I'm Back!!!

No, we still don't have a computer BUT God still answered my prayer in a very creative way!

It dawned on me as I was driving around town last week that the public library just put in a very nice computer lab this year! I get 55 minutes and then the computer shuts off so if I don't finish....just wait until tomorrow.....

On the way to my parents' house I was listening to a series by Chip Ingram (check out his podcasts on iTunes) and he was referring to Ephesians 5. So I pulled that out for a devotional time that night and couldn't get past the first verse.

"Be imitators of God." Ephesians 5:1

That's one of those verses that I've heard a million times, but I had never let it really sink in. And I was amazed when God started revealing to me exactly what that verse means....

God is Creative.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Gen 1:1

God created the ocean, the flowers, the animals...we cannot possibly fathom how much creativity it must have taken to make all of this stuff up! I get exhausted just trying to create a new game for my students. But we're to be like God...and God is VERY creative. So whether it's scrapbooking or photography or writing or painting or music, He has ordained us and asked us to be as creative as we possibly can - and to enjoy it!

God meets people where they are.

"Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert...and there the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush." Exodus 3:1-3

Moses was in the desert. He'd killed somebody and self-exiled himself and was now tending sheep on the FAR side of the desert. We can all relate to feeling so far away from everyone else. But God met him there...in a crazy burning bush no less. Apparently Moses had gotten so far away that God had to get his attention with something shocking. Sometimes I'm a little afraid of what shocking thing God will have to do to get my attention! But it's also true that God met Moses where he was, and that we can apply that to the people we know. We may have to get off the express train that whisks us from activity to activity in our lives, and stop for a 'divine appointment' with someone who really needs our help and doesn't know how to ask.

God grants Peace.

"The Lord blesses His people with peace." Psalm 29:11

Peace. How often does your life really feel peaceful? There are family members dying of cancer, children with physical and emotional difficulties, friends who are struggling in marriages or careers, telemarketers or customers who chew people out...we all know the list goes on and on.

But God grants us peace. And if we are to be like Him, then it would stand to reason that we also need to grant others peace. Taking the time to talk to our friends or family who are hurting, doing our best to be kind to the mean telemarketers, giving a sandwich to the homeless guy at the post office. God calls us to be peacemakers. And in truth, that's probably easier to do for those we don't know as well, as it is for those closest to us when we've had a bad day dealing with all of the un-peace in the world and we come home and 'vent' to our families.

Continue to let God reveal to you the special ways that we are 'made in His image'. And let me know what you come up with!
Blessings!