Night

So I was reading about Solitude in the book The Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster today and came across the idea of "the dark night of the soul". Now, I am not a stranger to this concept of a night in the Christian faith. However, while reading this passage, I was struck by the possibility of a second meaning. I believe there is and can be a difference between the dark, cold and lonely night and one filled with peace, growth and joy.

The difference between a dark, cold, lonely and bitter night and the one more beautiful, lovely and joyful that the brightest day is who we spend it with.

A night, removed from the crowd, separate, intimate and passionate is the fuel that feeds our daily relationship. That sort of night is what gives birth to fruitfulness in our lives.

In the same vein, even a night alone, dark, solitude and yearning, when taken from this point of view, only causes to deepen the hunger for Him whom we long.

When we encounter the dark night of the soul, let us be encouraged. Let us recognize our deep and abiding love for the One that we miss, the one that we long for. Let us search Him out and take peace in the fact that He will find us. It will not be long until our desire will be fulfilled.

¹ All night long on my bed

I looked for the one my heart loves;

I looked for him but did not find him.

² I will get up now and go about the city,

through its streets and squares;

I will search for the one my heart loves.

So I looked for him but did not find him.

³ The watchmen found me

as they made their rounds in the city.

“Have you seen the one my heart loves?”

⁴ Scarcely had I passed them

when I found the one my heart loves.

I held him and would not let him go...

(Song of Song 3:1-4a)

Prequalification Survey for Prospects of the Male Variety

Prequalification Survey for Prospects

Prepared by Anna Jefferis

(Real estate is really starting to get to me...)

Section One

Name as appears on Drivers Licence

Full Address

Is this your current place of residence?

Phone Number

Email address

Blogs/Website/Twitter/Youtube channel

Date of Birth

Education

Employment

Employer’s Contact information

Previous places of residence

Three references. One (1) family, one (1) friend, one (1) professional

Section Two

How do you know me?

How long have you been aware of my existence?

What are your expectations for our relationship?

· Business

· Romantic

· Social

· ________, with the possibility of __________

How do you introduce yourself to your parent’s friends?

How do you introduce yourself to your collegues?

How do you introduce yourself to the new girl on the block?

Church?

Mentor’s name and contact info

Describe your family

Interests

Activities

Do you read?

Favorite books/authors

Skills

Certifications

Accomplishments

What’s your favorite word? Why?

Career goal(s)

Educations goal(s)

Social goal(s)

Spiritual goal(s)

What do you want to do with your life?

Who inspires you?

Greatest strength?

What most challenges you about your faith?

Sign/Date

Dilligence

I wore my teal shirt dress, stockings and dress shoes today. Why do I tell you this? Because when I pulled into the garage I saw that the mud, leaves and other debris had blocked the drain and the base of the driveway was flooded. So I got out of my car, got the push broom, and started clearing the drain.

At first I couldn't tell if it was working at all. I splashed my legs with mud and got my feet wet. There was so much junk blocking the grate that my sweeping didn't seem to do anything at all. After a few minutes it started getting awkward and hurting but I noticed the water seemed to be going down. That encouraged me and I kept sweeping the debris away. Finally most of the water was down and I was able to clear the drain so it wouldn't flood as bad as the rain continued to fall.

This escapade seemed to be the perfect illustration of how it feels in life sometimes.

There are many times when we have to deal with a problem or situation that will be messy, hard or just inconvenient. We always have a choice. We can just let it be. Ignore it and walk around. If we choose this route we risk the water and dirt flooding the rest of our life and damaging our property. Or we can choose to step up to the challenge, get our feet wet, and be diligent to be part of the solution. This path may get us dirty, sore and side tracked from what we were doing, but it will save much trouble for many others.

We might not see the progress right away either. It might take some serious effort and we might get discouraged in the process. One thing is sure however, being faithful in the menial tasks in life will always be the right thing to put our time to.

So, as you find yourself clearing the drain, be encouraged. You are making a difference and it is worth it.

Thoughts on safety, Aslan, motives and swing dance

Today I had a couple of revelations about my expectations of myself.

Today was week 4 of the 8 week program I am taking for real estate. It's called BOLD and it's all about goals and the way God created us to work. So we've been writing out a lot of goals these past 3 weeks. I realized today that there is a theme running through my goals - safety.

My goals, whether physical, spiritual, material or personal all had the adjective "safe" in front of them. A safe, stable job/income, a safe car, for my family to be safe and taken care of, a safe relationship... etc. I realized that I had no idea how much I long for safety, stability and assurance.

So I was thinking about this during the break today and feeling quite sorry for myself. I mean, I don't feel very safe, everything is always changing and there is not much that I truly rely on as stable.

But then I remembered a quote from C. S. Lewis' classic, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe where Lucy asks Mr. Beaver of Aslan, "is He safe?" "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver "Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

That brought a great deal of comfort to me. You know, we often trick ourselves into believing that things should be a certain way. No where (that I am aware of) did God ever say anything about life being safe. In fact, He said quite the opposite. But one thing He always tells us is that He is Good and will "Keep in perfect peace him who's mind is steadfast because he trusts in You". (Isaiah 26:3)

---

This may seem unrelated but my mind also went to my other long term goal of being a accomplished swing dancer. Now, I was analyzing my motives because I am wary of wanting to do anything for the praise and recognition it might get me (whether it would or not). But I realized that I want to be a professional, instructor or just plain accomplished in swing dance for a few reasons.

First, I know that improving my own weaknesses in one area always spills over into other areas of my life. If I focus on disciplining myself to become well trained in the area of dance I know that will motivate me to get in shape, manage my time and push myself socially in ways that nothing else would. I also know that as soon as you think you have arrived in an area you are actually suffering in that area so I want to always be improving and learning.

Secondly, I know that the best way to improve ones self is to teach others. So I would like to learn the steps well enough to teach and also to lead as well as follow.

Lastly, and most importantly, I decided that I want to get very good in dance so that I can be a blessing to dance with. I would rather become good for the sake of being a pleasure to lead/dance with than for the benefit of being recognized as a good dancer. Does that make sense? In other words, I want to improve myself for others, not for my own gain.

This was quite a blessing to think about all this and come to these conclusions. *smile*

What have you been realizing this week?

Boy-friends

I am pretty sure I speak for the majority of the female population when I share these thoughts (correct me if I'm wrong, girls)-

Guys, we love you. I'm not gunna lie. Your existence in our lives fills a part of our hearts that was made for our male counterparts. You encourage, challenge and inspire us. We love you and cherish you as our friends.

Friends. Did you catch that? We love that we have guy friends in our lives. As much as our society conditions us to pursue romantic that is not what we are looking for from you.

Now, don't get me wrong, most of us do want a romantic relationship, but that is the goal not the journey. Right now, in this season of life, we need you to love us, support us and guard us as friends, as brothers. Please don't pursue us just because that's how you've been conditioned. That part of the journey is precious and should be intentional and sovereign.

And when we forget, gently remind us that you are here to support us and not to romance us. That is the purpose of the Body of Christ, of which you are a part.

Most sincerely and with love,

Anna Elizabeth

Finding life in the records of the Kings

I wrote my last post about King Hezekiah and how he established purity in the kingdom for the first time in generations. Today I'm going to continue in my study from 2 Chronicles 34 and look at how beautiful the reign of King Josiah was. Another long post warning...

So Hezekiah purified the people and the temple. His son, Manasseh, and grandson, Amon, both defiled the people once again. And then came Josiah.

Josiah was 8 when he became king. When he was 16 he began following the ways of the Lord for himself. When he was 20 here is what he did:

³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols. ⁴ Under his direction the altars of the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them, and smashed the Asherah poles and the idols. These he broke to pieces and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and so he purged Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them, ⁷ he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles and crushed the idols to powder and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

I love that! He is not messing around. Young, 20 year old Josiah, goes and does what his fathers could not. He destroyed the idols and scattered them on the graves of those who worshiped them! How about that for getting it done?

But this is my favorite part. Years later, Josiah decides to clean up and rebuild the temple again. He charges the priests to pay the laborers. Here's what happens next...

¹⁴ While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD that had been given through Moses. ¹⁵Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD.” He gave it to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Then Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to him: “Your officials are doing everything that has been committed to them. ¹⁷ They have paid out the money that was in the temple of the LORD and have entrusted it to the supervisors and workers.”¹⁸ Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes. ²⁰ He gave these orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah,^[a] Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: ²¹ “Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the LORD’s anger that is poured out on us because those who have gone before us have not kept the word of the LORD; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written in this book.”

This is the part that made me cry. Hilkiah is doing what he was told and he stumbles upon the Torah. The book of the law of Moses, the life-blood of the people of Judah. I picture him, eyes wide, holding the book over his head and running out of the temple shouting, "I found it! I've found the book of the Law!".

Hilkiah give the book to Shaphan who then runs to the King and presents his report, very nonchalant. He ads at the end, "Hilkiah gave me this book". That cracks me up and breaks my heart at the same time. These people have been without this teaching from the Lord for generations and now that they've found it they don't know what to do with it.

Shaphan opens it and begins to read the words to the King. Josiah's only response is to tear his robes. Josiah sends his men to inquire of the Lord and find out about the book. He recognizes that the Kingdom has been in rebellion and has not followed these commands for many generations.

This section of scripture ends with one more surprise. The prophet to whom the King's official go to counsel with is a woman named Huldah.

I love me God, my King and the wondrous ways He works. (grin)

Brothers, Bring Us Back To Purity

[This is kind of a long post, but it is good stuff and I challenge you, Brothers, to step up to the call]

Today, after an amazingly encouraging day of work and celebration I sat in my car and read 2 Chronicles 29:1-36. I love it when the Old Testament comes alive when I read it.

This passage is about King Hezekiah and how he breaks the pattern of chronically evil kings. He becomes king at the age of 25 and he leads his people to wholeness and restoration. The part that jumped of the page and put a choke hold on my lungs starts in verse 15 where it says,

¹⁵ When they had assembled their fellow Levites and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify the temple of the LORD, as the king had ordered, following the word of the LORD. ¹⁶ The priests went into the sanctuary of the LORD to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the LORD’s temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the LORD. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the LORD. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the LORD itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

¹⁸ Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: “We have purified the entire temple of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles. ¹⁹ We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the LORD’s altar.”

King Hezekiah had gathered this band of brothers - the Levites, those chosen to serve and protect the Lord in the sanctuary - and led them in purity. But that's not even all of it. These priests had to first consecrate themselves. Webster's dictionary defines the action of consecration as this: to make or declare sacred; especially : to devote irrevocably to the worship of God by a solemn ceremony.

Now it's one thing to dedicate and object or a place; to make holy a thing. But to consecrate yourself for the irrevocable worship of the living God is another thing entirely.

But these kings and priests of old did not even stop there. They took the next, most mind blowing step yet. The purified the temple.

Now we're not talking a little sprinkling or the rubbing on of some Purell. This was a sixteen day ceremony that rid the temple, the house of God on earth, from all the impurity, all the filth of the kings that came before. And there was a lot of filth. Earlier kings had literally prostituted themselves and their people in the holy house of God. They had sold the gold and the jewels for blood money, they took the spears and the shields and the weaponry to fight unholy wars, they worshiped the gods of their neighbors.

There was a lot of brokenness, bleeding, hurt, dirt and sorrow to be washed away. And these servants of God did it. They dedicated themselves to getting on there hands and knees and doing what the People could not do for themselves.

*

So this got me thinking. We no longer have the Temple in Jerusalem to worship in. But we do still have a temple. Paul tells us in his letters to the Corinthians that our bodies are a temple for the Holy Spirit and that, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God comes and dwells with us and uses us. our physical selves, as His dwelling place, as His place of operation. This is where it gets exciting...

Brothers, the calling has not dissipated and the temple has not gotten any less foul. How beautiful would it be if you consecrated yourself to the service of the Lord and dedicated yourself to the purifying and maintaining of the temples of your fellow brothers and sisters.

I got so excited about the idea that somewhere out there are men of God who take up their responsibility to maintain, guard and value the purity of their sisters in Christ. That there might be people out there who daily consecrate themselves to the work of the Lord and who live on purpose and with fire.

I want to be one of those people. One who lives with a passion and who understands the value and sacredness of purity -physical, emotional and spiritual purity. And I want to build relationships with people who will recognize this value as well and daily work with me to wash away the filth.

The best part is the last verse where it says, "³⁶ Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly." After all that Hezekiah did for his people and his nation he recognized that it was not he who did it at all. It was God who used him to do this amazing thing. How great is our God.

“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.” - Joshua 3:5