Livin’ the dream? Or are you making room for your dream in the everyday living? Or is the everyday living squeezing out your dream?
When the everyday living isn’t always comfortable, controllable and bears no resemblance to the dream – are you living – really living?
Are you living life all day long? Or do you stop when you clock in for the daily grind and start when you clock out?
Whose time clock are you living life on?
Last week, as I was tubing – a day where I squeezed some dream into the daily, – I was tubing with my youngest – and I have decided that there ought to be an Olympic Wrestling event while tubing – well, my youngest, the saucy, industrial artist tried with all his 12 year old might to. . . push me off the tube. Mama’s still got game, though.
Everyday life, the daily life is kind of like that – but without the big grin – it wants nothing better than to push the dream off the daily.
In those moments where the dream is center stage – it’s easy to live faith and hope – to live grace – It’s easy to vintage the blessing – and savor every moment, every detail and sigh from the tips of your soul, “Thank you, God.”
My words, my out-reach, my attitude, my face smiles.
It’s easy to sing:
”So I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
So I’ll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours”
~Hillsong United, The Stand
Arms high and heart abandoned. . . . All I am is yours
All I am is yours – and fully in the livin’ the dream moments
But maybe more importantly, in the daily moments where sometimes nothing of the dream fits in or shows itself –
maybe arms high and heart abandoned – All I am is Yours – needs to be in the daily – desperately needs to be in the daily
Whether it is in the car line, the lunch line, the office or kitchen, or cleaning up messes somebody else made, maybe even dog messes – when you’re not where you want to be, when no one will give you a chance or a raise or maybe even a job – or maybe you have a job and just want to be home.
But you’re where God has you right now
in the daily where it doesn’t feel like the dream
Doesn’t look like the dream
Maybe it doesn’t even sound like the dream
If “All I am is Yours”
I need to stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all” – I need to do it in the daily
I need to look for Him, reach for Him
Live the daily – every second – the good, the bad, the ugly of the daily
And find Him in it
And when I find Him
My words, my attitude, my out-reach, my face smiles
If I live arms high and heart abandoned
the clock doesn’t determine when the good life starts and ends
9 to 5 and 5 to 9 possess equal value
And the daily becomes not a grind
but becomes sacred and holy
So much more sacred and holy
Than maybe even the dream moments
and from the tips of my soul, I whisper,
“Thank you, God.”
Still counting God’s blessing with Ann at a Holy Experience – it helps me find holiness in the daily.
- that God gave man the idea to create antibiotics – so when a brown recluse bit my 18 year old at a friend’s house – he would be o.k.
- post-it notes that remind me to pray
- a co-worker who makes coffee every morning (we both bring the coffee;she makes it)
- face-splitting, ear-to-ear smiles of 3 of my boys the day before the 4th
- the rain holding back for a day – for a much needed dream moment
- the spirit to hoist myself on that tube behind the pontoon
- and not give up
- my 18 year old, coming into our room that night, saying, “Thank you for taking me out there today.”
- quiet, beautiful quiet
- friends around the dinner table, celebration freedom and friendship
- tasty dishes friends bring to dinner
- squirrels outside my work window
- rain, reigning us all in, keeping us close
- sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee watching the rain
- listening to the birds in the lull
- watching my littlest sitting on the raised garden bed, pinching a bit of chocolate mint to chew on
- listening to my littlest mimic turtle dove calls outside
- farmer’s market Saturday mornings with my husband
- life-just-gets-sweet gespacho
- zinnias blooming
- praise and worship on Sunday morning
- blueberry picking on Sunday and the message those blueberries gave me
The Father, He gives us so much around us – the zinnias, the blueberries, tables to sit around with friends – thank-yous -there is so much in the daily – so many blessings He gives us throughout each day – oh, how I want to live arms high and heart abandoned – until all I am is His – every part of my every day.
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Everything is a double-edged sword: every season, every food-source, every personality, every moment. No moment is ever empty of possibilities. I see. . . .
a cloud falling in a field, not spilling into the road growing-up eyes roll, roll rolling at this mom’s child-like observations “He knows,” I say – “How I love clouds falling, spilling over everything – and He did that just for me” and the growing-up eyes stop rolling resigned and we all drive on into the day by day as trees orange and redden
until a snow surprise covers pink zinnias and orange cosmos until an afternoon sunshine melts the cold leaving the flaming orange edges maple leaves brittle rustle, rustle, rustling loudly in a blustery wind to the beat of roof-top meltings drip, drip, dripping an unexpected autumn beat with spring-feeling
Blue Cotton Memory 