A Sweet Moment

I read something this morning out of My Utmost For His Highest that
I wanted to share with you. Here is the link to today's reading:

http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php ~OR~ find it pasted right below:

The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you" ( Luke 17:20-21 ). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.

We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.

It is not the practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College— its entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens.

What he is explaining here has been my experience this last week, and
probably beyond that. I have been crazy busy with all kinds of things
and by my choice. I had the week off of work for fall break and found
myself filling each day all the while the Father was whispering to me
" steal away with me Julie, come soak in my presence." Okay, just a
minute would be my response as I went about being busy. Come
yesterday, I felt worn, tired, empty, a little withdrawn, even cranky
and couldn't pinpoint why. As I got up this morning and sat down to
spend time with God He spoke to me with this passage as if He was
speaking to me through a megaphone! It was a duh moment for me once again and brought me to tears and repentance as I realized what the issue has been that was troubling me, what I have missed out on by not taking the time to be with Him and asking Him teach me how to do this. I have so much I want to hear from Him about and so much He wants to tell me too...all of us.

I share all this because I found it refreshing but also because being
still and spending quality time with Him is a spiritual discipline. I
thought it might encourage you if you find you are struggling with
this too, provoke thought about this and even bless you. Praise God
that He is merciful, gracious and meets us where we are at. He is
amazing!! What is He speaking to you?

Hearing God

Today I was listening to a broadcast and the topic was hearing God. This is something I want to do better at in my life so it caught my attention. Here are some things I learned or was reminded of as I listened.

* God wants to speak to us. All throughout the Bible he spoke to the prophets. ("thus sayeth the Lord" they would say). He even wants to speak to us about the tiniest details of our lives....He cares about us that much!!

* He speaks more than we realize but we hear Him best when we are at peace. Strive each day to be at peace, doing whatever it is you have to do to remain peaceful.

* How do I know it is God speaking?~ This is a question that I wrestle with at times. Here is what was said:
~It can be a feeling, something doesn't feel right. It may not always make sense in our mind.

~ A stirring in our spirit about something. ( Acts 17) Just because this happens though doesn't mean it is God. He will confirm it with witnesses (others who speak into your life) or through His word.
~ What He is speaking to us may not always make sense to us. This is something that I have learned about God. He thinks outside of the box and we need to follow Him even when it doesn't make sense to us. I think true living happens when we do this. I love His creativity.

~Take a baby step and see if God's favor is in it. ~Hosea 5

~Lastly, even when He speaks to you and it doesn't' happen right away, maybe not for a long time, that doesn't mean it wasn't God. Take Abraham and Sarah for example. He told Abraham he and Sarah would have a baby, even in their old age. It took years and years for that to come to pass. God did it though.

*Hearing God can take time and practice. There will be times when we think He is leading us in a certain direction or to do something and it ends up being a mistake on our part. That's okay, we will make mistakes along the way as we step out in obedience (I have). This is how we fine tune our ear to Him and can hear Him over the other noises in our lives.

* One phrase that got me was "Faith is spelled RISK".

From my experience, I have heard God when I am busy about something and a thought will cut through my current thought. It has nothing to do with what I am thinking about or doing, it is almost out of nowhere, but I know instantly what it is in regards to. It is the coolest thing and it brings me such peace...I know the thought was from Him. For example, I was dating a guy a year or so ago and I was not sure if I should keep seeing him or not and had been praying about it. He was a great guy and treated me great but I still wasn't sure about it. I was doing some homework one afternoon for a class I was taking and this thought passed through my mind..."It could be good but I have better for you." Huh, was my first thought but then I realized immediately what it meant. It was a relief and I knew what to do about it. What peace I had about that situation at that moment.

I know I still have a long way to go as far as fine tuning my ear to hear the Father's voice more throught my day. Jesus talked about living an abundent life and I imagine that it starts with hearing and obeying the voice of God. Imagine what He could do with us for the glory of His Kingdom. My hearts desire is to hear Him more clearly and to respond...even going to the ends of the Earth for Him.

What is He speaking to you?

Spending Time

Some friends of mine and I adopted a refugee family from Somalia a year and a half ago. It is a mother and her 3 daughters and 1 son with the oldest being 21 and the youngest 11. Amina, the mom, has two more older sons but they are still in Kenya trying come here. Pray for that. It has been so wonderful to watch them settle in here in the U.S., learn English (still learning), go to school and share their wonderful hospitality with us. We went to visit with them last night and here are some pictures we took. The kids love to play with the camera when we get it out!

Such a beautiful girl....she has lots of spunk too!

The baby of the family!

The guys getting into a good conversation. They like to talk about Jesus.

How they serve us drinks!

The oldest son who is in high school. He stepped up to be the "man of the house" and watches out for his mom and sisters. He is a good kid.

Summers End!

Today marks the last day of summer vacation for me. I go back to work tomorrow and I am actually excited to start a new school year. For 6 years I taught 3rd grade and loved it. Last year I had the opportunity to teach ESL (English as a second language) to 1-3 grade children and loved that too. I enjoy being around internationals and knew this would be right up my alley. Well, I got bumped from that position and was offered the reading specialist position at my school. So, this year I will work with students who need extra support in reading. I look forward to this new challenge as I say goodbye to my summer break. The summer has been full of fun and activity for me. Between traveling, teaching summer school and taking summer school myself, there was no time for boredom. Here are some highlights!

In June, my mom, Halle (my niece) and I headed for the beach and Sea World in San Diego!

We saw some penguins....I just love these little guys!!!

and of course......

we saw Sahmu! Wouldn't it be fun to swim with him and ride on his fins?!

just because I love flowers!

I am a beach girl so we had to stop by the beach one afternoon. What a cool sand castle this girl made!

we had fun touring some old ships in the SD Bay and found this old sailor!!


Then...it was on to Michigan for a week.



I was able to visit with my Aunt Joan and Aunt Karen and their families! We had fun and went into Detroit to see the river, Motown Museum (where Motown all started...pretty cool) and beautiful old homes and neighborhoods.

I also got to visit with my friend Kim and her family for a few days!




We had fun shopping, talking, cooking, and staying up late to play Farkle (a dice game)!

Carter, Kim and I



I was also able to reconnect with my brother Josh and sister Lindsey who live in MI. It was wonderful to catch up with them. I am so proud of them and love them lots!



Then of course, I spent time with my nephew Brody...what a cute little guy....

and my niece Halle...she is a little princess!

What did you do this summer?

Welcome!

Welcome to linger With Me! This is a place where I want you to come and just linger. I don't know about you but I often race through my days and weeks and have discovered that I take little time to take in and enjoy all that is around me....God's goodness, His amazing creative creation, people, family, friends, children, good conversations...you know stopping to smell the roses. I have been learning how to do this...the art of lingering...and I am finding it to be refreshing in my life. It is giving me a new found joy and energy which brings a smile to my face and skip in my step. Stop by when you can and "linger with me"!