Cup Runneth Over

I was talking to Matt on our vacation - I know, CRAZY. And one night I just busted out a new revelation (brace yourselves) that I am satisfied with where God has me.

Have you ever had that revelation. not an I'm comfortable with my devotion level and therefore going to plateau. But just a joy and a satisfaction with exactly where God has you and is teaching you and is growing you. I hope you feel that every day.

It's funny but it's so easy to become over-booked and exhausted by "too much to do that won't get done" or the hard parts of life that I don't step back and enjoy the ride. It really is a joy. And I think that while it is challenging, God has blessed me beyond measure. My cup runneth over for sure.

Have you ever stopped to ponder your blessings? Not just the amount of stuff you have in your house, though a good wake-up call to just how blessed we are by what we have is a sobering experience. But also to the extent of enjoying the purpose God has placed before you. Do you feel like your cup is overflowing with goodness from the Lord?

Maybe you too need a refresher here and there. It's so easy to look at the "too much" of life and find yourself overwhelmed or discouraged by those "am I ever going to learn this" lessons. Maybe you are too overbooked and over-extended that you have created a stress that hinders you from serving the Lord wholeheartedly and joyfully. I was in that mode for a while too. Declutter and get back to the basics. God doesn't have us here to do 2,000 things, but to do things wholeheartedly and well. Accomplish Kingdom work with purpose and intentionality. I've found that as i have slimmed down to the core things God wants me to do (identified through prayer and God's priority revealing) it's like a weight has lifted off and I have become a better Mom and wife and Christian.

God is not here to serve me. He's not alive to rescue me from my self-imposed stressors. He's not a sugar-daddy God handing out blessings void of hard lessons. As Christians it's important to continue to evaluate how much we are serving God verses expecting or desiring to be served by God. And in this evaluation expectations change.

I have found God growing me from a complainer (to be honest) to a thanker. As God has grown my heart of gratitude and opened my eyes (Thanks be to God!), I have been convicted and cleansed and begun to serve Him better right where I am. The situation has changed only in minor ways, but my heart is so less self-pleasing and self-seeking.

Therefore, I find myself satisfied and overwhelmed by the blessings God has already given me. My family, my friends, fellow real Christians to spur me on to God-worship and away from self-worship, my country, my freedoms, my status that I may help and encourage others... the list could go on for days.

A few weeks back - wow, I think it's been over a month- Rachael and Abi (sort of) and I went around the house and put a post-it label on everything we were thankful for God giving us. In an effort to learn gratitude and that God is taking care of us, I was hoping to start planting more intentional seeds of God-honoring. The post-its littered our house for weeks until they lost their sticky and were one-by-one moved to the world of waste. =) But it opened my eyes to all the physical blessings that surround our family and that God has provided. There was something changing about walking into a room covered in "Thank you, God" post-it notes. Alters the way things are seen.

So how is your cup running over?

What are ways that God has blessed you?

And how are you using those blessings not to worship yourself, but to worship the Lord?



- humbled, blessed, taught and changed.