But, I am not an expert firemaker. As a matter of fact, I think it was three years before Gavin taught me enough tricks that I could (somewhat) effortlessly get one started. I am also not a great fire-tender. I wanna start it and then let it tend to itself! I don't like getting up off the couch every so often to stoke the fire, add logs, move stuff ... that defeats my being warm, cozy and comfy on the couch. But, if I don't do that ... it burns out and I have to start all over again with my not so stella firestarting skills (which are worse than my fire tending skills) and well, you get the picture. Plus, if I keep the fire tended, the red embers at the bottom actually are hot enough that they will spontaneously ignite new logs. Score, huh?
This morning in the Grace for the Good Girl book we were talking about our spiritual life in these terms (and by "we" ... I guess I mean, Emily). See, we do the same thing with our spiritual life when we relegate it to just a morning quiet time or just a Sunday service or just a Bible study or just a week at camp or on a mission trip. We start the fire and then, without tending it, let it burn until it dies. And then, we start is again, from scratch.
When instead, we should be stoking the flames all throughout the day, throughout the week, throughout the year ... our time with God doesn't just have to be our morning time in prayer ... our "quiet time" ... what if that was just adding fuel, but what if we also stoked the fire as we drove to work and turned off the noise to just listen to God or to pray? What if we responded to God's leading to call or email a friend during the day, further stoking that fire? What if we meditated on scripture as we fixed dinner? What if we didn't have to start the fire each day? What if the embers from today were warm enough to ignite the fuel for tomorrow because we tended our "fire"?
Isn't that part of giving thanks? Seeing God, in the every day parts of life ... in the daily stuff ... giving thanks, giving grace, giving credit to the One who has done it ...
906. students responding to the thankful board today
907. great conversations at free lunch
908. random texts that encourage
909. students feeling called to missions
910. telling God stories
911. finding strength for each part of today
912. looking at apartments with Callie
913. Wells putting her arms up for me
914. making it through another week
915. thank you's
916. getting tasks done
917. Mexican Thanksgiving
918. watching students dance and sing in the kitchen
919. being accepted
920. hanging on
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