer, and faith in action is a weed killer. Remember what God says, He is our provider and He gives every good and perfect gift. Doing this allows us to begin to let go of worry and keep our hearts from fear and disappointments. 

Prayer and submission to God is the way to pluck out weeds. Prayer and supplication to God displace worry in our lives. Focus on Christ as the Center of provision and worry will have no place to take root. 

The final type of soil is Good Ground. 

Isaiah 62:10 says “Go through the gates, prepare the way for the people, cast up the highway, gather up the stone, and lift up a banner for the people. “ 

Un-tilled soil is rocky soil. The stones need to be removed, just like the weeds in our lives. Stones are those things we stumble over. Offenses, false-doctrines, and unbelief are examples of stones. 

When these are removed from our lives, and we continually pull the weeds from our hearts, the soil is ready for sowing. As the word falls verse by verse, seed by seed onto our hearts, it takes root, grows, it gets watered by the Holy Spirit and bears fruit. 

My garden needs a lot of work to get ready for these seedlings. My heart needs some preparation to receive what God has for me too! I want a harvest that is beyond my wildest dreams, and that means I have to prepare the soil. Time to put on the gloves and get to work!

Sunday Reflection March 25, 2012

What a wild and woolly week!  I feel a little overwhelmed with the amazing response this week to both this blog and to the Facebook page. This week we had over 1000 visitors to the blog and I cannot tell you how excited this makes me. Day after day the numbers began climbing and even with a late posting midweek, you came to read what was here. I am so thankful for that. And humbled. And more than a little in awe. 


I want to take time and thank Rashad McConico  for sharing his story with us. What a brave and precious thing to be so completely transparent and share such a personal story with the world. I shared this with Rashad all ready, but one of the stats I can see on this blog is what search words or phrases are being used to direct people to this site on search engines. People are looking for answers. They are searching for hope. "Stories about guys overcoming homosexuality" was searched at least twice and brought people to Rashad's testimony. God cares about the individual and if sharing his story helps one person, I know Rashad is happy to have done so. 


I also wanted to point you guys to a guest blog I wrote for Alan Knox's blog, The Assembling of the Church. I know that I have had to deal with offense before and as a Christian it was hard, but what about the people who are still without Christ, who are hurt by a something a Christian did or didn't do and now they lump that offense with the Church, and run from the congregation? What is our response to them? That guest blog was a blessing to write, but even more of a lesson for me. Thank you Alan Knox for the opportunity. 


What was the lesson I learned from the first guest blog post? Well, it is this, do what God told me, write, and let Him grow it to be what He intends. The bad habit I had fallen into was to over-think and obsess over how many people were or were not commenting on things and what did that say about me as a writer. Alan Knox, Jeff Goins, and other wonderful mentors of mine gave me wonderful advise and it was this: just write. So from that came How does your Garden Grow and Just Keep Swimming.  


Last week I shared that I had fasted my words. I shared the three things I had learned from that and I have to say I probably could have written more. If you did not get a chance to read that, click here for that. 


Then my week got turned upside down as we traveled an hour to Texas Children's Hospital with our youngest daughter, Connie-Lyn. She is battling health issues and we will be continuing to pursue answers this upcoming week for her. Please be in prayer about it. So because we were stuck in an ER with no service, I almost did not get to post for Thursday. This is what did make it: The Post that almost Wasn't. 


To round off this week's entries, I killed my "self" and wrote an obituary for her. I had hoped that you would join me and there is still plenty of opportunity to do so by taking the OBIT CHALLENGE.  Weird, I know, but I think it is so helpful in addressing the issue of obedience in our lives that I encourage everyone to do it at least once. 


So many other wonderful things happened this week, some I am holding close to my heart for now, but I do want to say something to my family who may be reading this right now: May God's grace comfort and uplift you in all you do as you mourn the loss of our dear Sister/Aunt/Friend Barbara Lou Green Frankum. Her funeral was one of the most amazing I have ever attended with laughter and joy permeating the room and even the sadness was tempered by hope. She was a no-none-sense woman with a heart bigger than Texas and she will be missed until we see her again in heaven. 


May the joy of the Lord fill you as you go into this week, may you be blessed by what you read here and I pray that you grow in grace and wisdom as you go from glory to glory. 


Dayna 

Sunday Reflections March 04, 2012

Well, this week has seen a few changes to the page, and maybe in me a little too. I hope the overall tweeking I have done to the content has not scared you away. There will be more Bible Study, but I am "discovering my voice" as a writer (thanks Jeff Goins) and I never know what is going to come of that. 


This week I feel like there were so many things different that I am almost a little embarrassed to talk about them. For one thing, I was extremely personal this week. First I shared my prayer for this blog. Then to give you a little something extra I added a post on the Names of God where we examined who God is. 


Then we looked at God's love manifested through Dream's and Plans. I know this is something that God has been showing me on a very personal level, so I cannot seem to do anything BUT share it. Then to make up for being so personal, I wanted to do a character study on Mary and Martha and still somehow, that boiled down to God completing His plans in us. Told you it was on my mind. 


Now we get to the REALLY different. This Writer's Manifesto was actually going to be just a writing exercise for me but after I was done I really felt like there was some truth there for anyone, and felt compelled to share it. It also was a declaration of what I am, what God has made me, how He is using me and it built me up in ways I did not expect. This blog is named "A Year in the Spiritual Life" and as of tomorrow I will have written this blog for only two months. (I know it seems longer....sorry bout that) In that two months there has been so much growth in me, and changes, internally and outwardly. I am so stoked to see what God will do next. 


Now, as I mentioned before, this week has been different, and this post: The Gardener and the Sapling  was perhaps one of the biggest differences there has been so far. This short story, or modern parable, was actually based on a story I first made up when I was only 15 for my little brother, Aaron, who was four at the time. I have always loved it, as he did when he was small, and when I was completely blocked on what to write, this was the only thing that dropped in my spirit. Since I had never written it down before, I was concerned it may not turn out well, but overall, I think it was pretty good. The scary thing for me was hitting the publish button and sharing it with you guys, because it is such a personal story for me. 


Weirder still was yesterday's post Psalms 151- My song. First of all, you may not realize this, but there are only 150 chapters in the book of Psalms. I was attempting to be cheeky with the title but I am not sure if anyone got my sense of humor... it is a little wacky I know. This was a new song I felt God was giving to me and I wanted to share it with you. This new song was something that I wrote, re-wrote, and one day, may re-write again, because I always want to reach for better, though perfection this side of Heaven is impossible. The sentiment in the song comes from my desire to do all I can to express my love for my Father and worship Him in all the ways He deserves. But I am no dancer, and I am not a great singer. It is a good thing God sees the thoughts and intentions of the heart, because there,  in the deepness of my heart and the loony places in my head I dance like Melanie Moore or Sasha Mallory of So You Think You Can Dance fame. 


This week also saw five more countries visiting the blog, bringing the total to 54. They are Barbados, Indonesia, Syria, Lebanon, Brunei Darussalam, and Argentina. Welcome to the readers in those countries and hope that they are blessed by what they find here, though I am not sure how well my humor translates to all these different languages. I am not sure it translates in English most of the time. 


This week did open up some wonderful opportunities and soon I will be writing a guest blog on http://www.alanknox.net/. That will be coming on March 19 as it stands now and I am very excited about it. I will of course link that for all of you when it happens. 


So that is the week, like I said, I feel a little awkward about it, because it is all so new and different than I thought this blog was supposed to be. This is a stretching time for me, so when you think of me, please pray: I need it. I am always praying for you. 


Be blessed and be a blessing and remember that stretch is a verb.