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September 27-28, Atlanta, Georgia
From Susan:
My husband told me the story of a new friend....a musician friend, Grady Shuman, who sits down and writes a question he has for God, and then writes down the answer he senses God giving him and puts it on a blog! Tons of followers in a very short time. Why is this? Our souls are so so so deeply famished for and delight in the voice of God!
So, today, I thought I would take a different approach. I will write down a question I sense God is asking me every day,
Instead, I sense God asking us, "what will you wear today?" in a figurative-character-attitude-perspective kind of way. We have tons of choices in this figurative category. We can pick from the drab side of the closet--sadness, fear, worry, anxiety, bitterness, hopelessness, despair, indifference, judgement. Or we can pick from the bright side of the closet-- joy, hope, love, encouragement, faith, peace, compassion.
So, God asks us, every morning,
He doesn't ask, "Do you want to wear the same uniform that those around you are wearing?"
He asks, instead, "Do you want to pick your clothes from the heavenly wardrobe?" Seriously, we have this option before us every day! And our children have it too! They don't know they have it, but we can tell them!!! We can print out these bible verses to show them and then sit down together and draw our wardrobe and pick our outfit for the day. Here are the choices!
Some of you have heard me tell the story of how every year I spend several hours for several days with the Lord in the summer, asking Him to show me one verse I can pray for each of our children and for me and Brian. Then every day for that next year I pray the verses the Lord gives me for each member of my family. I share these verses with the children and we talk about them together. Each child then draws a picture of their verse for me to laminate and tape on the side of the refrigerator, as a reminder to pray. One year Anya chose #2 above and drew a closet with lots of brightly colored dresses, each with a word-label painted on it. The pink one was compassion, the purple one was kindness, the green one, humility. And now, every time I read that verse, I remember Anya's picture. And boy, did God ever do wonders to put those amazing qualities from her wardrobe right inside of her, as she "picked her clothes" that year.
So, today, since good teachers always repeat the main message, and since God is a Good Teacher, let's listen one last time to His question:
As I have been listening to this question this week and praying about being "decked out with delight" (#3 above) rather than "donned with despair," guess what? Others are noticing and asking me their own question, "How do you do it?"
I answer, "Do what?" And they say, "Stay cheerful and positive and kind in these hard circumstances?" Of course, I am thinking, it's my wardrobe! But usually I say, "You know, we have a choice of the attitudes we will reflect, every day. And I, for one, want my attitude to be one of caring for the people around me. It's our purpose, you know - loving God and loving people." So today, and every day, Lord, make us the kind of people who listen to your questions and then choose from the heavenly multiple choice answer bank! Amen.
And the wonderful thing is, if we are choosing from heaven's wardrobe, every option: a) compassion
b) kindness, c) humility, d) quiet strength, and e) discipline, is a good one!
And I will close with saying - You look great today! You are decked out with delight!
September 27-28, Atlanta, Georgia
From Susan:
My husband told me the story of a new friend....a musician friend, Grady Shuman, who sits down and writes a question he has for God, and then writes down the answer he senses God giving him and puts it on a blog! Tons of followers in a very short time. Why is this? Our souls are so so so deeply famished for and delight in the voice of God!
So, today, I thought I would take a different approach. I will write down a question I sense God is asking me every day,
Susan, what will you wear today?Of course I am not thinking of whether I will wear the black-and-white dress or the navy-pants-with-bright-green-top, even though I often spend considerable time figuring out the literal answer to this question. We are way too concerned with what we look like on the outside.
Instead, I sense God asking us, "what will you wear today?" in a figurative-character-attitude-perspective kind of way. We have tons of choices in this figurative category. We can pick from the drab side of the closet--sadness, fear, worry, anxiety, bitterness, hopelessness, despair, indifference, judgement. Or we can pick from the bright side of the closet-- joy, hope, love, encouragement, faith, peace, compassion.
So, God asks us, every morning,
What will you wear today?
He doesn't ask, "Do you want to wear the same uniform that those around you are wearing?"
He asks, instead, "Do you want to pick your clothes from the heavenly wardrobe?" Seriously, we have this option before us every day! And our children have it too! They don't know they have it, but we can tell them!!! We can print out these bible verses to show them and then sit down together and draw our wardrobe and pick our outfit for the day. Here are the choices!
1. You are dressed in your new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator with his label on it. (Col 3:9)
2. So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God-picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place,quick to forgive an offense. forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. (Col 3:12)
3. You are famous, God, for welcoming God seekers, for decking us out in delight. (Ps 5:11).
Some of you have heard me tell the story of how every year I spend several hours for several days with the Lord in the summer, asking Him to show me one verse I can pray for each of our children and for me and Brian. Then every day for that next year I pray the verses the Lord gives me for each member of my family. I share these verses with the children and we talk about them together. Each child then draws a picture of their verse for me to laminate and tape on the side of the refrigerator, as a reminder to pray. One year Anya chose #2 above and drew a closet with lots of brightly colored dresses, each with a word-label painted on it. The pink one was compassion, the purple one was kindness, the green one, humility. And now, every time I read that verse, I remember Anya's picture. And boy, did God ever do wonders to put those amazing qualities from her wardrobe right inside of her, as she "picked her clothes" that year.
So, today, since good teachers always repeat the main message, and since God is a Good Teacher, let's listen one last time to His question:
What will you wear today?
As I have been listening to this question this week and praying about being "decked out with delight" (#3 above) rather than "donned with despair," guess what? Others are noticing and asking me their own question, "How do you do it?"
I answer, "Do what?" And they say, "Stay cheerful and positive and kind in these hard circumstances?" Of course, I am thinking, it's my wardrobe! But usually I say, "You know, we have a choice of the attitudes we will reflect, every day. And I, for one, want my attitude to be one of caring for the people around me. It's our purpose, you know - loving God and loving people." So today, and every day, Lord, make us the kind of people who listen to your questions and then choose from the heavenly multiple choice answer bank! Amen.
And the wonderful thing is, if we are choosing from heaven's wardrobe, every option: a) compassion
b) kindness, c) humility, d) quiet strength, and e) discipline, is a good one!
And I will close with saying - You look great today! You are decked out with delight!
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