An Elegant Economy

All my life, I have desired to be wealthy.  I don't know where it came from other than God, but it is there.  I do believe I had the desire without understanding what the desire was.  More money does not make you more refined or more tasteful, it just gives you more money.  I found that what I really wanted was to be refined and special and sparkling.  I also found that I could achieve that by adopting an elegant economy.  I found that I could actually give up more and look better with less.  Who would have thought it..........

You can't put new wine............

As a child, there was a time when I wore a lot of clothes from Goodwill's, rummage sales, and thrift stores.  I had an older cousin who blessed me with her hand-me-downs.  I like her hand-me-downs.  Actually, I liked my clothes.  I did not have a problem with thrifty living.  Even with my comfortability, there still was a time, when you had to have a new dress.  I liked that time.  I am talking about something right off the rack and worn for the first time.  Some moments in life are new experiences all together.  God can't attach any more cloth to the old garment.  He can't put this new wine moment into old wineskins.  He has to have a new garment for the new moment and new wine for the new moment.  I have a feeling that what is to come in my life is something that has never been seen before, it has never been experienced before.  I can't even prepare for it because nothing in my life comes remotely close to what is coming now.  Eyes have not seen it.  Ears have not heard it.  The prophets can't discern it.  The scholar strains to learn it.  The Pastor can't preach it.  The teacher can't teach it.  The bird can't sing it and the dreamer can't dream it.  What wonderful things lay in the mind of God that causes the earth to moan and groan for him to reveal it.  I can't wait.  I can't wait.  I can't wait.  I can't wait..............................................................................................I can't wait.

Chaos creaters

Today, right at the end, there was chaos.  I mean, I could barely get my coat on before chaos came strutting through the hallway.  It was looking to deposit something.  Maybe a seed of discord or an uncomfortable feeling.  It came hoping to spread a little of it's misery into my life.  I knew that had to be dealt with and I dealt with it.  I dealt with it by inviting it to come and sit in my presence and be open and honest.  That just kills people when you invite them to stop whispering and stop telling tales and stop ranting to passers-by.  I invited chaos to come in a structured manner where the words can be weighed and apologies given if they are needed at all.  Chaos hates that.  She wants to remain aloof and alone and hurt and hurtful.   She wants to walk past you with something in the air that brings the patheticness that is her dwelling place.  She has no peace and those who are around her will have no peace either.  I find that dealing with her is like dealing with a troublesome dog.  If you don't run from her, she looses interest and she chases after the cat.

Did not our hearts burn

There were two disciples who were on the road to  Emmaus (hot springs) when they met someone who appeared to be a stranger.  This stranger began to speak and expound in scripture.  I don’t know if it was how he did it, or the words he said or the ease in which he said it, but when he left, he left an impression.  I don’t know how long I am going to be in your life.  I am not guaranteed to be alive tomorrow, but when I lay down, I want to leave an impression on the world that I live in.  I guess that is to live dynamically.  Some people live and die not caring about the impact that they have on their very own lives.  That would be torture for me.  Each night I want to lay down like the sun that impacted the entire world.  When it slips beyond the horizon, you long for it.  The two on the road felt like they had a spa treatment on their hearts.  It was so good and refreshing to speak to him whom they never knew the identity of.  A real impression is one that does not have to come and announce that it is impressive.  It is not impressive because of the plumes and feathers.  It is not impressive because of past deeds rehearsed for all to know and respect.  A true impression is relevant, and awe-inspiring, and real, and like you’re talking to a long lost friend.

---

 

Hotdog buns

There are few loves in life, like the love of something that is consistently the same all your life.  For me that is hot dogs.  I love hot dogs.  Growing up, they were the cheapest form of protein that I could have and afford.  I mean, when I was younger, you could go to Aldi's and get a pack of hot dogs and a loaf of bread for under a dollar.  If you add another dime or so, you can get a soda for fifteen cents.  Hot dogs were a staple, like rice and potatoes.  Though we ate hot dogs, we never bought hot dog buns.  My mother thought them to be a waste.  Why buy buns when the hot dogs taste just as good on bread.  I don't even remember feeling bad about hot dogs on bread.  At other people's home, I had buns and at school, I had buns, but never at home.  I am remembering this now because I am at a place of blessing where buns are no longer a luxury.  They aren't something you get when you go to your rich aunt's house.  Buns are a part of my life like good soap, and fine perfume, and fresh fish, and medicine.  I have to strain my brain to remember when bread was my only option.  I have more options than I have ever had in my life.  I have more money than I ever had in my life and I don't have to shop low, but I still do just to save a few dollars here and there.  God can bless you so well, that you have to strain to remember the way we were.