i sit across the table from her and share a little about this desert i’ve been in.  and she gives me some tips;

have you tried praying God’s word back to Him?

do you have a set time to meet with the Lord?

have you tried singing hymns?

 -yes, i do that, i’m doing that.  on and on-the suggestions go. and it’s not that they aren’t good ones-they are disciplines that have worked so for a very long time.  they are wise and life giving.  and in writing this series, these things are already assumed-if you’ve never practiced praying God’s word back to Him-start now!!

but i’m not writing about a new discipline or finding a new method.  and, yes, i’ll admit i am the least consistent person i know…in anything!   Myquillyn wrote recently about rhythm vs. routine.  for the most part, i live in rhythm more than routine.

I need to start doing the dishes.

            or

That would never work for me.

 

and that would be missing the point of it all.  the point about the dishes is that God knew some things that i didn’t know myself.  i didn’t know before i lived in a house with a clothesline how restful laundry could be.  and when we moved into this house 5 years ago i debated about installing a dishwasher.  do you see in that picture above? that is it for my counter/cupboard space. you can see-dishwasher space is prime space!  i tried a week without one just to see. i concluded i needed the dishwasher more than the space.

but here we are 5 years later, and this is the way the Lord is coming to my aid?  He knows how i work, He knitted me together.  and He knows the desert i’m in.  and really, it’s His enabling that i can even see the provision, the rest that the chore invites me into.  i don’t understand it and i can’t explain it.  in my prayer closet i am dry and empty, dull and colorless; standing at the sink the world takes on color and i am left with nothing but Wonder.

it’s not really about the dishes.  it’s the movement of the One who set the earth to spinning.  it’s that in Him i live and move and have my being.  and my Counselor and my Guide has to show me what that really means in a practical way for this season of life that i am in.

How is the Great Shepherd coming to your aid personally and specifically in the season you are in?  if you take anything away from my words-let it be that.