Mother's Day 2012 ~ It's All About Choices :)

Happy Mother’s Day! ♥

I spent nearly my entire morning doing things that were needful…which included spending a good portion with the husband of all husbands, the boyfriend to end all boyfriends, a friend above all others, and the lover of my soul, God.

Now I’m not sure how your conversations with God are, but mine are always real, thought provoking, heart rendering, soul edifying, often include humor, and sometimes down-right funny. It never ceases to amaze me how thirsty the soul is to have alone time with the Living God.

I walked out to Burke Rd- to Fairmont- to Strawberry- past Vista and Spencer to Strawberry Park, made one huge circle around the park, back up to Spencer, stopped and picked up a few things for homemade blueberry muffins for Beta Academy Muffins with Moms tomorrow, walked down to Burke and back up to my apartment—all in 1 hour and 12 minutes!

During that entire walk, you know what God spoke to me about? God spoke to me about dried plums (I’m a recovering prune hater) and life's choices. It's a weird combo I know, but that's what we talked about. Here’s a very shortened version of it…
As I left for ‘our’ walk, I downed four sizable dried plums for quick energy. I hadn’t looked at them straight out of the bag, which is a normal ritual for me…but the last one felt a little dry but when I stuck it in my mouth I could immediately tell that it was different. It was unusually dried out..at first I thought it was just a really-really dried out plum. Then it was crunchy; dried plums are not supposed to crunch! More importantly it didn’t taste like all the other dried plums I’ve ever had…and BELIEVE me, I was WAY too scared to spit it out and find that I may’ve been chewing on who knows what!
All I could picture in my mind was a Madagascar hissing tree roach or something and fought to choke it down with a bottle of water as I was walking down the street. It was that or spat it out and find out that it really was some horrid insect, which would cause me to be throwing up all over the sidewalk in broad view of every person driving…and then risk someone stopping to help the poor old, throwing-up, chubby lady...only to find she had really been throwing up a dried plum. Can you tell I have quite the active imagination?! (Hence, you can see why my food ritual usually includes a visual inspection before throwing things into my mouth.)

So, I made a choice and swallowed something when I had no idea what it was. (Yes. I prayed as it went down, and I am fairly sure it moved in my stomach...then again, that might’ve been my overly active imagination.)

Anyway, it was quite the sight as I walked and worked to keep it down. I'm pretty sure my guardian angel was chuckling at the sight.
And then God spoke. He spoke straight to my heart and asked "What are you doing?" Embarrassed I said :Um, Lord, you know I can't stand the thought of eating bugs and I think I swallowed one. He then explained that our lives are like that dried plum.

We go about daily living…often in the pace of habits and fast living and we swallow things that may or may not be good for us. We make a choice to willfully chew and swallow, or willfully chuck it up and spit it out. The bottom line of God’s conversation came down to choices...we choose to live under His grace and follow-after and search-out His perfect will and receive his blessings...or we choose not to.
It’s our choice.

What a wonderful Mother’s Day!

"I Choose This"

A friend sent me a link to a ‘wedding proposal’ that she thought was sweet and entertaining, and while it was, there was one line in it that has stuck with me all day. In the video the young man dances and sings songs to his intended fiancé. Then the words from one line says something that seems at first so simple… but when you really think on it, it is quite profound… “I Choose This”

We’ve all heard people go on and on about the need to hear those ‘three little words’…but I believe those three little words should not be “I love you.” You see, the word ‘love’ is so often misused today…’love’ has been used so commonly for ‘like’ that we “love” everything.

While God’s love is pure and all fulfilling, man’s love often falls short or is confused with like. However, everything we do, we choose. In fact, it’s the powerful act of choosing that sets our reasoning minds above the animal kingdom. Our ability to choose means that we do the things we do- with purpose. Good or bad, out of love or lust- we choose on purpose.

We cannot control what happens outside ourselves. We can control who we are, what we become, how we face difficulties, and overcome trials…it all comes down to a choice…even love- we choose it.

“I Choose This” is a powerful statement- one that states a purposeful, personal choice. In hard times, we choose to hold on or let go. During the days that roll black and thunder roars, you must choose to embrace your trust in God or turn your face away from it. When your relationships seem shaky, you’ll need to choose what is really important. You see…we can choose to hold onto anger or walk without that heavy burden. We can choose a lesser walked road or we can walk the road that is comfortable and well-worn. We can choose which future to build on or leave it all to chance. We can choose to hold onto hatred or we can choose to extend love.

God has given you the ability to choose…the next time you make a choice remember how profound every choice is. When you get ready to tell someone you love them, remember it’s a choice…”I Choose This.”

It's just a simple thought.
†=♥