A Daily Epiphany

Last Sunday we celebrated Epiphany – the manifestation of the Lord – when the magi’s eyes were opened to the King of kings. I desire a daily epiphany when my eyes are opened to my King.

I post my blog for today. Now I’m in my cozy chair with my throw blanket tossed over my lap. I reach for my well-worn Bible, my daily devotional and my journal. A deep breath in and a slow exhale. It’s my time, it’s His time. It’s our time to be together.

Before the electrician arrives to do some repairs. Before I go on errands. Before I go to Weight Watchers. Before the day’s activities are in full go-mode, I get to be with Jesus. For a few quiet moments, I don’t have to share Him with anyone. The words are always fresh to me. A new reading in His Word and a new reflection. What will He show me today? What will be my “epiphany” today? I take it in like it is a required prescription to keep me alive. After all, it is the Bread of Life – physically and spiritually.

But, sometimes, my mind is overactive with my to-do’s and it’s simply a “routine” that must be done. Please forgive me, Lord, for those times when I only give you a quick glance. Sometimes I have an “aha” when I read a verse that I know was written with me in mind. Other times -- not so much. I pause and whisper, “Lord, open my eyes to see the wonderful things in Your Word. Help me understand what You’re trying to show me.” I don’t want to miss a single thing that God has for me. I don’t want the distraction of the clock or daily assignments to pull my thoughts away from His. I really do not want my time with Jesus to be a quick “meet and greet”. I really do want to pray, ponder, understand and respond.

My sweet mother-in-law, Lydia, has been that kind of pray-er and ponder-er. Every time I read Acts 16 where a woman named Lydia is introduced, I think of Mom. Lydia and her friends are having a prayer meeting on the riverbanks. The Apostle Paul and his traveling companions stop by the prayer meeting. Lydia is already a worshiper of God, but as Paul shares the Good News of Jesus and His redeeming work on the cross, Lydia has an “epiphany”: “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention and to respond to the things said by Paul”. (Acts 16:14).

I absolutely love that: “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention and respond.” Oh, how I desire that my heart is opened to pay attention and respond to my Lord. Lydia’s mind is opened and she receives a fresh revelation of Jesus. He deposits a desire in her heart to learn more about the gospel of grace that Paul is sharing. I think of an old song that is actually a prayer. May it be our prayer today.
“Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus,
to reach out and touch Him, and say that we love Him.
Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus.”

May this be our heart’s greatest desire — today and every day! May we open our hearts wide so we can receive a fresher revelation of Jesus. No matter how much we think we know about Him, let us long to know Him more!

Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word.”

Selective Hearing Comes in Handy

My iPhone must have selective hearing. I'll be audibly texting a message and the message comes out not anything like I said. My text message to my sister was supposed to start out "Hi sweet sis!" But, it sent "Hi, sweet the ass." She replied "This is too funny. Read your text 4th word." I have GOT to start reading my texts before I hit the SEND icon!!

My word(s) for today is SELECTIVE HEARING – one possesses this quality when they hear only what they would like to hear. Selective hearing is also known as hearing loss by attention. It affects many people and refers to the unconscious blocking out of sounds while engaged in another stimulating activity. For example, missing the sound of a telephone ringing because of focusing on a TV show.

There are times when I block out what someone is saying because I’m so busy with what I'M saying that I don’t hear what needs to be heard. I was at a conference last weekend and I was so busy in conversation that I failed to hear someone saying grace for our meal. My Selective Hearing was hearing my words, not someone else’s.

Selective hearing loss is not the result of one noise making another inaudible, but a choice by the brain to focus on one stimulus over another. For example: Mom: "Jimmy, clean up your room and them you can go to the movies." Jimmy: "Sweet! I can go to the movies!" Mom: "AFTER YOU CLEAN YOUR ROOM!" Jimmy: "What? You never said I had to clean my room" Mom: "I swear, you have selective hearing!"

Has your spouse, child or someone else asked you about something they had told you, and you don’t even remember them asking the question? At that moment they asked, apparently you had selective hearing and it didn’t SELECT that conversation. Indeed our children have selective hearing. We can call them and call them, and they don’t respond, but if we say “Ice Cream”, they’ll come running. We, also, have selective hearing. We listen to what we love. God is sending us messages all the time, but we’re not listening well. We’re distracted or preoccupied or just maybe, we don’t even want to listen.

Our Heavenly Father communicates with us all the time through His Word, His gentle nudges, signs and feelings, others speaking on His behalf and so many other ways. God is communicating with us all the time. He wants us, like we want our kids, to LISTEN WELL!”

Being a good listener is being present in the moments. Consciously avoiding distractions and honoring that one that is speaking to us. Proverbs 4:20 says "My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words." Such selective hearing is simply paying attention. God is speaking to us. Others are speaking to us. And when we pay attention and are tuned in to the Master's frequency, and when we set aside all distractions, we'll hear! ...When we do, we'll be listening WELL and SELECTING our hearing to hearing God's voice..

God's Gentle Nudges

We all know how sweet it is when heaven taps us on the shoulder – and we totally recognize that it was God’s way of reassuring us or pointing us in a direction we know we should go or simply to feel His warm embrace…..right when we need it most.

I’m official. Texas license plates on my car….that means I’m committed to this new adventure. The longing has been there for some time. I’ve missed way too many of my grandchildren’s events – that’s reason enough to go. And God's gentle nudges seem to push me that direction. Yesterday, while finishing up the final removal of “stuff” from my home, I sat down for a quick lunch on the only sitting area – my fireplace hearth. I no sooner sat down, than I looked out my dining room window – and on the outside gazing right between two elephant ears, was the Texas flag flying in the distance. I know that flag represents the new Texas Roadhouse restaurant that just went in, but I choose to believe that it was heaven tapping me on the shoulder to remind me once again…..that I’m Texas-bound.

In the meantime, I carried my belongings over to my friend’s home. She was kind enough to offer her home to me while I’m finishing up responsibilities and commitments I have here in Tulsa. I took her to the airport this morning – she’ll be in her “other” home in Virginia for the next 2-1/2 months. What a blessing for me to be in this beautiful home. I laughed as we were leaving for the airport and I heard her tell her stuffed dog to keep a watch over me. And, to top it off, a tall, dark and handsome guy is here with me…..and I’ve heard that he plays a pretty good game of basketball, too. How’s that for full package deal? A home, a guard dog and a man – he’s a stiff, but he looks good, doesn’t complain and I never have to wash his clothes!

I’m amped up on listening for God’s voice, feeling His gentle nudges and even His kick-in-the-pants to keep me pressing onward. This is why God is so wonderful! He wants to help and guide us through the mazes of our lives, even when we don't ask. Now, just imagine if we actively seek his assistance through prayer and daily conversations with Him, the nudge will then turn into a treasure map of spiritual growth and the more we follow His guidance, the more treasures we will discover.

So, let’s pay attention to God’s gentle nudges. As long as we don’t push back, our lives will come ALIVE and adventures will await us!

"God will instruct me and teach me in the way I should go. He will guide me with His eye." (Psalm 32:8)

Pay ATTENTION!

Goodness gracious! I love my GPS system. They're so much better than those old folded up maps. Those "Global Positioning Systems" are found in vehicles and on smartphones all over the world. And, I’m so grateful to be here at this time to take advantage of this amazing technology. That gal in the GPS knows where to go and she even redirects us if we get off the beaten path.

So, yesterday I was making my trek to Texas to see my Frisco kids. My brag was "I don’t need my GPS to get to my Frisco family – I think my car goes on auto pilot when I go there because I’ve travelled that route many times!!"

Well, that's the "brag" when I'm paying attention to my driving. I was talking on the phone to my sister-in-law (using my car's hands-free) and all carried away in conversation, saw the exit up ahead and took it. I had driven for probably 10 miles before I realized, this road doesn't look familiar and neither did the towns I was going through. Well, at least I'm going West and that's the direction I need to be going. NOT! I stopped at a service station and asked "Can I take this road to Atoka?" And the attendant said, "Yes, just take this road on for 10 miles and then go south on Hwy 75." First off, I asked the wrong question. I should have said "Should I turn around and go back to the turnpike to Dallas?" As it turned out, I went through major road construction on 2-lane roads, through little towns, and I went out of my way over 45-minutes -- BACK to Atoka and not going South to Dallas. I got to Frisco at 8:15 pm instead of 7:30 pm.

Back to that awesome GPS system. And, more importantly, back to focus and being present in the moment and not allowing distractions to keep us from our goals. The most sophisticated directional technology in the world is not much help if we don't use it and won't follow its directions. My goodness, if I had kept going West, I could have ended up in New Mexico! LOL!

And, our most supreme, all-knowing God can't speak to us and give us directions for driving AND living, when we're caught up in "our own little world" either. If we simply PAY ATTENTION to the road, listen to God's voice and follow His instructions... then, there will be no question about getting lost -- He'll ensure we'll get to where we need to go!!

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and HE will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Busy Running....and Going SOMEWHERE

My granddaughter, Alexia Wallace (aka Lexi), aspires to be a veterinarian someday, so it is no surprise that she wanted me to go with her to her "job" where she provides dog sitting service for a neighbor's dogs. She feeds, walks and cares for the dogs throughout the day.

Then, it was off to the pet store. First, it was a stop-off at the hamster habitats to tenderly hold them and encourage them into their amusement park (the wheel that makes them think they're going somewhere....but NOT), and on to the dogs where she oohs and ahs over those cuddly little creatures.

When I was here, last time, she was chasing a runaway dog (in bitter cold, without a coat on) to save him from peril. When in Oklahoma, she jumped out of the car to save a slow-paced turtle from certain danger. Her mind just goes there. She has a heart for God's creatures. She has direction. She knows where she's going -- unlike those hamsters running in their wheel and going NOWHERE.

Isn't that like some of us? We live in motion and speed. We get up early and go to bed late and have no time for "the moment". Do we want our epitaph to read "She/He was always on the go -- but she/he went nowhere!" Round and round we go. Sure, we're busy, but we lack a sense of purpose and direction.

When we are clear on our goal and destination, life will become so meaningful and joyful. The direction is God and the goal is peace. If there's something to do, we will be doing it. It's easy and takes no time because we're clear on what we're doing....and WHY. It's an incredible feeling to know where we are going – to an experience of consistent love and joy and peace.

A lot of folks talk about wanting an “experience” (when they will feel alive) as if it's going to come in the future. Yet what could be a more beautiful experience than this moment, right now? Everything is happening in this moment. I can hear Payton playing the piano, the dogs barking at a passing dog outside, and the neighbors talking. I feel a breeze and a little bit of a chill in the damp Texas air this morning. Neicey surprises us with our favorite breakfast items from McDonald's. Larry is praying for our day to be blessed. This moment right now is beautiful and marvelous, and I’m in full appreciation of it. Who knows what the next moment will bring? Who cares? I’m here now having a glorious experience in this precious moment.

Life is very simple. It’s being present to whatever is directly in front of us. What could be easier? Pay attention. Be alert. Love where we are because we're on purpose when we wake up and put our feet on the floor. We have an assignment to fulfill, people to encourage, and being a light that shines brightly to the world. Isn't it awesome to be alive for this glorious adventure called LIFE, AND going....... SOMEWHERE?