Finding Time to Drink ... and write about it

Life brims to edges of my capacity, then overflows, spilling over the top; I yearn to capture every drop.  Daughter one will fly to her future soon, taking off to Bangkok, Thailand.  Daughter two just received her acceptance letter to Lee University this weekend, and she will likely be headed off to Tennessee in the Fall.  So I'm grasping at every opportunity to connect, at the heart level.  I'm grabbing at every hug, hanging on every word.

Simultaneously my three younger a daughters are budding, oh so early, into breathtaking beauty.  And yet (from my previous experience with age 13-14) I know that they hover on the brink of the abyss of hormones and snarkiness.  So, I pull them into my arms and hold them close.  Trying to maintain undivided interest, I listen to their tales of which friend said what and did what and how funny it was when so and so fell out of his chair.

I am blessed with a husband who loves me and all my girls, and yet he needs much attention, too.

My heart cry is for more time to drink ... not of the fruit of the vines of this world, but of the River of Delights of deep times with Jesus.  His Word, beautiful worship, prayer ... there is never quite enough time to linger there and enjoy.  One hundred prayer requests seem to knock insistently, and yet when I show up to pray, I simply want to rest in Him.

Where do I find this place of rest?

Mornings - Before the day carries me away like a stallion, I sit here in the relative quiet (applying headphones when necessary) or I brave the cold long enough to drive to the track and walk (with headphones), listening to worship music (Misty Edwards, Cory Asbury, Deb Wells) and enter into the glorious presence of my Savior.  I pray, "Lord, bind my mind to your mind; bind my heart to your heart.  May I walk in your ways, talk with your words.  May my path always be the path you have destined for me."

And I know from experience that if I will just do this each (and every) morning, then the challenges of the day - the challenges of raising five girls and working part-time and homeschooling and more - will not shake me to the point of breaking.  Instead, I will know the steadiness of heart, the focus of love, that comes from this time in His presence, binding myself to him in the very center of my being.

It is not my personal secret.  Generations have known this ... all the way back to Old Testament scriptures. "They that wait upon the Lord will ... rise up on wings like eagles."  And "The Lord will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are stayed (fixed) on Him."

So, today I will feast on the abundance of God's provision and drink from his river of delights.  Psalm 36:8.   I will "taste and see that the Lord is good!"  Ps. 119:103.

And at least today I am finding time to write about it!  I hope that I will be able to do this more!