Busyness

Greetings and Holykisses,

It's been such a long day. I hurried, scurried, and started running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Trying to get everything *done* has left me unraveling... abit. All evening, I worked on finishing up the gifts that I'm "making," - that still need to be mailed. My craft room looked like a tornado hit, and because I ran out of room in there; I spread out across the dining room table. Then started carrying gifts across to the living room and began wrapping as I was going...- Oh, I also had the spare bedroom tore to pieces as it has become the place to "hide" everything. I didn't even get our own bed made today, and piles of clothes are still standing in front of the washer... "waiting," their turn of things to get "done." Somewhere in the middle of all that, Myguy asked me "What's to eat?" The decision was made to have hashbrowns, bacon, eggs and toast. Thinking of all that splattered grease, and the mess of all those dishes and frypans on top of our already disheveled house somehow made my estrogen level or lack of it, reach my hissy fit - melt down point. It was right up there in the red.*

Amid the mess and chaos I kept coming across a little snippet of paper. Time and time again "Isaiah 40: 31" kept getting my attention. It was printed in typewriter font; cut out and I guess I'd used cat eye chalk to outline it. Just one tiny little slip of paper .... that kept re-surfacing and making me "stop." To be totally honest, I couldn't even recall what Isaiah 40:31 was even about? Finally, I surrendered, and went to fetch my bible.... I just had to know what Isaiah 40:31 said:

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount
up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk
and not faint."

My busyness had been taking over. Taking over to the point of "getting to me!" Reading this verse made me realize that I was "missing it." Somehow, and somewhere I'd been losing my focus. Earlier in the day, I'd had a conversation via email with a gal, and recall signing my note back to her with "EAGLE WINGS." (Yes, really.*) -- So I knew that this was no coincidence at all and God was really trying to get me to STOP, refocus and listen.

Just yesterday, I had yet another situation happen. I'd went to Walmart to pick up a few groceries. It was so busy as you can imagine. As I ran up to the door, there was a table on both sides of the doors with very cold ladies stopping people and maybe selling something.? I was in a hurry and brushed past them;....... feeling a little guilty. On my way back out, I put my feet in high gear and dashed out the door. One of the ladies tried to get me to stop and I smiled; gave a nod, and kept going through the hubub of other shoppers. It was then that I heard her say, in a very cheerful voice, "God bless you!!" --And yes, she'd said it to "me."

My feet were still going 90 to nothin, but my heart was doing something else. I made it to my truck, and loaded everything in the cab, while the Lord did His thing on my heart..... "Go back," He said. Give her what's in your pocket." Locking my truck; I dug the money out of my pocket- (it wasn't much... but it was everything I had in my pocket) -- I walked back, making sure I approached the one who'd spoken to me. I was wearing my red wool jacket, and I could tell she remembered me. I walked up to her and stopped, and we just stood there looking at eachother... smiling. I said, "What did you say to me?" She smiled again; as if she understood, then she began telling me that she was there because of what the LORD has done in her life. She had a table set up where she was selling the most wonderful craft things and she stood there right in front of the walmart entrance, boldly telling me how wonderful God is, and that He cleaned her up from being an addict. She told me no program got her clean, but the Lord got her clean. Her testimony was incredible. And as I admired her crafts; one of the verses written on a plaque she'd made, stood out to me. It was:

" For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

I handed her what God had told me to give her, and pointed to the plaque that God kept stirring up in me as she talked, and I told her to hang onto what Jeremiah said there.* Her eyes lit up like a CHRISTmas tree as if she "understood" again, and she said she would. Then, I went back to my truck for the second time.
This time, I realized that I'd just been blessed with a God encounter, and my busyness almost let me miss something altogether.
Starting now, I'm slowin down. I came too close to missing out on an a God thing, and I was walkin the wilderness just like those Israelites, ...-- and I'd even started doing it again today. No more runnin round like a chicken with my head cut off. If I don't get something done,*.... then I don't get something done. Christmas is so much more than all of that, and it's time for me to slow down and savor it.

Update: written Sunday.
This morning when I woke up, I had this feeling that there is more to all this than I realize.
Maybe in the days to come, more will unfold...? While pondering some of it, I redrafted this post. I don't know why.... -- other than sometimes I start second guessing when I don't fully understand everthing. The funny thing is; meanwhile, I had someone on my heart who used to blog. She closed her blog long ago, but for whatever reason, I found myself typing in her name and visiting that goodbye page that is still out there. To my surprise, beneath her "About me," was thee Isaiah verse! So, I'm republishing this..... and taking to heart these verses.

...............I may be a woman of planning. But His plans are bigger.

His plans.. gives you HOPE.

and a FUTURE.