"It's a soft day." - Renaming Our Circumstances with God's Words

“Ta’ se’ in aghaidh an lae cumhachtach!!”

(Gaelic for, “It’s a powerful day!!!”)

“Ta’ se’ in aghaidh an lae bog.”

(Gaelic for, “It’s a soft day.”)

      When I was in Ireland this summer…they called sunny days “powerful days”!!!  Rainy days were called “saft days”!!!  (Or “soft days”.)  I fell in love with the ever-sunny perspective of the Irish.  (Insert romantic sigh here.)  Since they have so many wet and gray days, they invented a new name or outlook for a rainy day.  This is to show that no matter the circumstances of the day, their outlook would remain undaunted and joy filled.  A local Irishman explained to me that many times when it is dreary and drizzly, it can feel like you can’t plan or begin anything.  One may feel compelled to wait until the conditions improve to go out and enjoy life. This could go on for days and days there. If they decided to wait for more perfect weather, it could be a “verra” long time waiting!  Since they can’t change the weather, they change their minds by renaming those moments, to embrace the gentleness, slowing, and even the romance of  rainy days.  Living right where they are; fully.   

     I live in Phoenix, AZ where it is sunny most of the year.  So while I do not experience Ireland’s particular weather issues, there are still days or seasons in my life that it is raining and storming in my corner of the world.  Can you relate?  When we are experiencing less than desirable circumstances in our lives, we have a choice to make.  We must ask ourselves if we are going to look at the day and call it a “wet, dreary, miserable, rainy day’?  OR adopt the attitude of the Irish, and rename the day a “soft day” and embrace all we can in our circumstances…finding the JOY right where we are…living FULLY in the middle of the showers of our life. 

     Words are powerful and God offers us an entire book full of words to renew our mind. Words to write on our hearts.  Words to speak out loud against Satan.  What circumstances are “raining” down on you?  What could you rename moments or days like these?  

Is there a scripture that could help you rename the day? 

One you could tuck into your heart?  

Or a verse to speak out loud against the devil himself? 

Maybe a verse you could frame and put up in your home or office?  

Thoughts to encourage:

‘Happiness depends on the “happenings in our lives;” joy depends on our perspective.’

Verses to encourage finding joy:

James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:6-9, John 15:11, 2 Corinthians 8:2-3, 1 Thessalonians 1:6, Hebrews 12:2,

Verses to encourage finding a new perspective for our thought life:

Romans 12:2, Philippians 4:8, 2 Corinthians 4:16, Psalm 119:11, Ephesians 4:23, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Colossians 3:2, Jeremiah 29:11

Slowing Down



"I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry." - Psalm 40:1 (NIV)

I was soooo hungry.  My frustration grew as I peeled the shell off the boiled egg. It was not coming off cleanly and I watched as extra bits of very well deserved egg white came off with each piece of shell that fell as "waste" into the sink.  Nooo!  My tummy rumbled, dictating the timeline of when this egg should be made available to my mouth. My emotions were being heavily guided by my body. Starting back on a healthier eating/exercise plan, left me with an attitude of making every single morsel of food count!  I needed to eat!  And now!  I frantically peeled faster.  Yet the faster I went, the more I was taking off what my growling stomach yearned for in that moment.


 I stopped...calmed... and told myself..."Go slower and you will have more nourishment."  So I made the choice to put aside the hunger pains.  I would not allow them to force my pace to quicken. Slowly, ever so slowly, I easily and patiently peeled the remaining egg to reveal a smooth exterior with ALL the egg white intact.  Eureka!  Ahhhh.

So many times in life, like my incident with the boiled egg, I try to uncover what God wants to do in my life too fast.  I try to do it by my own power, timeline, and the way I see best.  When I try to peel hurriedly through the process of learning and hearing from Him, I miss big chunks of what He is communicating.  They are important lessons He's teaching.  I find when I slow down, surrender, still, and calmly go through the process with Him...I hear, see, and find more of what He wants to reveal.

THAT is Artful Living with our Great Artist!

A Gentle Challenge:  
Do you need to make a choice to slow down?  
Do you need to put "your way" aside?  
What more might you hear from God, if you made a "choice" to still your thoughts, surrender your timeline, and "your way"?

Waiting

The verse jumped off the page and was a lifeline that day.....

"Be still and know that I am God." - Psalm 46:10

So I stilled.  And in the stillness I shut out the world.  And for weeks I sat only with Him, in prayer, in His word, and in random moments of the day.  It wasn't pretty.  I unleashed my anger at Him and pleaded for a different way (my way) and answers...He can take it after all.  I eventually wore myself out, like a small child after a sobbing-tantrum session has come to an end.  I became so calm, sitting there in my corner. 

"Why God?  Why do you have me waiting on so much right now?"

My daughter be confident that what I have started, I will see to completion. (Phillipians 1:6)  My understanding of waiting is not the same as your own.  Waiting is not just to be in hopeful expectation.  To be "waiting" with Me, is to shut out the world, focusing on me, and engaged in the tension filled conversations we have together in that time. Waiting is where the work of binding you up with me like strands together in a cord,... intertwining with you,... strengthens you,...in me.  (Ecclesiastes 4:12 and Isaiah 40:31)  This is the connecting lifeline I throw out to you in the struggles of life.

"Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength..." - Isaiah 40:31

A Gentle Challenge:
Are you in a waiting mode with God?  Tell Him how you feel.  Open up to Him.  Pray. Journal. Scream. Cry.  He gives you permission.  Do the work of the "waiting".  After all, this is where He strengthens you and you become stronger together in your relationship with Him.