This morning I went on an early morning jog real quick before I needed to make breakfast for Jack and Maddy.
Jack started high school last week (he has homeschooled up until now) and Maddy is starting a new two day a week school program for homeschoolers (that is 30 minutes away).
I will still be homeschooling Benjamin this year and he will continue to go to his one day a week enrichment school.
I love early morning runs or walks because I am quiet, the world is quiet, the air feels different and I am more likely to HEAR…really hear the Lord.
Today I was just asking for guidance with the children, school, the “to do” lists and the busyness that the past two weeks has brought.
I love lists and getting things accomplished but I don’t want MY plans and MY goals to get in the way of HIS plans.
I don’t like busy. I actually get pretty mean and grumpy with busy and lots of driving around.
The older I get the more I have realized that we are given gifts and skills for our own joy, to bless others and to ultimately honor the Lord.
I talk about this deep belief in some of my online courses and when I teach in person.
I also know that he won’t beg you to use your gifts and skills.
The hard truth is that he doesn’t need us to do anything.
He can do anything he wants and needs without us but here is the best part…he WANTS to include us!
We are asked again and again to be a part of his adventures.
Are we too busy to notice or do our own plans get in the way?
Do amazing adventures pass us by and another person with an open heart and mind join him instead?
I love the story of Esther and this verse especially has made a lasting impact on me.
There are two aspects about this verse that bring me back again and again.
1) If you are not able to do this it is OK…but I will find another that will
2) Have you ever thought that maybe this is why you are here in the first place?
For such a time as this!
What are you being asked to do with your gifts and skills?
Who around you needs encouragement or support?
Do your children need extra time?
Does your husband need to be reminded that he is loved and appreciated and that you don’t want to live this crazy life with anyone but him?
Do you need to stand up for a wrong?
Do you need to forgive or be forgiven?
Are you not using your gifts and skills and keeping yourself busy with things that don’t really matter?
Are you afraid to step out boldly with your gifts?
Are you afraid you will fail?
I am adventurer at heart!
I love to travel and learn and to meet new people.
I love the Lord and want a heart for the things of him.
I get bored easily and want to jump in my car and just drive.
In fact, my kids laugh whenever I fill up the Jeep with gas because I get all giddy because I feel like I could just take off and head out on an adventure.
I want my children to see the world, meet people different from them, love people that they didn’t know they could love and taste life in a different way.
Whenever I travel I look up real estate in that area and wonder if I could live there.
I have always thought I had a bit of gypsy in me:-)
The truth is I have the Lord in me and he hopes I want to join in on his adventures!
I do. I do.
Here is a little inspiration for you:-)
Thank you for this encouraging post, Jeanne. It is heart-felt, timely, and beautiful. I have tears in my eyes. I love my Jeep! I will be praying for your family, and the new adventure for Jack in high school. We did the same thing with our middle son…home schooled thru 10th grade (and we wished we had put him into high school sooner!) and then he went to high school, and on to junior college, and now is completing an architectural college next spring. God has been good to him! There is so much in the world to see and do. You and your family were in my old stomping grounds, recently, as I was born in Long Beach, Calif. and used to live in Fountain Valley, CA close to where you were teaching your workshop! There is such an inspiring community of artists in that area. The Peace Keepers in Costa Mesa with their artistic endeavors have been there a long time. I’m so glad you were able to have that experience.
I love the adventure you and your family are on with the Lord. I am trusting that I will recognize and follow HIM on the adventure He is calling me to journey. Thanks for your wonderful post.
jeanne you are such a free spirit! i too always am always looking for my next adventure!
No comment from me here, just complete agreement! And I posted to FB to share with those “with ears to hear.” 🙂
Your open, transparent spirit blessed me this morning. Thank you for listening and for sharing what you hear. Blessings on your sweet head all the day long.
Your post brought tears to my eyes. I too am entering a busy season. Busier than ever before I think. And that busy scares me, because I don’t function well through long stretches of busy. During those seasons I find that I lose sight of who I am and why I’m here, functioning more as a skeleton than a soul. I’m working at embracing this time and finding ways to not run away, but run toward. Thank you so much for sharing the verse from Esther. It’s truth is just what I needed today.
Thank you for opening your heart in such a lovely way, you keep been so inspiring to me, specially because I am steel fighting with my day by day tasks, trying to give the time and importance to my gifts, but letting the not so important things to get in my way. I am a free soul like you, my mom calls me her sea gull, because I was alway flying away from one place to another, trying to live a new adventure. Now the responsibilities are stronger then my soul and I feel like I am not letting God to lead me. Thank you for your words that help me realize that I need to work on what is important.
Love you, Jeanne
Thank you for this post, I really want to be included in His adventures!!
Thank you for this. I needed it.
Sian
Thanks so much for this post! We just had a sermon on this very topic and I try to teach our youth group that they have gifts no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. God doesn’t see our gifts as small and we should not compare ourselves to others. My gifts are unique to me! Have a blessed day!