Too much activity going on and no time to sit down to write. Sometimes life has a way of throwing us into a tail spin and it takes all we have just to hang on. The biggest and best event that has happened in a long time is the birth of my first grandchild, Isiah Atlante Giovara. There are no words to describe this event so I can't say to much more than a door of love has opened and I am running,leaping,crashing through into grandparent heaven. Along this journey I can foresee that there will be many new experiences with this child as well as his parents. As I seek to walk deeper in the Spirit, I am contemplating how much I need to stop every now and then and not run too far ahead. Sometimes my emotions get the best of me and I can trip and fall into a pit of self doubt. It's hard to not think that all of life's experiences are about you. It's never about you rather always the other person and the sooner you die to the notion that the world revolves around your little life the better. Anyway we had four days in Pittsburgh sharing the beautiful birth of Isiah with Eli and Jill and we are now home and back in the groove and they are day by day learning how to maneuver life as a family.
I started writing a few notes on the subject of consistency last week and then couldn't be consistent enough to sit down and write. Maybe God was showing me something through it all. Still everywhere I turned the word consistent kept coming up so I know that this is an area I need to look at. I have always been a person, from the time I was little, that would come up with grandiose plans and then never follow through to the finish. I just can't seen to stay on target with a passion. My journal writing is my most consistent thing I do and even then I can go weeks at a time with nothing to say. I make great starts then slowly fizzle out. I don't think God looks on and says,"that was a great intention." I'm even starting to think that He waits to see how serious we really are as to what we believe. It's like paying someone to do a job before the job is done. I have done that a few times and gotten burned. In hindsight I would think, "why did I pay the guy upfront.' He either did a half way job or in one instance he did half a days work, went to lunch and never came back. I learned my lesson through these experiences and so now I wait,evaluate and then reward. Maybe God does the same thing. Your relationship with Christ has to be anchored to a source that is consistent and daily, not occasional. The reward comes later and that sometimes is the hard part.
Ira and I have committed to a daily prayer time before we leave the house. Sometimes it's easy and some mornings when we're both racing around it becomes a little difficult but I am trying to not look at it as something we are just fitting in when we have the time. I am looking at it as a commitment that will be producing a great reward in our lives and in the people we pray for.
Spiritual consistency - the kind where you keep gaining ground instead of just gaining and losing the same ground over and over again - that kind of spiritual consistency is anchored first to this daily, non-negotiable time with the Lord. The fuel for your faith has to be a daily time in His Word, looking for a practical step of obedience for that 24 hours. Your life is one day at a time and in God's Word to us, He only promises us daily bread.
Spiritual consistency also means a fresh, daily surrender of your life and the things that really matter to you. You have to learn the power of resisting the devil instead of just allowing him to manipulate you through your feelings. Remember, if you "resist the devil," then "he will flee from you" (James 4:7 ).
If I can make each new day a new beginning then I can stop trying to keep the last high moment in my life alive and instead press on to all the good things that lie ahead. I've ridden this spiritual roller coaster long enough and to me this deeper walk in the Spirit is a life that is consistently trusting that God has a plan for my life and as I depend on His leading for each day, it will come into being.
My sweet Gabriel has returned home from Hawaii and he and the love of his life Katie are desiring to maybe start a little cafe here in the mountains. Yes, my passions run ahead and envision marriage and babies and something we could all do together but I am trying to take a deep breath and let God work. If it is to be, it will be. In the mean time we are all bonding as a family,seeking God's Word on each decision we must make and WAITING....the hard part!!
