Abundance

I feel a heavy post coming on here, my friends. It's been a while since I've had one of those, so perhaps it's time.

I've been hit a few times in the past 24 hours by the concept of abundance, and I'm feeling led to think about it a little bit further. And by think about it, I mean type about it. And since this blog seems to be a creative thinking, writing, laughing, crying outlet for me, it seemed only natural to do it here.

I have an article that sits under the blotter on my desk that I have had there just long enough to ignore it and completely forget where it came from. But someone asked me about it today, so I pulled it out, read it again and realized why I put it there in the first place. I'll type it out for you, even if this may get a bit long.

"The supreme prayer of my heart is not to be learned or "good", but to be Abundant & Radiant. I desire to radiate health, cheerfulness, sincerity, calm courage and good-will. I wish to be simple, honest, natural, frank, clean in mind and clean in body, unaffected - ready to say, "I do not know," if so it be, to meet all men on an absolute equality - face any obstacle and meet every difficulty unafraid and unabashed.

I wish others to live their lives, too, up to their highest, fullest and best. To that end I pray that I may never meddle, dictate, interfere, give advice that is not wanted, nor assist when my services are not needed. If I can help people I'll do it by giving them a chance to help themselves; and if I can uplift or inspire, let it be by example, inference and suggestion, rather than by injunction and dictation. That is to say, I desire to be Radiant - to Radiate Life."

So that was "Gentle Reminder About Abundance #1". Point made as it relates to my life. Me.

Then I picked up the book that a few of us are reading called "Parenting The Way God Parents" while I ate my lunch. I only slopped a few bites of my Subway BMT (which, by the way, I have NEVER ONCE in my 7 million visits to Subway ordered, but it tasted so good that I might have it again tomorrow) on the book, but it will forever mark this spot. The Chapter I'm in is called, "Life In Abundance". Here's the passage that smacked me right upside the head.

"When Jesus said that He came to give life and to give it abundantly, what did he mean, exactly? My mother-in-law once explained to me that the abundance Jesus promises consists of the good, the bad, and the ugly of life-- all in abundance. Jesus didn't come to give us an abundance of only the happy and pleasant life, because that would not be life to the full. Love and arguments and relationships and good times and hard times and fun and work and laughter and tears- these are what make up real life.

As parents, we recognize that parenting itself is a round-the-clock, nonstop, intense experience in the high highs and the low lows in life. Raising children is heavily loaded with emotion- joy, pain, uncertainty- all in abundance. We have deeper feelings for our children than we do about most anything else in life. We invest more time and energy and money in our family relationships than we ever thought possible. The roller-coaster experience of parenting enables us to participate in a whole new level of life- abundant life. This is the abundance Jesus spoke of."

Got it. Abundance lesson #2 in the realm of parenthood. Right between the eyes.

Then I was doing a little blog hopping and landed on Big Mama's blog where she talked about buyer's remorse over a pair of jeans she purchased. Stay with me here. Her point was one of contentment and not allowing an abundance of worldly goods or a desire for a greater abundance of them to get in the way of our purpose in life. I'm guilty of that. And I hate it, am keenly aware of it when it's taking over, and try desperately to work on it. Less stuff. More substance in my life. More relationships. More time to do the things and work on the things that I KNOW I need to work. The responsibility to pass that along to my children and to teach that lesson amidst a world that is screaming "more more more" at the top of its lungs. And so, lesson #3 as it relates to keeping all of this abundance talk in perspective.

So I feel a bit like I was meant to reflect on abundance this afternoon. To focus on the abundance of my God given blessings. To remember that God didn't promise an easy road in anything- not work, not relationships, and certainly not parenting. He did, however, promise an abundance of grace sufficient enough to carry through. And an abundance of joy that far outweighs any challenge I may face.

This may not have had much to do with Joshua, but it's my heart for today. And isn't that what this is about?