Kitchen Dance Party

Yesterday I was nostalgic.  My 'tiny son' is nine months old!  Time has gone by so quickly.  We laid in the grass together and I watched him gaze up at the bamboo, holding out his hands to touch the breeze and catch the birds.  I studied the blink of his eyelashes, memorized the shape of his sweet face.  It seems as though he was just a newborn.  I can only imagine how I'll feel once he's having his first birthday.  But I won't spend today fretting about tomorrow, I was given this moment to savor!

Last night we had a dance party in our kitchen.  Derek grilled ribs and I concocted the sides to go with it.  We laughed hard and ate to our heart's content.  No 'special' reason; we just have everything to be thankful for, every reason to throw our own little party.  Life is fleeting, it is beautiful and there is every reason to savor the moment and treat it like a special occasion.

I can't get enough of Psalm 103 right now.  It's been a daily reminder to 'forget not all his benefits' as it reminds me of Who it is that 'forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.'  Jesus has, indeed, been satisfying my every desire.  Not in the ways I imagined, of course, but in His own perfect way.  As I was longing to live closer to family, He opened my eyes to the awesome 'ohana' we have been blessed with in Hawaii!

Psalm 103 also reminds me that God is my Father, my Papa!  'As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.'  He, literally, knows what I'm made of!  And as I struggled to switch out of vacation mode last week, He had compassion on me.  He led me to realize the root issue: my need for Him!  I still have a long way to go but the results are blatantly obvious.  Days where I'm intentional about my time with Jesus are consistently smoother, more inspired and, amazingly enough, very productive!  It's not that I float through the day in a bubble and nothing touches me, it's just that I've been equipped for all that will, inevitably... touch me!  When I'm faced with challenging obstacles, loneliness or an especially gnarly diaper- it's okay!  Because I'm renewed, I'm redeemed and my desires are met and satisfied by the King of Kings!  

One last bit of this Psalm that is absolutely breathtaking!  'For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.'  I know that He is my Strength and my Song, but I am easily distracted and overwhelmed.  That means I will be learning this lesson until the day I go to be with Jesus forever.  And so I cling to this promise that His love is greater than I can fathom and in Him my short comings have been infinitely removed.  I savor the moments, I laugh with my boys and dance even though I can't dance!  I press into Jesus.  I focus not on what I may not have in this season of life but on the abundance I HAVE been blessed with!  And I agree with the words David wrote over and over, 'Praise the Lord, my soul!'