Rowdy with Four

It's no secret I'm new to the kitchen. It's been a year of trial and error, however, I can now make a mean meatloaf and sausage and gravy that is to die for! My cooking skills have improved GREATLY in just a year. Why? Because I didn't quit when I didn't know how. I just kept at it.

Now my baking skills…not so great. Sure there are instructions and recipes, but that doesn't mean much if you've really never been in the kitchen. Some of the terminology and the number of ingredients can be quite overwhelming. For example 'soften butter'. What does that even mean? Well it doesn't mean melt. Let's just say I had some very sticky cookie dough on my hands. 

My grandmothers were simply AMAZING in the kitchen. They could cook or bake anything and It was always delicious! I'm sure they had their days of trial and error too, but because they were in their kitchens daily they grew and learned along the way. 

That's how it is with our spiritual walk. Do you want to grow in your relationship with God? Well then you need to enter your spiritual kitchen. Open the your Bible and pray. Yes, it is overwhelming at times and can even be confusing, but we must keep going back daily. We must not give up! That is what the enemy wants.

I prayed this prayer on November 21, 2005

It's never too late to begin seeking a love relationship with God. One that is simply amazing because of the time you spend in your kitchen with God. 

I'd like to leave you with a few recipes for Seeking God in His word and prayer.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and now today being Monday I literally experienced four seasons in four days… 

Friday I wore a dress shirt that was a tank and had to take my sweater off because it felt like summer. Saturday I wore jeans with a t-shirt and it felt like spring. We were even rushing home from the city to travel away from the tornado warnings that are typically in the spiring, not winter. Sunday it felt like the end of fall with the cooler weather and rain. I had to break out my winter coat to wear to church. 

Now this morning, Monday, I woke up to unexpected snow on the ground. I had to put on a lot of layers to go out and care for our farm animals. We experienced a lot of seasons in just four days. A sweet reminder that God's timing is not always our timing, and His ways are not always our ways. Sometimes we long for seasons of assurance and prosperity, but instead we are given seasons of doubt and hardships.

Just like the weather changed in these four days, so did my emotions. Friday my heart was overflowing with joy after having spent time with family and friends. Saturday my heart was consumed with busyness as we rushed to clean out the last final things in our home in the city. By the end of the day, my heart was breaking. A fight between my husband and I left the debris of a tornado. By Sunday, my heart was so tired from the previous days I was ready to call it quits. All I could do was cry. 

Then there's days like today. A new day. Refreshed by the cleansing of the snow. I've learned whatever the season…count it all joy. Seek His face in prayer. Find him within the pages of the Bible. Maybe it's been a long season of sorrow or a short season of waiting. It's hard at times to understand the seasons of our hearts, but God knows and has a purpose for each one we enter. He is the only one that can give us a new season. Cleansing. Leaving us with a revived heart. 

In my upcoming devotional and prayer guide Seasons of My Heart, I share through my personal prayers how God took a lifeless city girl and turned her into a rowdy farm girl seeking Him in the good, the bad, and the ugly. Seasons change my friend, but God is always the same. ALWAYS!

Before bed, I began talking to God. Sharing my heart. My fears. I felt the need to say a prayer for my kids. I begged Him not to take them from me. I pleaded with Him to protect them from harm. Peace washed over me. 

Now I was ready to seek Him. Find what He has for me. It was my turn to listen as the Spirit spoke. He simply asked...why are you still seeking? You have found what you were seeking. Me. You know the dreams I've placed on your heart. My promises. Your purpose. It's time to move on to your Promise Land. It's time to ask. To knock. 

“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Luke 11:9 ESV

Joy is a matter of the heart. So this entry is a little more difficult for me to write and share if I'm being completely honest with myself and God. I've asked God to open the eyes of my heart and to show me where I am on the joy scale. He led me to this verse...

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting." |Psalm 139:23-24|

What does this have to do with joy? Everything! As I meditated on this verse He revealed to me the joy, or the lack there of. Sin had stolen my joy away.