But here I am writing a blog post. There's lots of back story...and honestly it doesn't even feel like it adds up to much of an actual story. I won't be offended if you don't read this....no pressure (I won't know!). Just feeling like I'm supposed to type some of this out...so as an act of "Living by the Spirit and keeping in step with the Spirit", here we go...
Where to start? Not even sure...
When we were serving on the Africa Mercy I had the incredible privilege of speaking/teaching/bringing a word to our crew in our worship gatherings about once every 4-5 weeks. A short time after we got back from the ship, I was thinking about those talks that I thought were safely stored on a USB drive...I was thinking "maybe I'll have the chance to speak/teach/share on some of the same topics again someday and 98% of the work will already be done." (dianna's thinking "work smarter, not harder.") . And at some point I was thinking "some of those talks were good! Maybe I can turn them into blog posts." (dianna is super good at humility sometimes)
Side note right here: I am often surprised when I read things I've written - I just don't remember having written them (sometimes I wonder if my memory is messed up)... I don't feel capable of having written the Truth that is staring back at me. It's a reminder that it's the Lord's doing and not mine...I just happen to get to be his fingers holding the pen or typing on the keys...(and it's quite wonderful to not remember and be encouraged and challenged all over again!)
Long story longer...
I plugged in the USB sometime near the end of 2017 to see what might be post-able and nothing comes up. Nothing. Not sure what in the world I did to that USB...but I could not and cannot access a thing that is on it. I'm not even entirely sure what all is on it...but I know dozens of pages of sermons and such are...
Another side note: if anyone happens to be reading this and has ANY CLUE as to how to fix this situation, please let me know...I still have the USB...tucked safely in my desk drawer. I try it from time to time to see if the Lord has fixed it. So far He has not.
SO THEN last week I found ONE of my talks on another USB. I'm not even sure how it got on there...but it's there and I thought "maybe I'll make it into a blog post sometime."
That leads us to tonite. Nick and the older 3 kids are at ultimate frisbee. I put the 2 littlest to bed (we've got an extra toddler for a few weeks)...and my plan was to run on the treadmill, take a shower and then watch This Is Us. Sounds like a pretty perfect Friday evening to me.
Part one (running on the treadmill) went well.
Part two (taking a shower) was where my plan derailed...or maybe it's railed just right.
As I was in the shower thinking about nothing in particular, the thought of posting the talk that I had found came to mind....and the conversation/thoughts between me and God went something like this:
(me) But I really just want to check out and watch This Is Us.
But are you going to live by My Spirit and keep in step with My Spirit?
(me) OK. Definitely want to do that. This Is Us can wait.
(me) BUT Nick took the keys that have the USB attached to the same key chain
Yet another side note: I wonder if having a USB on my key chain is really the best thing for the USB
(me) So maybe I'm off the hook. Maybe it was just about being willing to postpone my Hulu watching dreams.
I go and check the hook where my keys aren't going to be since Nick took them....turns out he took his keys. My keys and USB are definitely in the house. I'm not off the hook (neither are the keys! ba-duh-duh...that's the drum noise when there's a corny joke).
God says....You're willing, that's great, now do it. (I've heard that one before :))
I pull up the document...Our Good Abba Father...something is feeling super familiar about it all. Maybe I've already posted this? I clicked through a few blog labels/tags... Yup. There it is. February of 2015. Five years sure have flown by.
So then I was thinking I'm off the hook again! If it's posted, I don't need to post it again....but the Holy Spirit was saying share the story of tonite...and I knew that sitting down to watch a TV show would be disobedient (not that it always is! it sure isn't!) ...and as I've been typing, I am more certain than ever that someone needs to read that post from February of 2015...
here it is: Our Good Abba Father
so maybe the events of my evening have been for you - maybe you need to be reminded of who your Abba Father is. Maybe we all do. So feel free to click on the link above and read some more or maybe you're supposed to just scroll to the bottom of that post and listen to the song...or save it for later...again, no pressure...I'm not going to know....
But I do know this: this Truth still stands:
Your Father God loves you and He is proud of you. And the Truth is that your Abba Father God wants you to be able to relate to Him as Father...
We need a Father’s love – we need to know that we belong, that we are loved, that we are wanted…
So here I am. Typing it all out. Just seeking to keep in step with The Spirit.
And, just so you know, you are worth postponing This Is Us. Very worth it.
