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CoffeeFocusSquirrel

/ chela.arnold@yahoo.com / 5 Comments


Multi-Tasker, master of none…
There are mornings when I am on point. Dishes done, load of laundry in, devotionals read, prayer time, toys picked up, self showered and ready to go.

Then there are mornings like today. 

Up early, I will say dishes are done, but I must have rinsed my focus down the drain with the soap suds…

I think I have warmed up the same cup of coffee three times.

Sat down to read my devotionals, ended up checking my bank account balance.

Got up, fixed Olivia her toaster waffles.

Sat back down. 

Try this again. 

Oh wait, I left my coffee in the microwave. 

Back up. 

Back down. 

Devotionals. 

Wait let me scroll through my email first. Ok. Check. 

How ‘bout Facebook? :

Let’s see if everyone else is on track this morning. 

Focus. I am.

Squirrel!!!!

Coffee!!!

Wow. 

This is how my mind goes a lot of the time.

All over the place. I have to tell myself to slow down and finish the task at hand. 

Start the dishes. Sink full. Water in.

Wait. Laundry. Start folding the laundry, 

Oh, wait, coffee….

Where’d I put my coffee?

Look for coffee.

Might as well check the other rooms for cups while I’m at it.

Oh wait, let me fluff these couch pillows, and fold this blanket.

I see crumbs.

Let me get the vacuum out and sweep while I’m at it.

I go to the kitchen to get the sweeper.

Crap…

I forgot I started dishes.

Coffee…

Shoot, where’d I set my coffee??

Wait. You started your devotionals an hour ago….

Coffee. Need coffee to read devotionals…

Sit down.

Sit down, I hear.

Sit down.

Stop.

Breathe.

Stop.

Coffee. 

No. 

Sit down.

Ok. I get it.

Sit down.

How may times a day do I deny that voice?

Too many. 

Coffee is more important.

Dishes a must.

Laundry. 

Meh…

Guilty of finding my worth in the chores not completed. 

In the unfolded laundry. 

In the dirty dishes.

If I don’t get this stuff done, then I’m not good enough.

Then I’m not worthy.

Coffee…

Need coffee to process.

I promise, I’ll listen after I finish my coffee.

You know, like you tell the kids 3,942 times a day, just a minute, hold on, I’ll be right there, wait one second…

Oh….

Man…

Is that what I tell God 3,942 times a day as well?

Wait. 

Let me finish this cup of coffee, I promise I’ll listen.

Wait. 

Let me fold clothes before I hear You.

Wait.

Let me cook, clean, bathe, mop, wash, fold, dust, straighten and put away first.

Squirrel…

Coffee…

Wait…

He is so patient with me.

Waiting…

Watching…

Guiding me…

Step by step as, I fuddle through figuring it out.

As I trip over toys and sweep away the dirt.

As I flip through the calendar, checking to see what’s next.

As I precisely fold the towels.

As I sip my coffee.

As I type.

Put Me first. 

The rest will follow.

Trust Me.

I’ll wait on you.

I’ll be here when you’re ready to find Me.

Because I’m everywhere.

Waiting.

Waiting on you to see.

Mom…

Mom…

We want a drink.

Mom… 

I’m hungry.

Mom. 

Mom.

Coffee.

Squirrel. 

God.

Duty calls.

Blessings await.

Lessons to be learned.

The day to be had.

Thank you Father God for that still small voice in the messy moments of life…

I hear You…

Give grace..

Give grace a hug…

Friendship

/ chela.arnold@yahoo.com / Leave a comment

This speaks as loud to me today as it did about a year ago when I wrote it…maybe even louder. Jesus, the one friend you can always count on. Belong to. Be loved by. Thank God for that. I don’t deserve that…

I belonged before I believed. I believed I belonged. I felt I belonged. He made me feel I belonged. A year ago I wouldn’t have understood this. But it makes such perfect sense now. A year ago Jesus was a complete stranger to me. Now. Now. Wow. He has become my friend. Jesus, friend of sinners. I never got that. Not that I didn’t believe, I just didn’t understand it was possible. This love, His love, the church’s love, helped me to see it was possible. Helped me to belong, feel belonged, so I could return, return every Sunday and in the process, to accept Jesus in my life. Wow. This speaks volumes to me. It just clicked today. Today. Everyday. Everyday. We have a chance to share His love. Everyday He walks beside us. Everyday He’s there to catch me when I slip, to remind me to be gentle, to whisper in my ear when I’m about to step out of control. I can’t say I always listen, I definitely push Him away more than I should. But what a friend that is. A friend that is still with me even when I’m not available to Him. Isn’t that the kind of friend we desire to be or the kind of person we desire to share a friendship with? Hmmmm. Somedays I’m better at it than other days. The whole friendship thing. To anyone. My family. My short list of friends. I fall so completely short. Somedays the only thing that picks me up, is stopping and accepting Jesus as my friend again and again. Over and over. Morning and night. Today and tomorrow. He’s still there. He doesn’t walk away when I’m snotty or turn His back on me because I’m just being my moody self. Instead He’s over there, whispering, chela, chela….chela, look around you, look…what are you doing? Look right in front of you. That grin, those flowers, your home, your family…Me. What more could you need or want? And then I crawl into my humble shell and realize how right He is. How right He is. How right I am with Him. How being right with Him is transforming me from the inside out. Right in the terms of right. So many definitions of the word right. I would choose to use the definition of being righted. Stood up. To be restored to a normal condition. He has picked me up and righted me countless times. He has renewed my heart, my soul. With the love of Jesus Christ, amazing grace, and the Holy Spirit living inside, a freshness from the inside out has started to creep into my life. An understanding, a peace, a movement from dark to light, a transformation. I’m amazed at the strength I’m able to pull from this. It’s not that there aren’t struggles, battles, quarrels, adversities, challenges, hardships. It’s not that at all. It’s not that it takes it all away, by far that’s definitely not it. But by accepting His friendship, His love, His price for sin, accepting Him as our savior, we can be washed clean, we can forever be loved, we can start anew…that’s what I meant by no greater friendship…that’s what I meant by a love that is strong enough to right me over and over, to show me how to love harder, forgive more, believe, push through…who doesn’t need a friend like that? Who doesn’t want to be a friend like that? A friend available at all times, a friend in Jesus Christ. A friend who died, a friend, so a sinner like me can accept His love and become new…wow. How overwhelming is that? It boggles my mind still, the concept seems irrational, but my heart tells me it’s real. The peace in my heart covers any doubt, the love moves me to press on, to walk hand in hand with Him, to pursue a life long friendship that is transforming my heart every day that I walk with Him. With Him, I belong. I belong with Him. This earth, those worldly possessions has got nothing on the love of Jesus. And it’s free. And it’s available to anyone, good friend or not, right or wrong, His love is right there, on every side of you, ready when you are, patiently waiting for your acceptance…Give Grace A Hug❤️
Romans 5:1-21 

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us….

Daughter

/ chela.arnold@yahoo.com / 2 Comments

My 3 year old daughter comes around the corner as I’m in the kitchen, says “mom, mom….mom, I love you”…my heart melts…that’s it? That’s all she needed? This time. Smile. She exits and I continue with my favorite chore, washing dishes, said no woman ever…My response to her is always I love you more, and she’ll say, I love you most…

My heart beats to this drum. She brings me life somedays along with her patience with me, along with her resilience, along with her heart that always allows apologies and please, just a minutes, and maybe laters, or no not yets…

As my hands are mindlessly scrubbing, my mind is churning, which is nothing new. I’m thinking to myself, I spend a lot of time concentrating on what’s wrong, rather than what’s right. I’m groaning over these dishes instead of rejoicing that I get to be at home, so I can have moments like this. I’m always wondering what’s next, instead of seeing what’s in front of me. I never underestimate moments like these, wow, is He always showing up in some way that opens my eyes or catches my breath or holds me still.

As I continue to stand there, my heart races, my mind is just thinking about the what-ifs, the could have beens, the maybes, the well that didn’t happens, the things I didn’t accomplish, the hearts I’ve broken, the time lost, the time spent, the time ticking, the time stopping, for just a moment, so I could wake up, so I could actually hear what my daughter said to me. She loves me. Wow, i needed that. Her love is so unconditional. No matter what mood I’m in or what’s going on, she loves me.

I don’t always want to focus on what’s wrong or what isn’t, but as the human I’ve become, it is one of my battles. I appreciate everything, in my mind, in my heart, but I do struggle with living that out. I struggle with accepting I’m allowed to be happy, I’m allowed to enjoy what my life is or has become, I struggle with being loved. Which I feel like is a lot of why I shut down, shut off, isolate…it’s easier sometimes to just be alone.

But…

But she made me see today, how far my heart has come, how much I’ve healed, how much I’ve forgiven, how much more I can love, how cold my heart was and how it’s warming up….

By the grace of God, I’m learning how to be loved, how to love, how to not so much live by my emotions, but on the truth of God’s word. I guess I’ve spent a lot of my life feeling undeserving or unworthy. It’s been a challenge to accept that God is for me. That He loves me and that I can accept that love. I’m still working on that, for sure…It’s been a cracking open all the wounds, heart wide open, healing experience. It’s tough to look at your demons, and actually hear the truth, and I’m still working on that, but hearing her say I love you reminded me. It reminded me that I need to spend more time living out God’s love, His promises, His truth…I get it, but a lot of the time I’m not accepting of it. I reject it. Could you imagine the heartbreak if I would have rejected my daughter’s I love you this morning? How would she have felt? Hurt, betrayed, sad, alone, heart broken? I wonder if God feels that way when I reject Him or ignore Him or deny His I love you’s? He is God, and certainly doesn’t need my approval, but He certainly keeps pursuing me. He certainly keeps reaching out. He certainly keeps working in my life, regardless of how I feel or act or treat Him. What would it be like if I spent more time thanking and agreeing and working and pursuing and reaching and walking along side Him instead of against Him? Grace. The greatest gift I’ve ever received. Applying it, I’m not always the best, sometimes I’m not too good at giving grace either. I am so perfectly flawed. So longing for hearts to be healed and hurt to be gone and things to be perfect, for all, for anyone who hurts or is scared or is alone or maybe doesn’t know God’s love. I long for others to understand the relationship that can be had with Him. The healing and the friendship. Sometimes I forget that I can have it too. That I need to live it out as well. That I need to focus on these beautiful things in front of me, the people who put up with me, the fortunate things that have happened, the unfortunate, the battles that have shaped me or are shaping me, and that my heart is transforming continually as I walk with God, hand in hand, side by side. Sometimes I let go, sometimes I drift off the path, sometimes I go a different direction, sometimes I hold on so tight I grimace from the grasp, sometimes I run towards Him, sometimes I run away. Sometimes I sit and scream at Him, sometimes I pray so silent I can’t even hear. Sometimes I’m open, sometimes I’m shut. Sometimes I forget all the times He has worked in my life. Sometimes I fight His will, and most definitely deny His desire for my heart to succeed, to be healed, to be happy…

As much as it healed my heart this morning to hear my daughter say I love you, God’s love can heal our hearts as well. After all, my children are just four of the many gifts and ways He has shown me love. What miracles they are. What blessings they bestow. What their I love you’s do to this momma’s heart are just as intoxicating as the way God’s love permeates my soul, my darkness, my hurt , my pain. He pulls me out, He reminds me daily I can, He extends out His hand, His grasp way bigger than any fear or worry or doubt or sin….

I’m just in awe that with God’s love, through situations and trials and insecurities and battles of the heart and mind, His love can restore. It can bring you peace. It can repair the cracks. But the one thing I need to remember is, that I have to let it, accept it, let it mold me, heal me, hold me, embrace me, hug me….

Let grace hug me. Let me hug it back and never let it go. Let me live by that. For that. With that. Grace. Give grace. Give Grace A Hug❤️

Have I Been Denying God????

/ chela.arnold@yahoo.com / 6 Comments

These four words.
I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.
These words were whispered in my ear Sunday during our church worship.
What???
Since then I have been playing these words in my head over and over and over again.
No I haven’t.
Yes I have.
Nah, not me.Oh yea, you definitely have.
Why would I deny God?

Wait….Have I???

Whoa…

Since Sunday, after a delivery of a great and timely message, I have been wondering. Have I?
This, in turn, prompted me to listen to the message from the Sunday before that I had missed.
I was floored. Were these spoke just for me? Did everyone in attendance see the neon sign flashing CONVICTION,
CONVICTION, CONVICTION, HERE????? I could seriously feel the heat of the spotlight.

I’ve been denying God.
PPPPLLLLLLBBBBBBTTTTTTTTTT….
These four words…
I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.
It was definitely one of those Sundays where the enemy was trying to keep me home. Cramps, bloated, pants too tight, headache, not feeling the best, nothing to wear…Meh…any excuse I could find…

I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.

He has been working hard to get my attention this week. The devil right along with Him. It started Sunday afternoon
in my own backyard. Olivia, my youngest, a whole 3, came close to drowning in our own backyard pool.
Now…I’ve seen my children go through a lot of things. Heartache, grief, bad choices, good ones, milestones, birthdays,
death, rejection, good grades, their first bad grade…
I’ve witnessed the sobbing of sobs, the beasts of boo boos, sprained ankles to sprained egos, broken hearts to broken toys. I’ve seen them gasp for life in so many ways….
But never like this.
Sunscreen on.
Floaties on.
I’m literally sitting down to read my Bible.
We are good to go.
Splashing, playing, laughing….
It did get kinda quiet.
But in the moment it wasn’t as obvious then as it is now.
Alex says, “Mom, Olivia is drowning.”
What the what???
My first thoughts are “Don’t joke with me, that’s not funny, no she’s not, yea right.”
But if you’re a mom, or a parent, you know I didn’t just sit there.
I may have hopped up as ugly as all get out.
She was. She was bobbing up and down, doing her best to stay above the water.
Panic.
Just reach her.
Stay calm.
You got this.
She”ll be fine.
Move, Chela, move.
Funny how you take all the precautions for moments like these in our heads and in our actions, but when the moment comes, just wow….
I tried to jump the side. Too short.
I tried to extend my arm just enough. Too short.
Seconds ticking by.
My heart pounding, my mind racing…
All in the matter of seconds.
Alex, my 6 year old, is just watching.
Somehow she had lost her floatie.
10, 20 more seconds and I don’t even want to imagine what could have been.
THANK GOD.
I climb the ladder.
Alex steps up and pushes her her float.
Whew. THANK GOD.
I can’t tell you in those few seconds how many things flew through my mind. It was like an eternity. As her life was
dangling by a thread, mine flashed in front of me as well.
Pictures, people, places, things, hurts, hearts, joys, jobs, family, friends.
My daughter. Her life. My daughter. My life.
In our own backyard.
Was this a wake up call?
For me? For my life? Funny way to grab my attention. BUT YOU GOT IT. I’m listening.
Who are you to tell me???
I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.
As I look back, Have I? Have I been denying God?
Have I?
As she sits on my lap just sobbing while trying to catch her breath, I can’t help but wonder….

Ok….So we survived Sunday. Thank you God. Onto Monday.
Monday…
Uneventful. Except for the rehashing of Sunday. The what ifs. Thinking about it kept me awake longer than desired Sunday night. So Monday came too quickly. Coffee was for recuperation, much appreciated and right on time.

I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.
What a gut check for me. These four words whispered. Everywhere. They just keep popping up.

Only in the past several months have I come to get a grasp on the power of salvation and the power of the cross and the blood that was shed for us. I can’t say I understand it or can even grasp the concept sometimes, but I know differently, His grace has been liberally applied to my life more times than I can mention.
Pondering the season I’ve been in for too long…Depression, anxiety, loneliness, gloominess, hopelessness, worthlessness.
Have I been denying God? If I have accepted Jesus as my Savior, I “know” of the power, I “know” of the unlimited grace available, I “know” that I am a new creation in Christ, I “know” the Holy Spirit is alive in me.

I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.

One of Monday’s devotionals spoke loudly to me. I read it over and over throughout the day.
“There is no God like You. YOU forgive those who are guilty of sin; YOU don’t look at the sins of Your people who are left alive. YOU will not stay angry forever because YOU enjoy being kind. YOU will have mercy on us again, YOU will conquer our sins. YOU will throw away all our sins into the deepest part of the sea.” Micah 7:18-19.
YOU meaning GOD.
“There is no God like YOU. (thank God)
“YOU forgive all who are guilty and don’t look at our sin.” (What??? He forgives me of my sin over and over again AND He doesn’t look at it anymore?? That’s who I strive to be like. I want to be like that.) “You will not stay angry forever because YOU enjoy being kind.” (He doesn’t get mad, He forgives and forgives. He enjoys being kind. I enjoy being kind. Have I forgotten that???) “You will have mercy on us again.” “You will conquer our sins.” It says YOU, as in GOD. The strength was never mine. He will conquer our sin. He. He will not stay angry forever. He pours mercy on us time and time again. Because He can. And He will.

I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.

So… Here we are. It’s Tuesday.
Tuesday…Hmmmmm.
Start off with coffee and my devotionals.
This one jumped off the page at me.
(God) never gives a thorn without this added grace. He takes the thorn to pin aside the veil which hides His face.
~Martha Snell Nicholson~
Mmmmmmm….
Do you hear what I hear in that?
With every trouble, every pain, every transgression, every failure, if we turn to Him, when we turn to Him, He may not remove that thorn, but with that thorn in our side, we will see Him. Find Him. Ask Him for the grace to cover the pain of that thorn in our side, instead of asking Him to remove it.
It hurts.
It’s ugly.
It is sticking us.
It is bothering us.
It is weakening us.
Literally, a pain in our sides.
It is possible He will supply the grace to withstand the thorn. It is possible He could remove the thorn.
But, what if? What if we humble ourselves before Him, and maybe not ask to take away the pain, but to ask for more grace to endure the pain?
I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.
Ok…sitting here reading, sipping coffee, something tells me to turn on the TV.
I find myself playing a recording of TD Banks.
I am not huge on TV evangelists, but I could listen to him daily.
So…..About God’s timing.
This particular sermon was about an eagle and her nest….Oh boy, he’s got my attention already.
Don’t die in your nest. He talks about how the nest is for protection when the eaglets are young. How we perceive based on the way we were raised in the nest. How we become comfortable in our nest, even though it may become too small.
Yet we stay because it is familiar, it is what we know. How the stirring of the nest can poke us and prod us to leave, yet we stay. Yet we make excuses to stay. It would be easier that way, right? To stay. Rather than to leave or to grow or move or evolve….
Conviction. I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.
This hits my nest way too closely.
It’s me to a tee.
Comfortable in her nest. Safe. Yet miserable. I don’t want to be stuck here. But this is who I’ve become. This is easier.
But I long for more. But I have everything I need right here in this nest. Why should I leave? Why fly? Why evolve?
Man….
God doesn’t want me to be stuck here. God doesn’t want me to be anxious or depressed and lonely.
God wants me to turn to Him. He wants to give me wings. He wants me to fly. God wants us all to fly. God wants us to put all the yuck we learned from the nest behind us. God wants us to have faith in Him. To have faith that He will help us fly. To believe we can fly. To trust in Him, to find true freedom with Him, to believe, and to spread our wings and soar. Soar above heights beyond our own imaginations…

These past couple years have been truly a painful season.
Examination, self truth, depression, my first panic attack followed by anxiety, grief, realizing my food addiction was my coping mechanism. So I have hidden. Another coping mechanism. I have truly become comfortable in my nest of misery. My prison, this nest has become. I have sheltered myself. Deep down I know there were times when isolation is exactly what I needed. Shelter. Quiet. Less noise. More God. Reflection. Redemption.
I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.
That still small voice.
I have.
I don’t give Him enough credit.
I doubt.
I fear.
I over analyze.
I second guess.
I know all about faith, But do I have faith?
I know the power, but do I allow it to be applied to my own life?
Since being saved, I have felt my heart being transformed.
I can’t count the times I’ve got on my knees, prayed, begged, pleaded…For mercy, for forgiveness, for strength, for courage, for patience, for less pride, for more love, for less of me, more of God, for peace, unity, desire…Does that list ever end?
I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.
Wake up Chela. You have all of this. You’ve witnessed Him working in your own life.
He provided strength and comfort as you laid your Mom to rest.
He covered you in forgiveness and mercy as you battled your food addiction and won.

The patience and forgiveness and mercy and love provided when you were up against the rock and the hard place, when having to choose between your own daughter and granddaughter, while your daughter figured things out. Not by my own strength did I make it through that.

The peace needed as I have watched my brother battle addiction for too many years. The prayers sent for recovery and grace and forgiveness and mercy. The peace provided for myself to understand it’s not all my fault, that I can and sometimes have to love from afar. The forgiveness and grace showered unending as I had to turn away to save myself.

The forgiveness as I have worked through the hole left in my heart from not great relations with my own earthly father.
Letting go of the idea that it was me or that I did something to cause him to not want a relationship with me or to stop drinking long enough to care. Separating myself from finding my own worth in his and others behavior. Then and now.

This stuff still stings. I could go on.

Maybe slightly ironic that as you take a step to be saved, your heart becomes slightly open to looking at these wounds.
As you let Him in, you have to be willing to square up and let go.
It is a painful process.
These matters of the heart that have built up for years.
But He really doesn’t want you to stay there.
His love for us is beyond amazing. It truly is. It can seep in by way of those broken cracks and restore every last one.
Never ending.
It has pulled me through some of the darkest times in my life.
If you can open your heart even just a little…
To feel His goodness….
You will not regret it.
You will be changed.
You will be loved. You will be forgiven. You will feel peace words can’t describe. You will be able to leave your nest.
You will be able to fly.

I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.
Wow. Enough said. I’m guilty. I have been denying God. Denying the good that He wants me to have. Remembering the good He has already given. I haven’t been trusting of HIs power, HIs strength, HIs love, HIs truth. I’ve been denying that He is able to work in my life. MY LIFE.
No wonder I’m stuck here.
This is pivotal for me.
I’m scared. But I know I can no longer be here and stay miserable and anxious and depressed anymore.
I want to fly.
I enjoy being kind.

I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.

So….We made it to Wednesday.
How does this one fit in???
Devotional #1: 2nd Corinthians 12:9
My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
In my weakness, His grace is enough.
In my weakness, His strength is made perfect.
In my weakness, He is enough.
In my weakness…
In MY weakness…

I’VE BEEN DENYING GOD.

Maybe this one from Jesus Calling Devotional…
Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
He is everywhere.
Reminding me, He is enough and that I’m not alone. I’m never alone.
Then the phone rings…If you know me at all, I don’t answer the phone nearly as often as I should.
That would mean I would have to talk to someone….
But it was a Godsend. Someone I share a history with, a comforting voice who knows exactly where I’m coming from and where I’m at, and where we both want to be….As we share tears and laughter, maybe a little sarcasm, it is evident I am not alone.
Thank you God.

As this day comes to an end, I recall another devotional I read earlier.
1st Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. AND GOD IS FAITHFUL. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.
This is so comforting. It screams everything I need to hear.
Our temptations, while different, are yet the same. Sin is sin.
And God is faithful. Whatever we are facing. He is faithful. Our burdens will be too much to bear alone. But if we don’t deny Him and look to Him for a way out, and cling to Him even as that thorn pricks our side, asking for strength and wisdom and courage to endure, as believers, and as we are tempted, as we call out, He will help us. He promises He will because He is faithful. He will show us a way out.
I think I can sleep on that.
I think I’ve been denying God.
I think I’m going to try my best to not do that anymore.
I want to fly.
I want to evolve.
I want to be kind.
I want to give grace.
I want to Give Grace A Hug.
It is by grace that I have been saved.
But just because I’m saved doesn’t mean He is done with me yet…
This eagle is about to leave her nest….

Morning. Thursday, here…
Not quite enough coffee to function, but I’m working on that.
I thought I was done. But this morning’s devotional I can’t help but share. It is again, too timely to be just a coincidence. I’m seeing how God is really trying to tell me it is time to change positions in my life.
Isaiah 30:19 The Message
Cry for help and you’ll find it’s grace and more grace. The moment He hears, He’ll answer.
Just ask. Just reach. There is enough grace to see you through whatever it is you may be afraid of or worried about or think you can’t change. He is faithful.
I always have K-Love on in my kitchen. Rarely does it get turned down or shut off. Unless absolute silence is needed.
It is 8:08…
Amazing Grace is playing.
His word, my hope secure…
My chains are gone, I’ve been set free…
Unending love, amazing grace…
And like a flood, His mercy reigns…
Unending love, amazing grace….

Coffee and God

/ chela.arnold@yahoo.com / Leave a comment

Coffee and God…

As the hot coffee flows down the back of my throat, I feel myself melting on the inside, as it is literally warming my cold veins. As it quenches my thirst, it’s calmness floats to parts unreachable, it’s peace fills my soul, it distributes life to my aching and tired body. I don’t think there is any coincidence here.

As I sip and read my devotionals, I think, coffee and reading God’s Word are all too similar. No fooling anyone here, coffee is one of my favorite things.

There isn’t much better in the still of the morning. That aroma, that warmth, before everyone wakes up, gazing out the window, soaking in the sun, watching on as it brings life to everything around it, dreaming of the day to come. If only time stood still.

Much like my coffee.

Much like God’s Word.

Every morning I read a handful of devotionals. Some resonate more than others, some so on point, it’s hard to use the word relevancy.

His timing.

His message.

Beyond relevancy.

Trust is a beautiful word when used correctly, when upheld, when executed, when respected.

Trust.

It can also become like soap in our mouths, leaving a bad taste, especially when it is spoiled, broken, abused, forgotten, misused, or misplaced.

Trust.

I must say, personally I’m at both ends of this spectrum, trusting way too much or simply not enough. I tend to believe people are good and trustworthy or I’m way over here on the other end. No trust in sight, anxious, trying my hardest to control outcomes, situations and relationships. Somewhere in the middle, I dance with both feet, tapping here, sliding over there, dancing circles and spinning out of control.

Funny, one of my devotionals this morning was Nehemiah 9:17 You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Thank God for that. Somehow, that brings to my attention, my own lack of trust when it comes to believing that God could possibly be for me. Little ol’ me. My anxious, fearful, controlling self. Why does He want what is best for me? Why doesn’t that line up with my own plan for my life? Oh, me and control. If I give that up, what is left, right? If I surrender my fear of what is next, then what do I cling to?

I need another sip of coffee to swallow that one…

Ha…

As I cling to my coffee cup, it’s warmth on my hands, it’s liquid life pumping through my veins, it becomes obvious.

This is how I feel when I read God’s Word.

It pumps life into my being. It soothes my soul. It restores my spirit. It warms my heart. It kickstarts my day, just like my coffee. It puts me in position to trust Him with the day, the plans, the path.

Not my day or my plans or my path.

But His.

Wow, He knew what He was doing when I finally acquired a taste for coffee.

I haven’t always liked coffee.

I haven’t always been in God’s word either.

Hmmmmmmmm…

Onto another cup of life.

Some days I drink too much. I’m telling you, if I were to give blood, as they stick me, they would probably question as to why all of sudden it was like they were transported to Starbucks.

Just as much as I thirst for coffee, there really isn’t a time where I don’t thirst for God’s plan on my life.

His love being poured over me has brought life to parts of me that I thought would never breathe again.

It has shown me forgiveness I thought I would never know. It has covered me in grace through mistakes and heartbreak and pride and excuses.

It has picked me up from the bottom of bottoms and gave me hope to go on.

When it seemed to others like I had everything, on the inside of my cup, it was dry and empty.

I needed a refill.

I needed that cup of life His word can provide.

That is, as long as I trust in Him. As long as let Him work in my life. As long as I surrender to His will.

Every morning, I get up, trusting that coffee will bring me the life and energy I need to start the day.

Every morning, I get up, trusting that spending time in God’s word and presence, will bring me the life and energy and patience and love and courage and hope I need to start the day.

I’m positive coffee has let me down.

I’m positive there have been days when I drank a whole pot and still drug my butt through the day, half awake, tired and irritable.

I’m positive there have been days when I’ve skipped being in God’s Word or skipped praying or just spending time alone with Him. Same effect.

Tired, irritable, anxious, half awake.

I’m positive when I start my day with Him, I am not let down.

I’m positive, that while challenging, walking with God has never let me down. It has only helped me to see life again. It has only led me to forgiveness and healing and love.

And right now as I drink from His cup of life, and at the same time, sip from the the other liquid life I call coffee,

I am warmed.

I am whole.

I am coming to understand the bold truth of the power of love.

I am applying grace to move forward.

I am moving forward.

Coffee in one hand.

Jesus in the other.

Devil, you have no chance.

Thank you God for Your saving grace.

It is by grace alone I have been saved.

Give grace.

Give Grace A Hug…