keep-moving

When SHOULD We Give Up Control? 

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My neighbor stopped and opened his window as he drove to his house tonight and joked: “Hey are you sorting your garbage?” – funny but true – and I was pulling recycling out and separating it from other trash which I was careful to keep together and not let fall in the road – I am good with my trash for sure, LOL… And we had a nice conversation after that about life and about health and about accumulating too much stuff – which he knows about from one of his family members and I know about stuff and stuff and stuff too – and well we pretty much are typical Americans with typically too much stuff – and yet we do like our stuff – and well so if it not a danger for us to walk around our houses then let us let stuff be stuff… But remember to not start to worship your stuff – don’t get too much stuff – nor get so stressed that you don’t toss some away too…

But organizing our stuff is a whole another story. I have been gearing up for a new side business of helping people sort their space and declutter their stuff – and well it is not mandatory that we toss anything or donate – but those are great ways to clean up and make room for more stuff – better stuff right?!? And in sorting stuff, which I have done for years with my own family and my own stuff and a few neighbors and friends, I know it is hard to get rid of stuff – for multiple reasons…  Sentimental YES – and valuable YES – and we are stewards of family heirlooms, YES. Hold onto good stuff – or at least partition it to others but don’t let it clutter too much nor go bad and become junk… And then there are those partial piles of stuff we hold onto YES = what I mean is that we want to find all the pieces of the puzzle or match the stuff together before we donate – or find all the game parts before we let it go – even if we have no control with what the people do with it then… But we DO (me too) try to right our own wrongs for losing things. We build bigger houses for more stuff. (I am glad I have to pare down for my small house).

This is typical – I have a whole display of single earrings because I lost the other and can’t bear to part with them. I hold onto those mismatched socks just praying to find the lost one – and yes, my kids toys, I have held them back from others who could possibly play with them until I find the last bits – but have to realize that when I give them away that I then have no control whether THEY lose parts… It is hard to be a responsible person but not a trash-aholic at the same time, geez… Basically it is hard to give up control…

But there is precedent for when we SHOULD give up control – that is when the One asking us is God Himself. God wants not to “be controlling” in a negative sense but to be known to “be IN control”. And honestly we can NOT take control away from God – we are NOT God. And although we do wander and wander and wonder until we get realization of where we are going – until then we should try to realize that we should listen – depend upon Him in the tough spots (and the easy ones too)…

Recently I have been listening to the bible teachings of Moses and the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt – and wow there were A LOT of those people. I appreciate Pastor Joe’s teachings online (like the link below, Exodus 13) and how he explains that the sheer number of people Moses was leading would have been millions stretched over 750 miles, protected undercover the cloud by day and led by a pillar of fire at night, which was only visible to them and not to the outside!  God was in charge of them but they were complainers and they were forgetful of miracles that they saw – God protected them but still they doubted God. (And they had to carry all their stuff with them too – but God provided the food – God gave the stuff).

I know I am (we are) like people with Moses doing some wandering ourselves, both exile and exodus traveling – not knowing the plan that God has – and not taking the time to focus towards Him, God wanting us to look, ask and listen, leaning in to Him… Moses’s people wanted to go back to Egypt when things got tough – but God wanted to get them to that Promised Land.

Clearly God knows the Way, and what God wants is for us to depend upon Him!!! God is keeping me (us) under His wing and we are to be trying to be okay even when things are not okay!!! 

Pastor Joe also reminded us that this is a reflection of how the Internal Fire, the Holy Spirit moves us today. We have an internal Saving Grace and we are to listen. And honestly we are to give up our control of our lives to His Will – this is tough but God knows best! https://resources.ccphilly.org/SAM1447

God has us covered too – and we have His internal Light to follow. Will we or when should we give up control? Well I am working on that too!!!  TO GOD – not to our will but HIS. One day at a time – one moment at a time… Keep remembering this day, month, year is a blip in our lives WITH the Lord – keep moving… We are to walk not wander, listen not get lost, hope not hear hype, comply not complain… AND KEEP MOVING!!! 

AMEN

Exodus 13:21-22   And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

AMEN

Read the Signs and KEEP MOVING

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I read the bus sign as it started to pull out – I wasn’t sure if that bus would save me any time – and likely it would not have – and the sign was clear – it said “KEEP MOVING” – yes Lord – YES!

I was sore from lots of walking yesterday [but it was worth it – bridges and the inclide ride and people and science and everything] – AND God’s Mercies are New every morning and the rest was needed for my feet and mind – and I got up this morning to KEEP MOVING…  Yes, the new pick up in me started with a pick up of my creaks and squeaks or muscles and joints – but the walking did help and it put a squash on my leaks of excuses – keeping moving actually was refreshing as well as what my body needed for warm up – especially with the great scenery of my walk.

Last night however I DID take the bus – my feet were tired and it was later at night, 930 so I thought maybe a bit safer for the 15 minutes walk turned into a five minute wait and 10 minute ride – but honestly I have felt save all throughout – there are hardly many people around to bother you here – just good folks and working working working folks. I found my few dollars for the bus and figured it out by my google maps and by the fact that many people were at the bus stop sign – just feet from the door of the evening event – a karaoke fun night with many of the meeting attendees – a night where I sat and sang along with almost every song but not actually on the diaz. I was seated right behind the band’s versatile piano player – wow they were great and would sing with the people and kept the party non-stop going – KEEP MOVING!!!

Keep Moving – that is the theme of my life right now – well isn’t it the best advice for everything from construction to digestion to traffic to walking with the Lord – KEEP MOVING…  The times we are still are still advices for how best for us to KEEP MOVING. The moving times are also pondering times that keep our mind more still by filling our eyes with the new sights – keep moving is also a good chunk of advice when things ARE bad – like “if you are going through Hell, KEEP GOING” – as in DON’T STOP – advice from Churchill. And Keep Moving is the right thing for finding a quiet space – which I just now have – I am in a “meditation room” – mental health room set aside here to have some break away – I simply loaded up my laptop to write instead of the coloring books and pencils, special rocks to handle and fidget spinners – it is a nice idea and therapeutic for those down times. And as for me – writing is the right moving that my fingers do when my body can rest. (and since there is no one here – the clicks of these keys are not disturbing anyone – however this squeaky table IS bothering me, LOL)…

OK – I am going to get up now for the rest/beginning of my networking day of this meeting – going to chat with many new people and a few from yesterday – so much more to learn and see and do today. Yesterday I met a new person who was enraged at something that happened to his colleague and one could tell that he needed a venting space and well – myself and three wonderful people vendors at a wonderful booth filled with light and sunshine and monarch butterfly pictures and logos – and I was wearing my monarch earring and they gave me a pin to match…  Well, sometime you have to realize that YOU are the one there for others – and we let this irate person get some of the steam out of his ears – and then when I was looking for a place to sit for the lunch – he flagged me over and thanked me for our long conversation which helped diffuse and discuss some of his outlets for frustration (lots of topics) – well it was good for me to NOT keep moving at the moment (and I did have to eat my lunch) – and to let him speak and then himself keep moving forward. I think sometimes that I am a listener to let someone vent and therefore they don’t blow their top to someone that would not be beneficial to their cause – you know – help them talk it out before moving on…  Well, that is the Lord too – that is Jesus listening while guiding – that is the Walk to Emmaus – get it out – let us push through our theories and frustrations of this and that – just like those people on the walk to Emmaus – and then take the moment to listen to Jesus – not even knowing that He was/IS Jesus – and take it all in of the truth – and process…

OK – thanks for the process – back to the meeting and posting this and yeah – more people people people today – and walking and lunch and whatever – you don’t always know where you are going until you get there – and that is when the purpose of your time is revealed (if it is) – so KEEP MOVING….

AMEN

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Luke 24:13-35

On the Road to Emmaus
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

“What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.