My husband was stuck at work last night on a job and could not leave. About 8:30 when the kids realized that for sure, they started jockeying for sleeping positions. When Dad works all night, it is like it is free game for "fruit basket turn over" around here and where everyone wants to sleep. Banner opted for the couch. Strange request, but she has a loft bed and has recently been complaining that the heat rises too much. She is on the market for a new bed I know too. The couch to her is the coolest spot in the house. Brazos decided he would sleep with Blaise. He got in a new Bass Pro Shops magazine and said he wanted to show her a few things. Braz is in full swing dove season and looking forward to deer season. Bosque asked is he could sleep with me. The answer was YES! Bosque likes his space so I quickly took him up on the request to hang out.
When I got up this morning and had my coffee in hand, I headed to the kitchen table to sit for a few minutes and read my Bible. That area did not work because Ban was on the couch. I did not want to wake her up. I quickly remembered Blaise had made her way to my bed about 1:00 in the morning; therefore, that was an option for me to sit in her cozy bed and read. Too bad on that idea too. Braz was still snug as a bug in there all alone. My bed was taken by Bosque. The chair in my bathroom was full of clean clothes. I glanced at the bottom bunk in the boys room and thought that might work, but it was dark and I knew I might fall back asleep in there for sure.
My walk in search of a quiet, well-lighted nook ended in my bathroom. I decided to just park myself on the toilet. I did not need to use the toilet! I closed the lid and made that my place of study and refuge for the morning, LOL. I do have the best view of the lake from my toilet; however, it was still pitch black outside, but I needed a place to read and that was all I could find without disturbing anyone.
My thoughts this morning and my time with the Lord began with Psalms 139. I read that out loud and laughed to myself that I was reading while using a toilet seat as my seat! I thought of a recent line I had read in my Bible Study next. Beth Moore writes "God waits, watches, and hopes that the sun will not set on our days without our standing on tiptoes at the extremity of life, yelling Is there not more than this?" I imagined myself on my tippy toes looking out to the world and what the Lord has in store for me for the rest of my life. Thinking about the years ahead of me lead me to thank God for the fact that I am alive and healthy. Today is my Baylor Check-up at Sammon's Cancer Center. I thought of Callie, Ellen, Preston, Laurel, and the others that I met there during my treatment.
I did the math in my head and it has been over 4 years now. That thought lead me to another spot in Psalms 143 where I am just amazed at what the Lord has done for me. It says "I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done." What if we began our day with praise first and then needs! It would change our outlook I know. I thanked the Lord this morning and praised Him for all that He has done. I do not need to forget it!
My toilet session with the Lord, remember please that I am not using the toilet for anything but a chair, ended with a thought from David. He wrote in 2 Samuel 7:18 "Who am I, O Sovereigh LORD, and what is my family that you have brought me this far?" Oh, I am there with my life and it makes me excited for what the future brings. He has brought me this far and I SO look forward to where I will go next! The Lord has not only brought me so far and set this captive free, in a literal way, but I am seeing the prayers that I have prayed for my children get answered. The Lord is so faithful! If we are seeking Him daily, we will look back and see that we are far from perfect, but we have come SO far from where we were years ago. THIS FAR...moments are big to me!
It may not be a comfy chair all of the time, much like the toilet seat, and life does have some ups and downs, but I am excited. I love working at the schools here in Fairfield, simple things like watching my own kids when they discover a mouse in a hole outside, and watching my little nephew do a perfect fish tail on his 4 wheeler. My talks on the back porch all summer with my husband were the best in my opinion. The more simple I keep my life, the better it seems to be.
Life with the LORD in my life is amazing. What is next? I do not know, but my "toilet seat quiet time" reminded me to keep myself humble and to put the Lord and others before me. I will never need to raise myself up, promote myself, think I can do anything alone or that I deserve anything at all! I do not now and will never need the best seat in the house, a front row seat, or a red carpet in front of me. What a need now and will need until my last day here on earth is a quiet place and a few minutes alone with my Savior.
No comments:
Post a Comment