Sane, Simple, Sacred: What I Learned Yesterday

What I Learned Yesterday

I observed that it is possible to be hurt without being humbled.

I learned by watching. And listening.

Early in the day I was in the company of someone who was hurting.
STINGING with hurt.

Defensive and accusatory in tone; defiant and self-justifying.
Desperately hurting.
As I watched and listened, I remembered times when I, too,
had been hurt without being humbled.

A few hours later, I saw another person hurting.... with a silent, head-hanging hurt.

A tearful, gut-wrenching hurt. Helpless and humbled.

Unable to defend himself. Humbled by a lifetime of love

and the cost of a self-sacrificing and necessary decision.

I'm pretty sure I will never be the same.
It was a difficult day, but I don't want to forget what I learned.

What I know is most certainly true and
what I most desperately want to remember is this...

"God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Come near to God and he will come near to you.

Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Grieve, mourn and wail.

Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

James 4:6-9

7 comments:

Lori ZehrOctober 26, 2013 at 7:52 AM
Good to hear from you...sounds like an emotional day. Always good when we can learn from the experiences. Blessings, Lori
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DeannaOctober 26, 2013 at 10:42 AM
What a beautiful message. So true. Humbleness is often a painful process to get there. I have written similar posts (the last 2) over at my blog. I often read your blog but haven't often left comments, surely can't miss letting you know that I appreciate this post and how it speaks in a special way to me. ~Deanna
Blessings!!
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downsizersOctober 26, 2013 at 1:14 PM
I am sure you were the rock that these people needed. Sometime just being there and listening is what they need. I answered your comment but it came out at the bottom of the section so you will to go down a bit. Sounds like your life is a bit hectic at the moment. I know you are finding peace with God at your side.
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elizabethOctober 26, 2013 at 1:36 PM
What an important lesson...not an easy one, but necessary.
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PamelaOctober 28, 2013 at 12:03 AM
Oh dear friend, you have had some hard days lately. I love how you turn the difficult into teaching moments. Praying for you.
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"We simplify, not just to be less busy, even though we may be right to pursue that. Rather, we simplify to remove distractions from our pursuit of Christ. We prune activities from our lives, not only to get organized, but also that our devotion to Christ and service for His kingdom will be more fruitful. We simplify, not merely to save time, but to eliminate hindrances to the time we devote to knowing Christ. All the reasons we simplify should eventually lead us to Jesus Christ!" (Donald S. Whitney)

Dedicated to my sister-in-law, Beth--a TRUE home manager....

"I work for a King. He has put me in charge of his home. When He comes to see how I have managed His possessions and His children, I do not want to be found wanting. I want to do my best. Everything I have is on loan from Him. I have room and board and a job to do, but it is all for Him. Therefore I want to dress my best and do my best in all my work. I also want to be creative, for this is a sincere attempt to glorify Him and His beautiful creation. How I manage my home is a form of worship to Him." --Lydia Sherman

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry,
and see a fine picture every day of his life,
in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Contentment makes poor men rich.

-Benjamin Franklin

"What I am gradually discovering is that in the writing I come in touch with the Spirit of God." ~ Nouwen

~~"Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting."~~Edmund Burke

C.S. Lewis: "To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in trusting a person if you wouldn't take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him."

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony." William Henry Channing

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Apostle Paul: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

"It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. It stops us from taking anything for granted. It has also taught me alot about living in the immediate moment. I am somehow managing to live one day, one hour at a time." Madeleine L'Engle

FIVE CERTAINTIES
WITH WHICH TO
START YOUR DAY

God holds you. Each day he carries us in his arms. Psalm 68:19 NLT
God sustains you. THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. Psalm 23:1 AMP
God covers you. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust. Psalm 91:4 AMP
God pours His love upon you. Through each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me. Psalm 42:8 NLT
God will not fail you. The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! Lamentations 3:22 NLT

THE BLOGGER'S PRAYER Lord, help me to learn to spell without spellcheck, manage to visit all that visit me, and post regularly - all in 5 minutes a day, so that I can clean house and take care of my family. Help me to not look at every occurrence in my life as a blog post, and to quit taking pictures of weird things to share as well. Please Lord, help me to stop talking about my blog friends as though they are next door neighbors or someone I have known all of my life. And help me, dear Lord, to think of something witty and wise to post tomorrow.
Love, The Dust Bunny Hostage

Sane, Simple, Sacred

Mercy

What I Learned Yesterday

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