Lay Down Your Lovies

One morning, my nine-year-old daughter caught me in the middle of my quiet time when she woke up. She laid down her lovies and crawled onto my lap with open arms. The way our snuggle was positioned, I could feel her heart beating against my chest. She nestled there perfectly content and quiet for at least five minutes. Then as she let go and looked straight into my eyes with pure admiration, she leaned close in and gave me an Eskimo kiss, then looked at me again and gave me a butterfly kiss. She went back to the clench hug and said, “I love you, Mommy.” They were moments to be branded on my heart forever.

About a half hour later, my seven-year-old daughter (at the time), came down the stairs and found me in the same position (still trying to finish my alone time with the Lord). She hopped up on my lap with a bunch of stuffed Webkinz lovies in her arms and hugged me.

“Sweetie, why don’t you put your stuff down, so Mommy can give you a real hug,” I suggested.

She replied, “That’s okay, I’m all warm and comfy.” 

We had our bulky snuggle time for a few minutes, she got down, gave me a quick, wet smack on the cheek and said, “Love you, Mom,” as she went on her merry way to begin her day.

~

This tangible experience became a spiritual example for me. When I go to my Heavenly Father, do I lay all my “stuff” at His feet so that my whole heart and mind can cling to Him? OR do I hold on to the things that make me feel warm and comfy inside, halfway embracing our relationship? Both of these scenarios are in contact with Him, both illustrations communicate my love for Him, but the first is deeper and fuller and will produce the fruit of the Spirit in the ripest and richest way.

“Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul
and with ALL your mind and with ALL your strength.”
Mark 12:30

The idea of this sounds beautiful, but how can it work practically? 

When I look at any verse of worship or devotion to the Lord, I try to put hands and feet on it to help me out. Let’s sort through the following Love The Lords:

• WITH ALL MY HEART ~~~ My heart is what gives life to my body. It is the place where the things I love to do, the people I love, the situations in my day and the passions I have are turned into emotion.

• WITH ALL MY SOUL ~~~ My soul is the whole me, that which identifies me and makes me feel whole.

• WITH ALL MY MIND ~~~ My mind is where the main battle occurs, where the choices are decided, where the output of what is in the heart and soul is processed.

• WITH ALL MY STRENGTH ~~~ My strength is my efforts, and it is a direct result of what comes out of the mind.

To have the fullest abiding relationship with the Lord, we must lay down our lovies and fully cling to Him. Is there anything or anyone we love more than Him? Is there anything or anyone we love as much as Him? Is there anything or anyone that distracts us from fully loving Him? Lay it down. He wants every part of us…there’s nothing He desires for us to keep to ourselves--

-NOTHING. 

“For in Him we live and move and have our being.”
ACTS 17:28a

Father God, You have loved us with a gigantic, perfect, whole, unconditional, 

surrendered love. We are so thankful. Work in us that kind of love today, LORD, 

through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Can I Borrow A Minute of Your Time?

Deuteronomy 6:5-9 (The Message)
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.
Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder;
inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.

My friend Tim from Pickl.com sent this to me via email yesterday, and I thought the message was worth sharing. I googled it to see if an author existed and found the story plastered all over the internet. So obviously, not new, but it bears repeating. Also, I think Tim "cleaned it up" a bit from its original version, so I thought that was cool too. Whatcha think?

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, only to find his 6-year-old son waiting for him at the door.

“Daddy, may I please ask you a question?”

“Okay… yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.

“Daddy, how much do you make an hour?”

“That's NONE of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.

“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?”

“If you must know, I make $50 an hour.”

“Oh,” the little boy replied, with his head down, then looked back up.

“Daddy, may I please borrow…ummm… $25?”

The father was furious, “If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you’re being so selfish. I don't work hard every day for such childish frivolities.”

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. His father sat down and started to get even angrier about his little son's questions.

How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down , and started to think: maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00--and he really didn't ask for money very often--The man went to the little boy's room and opened the door. “Are you asleep, son?” he asked.

“No daddy, I'm awake,” replied the boy.

“I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man. “It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $25 you asked for.”

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. “Oh, thank you Daddy!” he yelled with delight. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled-up bills.

The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

“Why do you want more money if you already have some?” the father grumbled.

“Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied. “Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness. 

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love.



In the Key of HE,

Aunt Rhodie's Mountain Adventure

“GO TELL AUNT RHODIE, GO TELL AUNT RHO-OH-DEEEE. GO TELL AUNT RHODIE, THE OLD GRAY GOOSE IS DEAD. GO TELL AUNT…”

And on and on and on my seven-year-old belted out. She brought Aunt Rhodie up and down the stairs into every room of the house. I’ll bet the old aunt got tired.

My twelve-year-old son had had enough. “Would you stop singing that song already?”

“NO, I can’t. You know our piano teacher said that if I sang the song it would help me play it better. I’m practicing! GO TELL AUNT RHODIE…”

My head was spinning with a combination of the loud melody and my son’s nagging.

“NOW--Ally, STOP! I’m trying to do my homework.”

“THE OLD GRAY GOOSE IS DEEEEEEEEEEEEEAD.”

My son tried a different approach. “Hey, Ally, who is Aunt Rhodie anyway?”

She ceased her melody. “How am I s’post to know who she is, Austin. I’m just a little kid.”

It was the perfect time for my nine-year-old daughter to take center stage, her voice projecting proudly. “IIIII know who Aunt Rhodie is…”

“Yeah, sure you do, Annie,” Austin smarted.

“I do,” she said proudly, “SHE’s the one who was comin’ round the mountain!!!!!”

My two daughters chimed in together while marching up and down the stairs on a mountain adventure of their own:

“SHE’LL BE COMIN’ ROUND THE MOUNTAIN WHEN SHE COMES. SHE’LL BE COMIN’ ROUND THE MOUNTAIN WHEN SHE COMES….”

Poor Austin. And poor, tired Aunt Rhodie with all that mountain climbing.

This scene, while a bit exaggerated for proper picture painting, gave me one of the best laughs I’d had in awhile. It also gave me a profoundly simple truth to chew on, which is this:

I sing God’s name, I write God’s name. I speak His name frequently and challenge others to do the same. But do I know WHO He is?

Friends, if someone were to ask you, “Who is the God you sing about anyway,” what would you tell them?

“My mouth will tell of Your righteousness, of Your salvation all day long, thought I know not its measure. I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD.”
Psalm 71:15-16 (NIV)

We speak of His acts, His salvation, His righteousness in us and through us and others, but as the verse speaks, we could not possibly know the full measure of any of them.

It’s one thing to tell people who God is and quite another to show them. Ephesians 1:18-20 gives us a perfect example: “I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called—His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who belive Him. This is the same might power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” (NLT)

Does the fact that you know Him give you confident hope? Do you understand the incredible greatness of His power? Ask Him to help you know Him better. Beg Him. Carve some time out for your True Love, the only One who can ‘fill the emptiness, replace the bitterness and empower the weakness that lies within your heart, soul, mind and body.

Take the knowledge of Him with you today, showing Him and telling of Him as you walk, sing, and yes, even do some mountain climbing. Allow Him to flood you with His light, His hope and His power—spreading it to others along the way. Maybe they’ll even start to sing His tune along with you.


• Go Tell Aunt Rhodie author unknown. Copyright unknown.