A Quiet Morning

It's an overcast, spring-y, Sunday morning. My alarm clock quietly clicked on at 6:15, and I quickly silenced it so as to not wake up my sweet husband who enjoys sleeping past 4:40 AM on weekends. Getting up that early is a Monday through Friday occurence for him. I slipped out of bed, tiptoed quietly to the master bath, freshened up my ponytail and slipped on yesterday's jeans which were waiting for me in the closet. I padded into the kitchen and poured a welcomed cup of Starbuck's French Roast, waiting for me thanks to the timer on my coffee maker. I glanced upstairs to make sure I saw signs of life in my daughter's room, and saw the faint glow of her bathroom light shining through the crack of her bedroom door. She is a typical teenager who loves her sleep, but she faithfully gets up early on Sunday mornings to be at the church by 7:00 AM to work in our church cafe, making espresso to the glory of God and earning money for her mission trip account. (We attend church on Saturday nights as a family.) I sat in our quiet living room, ready with my car keys and coffee. Those seem to be the two main ingredients necessary for the life of this mom some days!

I drove home from the church in the dark, listening to Travis Cottrell's beautiful rendition of Psalm 145 (Forevermore) and thinking of what a wonderful God we serve. What a privilege to be one of His children! Moments ago my husband and son left, fishing poles in hand, for some much-needed father-son time down at the lake.

So here I sit, in my quiet house, the strains of Psalm 145 still playing in my head and heart:

"One generation will commend Your works to another
They will speak of the splendor of Your majesty
They will tell of the tell of the power of Your awesome works
They will celebrate Your abundant goodness
And joyfully sing..."

Have I commended His works to my children enough this past week? Oh, I hope so. I will make more of an effort to do that in the coming week. God has been teaching me so much lately about His sufficiency. The Scripture that has been rolling around in my head the past couple of weeks is 2 Peter 1:3~

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and goodness."

That's what I want! A life of godliness! I somehow imagine a "godly" life as a someday-I'll-get-it sort of life. Once I learn enough or pray enough or serve enough or go through enough trials... it'll finally add up to "a life of godliness." A "life of godliness" seems like such a struggle most days, when I'm just trying to have a good attitude while homeschooling, answering phone calls, doing house chores, or serving in a ministry. I look at others who I imagine live a "life of godliness," but most of the time I don't see myself as one of those people. Of course, I wonder if those who truly live a godly life think to themselves, "I sure am living a godly life." Probably not.

What has struck me this past week as I have mulled that scripture over and over is that He has given us "everything we need." Has given us. It's not a yet-to-be-attained thing for those who are in Christ. The "knowledge of Him" in that passage refers to a saving knowledge through Jesus Christ. Why do I keep trying to add to it? His divine power has already given me everything I need for a life of godliness. If a life of godliness is what I truly want, then I have all I need in Him. The truth is that at times I want a life of godliness and a life of... comfort, thinness, attractiveness, intelligence, wellness, financial success, etc., etc... OR, at times I think that for my life of godliness I need God plus a prewritten Bible study, mission work, good works, etc... I'm always trying to add to either the life I want or the means to godliness. I wonder why that is? Something to continue to pray about.

It's a quiet morning in bloggy-ville, too. I love it, because I know that most of you are at church (I'm sure we "Saturday night attenders" are in the minority.) I am praying for you this morning as well, and all the services that are being held in His name at this very moment. God is doing a mighty work in this generation and in His church. If you are reading this, know that I prayed for you this morning. I prayed for all who might happen upon this blog today.

Have a blessed Sunday and an abundant week!