Stop

I had the opportunity to work with my man out at the ranch this week; thus the delay in writing. Have you ever been hunting though? Getting up before the sun, dozing off to sleep until the sun starts to arise out of nowhere - then wait and watch as the God's creation awakes, one by one, with so much grace, and ever so slowly emerging out of the brush to feed? My cowboy and I did just that this week. Have I ever mentioned he teaches me so much about the Lord? This week, he probably didn't even know he was doing it, but he taught me and reminded me to "stop and be still"

While service is bad on the ranches we do take our phones to the stands, which is nice because often times we have a little while to wait before all things start to move. I so often wish I took the time to write my thoughts out - as everything about hunting and waiting and watching scream "EARTH IS CRAMMED WITH HEAVEN" and I can't but help to think about the lord while we watch. However, the couple of times I have tried to write on my phone, words don't seem to come to me. There are so many things going on that makes me STOP and Listen a little while longer. and then just when words start to come to mind, all I want to do is soak in the moment. The moments with my man, moments away from the noise, moments away from technology saturating every thing I do, moments of embracing today.

Have you ever had one of those moments you could freeze frame? Or wanted someone else to freeze, to embrace the moment as you were? Perhaps with a spouse or child.

"When barb and I were first married, we moved to Kansas City, where I was to contuinue my seminary studies. She had never really seen me as a student, at least not in "Her" house.  Late one night I was reading, and she came to me, slipped her arm around me over the back of the chair and said, "Do you love me?"

"Yeah," I said."Sure, I love you," never missing a paragraph. 

Now, it's hard for a woman to go from that wonderful euphoria and buoyancy of a honeymoon to nearly being ignored. So she leaned a litte farther over the chair and said a second time, Like Jesus said to Simon at galilee, "Do you Really Love me?"

And I said, "Sure I love you." Again, I went right onr eading.

and then she asked me a third time.

"Sure I love you,: I repeated, getting a little exasperated. "Your mother loves you, the world loves you, and I love you... and I'm busy"

It's the only time in our more than forty years of marriage that I've heard her swear, and her profanity that night was the single word "TOAD!"

I hadn't yet learned to prioritize. When people ask you questions of worship and love, and certainly when Jesus ask you, the world must stop while you answer them.!" -Calvin Miller - Into the Depths of God  

Jesus called me to STOP and embrace EARTH Crammed with HEAVEN this week. TO STOP and listen to him when he cried "Child, I love you"


As today will get busy, and demand every inch of your being and energy - When people come to you, when your spouse whispers "I Love you" or a child, while  playing say's with their being "Do you care mom or dad?"or a friend calls to drop a load.... or the lady at the store needs an item off the shelf......... make it a point to stop - and really answer them - Words or not.

and when Jesus speaks or you're taking a moment to have a "quite time" with the lord or when the lord is simply showing himself to you through his creation - actually stop....

Redefine your Day  - STOP TO ANSWER!

*Another background and header. I know, I change them often, but people have been informing me that they are having a hard time reading. If you are having problems - Let me know. Hopefully I can fix it. :)