lonely | Sherri Woodbridge …from my heart

It seems that people are always trying to come up with something new. A new gadget. A new plan. A new way of doing something old. A new resolution.

A new resolution. This is the time of year where the whole world is coming up with resolutions. People who vow to themselves and to God and others that they are going to quit smoking, lose weight, be a better worker, to… do something new or improve in something old.

The last few months I’ve been going through my journals which cover the last 30 years, and I realized that in those last 30 years I have made many of the same resolutions over and over, only to have failed. Perhaps it’s failure all by itself. Perhaps it’s forgetfulness, perhaps it’s poor discipline. In light of my discovery, I have decided to do the one thing that matters most. The one thing that may tie all the others in and help me to accomplish my 30 year goals. For, within those thirty year goals, there are great plans to lose weight, eat better, walk more, be a better wife, a better daughter, a better friend, be a better mother, be a better whatever. However, those great plans have been fruitless, yielding no significant evidence of success in the past.

The other day I gave much thought to New Year’s resolutions. The desire of my heart was to be part of the sharing of a meal alongside the homeless. To offer hope to the hopeless. To be part of a work that offers shelter, protection, love, food, and care to the orphans. To befriend the elderly. To encourage the disheartened. That’s a lot of resolution for one year. However, it can all be accomplished if I do that one thing that matters most. To love Jesus with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind.

If I can do that, I will seeclearly the opportunities to aid the homeless, to offer hope and encouragement, and to care for children. I will see the elderly who are alone, I will recognize discouragement in another, and the opportunities will be endless to serve Him. This can only be accomplished by loving Jesus with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind. It is only through discipline and diligence and keeping my focus on Him alone that I will be successful.

I guess then, that is my resolution for 2011… simply – to love Jesus most.

Sometimes we wake up one day and feel different. Nothing has changed, except our mood. We feel dry or worse yet – dried up. We are thirsty for something more. Something greater. We are uninspired, emotionless – emotionally and spiritually dehydrated and thirsty.

I just spent the last two weeks up in Montana, visiting my parents. They live right on the banks of the Kootenai River. While it can be unsafe to get in the river where they are located, you can sit at the water’s edge and enjoy it any time, for as long as you like. The peaceful sounds as the water laps against the rocks at the sides is rejuvenating.

I spent a few different times down there at the water’s edge, sitting on a rock and watching the sunset or thinking about different things, or waiting for my dad’s boat to come around the corner. As I sat there, I wondered why I was feeling so dry lately. I was craving – thirsting – to be filled up, drenched with the spirit of God and pick up where, for some reason, I had left off. And then I realized that sometimes the dry times are where we find more of God. The times where we feel withered and out of juice. The times where there is absolutely nothing we can do to get filled up, except to rest in Him and trust Him to bring us through that very empty and lonely place and into a place of spiritual abundance.

For writers, it is often suggested that when you feel you are in the throws of writer’s block, the best thing to do is just to keep writing, regardless of how you feel. Get something on paper. Eventually, you’ll be back in the saddle and going once again. Walking in spiritual deserts is somewhat similar. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, knowing that it won’t be an oasis you’ll find in one of your tomorrows, but eventually you find the river of life. How much more refreshing is a river or body of water after you have just come out from the desert! How much more it is appreciated! A river where you can be drenched with cool, dripping water that saturates the dry places and leaves you refreshed.

If you find yourself in a ‘dry’ place today, for whatever reason – keep walking on the path He is leading you. Your river may be just around the corner, where God is waiting to refresh your spirit and fill you anew.

Sherri Woodbridge …from my heart

Tag Archives: lonely

New Year, New Resolution

The Dry Places