"Stay with Me a While"

“Julie, Julie… please just stop… for a moment stop. Stay with me for a while. I miss you.”

“I miss you too, Jesus…. I have so many things…”

“I know you do. Have you forgotten who I am? I know of all that you need to get done. But wait. Rest a moment with me and trust that all of those things will be cared for at just the right time. Put your mind at rest, my darling. There is no need to think of so many things all the time. I promise you that I will take care of them.

“Look at me….. oh how I have missed your gaze. No don’t look away…. I know that your list of things to accomplish is only growing longer, but if you would take a moment with me, you would see that the list of reasons why I love you is growing longer too. Have you seen it lately? There are just so many things about you that fascinate my heart and oh! you take my breath away! I know you feel distant right now. You feel like you don’t know me very well. But I know you as well as ever, and I long to express that to you. I try to throughout the day, but you have not been as sensitive to my voice lately. You are hearing other things… other voices….

“You are beautiful. I know you hear that a lot, but the voices that tell you that only see a shadow of the beauty that I have created within you. They see your pretty smile, your happy eyes…. just a glimpse of all that resides deep within your soul. I know you enjoy hearing their compliments, but please don’t listen so much to them that you forget about me here. Stop and listen to what I have to say about you, my dearest friend. I promise you that when you do you will find yourself so much more fulfilled.

“Their words temporarily build you up but then leave you wondering if that is all you are. I know, I have seen your weary mind churning at night when you’re trying to sleep. You are more than what they say… And Julie, please don’t feel like you have to give yourself to everyone that has ever claimed friendship in your life. It’s ok to say ‘no’. It’s ok to deny them and yourself the time that you both “need” together. You don’t need it. It’s a nice thing, but trust me, I will still be waiting for you at the end of the night and when you find me you will still say, ‘Oh why didn’t I just stay here with you?’ And once again I will hold your head in my arms—even if just for a brief moment—as you shed a tear of longing for something greater than all this world can give. Then as you run away to check more things off your list I will silently pray and hope with all my might that you will come back to be with me. Because I miss you. And for as long as you insist on crossing off the list before you cross the room to be with me, you will miss me too.

“Come my darling, stay with me a while….”

The Mind's Source of Rest

"God is my Father, He loves me, and I will never think of anything that He will forget, so why should I worry?" -Oswald Chambers

Aching Feet

these feet are aching to take the Gospel of Peace to the hearts of those who have never heard...

Working Hard

I'm beginning to discover that when it comes to working, and working hard, I have a lot of the same mindset of my Papa. I suppose I learned from him these past 22 years. This past weekend was a vicious one. I spent about 13 hours outside in Florida's brutal summer sunshine working first at a car wash, and then at a friend's house doing landscaping work. Pulling weeds and planting flowers can be therapeutic, but I think that I would prefer it in cooler, more shady climates. My back and shoulders, now bronzed to their deepest shade, would prefer it also.

But once I finished my grueling 13 hours of outdoor labor, did I come home, draw a nice hot bath, and watch a movie that night? Not hardly. This is where the Mr. Dennen in me steps in. What better to do after a day of hard work, then work some more? Thus I proceeded to change my bike tire (which had become flat as I was riding home from my friend's house), do my laundry, clean the bathroom literally from the top to the bottom (I would have paid you to try and find a speck of dust after I finished), and... oh I don't even remember anymore. But the point being that it was about 11pm or later by the time I actually stopped working.

My Papa is just like that. He comes home after a long day at work and he works. He helps someone with some physical labor for several hours and he comes home to mow the lawn, edge the lawn, fertilize the lawn.... etc. etc. I've often thought to myself that he doesn't know when to quit, but now I see that I have some of that exact same tendency in my own makeup! While you're on a roll, why not just keep going?

I'm tired though, and although my list of things to do is not getting any shorter, I am realizing that I need to rest. Intentionally. For a long(ish) period of time. I've been working really hard for 2 months and I am wearing myself thin. My eyes are on the never-ending list of "Do's" and not on the Lord. I need to have His face fully centered in my view or else I will burn out without so much as a consideration of the Lord.

I don't want to work hard and having nothing to show for it on the Day my Lord comes back for me.

Cutting the Ties that Bind

Lately I've been finding myself dissatisfied with the world. Things that previously brought me joy and temporary contentment now hold little or no attraction. Desires I used to pine after I now find in myself little yearning for. I believe the Lord is cutting the ties of things that bind me to this world in preparation for the life He is calling me to. If my heart is bound to lovely earthly possessions, then saying goodbye to all my heart's treasures in order to follow the Lord as a missionary wherever He calls me to will be much more difficult.

With a heart that is not bound to things on earth, I will be much more willing to go where He sends me without fighting for my rights and meaningless possessions. Though a beautiful thing, it is not easy to be freed from bonds; the world, which did not accept me before, finds me even less acceptable, and even fellow brothers and sisters in Christ do not fully understand. Too many Christians are caught so deep in the attractions of the world, and it makes no sense to them why I would give up things that seem so normal to life. Praise the Lord He has not called me to an ordinary life like the rest of the world leads; I would be so discontent.

My hope is anchored in the Age to come....