new years resolution in June.....

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Psalm 37:4 NLT says "Take delight in the Lord and He will give you your heart's desires.".  I like this verse in several translations......I like the promise.  I like the connection with God.  I like the instruction that if I line myself up with the Lord it will be easy for Him to give me a "yes".  If I am loving what He loves, He will give me the desires of my heart.  Take delight in the Lord........

What does that look like exactly?  For me, in June in Iowa, it means noticing and delighting in all the blooming things.  Taking pictures.  Taking walks.  Taking time to stop and notice the beauty of things in bloom, and to smell the flowers and take deep breaths of spring air. ( It means choosing to try to run a bit to try to get into shape.......and then have really sore muscles at night when I realize that I may have aimed too high.  Spring and sun got the best of me today.)

Take delight in the Lord......take it...pursue it.....learn what delights Him.  For me, in this season, it is often and mostly children.  I find delight in the Lord when I spend time with His little kids.  I really feel like the work He has called me to, beyond my job or my duty as a mom, is in the care and keeping of children.  I delight in the Lord as He shows me how to delight in these children.  I love the work He has called me to.  He will give me my heart's desires.

I am starting to explore what those desires are now.  He gave me a calling, as a nurse.  He gave me a soul mate in my husband, and He gave me children to love and nurture.  These have been my desires for so long and now, as I look back and look ahead, I wonder what my heart's desires will be.......I have some goals, and dreams,  but they are mine, not necessarily those of the Lord.

I wonder if I am being called to a season of favor, to sit with God Almighty and frame up my heart's desires.  I wonder if God is giving me time to delight in Him and decide what to ask for next.  That is heady stuff, really.  The author of faith and the creator of the universe may actually be calling me to a season of delight.....in Him......and then a season of Him saying something like this:  "My daughter of Zion, my beloved one.....ask me.  I will give you the desires of your Heart if you will only ask....."

If this is true, then I am a "yes and amen".....and will accept this invitation.  I will still wake up on time to care for my family and do my job and buy groceries and prepare food that speaks love to them.  I will still mentor and shepherd and nurture and pray for everyone that God calls to mind....I will try to eat less and exercise more and get healthier and strive for a revamped summer "new years resolution" because it feels right to do so.......

But......

I also want to look....up.   I want to see fresh beauty and art in common things.  I want to aspire to something greater and more worthy.....I want to know His delight.....and I want to receive His gifts.

Don't you?

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