What a Day!!

WARNING: THIS WILL BE A LONG POST!!!

Today has been an amazing day. God has opened my eyes to see so many things in a new way.

First of all I have been compelled to study the life of David over the past few weeks. I have been looking for a book to help me do a character study of David. My friend Tyler suggested that I read DAVID: A Man of Passion and Destiny by Charles Swindoll. Considering one of my bibles is the Living Insights Bible with commentary by Charles Swindoll I figured it would be a good read.

It is better than I expected. I have only read the first two chapters and I have already learned so much. Here are a few tid bits for you. David had three very big qualities that God was looking for in a Servant Leader. First their Spirituality, a person who's heart is completely His. Second is humility, a person who has a servants heart. Third is integrity. "He's [God] looking for deeply spiritual, genuinely humble, honest-to-the-core servants who have integrity." This is the kind of man God saw in David and why He called him an man after His own heart. These are qualities we should all seek to have in our own lives.

What stuck me the most was when he spoke of David's training. "His [David's] training ground was lonely, obscure, monotonous, and real." David was a Shepard boy, he spent most of his time in the fields alone, only the sheep and nature were his companions. He was the most unlikely person to be named the next King of Israel. His own father even overlooked him. He spent everyday of his life doing the same thing, watching sheep, with nobody else around to make sure he was doing his job. Though amidst that daily routine he had reality hit him in the face. When his sheep were in danger he knew what to do to save them.

I really related to these four ideas of David's training. It seems the last few years of my life have fit these categories well. Today I really contemplated the idea of solitude. Being a very social person, in the past the idea of spending a day alone and especially living alone scared me. If I was alone then I had to have the TV, music, or something happening so that I wouldn't feel so alone. However, I have noticed that in course of the last two years God has been teaching me the value of solitude. Now don't get me wrong I totally love being around people and I don't feel that God wants us to all be hermits. I do think that he does call us away from everything for a time being just to be alone with him with no distractions.

Just like when you first wake up and you turn on the TV in the morning it seems like it is blaring. It is at the exact same volume level you had left it at the night before but our ears are more attuned to the sounds around us in the morning because they haven't been bombarded with all of the noise and chaos that happens during the day. Our hearts are the same way, we need to spend time alone, in silence to get rid of all the noise and chaos in our minds. We need to give ourselves a break so that our hearts are more attuned to the still small voice of God.

In light of this new insight I really loved my time spent today with God. I didn't watch TV, didn't turn on the radio, I just stopped and listened today. When I went running it was amazing to hear the birds singing, see the flowers blooming, and know that through all of that God is creating me to be the woman he has called me to be. A woman passionately in love with my God.

Second cool thing about today actually relates to the first: In the second chapter Charles Swindoll listed three timeless lessons that we can learn from God's selection process of David. One: God's solutions are often strange and simple, so be open. Two: God's promotions are usually sudden and surprising, so be ready. Three: God's selections are always sovereign and sure, so be sensitive. In the light of being a single girl who longs to be married to an amazing man of God these three lessons really stood out to me. That in the light of all that is happening in my life right now I need to be open to even the simplest of things God brings my way, I need to be ready for anything to happen, and I need to be sensitive to the leading of the Lord. God wants his best for me and will let me know when that one comes around as long as I let him be in charge of the selection process. I was reminded yet again that

Third cool thing about today: I love when God uses us in unexpected ways to touch others lives. In short yesterday I gave my friend Tyler the book To Own a Dragon: Reflections on Growing Up Without a Father, by Donald Miller. Without saying to much this has been a difficult area of Tyler's life. Today he posted to his Xanga that God opened his eyes to see that he has always had a Father. Maybe not an earthly Father but a heavenly Father that loves him with a great passion. He said he stopped to watch the sunrise as he was driving to Kansas City this morning and swore that in that moment that sunrise was a gift just for him from his Father.

Needless to say as I read his blog I began to cry with tears of joy. My prayers for Tyler are being answered. Above all else I have prayed that God would shower him with His love and show Tyler that he is loved with a passionate love. Really that is my prayer for everyone. It is amazing that to know that God chose to give me the honor of being a small part of someone coming to know a deeper dimension of God's heart toward them.

So there were some other cool things that happened today too but this is already really long and these three were the biggest. All I can say is God is SOOOOOOO GOOOOD!! I am in love with Christ and there is no other that can ever take his place in my life.