glow on...

i found the coolest little craft on pinterest several weeks ago, very simple, but who knew there would be SO many illustrations involved in this activity... aHEM, you take a glass jar, any size any shape, purchase some glow paint at your nearest craft store, take the glow paint and dot it on the inside of the glass jar, hold it up to the light then turn OFF the lights? and you have an amazing little magic firefly jar that glows just about long enough to put you to sleep... now that you understand the simplicity of this craft, you'll wonder, welllll why didn't she MAKE it? because i didn't... i had all the stuff prepared in a nice plastic bag sitting on my dining room table (because of course we don't use that to actually serve food... how ridiculous would THAT be...)..;)... i let the bag sit on the table until one night i was turning off all the lights as we were getting ready for bed and noticed that something was glowing on my table...i had completely forgotten about my previous craft attack and had simply left all the items in the bag and the glow paint had absorbed the light and was glowing through the plastic bag... i turned the lights back on and regardless of the hour decided it wouldn't take long to create a glowing masterpiece... so i got busy and created some dots inside a jar and then (just like a 5 year old) promptly ran into our bedroom and told my husband timmy to "turn off the lights, turn off the lights"!!!, i proudly displayed my handiwork and he was actually impressed by the "coolness" factor of this little glow jar... we then experimented a bit and he held the jar up close to his bedside light, we darkened the room one more time and the jar glowed even brighter! it was such a fun surprise, but even more so was how GOD surprised us with His illustration.

WE are like glow paint, on our own, without any light (God) we can't realize our potential and actually be who we were created to be, we can't glow on our own... but to carry this a bit further, when we are close to that Light, our glow, our relationship with God gets stronger and glows brighter... but just like glow paint, if we don't have regular access to the Light, we cannot glow and we simply fade out, on the plus side? you always have the potential to glow, just revisit the Light, it's always there...

1 John 1:7 says "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

God wants us to enjoy and absorb His love and His light, He has provided a very real way for us to be close to Him through his Son...the opportunity is there, hopefully we won't be like my jar of glow paint and just sit there on the unused dining room table, hopefully we'll realize that we can be turned into something amazing if we just allow Him to use us... so glow on, my friends, glow on...


OH and i needed to show you a little sample of these jars... these are the ones from pinterest 'cuz i was too lazy to take pictures of mine:) enjoy...

fight or float??

recently i've been in a bible study on thursday nights with a wonderful group of friends. we're reading through "experiencing God" by henry t blackaby...some of you may remember this book from years ago, but good ol' henry revised, updated and gave a bit of a face lift to his previous edition and had his son work with him...awesome...

the last book we went through was by lee strobel, "the case for the creator", it was a difficult road, and i missed several chapters of scientific knowledge that i probably would have scratched my head and attempted to look intelligent through my confusion, but those of you that know me, would probably understand that this particular way to learn about God, is really not my cup of tea...yet, the discipline of actually finishing the book, now sheds a fresh perspective on our new reading, i would liken the two books in my mind to running a marathon, hitting the wall, and c r a w l i n g over the finish line with lee strobel, and comparing "experiencing God" to lounging in the sun on a tropical beach somewhere and simply absorbing these concepts... YES...

so, the reference to fight or float? how do we experience God, i decided that a word picture is always a good way for me to relate to what God has for me. it seems quite often the bible uses water references; baptism, walking on water, Jesus calming the storm, good GRIEF we even have jonah in a whales belly...all water references and locales (well the whales belly might be a stretch but where else would the whale BE??)... anyway, have you ever thought about when you're in a really difficult situation and you're literally wrestling with God, or life, or some type of decision that is pulling you every which way? this would be like a rip tide, something that could pull you under, especially if you fight!... then you have treading water, you don't go anywhere, but you keep your head above water and you basically sustain your life (but it's SOOOO tiring...) this would be complacency, going through the motions and still trying to do things on your own... lastly, what about just laying back in the water and letting it buoy you up and sustain you while you simply relax and float...effortless, supported by unseen hands, hmmm...this is the spot, this is where i want to be, i want to float and depend on God...

Psalm 46:10 says, "be still and know that I am God"... these eight little words have quite a punch to them, each one significant...
BE; exist, live, thrive, state of being.
STILL: devoid or abstaining from motion
KNOW: to be aware of the truth; certain, actuality

fighting life's riptides, treading the mundane exhausting daily waters, or trust God and float...be still and know...i think i'll choose to lay back and let the cool water of God's love soothe my floating soul...