It was a week that turned out so very differently than I had envisioned. Do you remember when I said I needed some time with God? Oh boy, I needed that more than I knew.
I wish I could tell you that it was a blissful week of just resting and relaxing in His presence. If I told you that because I wanted that to be the perception you had, it would not be accurate. I have always been quite open and transparent. Today will remain no different.
Friends, as I began spending extra time with God, we began to do some spring cleaning together. It became more and more apparent to me there was a lot of clutter that had accumulated... in my heart. Nothing huge in and of itself, just a lot of little stuff that, all piled together, was becoming one big mess.
As we began the work of decluttering, I found stuff I had forgotten about. I discovered stuff I thought had already been thrown out, only to find that I had just buried it. I learned there was stuff that I wanted to keep that was not good to remain.
God knew there was work to be done. I think I suspected it.
Hard work. Dirty work. Painful work.
Fresh work. Liberating work. Grace-filled work.
He has proven Himself faithful as He has promised. (II Tim. 2:13) He has shown Himself longing to be gracious and rise to show compassion. (Is. 30:18) He is teaching what is best and directing in the way I should go. (Is. 48:17)
In the process of decluttering the stuff of my heart, I have also found the blessing of so many new things. As I find the words to put what is in my heart, I will share.
Until then, I leave you with these words from "Having a Mary Spirit" by Joanna Weaver:
"While God has faithfully answered my prayer for transformation, it almost never happened the way I wanted. Definitely not the way I planned.
Even with God doing the real work, we'll have to cooperate. We will have to change, and change hurts.
But I can promise you this. It hurts good."
I can't even begin to imagine who else I would want to help me declutter the stuff of my heart other than my God. He is so much more than what I could ever imagine or deserve!
It was a needed week. It was a productive week. It was a personal week.
It was a week of...
awareness
humility
tears
confession
mercy
forgiveness
surrender
death to myself
change
grace
It was a week well spent.
Now tell me, how was your week?
I have been thinking about you. It sounds like a good week Donnetta. My past couple of weeks have been so disjointed. I hope that soon things will begin to balance out again. I think they will. My Mom is making good progress. Dad is doing fairly well. I have found myself with either no time on the computer at all or spending too much time just because I didn't have the energy to do anything else. So....as you can see, I am way off the mark.
ReplyDeleteHoping to get back on track ...
love to you dear one.
I have really struggled with my week. My Easter was "cluttered" and I felt disconnected from what I had wanted it to be. I realized that it was totally my fault and I will make the necessary changes for next year! I have suffered from a combination of frustration, cabin fever and a bit of depression...then I got more depressed because I am blessed beyond belief and I have NOTHING to be depressed about! So I beat myself up. Yesterday I settled down and focused on the scriptures and the Lord. My day was so much better and I woke up today feeling joy again!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your most personal, transparent thoughts with us. It has helped me immensley and I look forward to "de-cluttering" my heart as well.
Have a blessed week,
~Mary
This is such a beautiful, heartfelt post, Donnetta. I long for time to unclutter my heart! The past weeks have been unbelievably full, and I keep telling myself that I need to hang on until the end of the month, when my job will be done. But, I guess that's like saving up to sleep -- it doesn't work. I'm trying to find pockets of time to decompress. I miss my meditation time.
ReplyDeleteAgain, lovely post and so inspiring.
Eventful, frustrating, beautiful ... all at the same time. I love Easter and that part was great, and having friends over. Working on book and learning to trust is the not so easy part. But over all, SO MUCH to be thankful for.
ReplyDeleteLoved this post!