I Am Certain

Zeke.  Chocolate lab.  Loving.  Snow-lover. Snack-lover.  Cuddler. 

I know these things about Zeke.  I am certain of it.  He waits on the porch for me.  To let him, for lets say five minute before he asks me once again to let him out. 

Some people say they are certain of many thing.  I say I am certain of few. 

What I do know is that every day begins and every day ends.  What I do with the hours in between the beginning and the end is my choice.  Life is a journey of many choice.

I began blogging when I found myself in the midst of trials.  Wanting to share my heart but not knowing how.  I shared my blog with no one.  I shared my passion for my labs and slowly began to journal my feelings about God.  They blended along the way and I've noticed how my labs....who cannot speak words...speak to me.

And I know it isn't just my dogs who speak to me.  It is people in my life.  It is circumstances.  It is hard days.  It is messy feelings.  So I stop and I realize God is speaking to me.

A God that no longer speaks verbally, yet so powerfully uses everything else in my life to speak to me.

And what is speaking to you?  Are you letting it speak?  Have you stopped?  Have you listened?

Was it the sunrise?  Was it the wind?  Was it the trees empty of leaves?

Was it the clerk at the store?  Was it the phone call from a loved one?  Was it the pet who cuddled close?

God's speaking to me.  Of that I am certain.  And I notice it only when I listen for the message. 

There is a difference you know?  Listening to the message and listening  for the message.  You have to listen for the message to be able to listen to it.  To know what God wants you to hear.

Expectations

I'm thinking they have an internal clock. The chocolate ones.  It's like they know when the master will arrive at home (Yes, the master would be me, or so they let me think!) 

 

The storm door is the place they sit, they watch, they wait.  Nay likes to sit for hours.  When the neighbors walk by with their own dog she barks like she's saying "I'm gonna get my shotgun if you don't get off my property!" but she can't do a thing since the storm door is locked.  She can only bark behind the glass.

 

They expect entertainment at the door.  For the world to come to them.  They expect to see the postman approach, the neighbor kids to run by, the dogs to run by with their owners.  They expect me to pull up in the driveway.  They expect.

 

And sitting at the door of 2013 I expect.  We have our list of expectations, "This is going to be a good year, the year of {fill in the blank}."

 

I will lose "x" pounds.  I will eat healthier.  I will read the Bible through.  I will get up earlier every day.  I will go to bed earlier.  I will work less and live more.  I will keep a journal.  I will pray more.  I will play more. 

 

I dont' make resolutions because I end up putting my expectations in myself.  I have to live one day at a time with the challenges of that day.  My challenges may be the same each day...but my circumstances are not the same each day and what I might need from God today may be different than what I need tomorrow.

 

Psalm 62:5 says "My soul, wait you only upon God; for my expectation is from him."

 

So I change my expectations.....it is no longer a list that begins with "I" but a list that begins with "He".  What will He have for me in 2013? 

 

I don't want to sit at the glass door looking out expecting what this world can give me, but I want to expect what an omnipotent, eternal God can give me.  Whether through quiet or through storms, what can I expect from God?  No matter...the glorious part of all is not the EXPECTING but the WHO we expect from.

 

Debbie