How Busy is Too Busy?

One of my face book friends posted this today.... Busy stands for Burdened Under Satan's Yoke. When I first read this, I felt an immediate wave of condemnation try to settle on me. I am an extremely busy person and most people that know me spend a lot of time telling me that. My family tells me that sometimes. I DO NOT want to be Burdened under Satan's Yoke, so how busy is too busy?

Around January, God starting telling me that I was to take a break from leading this summer. I usually continue my ladies group in the summer and after 3 years it is time for a break. This year in my group has been amazing. God has done so much healing and brought so much freedom to all of us in the group. I am overwhelmed that God let's me participate in it. I have been contemplating exactly how to drop my life down to first gear when it is usually in Overdrive! Some of it happens naturally as groups are on break and a lot of the ministry I am involved in goes on hiatus in the summer too. But some of it, I have to make the conscious decision to ask my Father if he wants me to do and then be obedient and say NO if He tells me to.

Even knowing what God wants me to do, I keep finding myself looking to fill the now empty spaces in my calendar. God wants to fill those empty spaces in my calendar with MORE of HIM. Last month, my prayer shield told me that God wants to have fun with me and unwrap me like a tootsie roll! Interesting but somewhat scary too.

My friends know that I am very focused bordering on intense in some instances, although has done amazing things in me the last few years in this regard. (Did I just hear a loud amen from my friends just now? LOL) That same focus I can also apply to God when He tells me to do something but how about when He tells me to let go and have fun. I am to fixate my gaze on God because He is fixated on me! How awesome is that! I think that is why I love the song I posted on my blog last time. I am caught up in the gaze of the Lord!

Do you feel like you are fixated on Him? Do you know that He is fixated on you? I believe God wants to have fun with each of us this summer and although it will look different for each of us, he is beckoning us to come away with Him, to get lost in Him, to be refreshed in Him!

I know we are all busy women, wives, moms, daughters, friends but are you already filling in all the blank spots in your calendar with more appointments? I know it is hard, we live in a culture that measures our worth by our performance. God wants to show me how to balance between Focus and Fun, sounds easy right????? Are we too busy to spend the time we need to with God? I am guilty in this, I confess! We can't continue to pour out continuously and not be refilled by Him~

I really want to Be Still with God, Laugh with God, Have Fun with God this summer and though I am not sure what that looks like, I think I will try to take it one day at a time. Do gear down form overdrive, we must seek Him and be brave enough to ask Him about our schedule and then obedient enough to NOT do it even if we really want to!

I will pray for a Summer of Fun with God for you and please do the same for me! Ask Him to order your steps as I am doing. You will be surprised at where you can cut back and reorganize.

My secret sis gave this to me this semester and I want to share it with you!

Ten things God wants you to remember

I will give you rest~Matt. 11:28-30

I will bless you~Psalm 23:6

I will not fail you~Joshua1:5

I will provide for you~Matt 6:33

I will be with you~Hebrews 13:5

I Love You~Jeremiah 31:3

I am for you~Psalm 56:9

I believe in you~Luke 22:31-32

I will answer you~Jeremiah 33:3

I will strengthen you~Isaiah 41:10

Looking forward to a slower summer ride with Him,
Stacey

Battling but Struck by The Beauty

I have battled depression most of my life and the enemy really knows how to push my buttons. Sometimes he is more successful than other times. I am really struggling tonight with God's plan for me! What was such a happy yes last week is now on hold. The enemy is pummeling me with insecurity and rejection! I know I didn't do anything to put it on hold but it so hard when God shows you a passion so full of freedom! Now, I am at a simmer, down from a rapid boil.

This is a wave that wants to overtake me but HE won't let it overtake me! I trust him to do what is best for me but it is still hard. The excitement must be capped for another day and I only want what the Father has for me in His timing, so I wait......... God is always faithful to show me the warning signs of descending into a darkness where the enemy wants to keep me, but he will not win. God wants me in the light, He woos me to the light, He calls me His princess to walk in His light and embrace His truth. This ON HOLD moment isn't about me but about His perfect timing.

Disappointment stings as if stung by a bee, but if we reach for the light and keep our eyes on Him, He lifts us up! He is the lifter of our heads! As He lifts our head, the pain dulls and then is just a memory. He is Faithful! God is showing me so much on my freedom journey and we all have our own struggles for freedom, but One Fact Remains, God Wants us FREE and walking in His Light and Truth!

I have been listening to a new cd tonight as I battle and God has really ministered to me in it. Here are the words to Struck By the Beauty. Let these words wash over you and whatever your struggling with today and keep your eyes on Him and run to the LIGHT, I am waiting there for you and so is HE! He delights in you and you are His treasure! You are caught in His gaze!

A little bumpy today but still enjoying the ride......
Stacey

Struck By the Beauty

You found me in the darkness of my valley
You were there
You were there

And You pulled me out of darkness into Your glorious light
By Your love
By Your love

I have been struck by the beauty
By the beauty of the Lord
You have ravished my heart from the things of this world
You have lifted me up
Opened my heart and awakened my love

Now I am caught in a gaze
A gaze of the Lord
You have ravished my heart from the things of this world
You have lifted me up
Opened my heart and awakened my love

Now I have found a home where I belong
Within the arms of a Father who calls me His own.

Thanks for stopping by!

I've never had a blog before but it seems to be the thing to do these days. Since God is the one who told me to start a blog, I thought I should ask him what to name it. I had a lot of different names swirling aroung in my head but two words stood out more than the rest, ripples and WAVES.

God has been doing so much in my life these last 6 years, but most of my revelation has come in the last year. As I look back over my life experiences and choices I have made, I can put most things into the ripple category or the Wave category. Ripple means to flow with a light rise and fall and sometimes ripples can continue and have lasting impact on ourselves and those we love. Some revelations have a ripple effect and some revelations come in a wave! A wave is a disturbance on the surface, any surging or progressing movement, a swell, surge or rush. I have had so many Waves of Freedom these last few years and just as a wave can come along and consume us, I have been consumed by a God that loves me beyond comprehension.

Once a wave builds, it is extremely hard to get out of it's way as it pursues all that is in its path. I feel like God is pursuing me in this way as He is weeding out anything that might be in the way! I am quickly realizing that I don't want to get out of His way but want to embrace the wave of freedom that is washing over me.

What wave is trying to consume you right now and is it one you want to run from or one that you want to embrace? What is stopping you? God loves you and He is pursuing you like never before in this season!

Enjoying the ride
Stacey