Day 1: Simplify

Daniel Fast Day 1: August 1

In one word, the lesson God is teaching me today is “simplify.”  As I listened, we were becoming so concerned about the “diet” portion of this fast that I was concerned we were about to miss the whole point and see this whole fast as about what we were eating, not what God is saying.  That’s it!  That’s what this fast is about for me: learning to listen to what God is saying.  I find it so difficult sometimes to quiet myself to listen.  There are certainly enough distractions: feedings, diapers, meals, dishes, laundry, racing thoughts, mourning dreams.

I have been accused of complicating matters in my life:  meetings, ministries, relationships, jobs, etc.  What if my biggest challenge in my dreams is not an outside force but an inside force:  my perception and reaction. 

It’s funny, I just had to stop writing this because my sweet 4 month old little girl started crying and needed rocked to sleep.  Lately, the best way we can get her to sleep is by playing a CD with music.  A dear family in the Church gave us her 1^st CD at her baby shower, so it is what we started playing by default: Baby’s 1^st Hymns.  At I sat listening to this CD playing, I heard some beautiful lyrics in my head with the instruments playing on the CD…”And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.  And the joys we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known…”

This is exactly what I needed to be reminded of.  In the hustle and bustle of my perceived busyness, I needed to remember to treasure this moment with my sweet baby.  Unless God leads otherwise, she is my last baby.  Thank you, Jesus, for allowing me to be here when she cried.  Thank you, Jesus, for letting me be the one she needs to console her when she is hurting.  Thank you for letting me hold her, rock her, love her, assure her.  Thank you for letting me be her mommy. 

Please forgive me for trying to rush and complicate this beautiful season of life where you have placed me.  Thank you for teaching me through so many examples lately that I just need to keep it simple.  I don’t have to complicate things.  Right now, I hear You telling me to stay simple.  Like the lunch I just made, I don’t need to complicate life with the preservatives to try to make something last that does not need to.  I don’t have to “fatten” up with life-artery- clogging fats.  I simply just need to enjoy the beauty of what You have given me, live contentedly with the resources You have provided.   Before truly experiencing them, I thought I was settling for something sub-average.  Now I realize the Promised Land is not out there to be sought but right here, right now, in Your presence. 

Jesus, “and I’ll walk with you, and I’ll talk with you, and I’ll tell You, You are my own.  And the joy we’ll share as we tarry there, none other will ever know.”  I love you.

And Lord, as we are seeking Your will for children’s and youth ministry, please forgive us for over-complicating things rather than keeping it simple.  Forgive us if we have been so busy “doing Church” that we have rushed from the very real moments you have given us to love these precious young ones.  Forgive me for not listening, for so many reasons and excuses.  I am sorry.  Speak Lord, we are listening.