Good Monday Morning

Good Morning, my friend....and welcome again to my little online cottage.

I know, it's been a while since I have been here, but last week was simply not condusive to writing-or rather, the time was not readily available. This visit will be short, but I at least wanted to update. This past week was full of tremendous reasons to be thankful, not unlike any other week when I'm able to put food on the table (or high chair tray!), sleep on a soft mattress under a sturdy roof of a place we call our home or take my daughter or son to get their immunizations at the Pediatric practice. As you know, there are countless reasons to have a spirit of gratitude on any given day...even when circumstances aren't ideal.

We had a great Thanksgiving morning just lazing around, drinking coffee in my favorite Ocean City, NJ mug, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in snippets, while putzing around the house and getting the kiddos ready for the 1:30 dinner at Aunt Shari & Uncle Keith's cozy home. The Macy's parade always takes me back to my childhood...especially the dance routines. Between the ages of 5-10 (maybe not quite that long!), I would put on a swirly skirt and grab my baton or whatever prop was most appropriate and dance along to the broadway tunes or kick my stringy little legs along with the Rockettes. Even though technically I was at Edgewood Drive, I really was the star on the streets of New York City every Thanksgiving. They just couldn't get enough of me!!! At least they couldn't in the big, big world of my imagination. Today, there is no audience I'd rather have than the few that reside under this roof...even if the older ones occassionally roll their eyes at me! :)

I want to share a little paragraph from an article that spoke to me recently. Perhaps it especially is tailored to the part of my personality that is Choleric and task oriented. In any case, if you care to, read on and (hopefully), be encouraged!

"Our greatest captivity is not to any other person or system; it is to self. And the greater bondage here is not the appetites of the flesh we clearly know are sinful, but the agendas we hold for our own good. Trying to get God to do for me what I think is best has tripped me up far more effectively, than more obvious sins....

NATO Living

The trick is learning how to live each day in the expectancy of God's working in the circumstances of my life, without giving in to the expectation that it must look any particular way to satisfy me. I have begun to taste of the freedom of that kind of trust, and it is the most incredible reality I've yet to find in his love.

Imagine the freedom of no longer having to try and manipulate God or others toward your desired outcome. Instead, you can simply find out what he is up to, and though it will often seem more painful in the short-term than you might want, his ways are always the best -- not only in resolving our circumstances but transforming us through them.

A number of years ago I read a book about a man playing the last rounds of golf with his terminally ill father around the famed courses of Scotland. Early on that trip he realized how little he enjoyed golf because his only goal was to shoot the lowest score possible. Whenever he got an unlucky bounce or hit a bad shot he'd sulk for the next few holes and play even worse.
That's when his father taught him to play NATO golf--Not Attached To Outcome. In other words, his father told him, don't worry about the score, just enjoy the challenge of hitting each shot as well as you can. When it goes off track, go find it and figure out the best shot you can hit from there. Let the score take care of itself and even if you don't have a good round you still get to enjoy a walk in a beautiful park and the friendship of your partners.

Perhaps we should learn to live each day Not Attached To Outcome. Wouldn't we be truly free if we could do the same on our own spiritual journeys? Instead of being so focused on the outcomes we desire, we could simply trust that regardless of the outcome, God is doing his work in and through us. Now instead of wasting our time with him trying to get him on our page, we can simply enjoy our fellowship with him as he moves us to his. And believe me, it is a lot more peaceful walking with God on his page, than constantly trying to figure out how to get him on yours."

-Wayne Jacobsen, "The Deepest Freedom"