By now many, if not, all of you reading this are familiar with my upbringing… it wasn’t an easy one! Point in fact, it should have claimed my life on numerous occasions… as I’m sure you have also read about, somewhere back in the archives.
You don’t even need to go back very far in those entries to see that I still live a very unstable and uncertain life. We face obstacles on a daily basis that most of you don’t want to know about… trust me on this!
It’s not always bad, in fact, we can sometimes go several weeks before there is another issue to face, or maybe it’s something we have addressed before and can now just stand upright and walk through it.
I credit my tough exterior, and will to survive, for being able to forget the tough times within less than 24 hours of a good day… though this can be both good and bad. It’s good in the sense that I bounce back quickly… it’s bad in that sometimes a new issue can hit like a punch to the face or stomach. I find myself feeling overwhelmed and in a sort of fight or flight mode, in like the blink of an eye… me… daughter of The King… what on earth is wrong with me? Oh yeah… I’m human!
This sort of encouragement simply must come only from Gods Word, therefore, I chose carefully…
Note to Self #15
Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, “my foot is slipping”, your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought joy to my soul”. Psalm 94:17-19
Strong Enough by Matthew West really encompassed what I was speaking on this morning…
While thinking about the Mountains ahead for the Israelites as they headed out into the desert, for some reason Zipporah and her sons popped into my mind. Little is said about her, save the role she played on the night God and Moses fought, in the encampment just before re-entering Pharaohs domain. Beyond that incident, little can be found, aside from the brief mention when Moses sent her home and again when her father brought her back to him. You know, I’d never really given much thought to what things may have been like for the wife and children of Moses.
It’s one thing to pursue your calling, as say a priest or holy man… today I suppose that would be a preacher, or perhaps a missionary. Whether it be modern or ancient times, my thinking is that it’s fairly important for your family and/or loved ones to be on board with your calling, if you want their support. What must it have been like for Zipporah, as well as the couples’ children? Can I go as far as to speculate that the kids possibly felt like Pastors kids? Of course, a great majority of pastors kids are born into the lifestyle… I’m pretty sure that Moses family all came on the scene before he even returned to Egypt, so the adjustment must have been a bit more difficult.
To first pack up and follow Moses all the way to Egypt, and then be sent all the way back home with the kids could not have been easy for any involved. I understand that family coexistence dynamics back then, were different from the way they are now… but the logistics alone, of moving your whole household back in with dad, must have felt daunting to Zipporah after months of travel in both directions. Meanwhile, Moses ministry must have cost him many sleepless nights… alone, without his partner and helpmate to bring him comfort and reassurance. If I simply look at this from my own personal perspective, it just seems like it would be tough.
Remember earlier when I mentioned the importance of All your family being on board for support… a perfect example is where Jethro packs his daughter and her sons up, along with all their things… again… and hand delivers them to Moses out in the middle of the desert. Based off the valuable advice he offered, and the time Jethro took to help Moses while he visited, I think it’s safe to say that he was fully supportive.
The path that the Israelites were about to follow would be a long one, though none of them realized this yet. If Zipporah knew of the actual time commitment this journey would require, I’m not sure she would’ve been so willing to follow her husband. God is wise enough to withhold the timetable of most of what He does, because, if we always knew how long a thing might take… most likely, we’d not be willing to even show up! Did you know that the Israelites could have gotten to the promise land in about 11 days, had they just gone straight there? All of Gods people had mountains to get through, many of which had nothing to do with the actual traveling part of the trip.
Over the next few weeks, we will be camping with these spiritually unruly children, as the God of all wisdom takes His kids to school and grows a Village …
Today, I share 2 songs I like for this Live Wire Sunday, one is How Far by Tasha Layton, and the other is Never Walk Alone by Hope Darst.
We all have those we know that fall into these three peeves, so I’ll not bother with the definitions… these sort of explain themselves, don’t you think?
My mom had to turn my shirt backwards to hide the Mork and Mindy picture splattered all over the front. I ended up looking like I was auditioning for a spot in the West Side Story…
You know… sometimes, behind the scenes of writing, this soul must rest. At least 5 days a week are spent either writing, editing, and recording audio. On top of those responsibilities, I also spend a good deal of my day reading others content and corresponding with everyone in the Lobby. This is all by my own choice, by the way, so I’ve no complaints what so ever… I adore this community of souls!
Sometimes, however, I can get so full tilt ahead that I wear myself out, and it begins to show in my writing, among a few other things. If I notice that I feel pressure to produce, over my passion for the current journey… it is time to unplug! When I start making silly mistakes in my everyday life… forgetting things and/or feeling disconnected to the physical environment in which I exist, I know it is time to turn myself OFF, so to speak.
I pushed myself kind of hard over the last week in an attempt to set everything up to run on auto pilot during my surgeries, and, well, I ended up injuring myself a little… not a big deal, but enough to tell me that I am on overload with things and not paying enough attention to things. I just wish I could write all the time and not have to deal with my human side… ugh… body not cooperating…
Guess what though? Gods got me, as He always does, and He told me that I get to go on vacation in the writing department, for at least two weeks! The work is not going anywhere… the dream is not going anywhere… the passion and purpose are NOT going anywhere! I am reminded that God will not leave me standing at the train station… His train will NOT leave without me!
The world has us so well trained in thinking that nothing is free and everything has a price! God’s gifts are free and eternal my friends. I believe that if I seek Him diligently, in all I do, He will bless whatever my hand touches… it says that in the bible repeatedly! Among the many references, David wrote and sang of this many times in the Psalms.
As far as my upcoming novel goes… writing Brutus is a dream I have… something I believe will be worth all of the effort. Two weeks vacation will not do any harm… in fact, I believe I’ll be fully recharged and ready to dive in again, once I get my new eyes!
Starting Monday, this girl will be resting, sleeping, eating, and who knows what else… but writing won’t be on the list… aside from my daily Seeing Eye to Eye post. I will be popping in once a day to update folks as to how things are progressing, but don’t get excited… it won’t be more than one or two comments, max!
Hey… wanna see a really bad joke? Too bad… you’re already here…
What did one eye say to the other eye?
If it weren’t for this mountain between us, we could see each other!
Journey With Me! 