Friday, September 10, 2010

Daily Reflections

Andrew and I have been married just over a month now. It has been a wonderful month; full of ups and downs, and learning new things, and messing up, and starting over, etc., etc. Life as a married person thus far has brought so many new joys into my life, as well as new challenges. I am soaking up each moment, and falling more in love with Andrew, and with Jesus Christ, each day. Andrew is such a determined, hard worker. He is gone teaching during the day, and usually works three nights each week and weekend. He is exhausted. But he still makes being a wonderful, God-fearing husband his top priority. He remembers how important praying together is, even when I feel too tired. He remembers to kiss me on the cheek each night when he gets home from work, even if I am already asleep and do not even acknowledge that he is beside me. He shares my hopes and dreams with me, and encourages me to pursue those dreams, no matter how silly they may seem to anyone else in the universe (if, in fact, they were privy to my hopes and dreams, which they are not). He also bought me a dog. A perfect, 4.3 pound, 7 year old, toy chihuauah. Her name is Lady. She has an overbite. Due to the condition of her mouth, my dad calls her "Bucky." I think she is adorable. And precious. And sweet. And I love her.

There is an explanation for my absence from the blogging scene: We do not have internet access in our apartment. Due to this lack of internet access, I am a bit out of touch with the blogging world these days.

This being said, I did stumble upon something that is, at least in my mind, pretty neat. There are a lot of mornings when I dash out of the apartment so quickly that I do not read my Bible before I leave for work. And I can always tell the days that I do this, because those days just never seem to turn out quite right.

Here are daily reflections, scripture readings, and suggested prayers (for all those days when you simply do not know where to start on your own. I have lots of those.) The reflections and verses are usually short, but they are not usually "fluffy." In other words, despite their brevity, they are also substantial enough for you to ponder throughout the day.

The scripture posted for the reflection today is Psalm 14:2. They posted The Message version. Here is the NIV version of that same scripture: "The LORD looks down from heaven, on the sons of men, to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God."

I do not always understand. Actually, the times and things that I understand are probably far outweighed by the times and things I do not understand. But when the Lord looks down from heaven (and how awesome is it that the LORD of the whole universe and everything in it cares enough to look down on us from heaven?!) I want Him to see me, and to thing, "OK. She is seeking me. She is searching and learning me. She is living a life that is focused on pursuing me."

Unfortunately, there are many days when, if God were to look down from heaven at me, He would not think that at all. He would probably think something more along the lines of, "Wow. Look at all those, silly, pointless things Logan is getting distracted by. Why in the world is she focusing on how messy the house is, why so-and-so does not seem to like her, what she should make for dinner, what time she needs to wake up in the morning, what she should do this weekend, or how she is going to make that payment? Does she now know that worrying about those things in futile? It is the devil's way of distracting her eyes and heart from me. LOGAN! PAY ATTENTION TO ME! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?"

I often do not understand the depths of God's great love for me. His love should overshadow every fear, every worry, every worldly thought, every selfish ambition. In His compassion, He loves me through my misunderstanding. In His patience, He waits for me to return to Him.

My prayer for today? God, grant me understanding. Teach me to learn to trust in your ways, to focus on them always, and to walk in them each step of each day.

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