This is the Day!

The Lord has done it this very day;
    let us rejoice today and be glad. ~ Psalm 118:24 NIV

Do you ever wake up just before your alarm goes off in the morning? 

I’ve done that now for several months. Unconsciously, I’m anticipating the alarm and I’m not fond of it. We call it exactly what it is – an alarm – loud and jolting and very disagreeable! 

When I wake up 20 minutes before my alarm goes off, I know I won’t be able to go back to sleep. So instead, I just lie there waiting to be startled. Often, as I wait, I’m thinking of all I might have already forgotten to do. Did I take the chicken out of the freezer to defrost? Whose birthday have I forgotten? What time is that Zoom meeting? Will I be able to get everything done? And on and on.

Recently, I’ve tried a new tactic as I lie awake: saying a simple prayer over my day. Only a couple of sentences, but it feels right to start my day with gratitude and dependence, rather than anxiety and frustration. Mostly, it helps me to gently get out of bed and begin in a positive, non-alarming way.

Psalm 118:24 reminds us to whom the day belongs – God. Not only has He made it, He has asked us to rejoice in it! The Common English Bible translation says:

This is the day the Lord acted;
    we will rejoice and celebrate in it!

When I start my day with the longest to-do list imaginable, I don’t feel like rejoicing or celebrating. I’m fixated on the insufficiency of my plans, my work, my control.

But when I look at this verse, I’m reminded that God has made the day. He will most certainly act in it. I should rejoice that He cares enough to enter the details of my daily life.

Before my feet hit the ground, He is already there, providing all I need for the day, challenging me in the ways I need to grow. He has good plans for the people I will come in contact with, and He has good plans for me, too. 

Isn’t that worth acknowledging as we start the day?

Father, thank you for this new day. May my thoughts and words and actions be pleasing to You. I am ready and waiting for You to act in my life today, no matter how it changes my plans. This is Your day. I will rejoice and celebrate in it! 

Amen and Amen.

This [day in which God has saved me] is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it. ~ Psalm 118:24, Amplified Bible

Today is a GOOD day!

Natalie

The Acts 1:8 Campaign

two projects advancing SEND North’s vision of Making Northern Disciple-Makers

The Starr Center

In 2019, SEND North purchased a property in Anchorage, to be named The Starr Center. 

We are raising funds to renovate this property in 2021.  Total need: $450,000

The Starr Center will serve SEND North’s ministry in these ways:

1.) Leading and Supporting – SEND North has fulltime ministry in 22 communities across Alaska and Northern Canada. The hub of this ministry is our Logistics and Support office and this staff will be located in The Starr Center.

2.) Serving the Community – Anchorage is home to people groups from all corners of the world. SEND North has a growing diaspora team who will use The Starr Center for ministry events to engage our neighbors.

3.) Collaborate Together – The Starr Center will include office space to be use by other ministries in Alaska.

4.) Stewarding the Ministry – The Starr Center property has extra commercial space with long-term tenants.  This will generate income for SEND North which will help moderate missionary fees. 

The Bonanza 

Purchase a used aircraft and equip it for safety and all-weather use. Total need: $300,000  

As SEND North’s ministry grows, we need a second Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft to be based in Fairbanks, AK. We are raising funds to purchase and equip this aircraft. Key advantages:

  1. Increased speed and range for all-season use (the Bonanza is 40% faster than our current aircraft in that region)
  2. Increased fuel capacity for longer direct flights
  3. Safe and reliable transportation to the communities where SEND North missionaries live and minister

The Acts 1:8 Campaign total need $750,000

Please check out our campaign webpage:

 www.send.org/acts1-8     

I am the clay

 

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV

 

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I am the clay.

Endless potential, but not in my own hands.

Only in His.

He is the Potter.

The One who will shape me.

The Potter is making me into something He can use.

When I resist, I am hard and rocky, rough-edged – not useful for anything.

If left on my own, my boundaries would be shaped by my way, my plan, my ambition.

If I decide to be a bowl, giving no thought to the Potter, I will twist and warp myself into a very sorry, misshapen bowl, formed by my own ideas, worth nothing.

I do not have the hands of the Potter, the unlimited design skills and intricate plans He alone possesses.

Only when I offer to Him the clay that I am, can He knead and bend and shape me into a vessel He can use.

Everything that happens to me in this life is part of His molding process.

Sometimes He’s deeply kneading me and then decisively throwing me on the potter’s wheel to get rid of my cold, hard, sharp places.

But sometimes His touch is gentle, soulful, as He carefully smooths out my rough spots, while protectively guarding the unique shape He’s forming.

Both the tough and the tender are necessary, if I want to be a useable vessel of worth.

For this is His best.

This, the only way.

Because He is the Potter.

And I am the clay.

 

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ~ Eph. 2:10 NIV

 

Today is a GOOD day!

Natalie

This post was originally emailed as A Simple Note. If you’d like to receive my weekly email note of encouragement, you can sign up on the side bar or  HERE. Blessings!