Redeeming Our Imaginations

Today is my "personal day".

Don't have one?

You should get one!

Treavor is graciously watching the three little nuggets today as I get extra sleep, extra time with Jesus, extra en-visioned and extraordinarily enjoyable time to myself.  Wow.  For an extreme extrovert (love the "ex-" words?  sheesh...) like me, I never KNEW that I'd need more time alone during the day.  You more secure introverts are shrugging your shoulders right now.  What's the big deal?  Right?

With the addition of children over the years, and the emotional pressures of living in a foreign country, I am finding that sometimes I just need just 5 minutes to myself every now and then.  Just to walk.  Just to read.  Just to dream.  Alone.  By myself.  With no noise.  And no one to have to be "responsible for" for just a few precious moments. 

Throughout my days, I am finding it more and more difficult to remember my first Love, too.  Jesus.  He is with me.  He is my ever-present Help.  He is my Father.  He is my Teacher.  He is my Strength!  These are truths - but they are easily forgotten when my mind is over-run, over-spent with other thoughts.

And, for me, with running a house, homeschooling, learning, cleaning, LIVING, it is too easy for me to lose sight of Him.

This morning as I prayed to be re-fueled yet again, He led me to remember a fun activity to waken up my senses to His presence in my every-day... 

A fun, sweet and very wise gal, Dorothy, once taught a group of women about it: using our imaginations to enter into the Presence of God...and to ultimately be ushered into the reality that He is Emmanuel (God WITH us!). 

How to Awaken your Imagination to the Presence of God: (the Cliff's notes, according to Alina's memory version)

1.  Get in a quiet, undisturbed place.
2.  Pray that God would free up your cluttered mind to hear His Voice only.  Pray that the enemies of our minds; the flesh, the world and the devil - would be silenced.
3.  Close your eyes.
4.  Picture yourself in a free, beautiful, undisturbed place.  (A field ripe with flowers, a mountain-top, an ocean, even a beautifully decorated mansion - whatever you like!)
5.  Now, imagine yourself in that place.  With Jesus. 
6.  Then, let the Holy Spirit lead you through a day, or hour, etc. with Him.  Keep your eyes closed and fix your mind's eye on what He looks like, what He sounds like, what you would do together.  Some people dance!   Some people just want to sit and cry.  Some people will talk and dream together.  Some will sit still and quiet.  It is YOUR own time with Him.

Today, I actually imagined Him with me in a "typical" day at the house.  Kids, husband and all.  Cooking.  Cleaning.  Diaper changing!  He held my hand as we walked down the stairs to start the coffee pot.  He led me through a sweet time of worshipping the Father.  He helped me to bend down and get eye-to-eye with my kids.  He walked with me and the family as we went to order our lunch - teaching me how to share His love with the waitresses and neighbors on my street.  He was with me as I chose to be diligent with my hands and do yet-unfinished projects in my home. 

He was with me.  He was smiling. 

After finishing my sweet time of prayer...He reminded me that this doesn't have to be just a daydream. 
If I truly believe that He is never far, that He hears my every thought and plea for help, that He says that He is "enough," then my dreams can be redeemed and they can fuel my reality.  This isn't a "think it and it will be" sort of idea.  It is a renewing of our minds that His Spirit is literally with us and is HELPING us - wanting to talk with us - never wanting us to feel ALONE in life! 

That was God's original intent: to walk with us, as He did with the first man and woman.  They forsook this intimacy for their own gain, and they lost it all.

I want it back!  Do you?

Try it out today.  Get in a quiet place.  Quiet your mind.  Awaken your heart to His Presence!

{{{ this is a repost...hope you enjoyed it for the first time or read it to be encouraged again }}}