When too Many Memories are Forming at Once... & How to Not Keep Up!

This week has come at me full on - with bossy lists, extra tasks, an attack on my sinuses and a broken/crashed PC... not to mention Senior Prom shopping (Oh My - you should SEE the dress!), Graduation Announcement mailing, and finally buying those little Black Folders and the Gold Pens... (sigh!) Yeah - stuff just got real!

It's so official... my girlie couldn't even put her portraits into the folders, so I waited and did it after she fell asleep last night! She WILL have to write in them on her own... and will need lots of fluid and boxes of tissues, I am sure!  She's an Only... and she's never been very fond of change... as much as I have been posting about the coming changes - I don't want to give the impression that I am in the fetal position in the middle of the day (at least not quite yet!)... there are actually many parts of it that I am looking forward to and I am super excited for all that God has in store for her... and for us!  It dawned on me today that she graduates in one month... one month?

We hadn't even done the math because this--? This is a CRAZY week!  My girlie turns 18 on Friday... her Senior Prom is on Saturday, (Mother's Day is Sunday) and that all requires some extra errands: hair and nail appointments, gift buying, dress & shoe shopping, cake making, & flower ordering.  Add to all of that, her work schedule, my writing schedule (or lack thereof), Dave's responsibilities, and our house battling sickness.

Many of the things coming at us fast are memories in the making and they are all at the end of a Season.  So - of course - they feel so important and vital and this stirs up my perfectionistic tendencies and desire to get it right!  I had felt like I had been in a fog (thanks to my sinuses!), and dragging behind, not quite able to catch back up when my Tuesday small group showed up this morning and I had no plan in place... no activity mapped out... no energy or study time to just whip up something awesome on the spur of the moment!

But as I was feeling exhausted and inept, God reminded me of a little (or not so little) piece of Awesome that now resides annoyingly in my Living Room!  We have lived in this house for nearly 18 years (note: Remember - our Only is not a fan of change!) and we have NEVER had a television in this room.  We have a family room downstairs - which is where this new purchase will live eventually - but for now - it's been in the corner of our quiet living room - loudly vying for attention (even when turned off! It's just ridiculously big!)  However - this morning, I was glad for it's need for attention, and for the fact that it is pretty Smart too. I typed in "Emily Freeman" on my YouTube app and stumbled upon our lesson for the day!

We watched all four sessions of "Letting Go of the Try Hard Life"... and my if this wasn't EXACTLY what we all needed to hear today!  Then - in another inspired moment of brilliance, on a whim - I typed in "Grace Williams" and we cranked up the worship and invited Him in to speak to our hearts... to silence the Good Girl voices and to show us how to Do Less, and how to Be More!

Well - when we but shift our attention toward Him, and ask Him a question with an open heart, He just loves to swoop right in.  This is what He had to say to my heart (and I am guessing that if I needed to hear it, well - then it's quite possible that you do too!) :

"Instead of you being the perfect (fill-in-the-blank) - how about you let Me be Perfect?  How about you take Me with you in all your imperfections and let Me shine, and heal, and purify?  How about when you feel overwhelmed and inadequate, when you feel like you're not doing it right, or getting it right - not seeing it right or writing it right or saying it right, you stop and you allow Me to show you how I Am seeing you, right there - in that moment?  Feel My love and adoration, my joy and satisfaction in you... breathe it in and stand taller, My Bride, and step into all that you ARE - by simply being!

So when life is unfolding and coming at you fast... when you find yourself striving to DO Perfect, you may just find that you are forgetting to BE with Me! I am in you and you are in Me... when you are feeling oh so late and like you just can't keep up... this is how you do it:  stop rushing through... let go of keeping up and instead, on purpose - with purpose - S-L-O-W it down a bit, breathe deep, and remember to invite Me in.  

Remember that you gave Me your heart... it is Mine now! You invited me in and I abide in you... with you...  Hear this Child: You are enough... you Do enough!  You go with Me and together, we flow... we dance... we pour out Love and we fling seeds of Hope... we, My Dear, make a great and powerful and Oh-So-Effective team!"

I don't know about you, but I needed those words today!
I am enough... because He is enough... and when I simply invite Him in,
we are able to partner up and I can be fully present in the moment...
trusting that when I am in His Presence, I am not just keeping up...

I am overcoming and overflowing and THAT--? That is what it's all about!

Speak Life.  Be Love.  Shine On.
~Karrilee~