Category: just a thought…

What I’m learning/studying.

Breakfast on the Beach: A Call to Feast

Day 2 Breakfast on the Beach, Tybee Island, GA

Tybee Island beckons me to a peaceful morning.  Crashing waves provide background music for my soul, accompanied by a chorus of birds slamming into the ocean in repeated dives for breakfast.  Just as Jesus called a few of His disciples to breakfast on the shore at the Sea of Tiberias following His resurrection {John 21: 1-12}  He called me to this place for breakfast on the beach, a time of respite to nourish my soul, calm my anxious heart, and feed my desire for more of Him.  I sense His presence warming my spirit even as  sun warms my freckled flesh.  Looking out across dark blue vastness, I ponder the depth of waters and am reminded that His love is broader & deeper still. 

 

Waves in my life are pounding again, railing against the shoreline of my personal peace.  Yet the voice of Abba Daddy God gently commands, “Fear not my child.”  Yes, child.  I am His little one, precious in my Daddy’s sight.  He would do anything for me, even send His beloved Son to purchase my healing with stripes…He already has. Now it is up to me to wait & receive from My Daddy,  so strong and powerful, loving and compassionate.  He holds my life—every single breath of it—in His tender hands.  Nothing will befall me without first sifting through those mighty fingers. I find peace in this assurance.

 

A simple conversation between a preschooler and his daddy, pulling him in a bright red wagon through thick sand, interrupts  melodies of high tide.  “I love you Daddy.”  “I love you son”  {giggles}  “Daddy?”  “Yes son?”  “I reeeeeally love you”  {more giggles} “Son?”  “Yes daddy?”  “I reeeeeeally love YOU.”

 

Oh, Abba Daddy God, I love you.  Thank you Daddy that in my spirit I hear your whispers of love for me, too. 

 

“For we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but we have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry ABBA, Father.  The spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”  Romans 8:15-16

 

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God…”  I John 3:1 

Thoughts from a Hospice Professional

 In light of the New Year I have been in a reflective mode lately.  I’m not one given to resolutions and yet after three years of working with hospice patients my priorities have been forever changed…

 

I am haunted tonight by the voices of dying patients with “if only” falling in gasps of brokenness from their lips, the remnants of shattered relationships breaking their already wounded hearts.  It is in my profound grief for them and others like them who will surely follow, that I am recommitted to this conviction:  I will never find myself in that same position.  Yes, I will die.  But not with regrets.  I will live my life fully and on purpose.  Each new day God gifts to me will be humbly greeted in gratitude to my Creator.  I pledge anew to wholly express His goodness to me, never hesitating to share that goodness when opportunity whispers it’s name or shouts into my soul…I will extend the hand of God…I will love with abandon…I will hold loosely those treasures He bestows…”