and with this praise, I realize what matters the most in my life. what is really on my heart to praise God for is not as much the material blessings as the spiritual ones.
It is not an e-mail encouraging me to apply for a grant for the arts activism work I am doing and encouraging a meeting with me. This is a tremendous blessing. But more than this, more than the fellowship I won, more than being able to do the work I love, Lord, it is your comfort. It is your embrace. It is the fact that when I go far from you, when I stumble, when I turn away, when I even deny You, you never turn your back on me, but always call me home.
Lord, I thank you for prayers answered. I recently prayed that of the many associates I have, you will provide me with complete friendships in which You are at the center. I prayed for more Christian friends so that praise and prayer can be a part of my gatherings. Hangin out is cool, but I desperately need more fellowship. And one day - maybe even the next day -- after praying this, I ended up reading some Psalms from my Bible with a guy on the bus who said he needed the same thing. How many times do you not end up just chatting with a stranger, but sharing the word of God? He showed me his favorite Psalm then read it aloud. I showed him one I liked and read it aloud. He joined it at the end.
(This reminds me of Saturday when I was walking down the street across from Anacostia S.H.S. , a man greeted me and said 'how are you?" I stopped and said I'm fine, how are you? He asked me what was going on across the street. I told him about the back to school block party. I ended up telling him about the Visions to Peace Project. He gave me a gospel CD he had made (hmmm... where is that CD now?) and thanked me for not assuming that just because he said hello, he was flirting with me. He appreciated the fact that I was down to just say hello. Hmmm.. this relates to the vision I put on my myspace page the other day... of how I want to live in this world. This is what I mean by not being so closed. It also relates to what we discussed with the children in Sunday school on Sunday...not being proud or arrogant.)
And then yesterday at church, I met a former church member who lives right just about 10 minutes from me. Another potential new friend. We exchanged numbers and she encouraged me to call her so we can hang out some time.
This also relates to another of the things I have been praying about -- balance in my life. Time to work, time to spend time with friends, and time with my family. It takes time to cultivate and sustain friendships. I also crave more time with my family.
Lord, after praising you even for just a few moments, it feels as though my soul has been scrubbed. I feel so fresh inside. Praise is an exfoliant or an exfoliator. It brings all that "stuff" to the surface but doesn't dwell on it. It is just WOW! the best thing to do ever. Lord, It is soooo goood to praise you and reflect on how much you love me!!! Thank you sooooo much God!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment