Too busy?
Heard a story from my sister this morning (who by the way writes way better than I do - http://sennafirenze.blogspot.com). I'm going to try and retell it to the best of my ability:
She met with an elderly woman who I consider to be my only grandmother (all my grandparents passed away :( sad)
They met for lunch and one thing you have to know about this lady is that she has no active job, lives alone and has been alone for a large portion of her life (she became a widow very young and never remarried).
Because my sister knew this, she asked her a simply question, "What do you do everyday?"
She replied, "Oh, I'm so busy!"
To this my sister assumed she was like a typical elderly woman who went out to meet other elderly people and hang out in parks and Mcdonalds.
But her response was not like that of any ordinary elderly woman.
She said, "I wake up in the early morning and I open my bible and pray. I sing songs to Jesus and I have my own worship service. Then I turn on the Korean Christian channel and I worship Jesus again through that and I get so blessed."
She then told a story of how one time she felt distant from Jesus and she prayed to Him, pleading with Him why He felt so far and wasn't speaking to her like He normally would. (she has moments where she literally hears from the Lord)
And so after pleading with the Lord, she fell asleep and to her testimony said that when she woke up, she say Jesus next to her.
When asked by by my sister, "why didn't you ever remarry?"
Her response, "Jesus is my bridegroom!"
These responses, a simple sharing of the daily life of a woman who seemingly has every right to be lonely but instead considers her life so "busy" with simply knowing and loving Jesus, brought y sister to tears. I assume because the simple devotion of this woman to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, was so organic, so real, so unashamed and so unpretentious - She loved Jesus and it was evident in every area of her life.
My thoughts as I heard this story:
1. We are NOT too busy.
I hate when people say they are too busy. I hate it when I say I am too busy. We are NOT too busy. We are not too busy - we are simply too preoccupied. Usually with trivial things.
But are we "busy" knowing and loving Jesus? Can we say our day is so PACKED with knowing and loving Him and every area of our lives?
2. I sleep too much.
I can only speak for myself but I sleep too much. I attempting to operate with 6 hours of sleep and it is like torture trying to wake up. Yes, medical science says that 8 hours is what you need, but I see stories upon stories of spiritual giants of old that operated with far less sleep. As the famous Martin Luther quote goes, "I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer."
3. I need/want people like this in my life
These people, wise beyond their years, are a real blessing and a grace of God to know and have in your life. If you have people like this, grab hold of them, meet with them, learn from them, love them and be loved by them. (I've received the latter from her for so long)
4. I want my words to have weight
This lady has always without fail, told me that she is praying for me. Whenever I had a trip overseas for missions even as a student, she said she would pray for me. She prayed for my mom even before she was sick. She loved my mom and I remember the many tears in her eyes when she spoke of her when my mom would be too sick to come to church.
People like her are people you can trust when they say, "I'm praying for you." When other people say that to me, I know they mean well..but even I sometimes blurt out that line and forget about my commitment. Or, I sometimes say, "I'll pray for you," and I immediately start praying for them on the spot because I know I won't remember to later.
But when she tells me she is praying for me, I believe it without a doubt.
I want my words to hold that kind of weight as well.
Lord, may it be so!
She met with an elderly woman who I consider to be my only grandmother (all my grandparents passed away :( sad)
They met for lunch and one thing you have to know about this lady is that she has no active job, lives alone and has been alone for a large portion of her life (she became a widow very young and never remarried).
Because my sister knew this, she asked her a simply question, "What do you do everyday?"
She replied, "Oh, I'm so busy!"
To this my sister assumed she was like a typical elderly woman who went out to meet other elderly people and hang out in parks and Mcdonalds.
But her response was not like that of any ordinary elderly woman.
She said, "I wake up in the early morning and I open my bible and pray. I sing songs to Jesus and I have my own worship service. Then I turn on the Korean Christian channel and I worship Jesus again through that and I get so blessed."
She then told a story of how one time she felt distant from Jesus and she prayed to Him, pleading with Him why He felt so far and wasn't speaking to her like He normally would. (she has moments where she literally hears from the Lord)
And so after pleading with the Lord, she fell asleep and to her testimony said that when she woke up, she say Jesus next to her.
When asked by by my sister, "why didn't you ever remarry?"
Her response, "Jesus is my bridegroom!"
These responses, a simple sharing of the daily life of a woman who seemingly has every right to be lonely but instead considers her life so "busy" with simply knowing and loving Jesus, brought y sister to tears. I assume because the simple devotion of this woman to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, was so organic, so real, so unashamed and so unpretentious - She loved Jesus and it was evident in every area of her life.
My thoughts as I heard this story:
1. We are NOT too busy.
I hate when people say they are too busy. I hate it when I say I am too busy. We are NOT too busy. We are not too busy - we are simply too preoccupied. Usually with trivial things.
But are we "busy" knowing and loving Jesus? Can we say our day is so PACKED with knowing and loving Him and every area of our lives?
2. I sleep too much.
I can only speak for myself but I sleep too much. I attempting to operate with 6 hours of sleep and it is like torture trying to wake up. Yes, medical science says that 8 hours is what you need, but I see stories upon stories of spiritual giants of old that operated with far less sleep. As the famous Martin Luther quote goes, "I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer."
3. I need/want people like this in my life
These people, wise beyond their years, are a real blessing and a grace of God to know and have in your life. If you have people like this, grab hold of them, meet with them, learn from them, love them and be loved by them. (I've received the latter from her for so long)
4. I want my words to have weight
This lady has always without fail, told me that she is praying for me. Whenever I had a trip overseas for missions even as a student, she said she would pray for me. She prayed for my mom even before she was sick. She loved my mom and I remember the many tears in her eyes when she spoke of her when my mom would be too sick to come to church.
People like her are people you can trust when they say, "I'm praying for you." When other people say that to me, I know they mean well..but even I sometimes blurt out that line and forget about my commitment. Or, I sometimes say, "I'll pray for you," and I immediately start praying for them on the spot because I know I won't remember to later.
But when she tells me she is praying for me, I believe it without a doubt.
I want my words to hold that kind of weight as well.
Lord, may it be so!
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