Friday, November 30, 2007

clutter

i put away the laundry today!
it's something i try to procrastinate as much as possible, but there is a limit even to my delays: when the guest bedroom turns into a linen closet, i know i've waited way too long.
then i tried fitting in all my running t shirts and pajama bottoms in the little drawer in my dresser.

it was a clutter of confusion.

but i pushed shirts down, and stuffed them in, and before i knew it, i was able to slam the drawer shut. barely. God help the one who will attempt to open the drawer!

you know what i'm talking about. little trinkets with nowhere to go, so they end up in another storage box, piled up on another stack of books, or another slew of old CDs no one listens to anymore.

today i was thinking i hadn't blogged in a while. but it's not because i haven't had much to say, on the contrary, i've had too many thoughts swirling around my 2 ounce brain and the clutter in my mind is looking a lot like my dresser drawer.

what do you do, when this happens? when thoughts become so rushed, and it's hard to figure out something's head from its tail?

of course you can throw out all the t shirts and pajama bottoms, or buy another dresser. but i think there is really only one thing to do in these moments of clutter. one thing that gives a measure of reason and a drop of hope.

it's simple, really. when my mind is full of clutter, i turn off the radio. mute the TV. hang up the phone. shut down the computer.

and i choose to be still.

i then experience an unfamiliar and sometimes scary sensation.
some have referred to it as "silence".

but it is in this stillness that God brings order out of my confusion, neatness out of my clutter.

and another blog posted for anyone who cares to read it.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

a tender heart

Give me Lord, a tender heart
a heart that's not on guard
gentleness and humility
the ability to love set free

Give me Lord, a heart so tender
ever patient ever gentle
quick to see the need around me
quick to sense you nudging me
always willing, surrendering
my own needs abandoning

Give me Lord a heart so tender
unafraid to surrender
it's been a while since I've cried
doesn't matter how I've tried

So Give me Lord a tender heart
a heart that's true, never hard
I want to be more than smart
holy humble and contrite
I know I struggle and I fight
please Lord - let me do what's right

Give me Lord a tender heart
a heart that worships from the start
ever longing to be broken
giving more than just a token

Give me Lord a tender heart
I need O Lord a tender heart
Now Lord - before I shrivel
I beg you Father to deliver
Please Lord a tender heart
ever Lord - not on guard

© labujamra

Monday, November 12, 2007

a moment

it takes a moment to change the course of one's life.

a moment to say yes, a moment to say no.

a cup of coffee with a friend.

a date.
a second date.
a marriage proposal.

a new job.
a promotion.
or not.

cheating on a test.
looking at another man's wife.
a yes. or a no.

the promise of love.
the "i miss you too".

Jesus' death on the cross for you

a yes.
or a no.

and eternity at stake, in nothing but
the power of a moment.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

inconvenience

i was thinking a little about what it is that keeps us from doing new things in life, and i've come to the conclusion that it can be summed up in one word:
inconvenience.

whether it's getting out of bed to have an early breakfast with a friend, or driving out to a bible study in the middle of the week, or starting a new relationship, there is an element of effort that i for one want to evade.

wake up, people! this is the age of starbucs drive throughs! even a cup of coffee can no longer just be enjoyed leisurely with a friend, or lazily with a book in hand, now we drink our coffee on the way to our next appointment - our favorite show that we tivo'd earlier in the day...

most of us email instead of calling thus avoiding a two way conversation. we can just hang up when we want to! we text because it's more convenient, when secretly it's because we know it's the best way to conveniently control our lives to our rhythms.

self centered? perhaps...

but opportunities are passing us by...opportunities to learn from others, to grow, and to sometimes even fail. opportunities to become a better version of who we are.

if we would only take the time to stop....
if we would only be inconvenienced for a moment.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

laziness

it's so much easier to be lazy.

so much easier to skip your workout, drop that relationship, refuse the challenge of starting something new.

so much easier to just stop blogging.

easier to stop asking the hard questions.

easier to not make any changes.

easier to give up on God.

easier to just be lazy.

watching TV, microwave dinners, drive throughs, even computers have taken the place of paper and pen.

we are a people who likes to be lazy.

easier to not take risks.

easier to miss the blessings.

easier to become jaded.

easier to refuse to become who we were truly meant to be.

who said easy was good?