courting the Almighty

  this morning went well! i awoke at 6:00 a.m. with no alarm clock because my clock is set for 7:00 a.m.  i fell back to sleep for 50 extra minuets and yes, i could have gotten up at 6:00, but i didn't. the cool thing is, that i did stick to my 7:00 a.m. plan and spent time alone with the Lord, and that is better then the past three days!
  i was reminded today how a friend had asked me how she could get to know God better and be closer with Him. of course i told her to spend time in the Word, the bible. but the thing that i really wanted to impress upon her heart was to court the Lord. i think it kind of freaked her out at first. i asked her how she felt about her husband when they first met. how often did she see him or at least want to. how often did she talk to him or at least want to. i told her that kind of effort needed to go into getting closer with with God. that she needed to court Him. to spend time with Him. carve time out of her life and spend it with Him. sing love songs to Him. share Him with her girl friends ... well, at least tell them how much He means to you and that you really want them to have Him in their lives. court Him. court the Almighty. allow yourself to fall madly, deeply, crazily in love with Him.  become His bride.
  we kind of lost touch, this old friend of mine and i. she's doing her thing and i'm doing mine. but i'm thinking about that statement i made to her. i'm lovin' the thought of it. to intentionally fall deeply, madly, crazily in love with the Most High. to court him!  yes,  i'm lovin' falling back in love with God!
  as for my two daily challenges today, they were in fact a challenge. i had a very mentally busy day.  deep conversation with my pop pop and trying to recall bible verses when he asked me to. ( for anyone who doesn't know, i have only been able to learn bible verses to the tune of songs. oddly, these tunes are ones that i make up in my mind. how can i remember new tunes that i've never heard before and not bible verses that i study at length? strange the way the mind works, yes?) so deep theological thinking ( and i'm not naturally a deep thinker ) while making lunch and also answer questions from my nana and children, all the while tending to the needs of those wo very excited great-grand kids. what? i'm sorry, did someone say something about not multitasking my multitasking? let me just be blunt here:  EPIC FAIL! although i think i was pretty patient through it all.
  also, my son barfed big time at the dinner table tonight. and if you know my son, you know his drama. present? nope. while cleaning up that mess i did, in fact, think of another time and place. patient? nope. while he was screaming that "it felt like his head wanted to explode" my patience didn't deepen any. although all the important "hearing parts" my ears did run away to find another more quieter head to co-habitat in. i did have to ask his daddy for help with that one. usually i'm the one that does better with barf, but not tonight.
  given the circumstances i think those are reasonable times to not be so very present and all in the moment. and what better parenting skills then when you have a willing partner to tag-team in times of throw-up and temper tantrums?
  a cool thing that did happen today, while my son was laying in bed being soothed to the original superman movie (yes, i moved an old t.v. into his room so he wouldn't feel so all alone. i am serious about quarantining sickness ) my daughter being baby-sat by the most trusted four year in the whole world, caillou ( yes the bald cartoon kid from pbs who gets his way weather he deserves it or not ) my husband and i stole a moment together on the front stoop. don't call child services yet, we were within ear shot of both our children who sat quietly in front of our trusted t.v. baby sitters. (and again, their goes our nominee for "parents of the year" *sigh*)
  my husband has decided to try daily challenges of striving for intention! we talked about how sometimes we feel closer to God then others. how God never moves, He's also there, always constant and always keeps His promises. that when we feel farther away from Him, it's us that have moved. his challenge for tomorrow is pretty cool but i don't have permission to write about it, yet. i forgot to ask him before he went to sleep, so maybe tomorrow i can give you a glimpse into his striving for intention. i love how contagious this is!
  tomorrow my challenge is simple, make sure i'm having fun with my kids and that they are having fun too. this may be a difficult one if i have a sickie or two on my hands, but a great one nonetheless. sometimes our days get so busy, and i get so caught up in what i'm doing that at the end of the day, when i'm tucking my children into bed, i find myself saying to them, "i really missed you today!" the thing is we are always together. but when i feel busy and over loaded, even while i'm with them, i don't always enjoy them as i much as i wished i did. today was one of those days. tomorrow, prayerfully, will not be.