What is "God Room?"

and how much room does God take up anyway?

i guess i'll leave that for him to decide.

I'm feeling pretty small lately. The ideals, the visions for success and what not are not matching my life lately (can i use "not" twice in a sentence?). Isn't God supposed to move in and make these things possible? Well of course the ideals never match my life, that's why they're called ideals.

i knew that.

Its just that I need to talk about it. Is there really any more room in me for God since he first spoke these words to me? (I was driving through Rowland Heights, California one day, years ago, and I looked at a store sign and read "make God room." Well of course the sign didn't really say that, I just imagined it. Maybe thought it. However it stuck with me and I decided it might be God. The real issue developed into a need for growing in character. )

I have 4 or 5 more children since then. They take up a lot of room. I've been to several Gothard seminars since then (Basic principles of life) and I've heard quite a bit about character since then. I used to be (or thought I was) the most mature person I knew. I now am around people that are wiser, more faithful, more loving, better communicators, and I'm sure don't use spell check as much as me.

So, I'm not being completely honest. And I need to be so that this does not become a pity party (or is it too late?). God has been faithful and life has never meant to be about me. I am confident in God's ability to act in spite of my inaction. Renew your vision in me, Lord. Give me a target...

Gold, Clothes & Eye drops

Coffee is a wonderful invention. O.K., hold on. Not just any coffee. I like the smooth taste of a fresh, gourmet bean, rich and hot. It is a religious experience. Oh, and I like it to come with mornings. Mornings are pretty cool too as long as they don't involve the phrases "running late," "I should have done this last night," and well, you get the picture. Wait, one more thing--well two: my easy chair and my big heavy Bible. And my cat. The cat is purely for warmth, complementing the "hot" in my coffee. However I do have some complications holding my big Bible and making room for the cat to warm my legs. But things seem to work out most mornings.

The truth is religious experiences are so temporal. Thirty minutes later the memory of hot coffee and a heavy Bible fades. I did find something a little longer lasting yesterday morning. I was reading Revelation 3 and learned about being "wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked." (Rev 3:17 NASB) The Bible is so helpful when you want to see yourself. I found a new "checklist" to try with my mornings in the next verse:

I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Rev 3:18 (NASB)

The thing is that none of these items is useful unless you are "wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked."

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Today's Offering

And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Ex 29:18 (KJV)

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.

Heb 12:28-29 (KJV)

I found it helpful last night and today, when faced with fear and anxiety to remember that my life is an offering before God. Who I am, what I do. I am a priest and my body a temple of God. What I do is an offering whether I like it or not. (Thank you for that Norm Wakefield, spiritofelijah.com). I was encouraged to not shrink back but stride forward into the night and day that my steps would be offered freely and not with wringing of hands. A window cleaned, an errand run, a little head patted -- all offerings to be consumed by the fire of God.

"I remember," I said to myself and all was well.

Measure Twice

What man can fix, he can surely make worse.

I point to the broken window and say, "use this measuring tape and give me the size of the glass that needs to go there." The young man shows every evidence of wanting to be someplace else. Shifty eyes, shifty feet, even a -- "can I do something, first?" -- shifty location. I say "no. focus." "When you are through I'll check your measurements against mine and help you get it right."

I leave the responsible party (broken window, young man--you make the connection) to his deed and leave.

The young man gives me the wrong measurements, which when double checked end up being the right measurements. Mine were wrong. There must be a lesson here but I'm darned if I know what it is.

The saying is "measure twice, cut once." I guess if you think you know what you've got you should still go back to the original. No one wants a standard they can't control. It keeps judging you.

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Hello, Monday

So...I'm writing again. Have you missed me?

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