From Sanctuary to Woodshed

My Pretty Purple Room is my haven.  It’s my go-to spot for when I want to relax, read, refresh, and reflect.  It’s where I do many of my Bible Studies, journaling, blogging, and enjoying my crafts.  It’s my sanctuary.

Not many folks are allowed in.  It’s sacred, in a sense, and must be enjoyed by those who enter into it.  It’s where I meet with God and feel closest to Him.

Imagine then, to my chagrin, when last night this place of beauty became one of beating.  My security nest became my courtroom and I was the one on trial.  

It all began innocently enough.  Steve had mentioned that he wanted to catch up with me on my studying on the Book of Proverbs so we verse by verse read and discussed Chapter 18.  We talked about many of the parallels we had noticed in biblical brothers and in a set of brothers we know fairly well.  And then, out of the blue, the conversation shifted and BAM!  Suddenly I was the brother.  I was the man with the broken spirit.  I was the offender.  In my tongue was the power of life and death--and death was what I was causing.

Oh so gently but with great compassion, my faults were laid out.  My transgressions that I had been unaware of were listed and brutal facts were bared as I realized what I thought was my place in actuality was not and the spankings began.  As each issue was confronted, I felt the sting of the chastening rod.  As my pride was dealt with, I reeled with the blows.  And as the lesson was explained, all I could do was cry hot tears of anger, frustration, and see that yes, indeed, I have been out of line, and the tears of guilt and shame flowed down my embarrassed cheeks.

I had no defense.  No excuses would cover my “crimes.”  No witnesses were called in to vouch for my character, for you see, my character had been already determined and found lacking.  The evidence of my behaviour was there in all its sad glory and I was found guilty.  And then came the sentencing stage.  My punishment was to...to change my ways.  To accept my mistakes and learn from them.  To be thankful for the opportunity to do better next time. And the next.  For you see, I am not held prisoner to a life-sentence of gloom and doom.  Instead, I am being released on my own recognizance.  

As I wrote in my thankful journal (the one I started the other day to write down one thing that brought me joy for each day), the tears of sorrow were tempered with joy because, you must understand, I realized that my God loves me.  My God loves me enough to chasten me, to correct me, to discipline me, to reprove me.  Reprove:  isn’t that a great word when read as re-prove?  It’s like one is given another opportunity to prove that s/he is worthy.

Here’s what I wrote.  Read it slowly, pausing after each phrase.  Feel my pain and then?  Experience my joy as again, I am reminded that God loves me, that my husband loves me enough to tell me the truth, and that between us all, hope arises for better.  Amen?

My PPR tonight became a woodshed experience.  So many hard truths were exposed and oh, how my flesh was...spanked?  No.  Torn apart?  Yeah.  Broken.  Cut.  Bruised.  

And I thank You, Lord God, that it was.  Yeah, it hurts but I know this discipline was necessary and I know I must let go of my desires and trust You for the greater good.  So, yes, thanks Lord for this woodshed experience.  May the wisdom taught to me tonight take root in my soul, be applied to my heart, and be exampled in my life is my prayer.  Amen.

Right Now

As I contemplate Part Two of my life verse for this year, woohoo!  I get to use another of my favorite all-time verses to go along with it.  Hot dog!  Can you guess what it is?  No?  Well, let’s re-read my life verse and then see if you get it, keeping in mind we’re going through this step by step.  Ready?

“The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands.” (2 Corinthians 8:10-12, The Message)

Did you guess correctly?  Here it is, one that is always a timely verse for us all (🕧):  

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”  (Ecclesiastes 3:1, King James Version)

Timing is everything and the best thing I can do when?  Right now.  Not tomorrow.  Not in a little while.  Not when I get all this other fluff dealt with but right now.  How many times have I put things off because I just didn’t want to deal with them?  My sweater can answer you that.  It has sat on my dresser for many months, awaiting its chance to be taken care of so that it could be worn instead of bundled up, useless, not serving its purpose.  Just look at this picture and see how pretty it is, now that I have sewn it back together!  If I had left it there, then you wouldn’t be seeing this sweet picture, nor how it brings out the blue in my eyes to match those of the clouds and the river.😛

Now, obviously, when I chose this life verse about completing what I had started last year I had more on my mind than this sweater.  But I had--have!!--to start somewhere, right?  Why not begin with what’s staring me right in the face?  If you’ve been to my Pretty Purple Room lately, you would also see something...um, not quite completed but definitely gaining a sense of order!  You might be shocked to see my room is not as chaotic as it has been for a while now as I am endeavoring to make it orderly and to tie up the many loose ends in it.  I’ll be there for a while so look for me there when you need me.

As I close today’s blog, I want to encourage you to start.  Somewhere.  Look at that glaring thing that won’t leave you alone until you deal with.  Maybe it’s your checkbook that needs tidied up.  Maybe it’s your closet that needs cleaned out.  Your kitchen (which, by the way, I also recently tackled and my drawers sure are sweet now that my silverware is separated, my cabinets are better defined, and my junk drawer even has a separator to keep it in some sense of arrangement).  Maybe it’s your sewing pile or your private dreams of getting to “one day.”  Maybe it’s even those feelings you’ve been putting aside, putting off dealing with, because you know when you do, things will be different and that difference scares you.  But again friends, let me encourage you to make this the day that you start.  Don’t feel overwhelmed and try to do it all today but at least try to make a dent in it, would you?  I think you will be glad you did!

Let’s pray!

Dear Lord, thank You for gentle proddings to get my butt out of this recliner and into the work arena.  There is so much that I need to finish and You and I both know how often I look at those things and give up before even trying because it just seems too big, too much, and too tedious.  You have commanded me to finish what I began, just as Paul spoke of in his writings to Your children in our daily walks with You, in our race to complete the job You assigned for each of us.

Help us all, I ask, to not be quitters.  And no, I’m not just referring to the box of cookies, the pack of chips, or the candy from Christmas that needs to be  eaten.  Sadly, although I wrote that with teasing in mind, some of us would rather turn to the fun stuff to complete and ignore the less-fun things to do, the things that require discipline.  Help us to throw out the things that hinder us, that weigh us down (in more ways than one), and help us to not hang on to things, Lord, that should have been let go of a long time ago.  Mmn hmn.  Those things, Father, that only serve a purpose of harm because their reminders gently prick us of things we don’t need to be considering.  Prick, I say, because Lord You know if they were objects of comfort then they wouldn’t jab at us and open those wounds and irritate the scars that they initially left behind.

I love You, Lord God, and ask You to keep us on the ball.  Or in my case, in my Pretty Purple Room where so much still needs to be done. May the things I complete bring honor to You, satisfaction to me, and help others to see Your glory in my life is my earnest prayer.  In the abiding name of Christ Jesus I ask this:  amen.