A Desperate Day – A Glorious Day

Sept 1st.
.
I set the date weeks ago.
The day both kids are off at college.
The day I will become organized, disciplined, focused.
The day I will start my healthy regimen of both diet and exercise.
The day I will block out a schedule for Tuesdays and Thursdays
(the days I don’t work from 8 am to 8 pm).
The day I set with Cheri, my accountability partner.
The day I woke up on my own at 6 am, eager to get started!
The day I went back to sleep, woke up at 7 am, went back to sleep and finally crawled out of bed at 8 am. Ugh!
The day I decided to go for a long brisk walk with my dog, but stopped to load some new Travis Cottrell worship cd’s onto my ipod first. Oh boy!
The day I stopped by the computer to check my email before I picked up my Bible to check in with the Lord. Uh-oh!
.
Just yesterday I wrote about Christians who rarely read the Bible settling for just an experiential relationship with the Lord. I knew when I wrote it that I was the “chiefest of sinners” in this matter, and that I was speaking to myself as much as anyone else, yet here I was the very next day doing the same old bad habits.
I want to do what is right, but I can’t.
I want to do what is good, but I don’t.
I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.
Oh, what a miserable person I am!
Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin…?
Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 7:18-19, 24-25 NLT
. .
I saw in my email that Cheri was organizing, exercising, being accountable.
Like I was supposed to be.
.
I had a choice.
.
I could say, “Today is lost already. I’ll just start Thursday instead.”
Or I could say, “Okay, you lost a few hours, but get moving now!”
I chose the second.
And my day went from desperate to glorious.
.
As Roxie and I set out, the day was perfect. When I entered the neighborhood arboretum where I walk, I turned to the left instead of my normal route to the right and witnessed some beautiful new sights along the way as I worshipped the Lord with my new tunes!
A new gazebo was being installed.
A rainbow shimmered in the spray of the fountain.
A family of ducks gently skimmed their way across the pond.
A new bench was under the trees near a grove of 8 foot tall magnificent plants I never saw before.
My 20 minute excursion lasted almost an hour.
.
At the beginning of our walk, Roxie rubbed her face on the ground because of the Gentle Leader around her nose (see her feelings about that here.) After a warning from me, she continued to walk ahead of me, but would often turn around to check to see if she was on the right track.
.
After the Lord so gently chided me, I plan to keep checking with Him to make sure I’m on the right track!
.
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
And because you belong to Him,
the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin.
Romans 8:1-2
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My accountability email from Cheri ended with these words, “There are obvious blessings in this day……….and some not so easily recognized! I hope He makes you aware of all of them!!!!”
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I’m thanking God that so far He made me aware of many of them, and I’m anticipating more to come!
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If you would like to join me in my quest for discipline, please let me know. You can comment on the blog or privately send me an email. We can be accountability partners through the miracle of the internet! Let us encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today… Heb. 3:13

the new gazebo . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the rainbow in the spray

the new bench by the grove

Susan