Monthly Archives: July 2022

July 22, 2022 · 11:53 pm

Friday “Walks”–Jesus Is Even in the Mundane, Ordinary Work

Photo Credit: P. Booher

One afternoon I was at the laundromat, putting clothes in the washer. It was an ordinary household chore–nothing glamorous–it just needed done.

Suddenly I sensed the Lord’s Presence beside me, and I felt as though I was doing the clothes for Jesus. It seemed odd, because doing the clothes is such a mundane thing, and no one would benefit except my mother and me.

The thought occurred to me that Jesus cares if people have clean clothes. That thought changed my perspective, and doing laundry was lifted from the mundane to an activity I was glad to do because I was doing it to serve Jesus.

As I reflected on this, I remembered Jesus doing a mundane, even dirty chore, normally left to slaves– washing His disciples’ feet. Jesus is no stranger to doing the ordinary things of life that must be done.
Because He knows what it’s like, I can ask Him for help with my attitude. Because of Him, I can find joy in doing the ordinary things.

Some Scriptures: John 13: 1-15, Colossians 3:17, 22, 23

©P. Booher

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July 12, 2022 · 5:27 pm

Re-Blogging: Renovation

I enjoyed reading this post by Gracespeak. It’s well worth sharing.

GraceSpeak

Turn on your television, and you will find a home improvement or makeover show. Renovation is the going thing. People are updating, creating, repairing, and they are telling everyone else about it.

Even our bluebirds got into the action this year. Our family put up a beautiful new birdhouse, but it evidently did not quite meet Mrs. Bluebird’s ideal. When we went out to look, we found that on the sections where they nested the entry holes had been painstakingly enlarged. They renovated!

One of the residents

I confess, however, that the renovation shows frustrate me. They spend way too much time on the details of demolition, foundation repair, and other behind the scenes work. I just want to see the before, the plan, and the finished product, with lots of attention to the finished project. When I stream a show, I often fast forward to the last few minutes…

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July 4, 2022 · 11:25 pm

This Is Important to Me

For most of my life I’ve listened to voices in my head. The voices belong to authoritative people from my past. They say things like, “Why do you want to do that?” “Why bother with that?”

It’s likely the questions were designed to help me see I needed to put some more thought into what I was proposing. But the tone in the questions led me to believe the speaker didn’t take me seriously or worse, considered me stupid. I lacked the inner resolve to take the matter any further and didn’t know how to figure out solutions for the problems. I dropped the matter, even though I considered it important.

At this late stage I’m finally learning I have to take the position of: “This (whatever it is) is important to me. It is what I’m going to pay attention to, no matter what you say.” I’m learning no one gives that right to me; I have to take it, and be prepared to stick to it.

Writing is the activity which allowed me to realize this. I believe my desire to write is something God gave me. To other people He gave an enthusiasm for sculpting, or working on cars, or decorating, or any number of endeavors. To me He gave an enthusiasm for writing. It is that thing which makes me say, “This is important to me”.

I decided I can take that example of inner resolve and extend it to other areas. There are places where I need to speak up.

©P. Booher

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July 1, 2022 · 2:24 pm

Friday “Walks”–Bringing Order

Photo Credit: P. Booher

I had looked at the unkempt grass under the peony bush and around the flower beds long enough, so I grabbed a pair of grass shears, brought the garden cart, rake, and pitchfork out to the yard, and went to work.

As I trimmed the grass and weeds, the thought occurred to me that I was bringing order back to those spaces. On a much, much smaller scale I was reflecting what God did when He created the world and set it in order. 

When I pray for people, organizations, countries, or whatever the situation, in a sense I am asking God to bring order to those situations. His order may involve providing needs, resolving problems, bringing healing to fractured relationships, or peace to upheaval. Jesus brought order as He calmed storms, healed people, and illustrated God’s Kingdom in these and many other ways.

I am thankful God still works today to bring order, and I can participate in His work, albeit in a small way!

Some Scriptures: Genesis 1:1-31, Matthew 8:23-27, Matthew 15:29-31, Matthew 15:32-38, Luke 8:26-39

©P. Booher

 

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