September left me with lots to ponder.

My thoughts are being stirred as I remember the words of the speakers I was privileged to be exposed to and the authors who seemed to know just what I needed to hear.

For me, the recordings in my journal, my Bible, and a cup of coffee are just the ingredients I need to let these thoughts percolate and sink into the fabric of my being.

I’ve penned over 25 one-liners from September in my journal that I want to remember; 25+ one-liners that relate to my now and are helping me untangle current realities.  I wonder if some of these will stir your thoughts and speak to your reality.

The top seven, in no specific order:

1. When we allow people to help us, they become more emotionally involved than when we try to help them. I’m thinking about our neighbors and wanting to reach out to them. When was the last time I allowed my needs to be known?
2. God doesn’t do old; God is a God of the new. Why do I sometimes want to hang on to the old, the familiar and are so fearful of trusting God with something new? How often have I quoted Lamentations 3:22 and 23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (bolding mine) If God mercies are continually new, why do I want to find comfort in the old?
3. There is a difference between mimicking and knowing. And I’m thinking there is a difference between knowing truth and trusting truth. How do I move from knowledge to trust?
4. If you lose your story, you lose your identity. How many times have I wanted to forget part of my story? Stories keep truth alive. When I forget my story, I am taking away part of the miraculous God has worked in my life; the miraculous that others just might need to hear.
5. Older woman still need older woman. Who are the older woman who I need to be listening to at this point? How can I make that happen?
6. When I think of time, I naturally am also thinking of limits. When I think of eternity, I think of freedom, of space. When Jesus teaches me to pray, he says, “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Matthew 6:10. There is enough time for God’s will. “… and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus …” Hebrews 12:1 and 2. Hmmm, not looking to my calendar or my watch, but looking to Jesus! What might his wisdom be?
7. As much as I love the ministry God has opened for us (for me) through travel, I also desire to minister in a local context. I’ve asked others what that might look like. But have I asked God, what would it look like to be involved locally at this stage of my life?

Thank you to Darrell Sanders, Randy Raysbrook, Jean Fleming, and the Holy Spirit for stimulating my thinking.

Do you identify with any of the above thoughts? What is stimulating your thinking these days?

“Brothers, do not be children in your thinking.
Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.”
I Corinthians 14:20