Trusting, Thankfulness .....and Teacups

(Originally written in March 2008)

Lately I have been learning acceptance with joy. 

Acceptance is not the hard part- it's the 'with joy' part that I sometimes find difficult to put into practice. 
It always sounds so much easier than it really is.

But, you know- it's been getting easier.

Praise God!

I have been remembering all day an analogy that a friend of mine used a few months ago.

She reminded us, by holding up a teacup, that God has poured us a cup for every day. He poured in it just what He wants us to have that day.

Not too little, not too much.

   Not too sweet, not too bitter.

It is just exactly what He wants for us that day. My job is to drink it all. 

God wants us to not only drink the cup He has for us each day, but drink it all. It's not enough just to taste it, and then when I decide I don't want it anymore, leave it be. 

My job is to accept everything He brings my way with joy, knowing that if He chose it for me it is best.

It is not my choice what I must drink every day, it is His. 

It is my choice, however, how I choose to drink it.

Even when it's bitter, or hard, or humiliating, or frustrating, or painful.... God poured it in my cup, I get to drink it with a smile and "in everything give thanks" (1 Thes. 5:18).

Praise the Lord that He is a kind and loving Father, and He always makes sure that there is plenty of joy and blessings sprinkled throughout our days, too. Sometimes we don't see them because our eyes are on ourselves- but they are always there.

He loves us so much more than we can fathom.

So I've been thinking a lot about teacups today.

 

  With thankfulness everything is good.

I am so thankful that I can trust the Lord to know just exactly what I need when I need it.

I am so thankful that He fills my cup to overflowing with His grace to handle everything that comes my way every single day.

Giving of Thanks...

Oh, it's such a yummy day! Filled to the brim with sweet gifts, ready for us to drink down with thankfulness.

 

Little gifts are everywhere.... 

Are you looking for them today?

Let me share a few of my recent gifts with with you to whet your appetite....

...liquid love...

...fully enjoying every drop of the present...

...floating marshmallows...

...happy smile (can't you just see him about to break into a wide grin?!)...

...cozy little felt scarves tied tightly around the cocoa mug...

...Catchlights in her eyes...

...licking lips, a sign of enjoyment...

...God loves a cheerful giver!...

...when your cup runneth over... laugh about it!

Are our eyes open?

Look! See the gifts falling like leaves... blanketing our days with goodness and mercy.

Are we remembering to thank the Giver today for the quiet, life-giving gifts He bestows?

Lots of leaves + trampoline = tons of fun!

We call it... ULTIMATE LEAF JUMPING!

Can't help but laugh out loud!

Brothers. Thank you, Father, for brothers.

Squinting eyes . . . him, all buried in crunchy leaves. . .  :)

. . .  bare little toes . . .

 And yes, It is our traditional season of thankfulness but let's not confine thankfulness to a season. Let's make every day Thanksgiving, by choosing thanksliving.

I am asking Father this morning to help me keep my eyes open today for opportunities to be thankful, and for grace to take this day and drink down every drop with thankfulness.

"Lord, You have assigned my portion and my cup; 

You have made my lot secure."  

Psalm 16:5

Bloom

I read the words that wrap around that mug all the time.
I like that mug. I use it often.

But every so often I read them and actually think about their meaning again.

 (Seems I forget some things way to easily)

"Bloom where you're planted"

Yes, that message was definitely meant for me. I needed to be reminded of my purpose today.

Bloom.

Do you know what the words "bloom" means? It means simply "to produce flowers".

Flowers? Those are the seed-bearing parts of the plants (the parts that die to produce more plants and more flowers), which are normally surrounded by brightly-colored corolla (or what we call petals), and more often than not emits a beautiful fragrance. 

You know. . . flowers?
      The things you brighten rooms with?

BLOOM. {Wow... what a thought!}

I am not here just to grow..... to take in nutrients from my surroundings, to focus diligently on just staying alive throughout the heat, the wind, the storms... and in the midst of all the trampling little feet that traipse through my serene flower bed.

I am here to bloom. Produce flowers. 

Bear fruit... learn to give of myself and die so that even more fruit can grow.

To let Him brighten the room with the joy of His presence written on my face.

To fill the house with the sweet fragrance of humility and service.

That's what I'm here for. To bloom. And to bloom right here- in my home, in this season of life, in my position in the body of Christ- right here where He planted me.

So, I've been thinking about it. Blooming.

And watching how triumphantly those blossoms are still blooming where the boys planted them that very same coffee-mug-morning in the front beds..... right through all this extra-hot summer heat.

Even when we take no notice, forget to water them, brush past them a bit too roughly. 

They're blooming.

Gloriously.

Right where they were planted. Pointing... smiling... growing... upward every moment.

Jesus, can I be like that? Can I bloom gloriously- triumphantly- humbly like that?

Will you continue to whisper reminders to me throughout my days of the grace You are pouring into me so that I can bloom?

I want to bloom where I'm planted, Jesus-
I want to bloom.

Hope Containers

Sometimes dreams fall apart.


Sometimes our very favorite dreams burst at the seams and spill our plans onto the floor.
Making a humiliating mess.


Sometimes our dreams break under the pressure and intense heat of reality and our hope leaks out.
Drains to empty.
Only a puddle remains of what once delighted.


My favorite mug gave way last week and split open
-cracked right down the side-
as I poured boiling water over the tea bag.
Tea leaked out onto the stove. Onto the floor.
The cup drained to empty.
Sounded hollow.


I looked at the puddle- the mess- and I looked at the crack down the side.
I thought of my life and my dreams,
and the uncertainties that even now are staring me in the face,
And I thought, Hmm. This seems only fitting.


I leak.


Hope drains.


Where does hope go when dreams shatter?

Where does hope go when its container busts?

Tea on the floor in a puddle,

and slowly...slowly... I am beginning to realize...

Dreams. What are they?

What are dreams anyway? Are they anything more than vapors? Intense desires? Figments of imaginations?

Are dreams strong? Do they last? Are dreams really capable of supporting the weight and the volume of hope?

Were dreams really meant to be hope containers?

There are hopes.... and then there’s hope.

There are things we hoped to do, hoped  to be, hoped to see happen-

things we planned on, made plans for, centered plans around-

Things we established dreams upon....
These are hopes.

And then there’s hope.
What keeps us breathing,
What keeps us alive,
What makes life worth living.

Hopes can die and I can be wounded, but I can go on and live.
HOPE dies, and I find no purpose in life without it.


Hope Containers determine life.


Thoughts swirl in my mind. I am captivated by that crack in my mug and the resemblance it holds to my dreams.
Breaking.


“You are God my Savior...” I read the psalm of another’s pulsing, breaking heart.
“...and my hope is in You all day long.”


My hope is in You.


My hope.


In You.


Dreams give way. They just do.
If hope has been in the dream, when it breaks, the hope leaks out to the floor.
Leaves the dreamer empty.
Creates a mess.
Evaporates.


Maybe dreams were never meant to be hope containers.

“My hope is in You.”


Maybe... just maybe... (my thoughts swirl).


My broken mug won’t hold tea ever again.


Maybe I have been wrong all this time. Maybe I am suddenly seeing things more clearly than ever before.
Looking through the crack.


(Somehow brokenness makes way for clarity.)


Jesus Christ.
He never changes. Never gives way. He is “the same yesterday, today and forever.”
The Solid Rock.
Quite capable of supporting the weight and the volume of hope.

“His love endures forever.”


Not only is He quite capable of containing hope securely-
Not only is He strong enough; not only that-

He is so entirely full of love-
(The epitome of love... Love Embodied)
That we can know that He holds our hope precious. Holds it close.
Won’t bust open and let our hope drain.
Too much love for that.


Dreams can crack and shatter. Hopes can be destroyed.
The very foundations of our worlds can quake and crumble and throw us so off course that we can’t tell up from down. And people can hurt us.
People can hurt and disappoint us, fail us, forget us, turn and betray us, frustrate us, and crush us.
Happenings of life can pierce our hearts right to the deepest most sensitive part
And then turn
Twisting the dagger- deeper, deeper...
Weakening, dizzying, excruciating, blinding pain.
Circumstances can crush, bruise, break, wound;
Scare us right out of our skin-
Leave us confused and bleeding.


All these things and more can happen. Have happened. Will happen.
Because we live in a broken, beat-up, crazy world.


But if my HOPE is in Him

-In Him-

If He holds it, nurtures it, contains it safely-
Then even when everything falls… and my heart breaks... and my dreams fail me... and hopes die...
I won’t lose Hope. It will still be there. Unharmed. Unshaken. Immovable.


Because of the unchangeableness of who He is.
Hope remains.

I could choose to place my hope in dreams,
In people,
In places,
In things,
In feelings,
In experiences,
In words,
In songs,
In beliefs,
In ideas- preconceived or well-rounded, firmly established.
I could choose to place my hope in any of these containers, but when they give way
(and they will give way; all containers in this broken, beat-up world eventually do)-
When they give way hope will leak out and leave me....


...Hopeless.


And I can’t live without hope.
I can’t go on breathing as a hopeless person.

A broken mug, now completely useless for containing liquid, reminds me of hope containers.

Makes me look into my heart and ask the question:

Where is my hope?

Is my hope in Him? Is He my Hope Container?

Inasmuch as HE is my Hope Container, I can say with all confidence
“As for me, I will ALWAYS have hope; I will praise You more and more.” (Psalm 71:14 NIV, emphasis added).


Even when dreams fall apart; crumble; break my heart...
Even when I can’t understand; can’t tell up from down; don’t know what to do....
Even when my heart bleeds and throbs in pain; when I leak; when tears seep out and slide down into my lap right alongside my dreams and hopes and plans...
Even when my heart goes numb; pain no longer draws a response; the world seems cruel, silent, indifferent...
Even THEN.
Even THERE.
WHEREVER I may be-
If my hope is in Him, Him alone- no other container- I will always have hope.


Always.


And the funny, beautiful thing is,
Even that broken “useless” mug now has a new purpose-

It arrests my eyes, takes my thoughts captive, reminds me to ask my heart,
Were is my hope today?



And I think about hope containers. 

“May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him,

so that you may OVERFLOW with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13