February 17, 2009

It's Tuesday morning and I've been busy cleaning my place, listening to praise music and working on the computer. It seems God talks to me in funny ways sometimes. I know He reaches each of us in the ways that are unique to us. We all listen and learn differently. I'm a visual person and learn best when I can 'see' a concept or can compare it to something I'm already familiar with. God speaks to me often in the seemingly most insignificant circumstances. I'm thankful that He does. I need simple! And He has used my simple mind and life to touch lives here. People often mention that they appreciate my simple faith, the simple way I pray, the way I direct most conversations back to the simple truth of knowing Jesus. (especially here where everyone is trying to be so intellectual and influential). God can use simple...

This morning as I was vacuuming my room, I was thinking about how it's a little difficult and comparing that to my life. You see, I live in a room in the corner of the basement of my building. It's next to the boiler room and across the hall from the elevator maintenance room. I've grown accustomed to the unique noises that these motors and machines make. They have become familiar. Anyway, back to my apartment floor... The floor is covered with old indoor/outdoor carpet that has raveling spots here and there. The floor underneath is concrete that is not level overall, and has lots of 'bumps' in it, since it was not meant to be anything more than a basement floor. All the bumps make it difficult to vacuum out the dust and dirt. My handy-dandy vacuum cleaner is more of a 'dustbuster on a stick', but works great for this small space. I can plug it into one of my few electrical outlets and the cord reaches throughout my whole place. :) Anyway, so, I'm thinking as I'm trying to cover each little spot on the floor, coming from different directions to find the best angle to reach those little crevices, that this would be easier if this floor wasn't being used for something that it wasn't designed for. It made me think about my life.

God created me to be a certain way, to follow His particular plan. But He also gave me a free will and the ability to choose how I want to live my life. Of course, some of those decisions I have made have created some 'bumps' that make it hard to get to the dirt in those 'crevices' I've created through my choices. Some of the difficulties I experience in keeping my life clean and maintained are like vacuuming an old carpet over a bumpy cement floor. It's not all smooth sailing. Sometimes I have to go over the same 'spot' many times. Sometimes I have to come at a 'problem area' from different angles to get the job done. My little vac is simple and basic, but with the 'right power' it functions just fine. God gives me the power and the tools I need to not only get through each day, but to explore, learn, cleanup, enjoy and share each experience. Instead of complaining that my walk with Him is not easy, smooth and flat, I am going to try to rejoice in that fact that there are bumps and crevices that require a little more attention from me and power from Him to tackle. I'm glad to be on this bumpy ride with Him.

I guess you could say that I'm finding Joy in my bumpy concrete floor!

Speaking of bumps...
You know when you're driving down the road and you go over those little hills that make your stomach flutter a little before you start down the other side? (a dear family I know calls those 'tickle bellies'). Some of the bumps we go over with God are like that. Not too high, out of our control enough to make us flutter a little, and a little exhilarating after the plunge. Not being a fan of rollercoasters and the like, I enjoy these little tickle bellie hills. They make me smile and I'm thankful that God cares enough for me to give me that little Joy.

I pray you find Joy today. I'm looking forward to my next 'hands-on' lesson from God. I wonder what He's trying to teach me about all this dust...