Over the last two months the Lord has been waking me between 3:50am and 4:10am most mornings. I’m an early riser, but this is EARLY. I don’t wake rested nor slowly. I wrestle my brain in holy conferencing with the Lord. If I kept minutes of our holy conferencing, these are just a few items I’d record…
• It was only a year ago that Baby Girl and her family moved to Oregon to help a new church start. They sold or gave away everything they had to ‘follow Him.’ They are living their best lives, dad-gum-it! I miss them terribly, but she’s doing what we raised her for, and living her life for whom we raised her for.
• Rehashing conversations in my head from the previous day that He knows I need to re-record over. The Enneagram 3 in me has been raging, so I’ve had to ask the Lord to wrestle that thing to the ground just to keep me from crawling in a corner and crying. Climbing into the Savior’s lap at 4am has been the perfect place to leave yesterday behind and be reminded that today is a new day.
• Honor the boundaries of Sabbath no matter what comes through email or text on Friday and Saturday so that I can be fully present with my family. We’ve got a new baby coming in December and I need to be a good help by being a good noticer of what I can do, be, say, cook, laugh to be a blessing.
• Intentionally plan for creative outlets. Schedule that art class with a BFF and find a wooden dollhouse to jack up for Christmas… for the grands… for the memories.
• Many of my United Methodist friends and colleagues are anticipating….well, we don’t know what we’re anticipating. HOW we do ministry may be different this time next year. Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart, and trouble will come. No matter what, I and my other kidmin colleagues will continue to share with our little people that God made them and Jesus loves them. We will also continue to share with our little people’s big people that we are in this life together to learn to love the Lord our God with all our heart soul, mind, and strength AND love our neighbor as ourselves.
• Stay in my lane. Don’t be distracted by that which is not for me. It totally affects me, but unless I’m invited to those tables to engage in those conversations, keep my head down and do my best work as unto the Lord. Go with what I know and not with how I feel.
• It’s Thanksgiving and a reminder that there are some amazing people who are no longer here. My cousin, Sonny Johnson wrote this last year:
Empty Chair
The empty chair I speak of, is not an empty seat.
It’s space at the table, where we use to meet.
It’s not a place setting, or even an empty chair,
But memories of someone missing, you know who’s not there.
Thankful for all who join us, friends and family.
We talk of new beginnings, and how it use to be.
God bless food on this table, and bless the people there,
Bless those who couldn’t make it, God bless the empty chair.
What does holy conferencing with the Lord at 4am look like for you?
“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:19-20