Day 15: Formed For God's Family

Question to Consider: How can I start treating other believers like members of my own family?

Well...I thought I had my answer pretty well summed up before I went to church and I was going to blog it tonight, but here I sit again...thinking...you know better than to premeditate. If it doesn't work itself in now and I'm not totally exhausted after this post, I'll post what I was going to later. Now...to answer the question.

This morning the Pastor said that we needed to find a spiritual partner. Some of you that have been reading my blog can probably tell that I've been sort of asking for that. If you couldn't tell, that's quite all right because I didn't even realize it myself until just recently. The scripture that says we should encourage each other daily. I spent the past 5 minutes looking for it before realizing that's the scripture on My Covenant in this book.

Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up...Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break. -Ecclesiastes 4:9

This evening I went to church with the intention of taking my first step to find a "spiritual partner". My daughter and I were there a few minutes early so we had plenty of time to find somewhere to sit. We walked up the steps in between a group of kids waiting till the last minute to go inside. As I walked through the door, my daughter hollered, "Hey, I'm gonna stay out here with the cool kids". My first thought was thankfulness that my daughter, who 4 weeks ago was hollering she didn't want to go, she didn't like that church, is the one that's making sure I'm getting out the door on time so she can be there early.

It didn't occur to me, until after I figured out that she was going to sit with the cool kids too, that I would be sitting alone. This is not tears and tissue time, just so you know! Anyway, I looked around and saw there were no empty seats next to my friend that I usually sit by, and the other friend I sometimes sit by wasn't there, she was in the nursery. Of course that was back when I first starting going when I was going alone, and then again just recently when I've been left to go sit with "the cool kids". This was the first night that I had to either sit by someone I didn't know or sit down and hope that someone else sat down...so no one would notice I was the only one sitting alone on the second pew from the back. Weeeell...it didn't happen. The only reason I didn't get up and move was because the girl that was in the nursery was going to sit with me after the choir sang. I thought surely somebody would sit down with plenty of time left before the service started. Soooo...needless to say, I sucked it in and tuned it out...or at least I tried to.

Like I said, I'm not asking for tears. Actually, I felt like I'd just Aced a test. I learned something about myself and I got my answer by just looking around me. Also, it was only for a little while, my friend came in. By that time, I had decided it didn't bother me anyway.

Up until now, whenever I've thought God knows the future, I thought God knew my very next move, but now I don't think that's the case. If you have a different opinion, please feel free to let me know...I'm not one of those who thinks my words should be set in stone. If God tells me different, I'll let you know, but I'm definitely not expecting that to happen! What I think He does know is what kind of personality the people that are connected to me have. When any of them get to the point where they might want to devastate me. He also knows which ones He can use to encourage me. He also knows how I feel and what I'm going through...when I feel like my plate is going to crack or my rubber band is going to snap. And it's anywhere in between that He can change hearts and grant understanding.

Now that I've started my spiritual journey again, I've had to re-learn (remember) a few things. Another way of putting it is I've had to get my spirit back into submission. It's hard! But it is getting easier. Like tonight, instead of being bitter, which I don't know that I would have actually been "bitter"...but I would have probably pulled that excuse out one night when my daughter didn't feel like going...but my attitude was different. I was able to see and understand, if I would have been bitter I would have missed it. Instead I saw a few things that made me think...wow, there are people here who's Spirits can take your breath away.

I had a dream last night...it was so real I can't believe I forgot until this afternoon that I had the dream. My husband and I were talking and it made me remember. Now I'm wishing that I'd remembered it sooner so I can remember more details about it. What I do remember is seeing white everywhere I looked...it was a vast expanse of nothing but it was white instead of black. There were water droplets that I could see like it was raining in slow motion. Now that I think about it I was laying down so that's why it seemed like it was raining sideways, but I didn't feel anything touching me, not even the droplets of water. I didn't think much about that part because of my desire to resolve whether or not I should be baptized again. If anyone wants to know why I'm even struggling with that, please let me know and I will explain it and then you can leave comments telling my why I should. Otherwise your comments will not be published until after I have explained.

The part of the dream that has made the biggest impression on me now is that...the only way I know to describe it is like my Spirit hiccupped...the breath was knocked out of me for a split second, but it wasn't because of an impact and it didn't hurt. Which could also explain baptizism by immersion, but the hiccup could also be related to the fact that my Spirit is growing and I realize for me to continue to grow I need encouragement. I've been told by so many people that what I've done or what I've said has encouraged them. And I'm be no means discouraged. As a matter of fact, when I feel like I need encouragement, I see something like the tree I noticed today.

It was a beautiful, really big tree. I'm not real good with telling trees apart, but I'm pretty sure it was an oak tree. The leaves had all turned yellow and orange...it was gorgeous. Around it's trunk, all the way up to it's branches was mostly covered by green ivy. I remember saying that I wanted to be like a tree and I also remembered what I had read about when a vine grows on a tree, the tree produces even more fruit because it's also producing the fruit of the vine. That lets me know even more that God is all I need. He knows that sometimes even trees need encouragement to grow, especially when they're baby trees that are still at an age where they can be replanted. Maybe that's why missions looks so appealing to me.

So, in answer to the question, the first step would be for me to try to get to know some of them better. By the way, my other answer got worked into it like I thought it might...LOL.