AARRGGGHHH! My little green patch has turned brown from neglect! I hope my dear friends and readers haven't given up on me yet!
It's a good thing I didn't have high expectations for my time in Florida, for I have been busy in so many ways. Just getting from place to place takes so much more time than I remember! I miss my little patch on this green Earth! My heart longs for England, my home, my church, and my family there. It's amazing what a change in activities will do for your perspective!
Over the past few weeks, my time has been consumed with clearing out, sorting out, and packing up stuff in my mother's house. Things my mother has been unable to do have finally been taken care of. To get the job done, a good friend of my mother's came for two weeks, giving her time, energy, wisdom, and humor to the task. She left me with a wonderful thought that I want to shout to the world.........
IT WON'T BE IN HEAVEN!
You might read that line and think, "Well, of course not! You can't take it with you!" But these words became so important to me as we looked at everything that was cluttering my mother's life because it might be needed some day. It soon became clear what was really important: freedom for the Spirit of God to have access to our physical dwelling place!
Have you ever been somewhere - a church, someone's home, a special bookstore, a lonely hill, and thought, "I can feel the peace of God here." That is what I long for in my life: to have places to escape the chaos of the world, and enjoy the peace and presence of the Lord.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying God is not with me in the chaos; I know God can be with me wherever I go. However, I don't always FEEL His presence. As Nancy and I reclaimed my mother's house from the chaos it had been, these are the thoughts that occupied my mind. I kept thinking of heaven on earth.
I image heaven as a clean, bright, orderly paradise; a place of peace, and joy; a place where everything has it's place, and the people are the most important 'things' there. Nothing overshadows God and his children - for our relationship with Him is His focus. That's what I want for my mom: heaven on earth. We haven't gotten there yet, but it is much better. Order has returned, and with it, a place to sit, to be still and KNOW that HE is God, that He is there, and that He cares.
I image heaven as a clean, bright, orderly paradise; a place of peace, and joy; a place where everything has it's place, and the people are the most important 'things' there. Nothing overshadows God and his children - for our relationship with Him is His focus. That's what I want for my mom: heaven on earth. We haven't gotten there yet, but it is much better. Order has returned, and with it, a place to sit, to be still and KNOW that HE is God, that He is there, and that He cares.
Sometimes the task looks too much to handle. Sometimes it's hard to even know where to start. But, like it has been said many times before, the important thing is to start. Don't look at the problem, no matter what it might be! Look at the answer and work towards that end. Every step in that direction in the right step to take! We are now moving in the right direction, and it has been worth every minute of every day to get there!
