My Favorite Psalm #TheLoft

     My favorite Psalm - in fact, my favorite chapter in the entire Bible - is Psalm 139:

"O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in - behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

     I had read that Psalm many times, I'm sure, but one day it just grabbed me. God knew me! He "knit me together in my mother's womb!" The very eyes of God "saw my unformed body!" He designed me, He created me just exactly the way I am - all for His plan and purpose. He knew what every day of my life would look like before the first one had even come about. He knew me before I was born on this earth, and He knows the day I will take my last breath on this earth. 

     The day that Psalm took hold of me was a transforming moment in my life as a Christian. It opened my eyes to the fact that Jesus not only had a personal knowledge of me, but that I was created for a specific purpose on this earth. Learning this about Jesus has led me to develop that personal relationship that He was longing to have with me - after all, if Jesus knew me so well, shouldn't I strive to know Him more? Shouldn't I desire to know Him more intimately and personally? The 139th Psalm paved the way for me to develop a relationship with Jesus that is so much more than superficial! It opened the door for me to have this wonderful, ongoing fellowship with Him, and has led me to trust in Him to fulfill His purpose in my life, and not make my own way. 

     And, whenever I stray from the path He has marked out and chosen for me, I, like the psalmist, ask Him to "search me", to "see if there is any offensive way in me." And then, I have His promise in verse 24, that He will  help me get my feet back on His path. He will "lead me in the way everlasting." Amen!

     

    

Our assignment this week at #TheLoft is to write about what the picture above evokes in us.

     When I look at this picture, I am filled with peace. I can feel the cool mist of the fog on my skin and smell the earthy scent of grass and hay. The simplicity of the picture - from the green, green grass to the perfectly-rounded bales of hay, gives me a sense of serenity and comfort, and I feel one with the beautiful earth that God created. I could picture myself lying atop those hay bales, surrounded by quiet, the noise of the world shut out.

"How blessed the man you train, GOD, the woman you instruct in your Word, providing a circle of quiet within the clamor of evil.."

Psalm 94:12-13, MSG

     Although I'm not likely to find this beautiful, peaceful scene anywhere near the sandy beaches of Florida where I live, it is vital that I make it a priority to find peace and quiet amidst the noise and confusion in the world around me. I just love these verses from Psalm 94! God is telling us that, in His Word, we find a "circle of quiet within the clamor of evil." Though we live in a world that can be hard and cruel, and evil is continually attempting to lead us astray, we need only to open the pages of His Word to receive training and instruction for how to keep our feet firmly planted on His path. Though chaos so often reigns all around us and the world can speak too loudly in our ears, we need only to open the pages of His Word to find that "circle of quiet," where God speaks peace to us.

     This picture is a perfect illustration of these verses from Psalm 94 to me, and although we may not be able to "get away from it all" and lie atop bales of hay everyday, we may always find our "circle of quiet" in Him.

     

     

The Place I Call Home #TheLoft

"Love GOD, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got! Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night."

Deuteronomy 6:5-7, MSG

     Home, the first 24 years of my life, was the city where I was born: Ft. Pierce, Florida. Ft.Pierce is a beautiful place to be born, and I'm so proud that my children are 4th generation Ft. Pierce natives! Ft. Pierce was, and still is, a place where its residents speak to each other, whether they know them or not. That may sound strange, but believe me, I've been in lots of places where people look at you funny if you speak to them and they don't know you! I love that about Ft. Pierce! I lived in the same house throughout my entire childhood with my mom and dad, and my older sister, Linda.

Here we are!

     Home was: my German Shepherd, Heidi; playing in our tree house, swinging on our tire swing; going to the beach; camping in a borrowed pop-up camper (with rain everytime!); playing hide-and-seek in our house at night, with the lights out!; eating dinner together around our kitchen table; going to church, learning about Jesus, getting saved in my backyard, (thanks to my next door neighbor, a preacher's kid!).

Home was where we talked about God and got His commandments "inside" of us. 

     Home was always, always my mom and dad, my sister and me,

 knit together in our Father's love.

     Home, for the last 26 years, has been the city where I now reside: Palm City, Florida. Just before my husband, David, and I got married, we decided to move just 25 minutes south of Ft. Pierce. Palm City was quite small when we moved here, but has grown just enough! Palm City is where we have raised our two beautiful - now young adult! - children, David, Jr & Elizabeth. 

Here we are!

     Home was: our loyal cat, Beeb, and best dog in the world, Sadie; catching lizards (okay, mostly our son!); going fishing; going to the beach; playing hide-and-seek in our house at night, with the lights out!; going on vacations together; cheering on our son in soccer and cross-country; being mesmerized by our daughter at her ballet recitals; eating dinner around our kitchen table; going to church.

Home was where we now talked about God and got His commandments "inside" our own children.

Home is where we are learning to transition to what we need to be for our children now that they are grown. Home is where we will always talk about God. Home is where we will always, always be... family, knit together in our Father's love.

The Place I Call Home is...FAMILY!

#TheLoft

http://www.leahadams.org/category/the-loft-linkup/

      I am very excited to link up with a site of bloggers for the next few weeks - #TheLoft.
This first post is to be a "get to know you" post, so here goes:

     

     I am...Suzanne, and I am a work in progress! I live in Florida - a native, in fact! I grew up in a Christian home and learned about God at an early age. My compassion for others led me to the nursing profession, where I spent sixteen years as an obstetrical nurse. While taking time off to raise my 2 children, I fell in love with volunteering at my church home. One of my first tasks as a volunteer was teaching children's Sunday school. My preparation for teaching led me to the Source of my lessons - the Bible. As I began to read, I soon learned all of the things I didn't know about God. Here I had believed in and loved Him all my life, never realizing I had been missing out on one very important thing: a personal relationship with Him. Teacher became student as I began to hunger and thirst to know God more deeply and intimately. As I spent time in the Word of God, slowly the personal relationship I never knew I could have with God began to take shape. My old life began to fade away, to be replaced with the new one God desired - one with meaning and purpose.

     Before long, I was tasked with not just teaching lessons, but writing them as well. What's more, I was given the responsibility to move my teaching out of the cozy Sunday school classroom and into venues with larger audiences. This was an unfamiliar and daunting task for the shy, young woman I was! However, a remarkable thing began to happen as I stepped out in faith: I began to hear clearly from God, receiving His unmistakable inspiration in my writing. In addition, as I stood nervously before my audience to speak, God absolutely took over, enabling me to speak boldly and confidently the very words that He had inspired.

     Over the course of 18 years, I learned so much, and was given many opportunities to write and teach all that God was teaching me, including 5 wonderful years as youth director at my church. I saw myself in the faces of those youth, and purposed in my heart that I would show them how to have a deep and personal relationship with God - something I had missed out on in my own youth. As I began my 5th year as youth director, God spoke clearly to me that I was now to write a book. After 2 1/2 years of listening for God's inspiration, the book was complete. It was a true labor of love! The end result is a 90-day devotional that leads its readers,step-by-step, into a personal relationship with God, and points them to the Word of God as the Source of all wisdom and knowledge, and gives them the tools they need to live a life of faithful obedience in a fallen world.

     I am... a person who lived my life for so long following after my own will, and in reading God's Word for myself and developing a personal relationship with Him, I now know better. I anxiously await whatever God has in store for me next!