Meditation

Meditate:

Verb (used without object), meditated, meditating.

1. to engage in thought or contemplation; reflect.

2. to engage in transcendental meditation, devout religious contemplation, or quiescent spiritual introspection.

Verb (used with object), meditated, meditating.

3.to consider as something to be done or effected; intend; purpose:

to meditate revenge.

 

I was hanging out with my brother the other day and he was talking about all of these awesome life changes he was making. He had quit smoking, was eating healthy and had started meditating. That's awesome, I said. But a few days later I was struck with the fact that I really don't understand meditation at all. I think I should go to a class or something, I have so many questions. What is meditation? Do I have to hum? Do I actually meditate and just call it prayer or daydreaming? And I began to see that meditation was everywhere. It's one of the new fads. I saw an article about how meditation studios are the new thing, popping up everywhere like yoga studios were just a few years ago. I googled meditation and saw how I could "create a sacred space for meditation" and how they are putting meditation rooms in some airports to make travel less stressful. 

 

I read an article this morning about the "8 things every person should do before 8 AM." Number 2 was; "Prayer and Meditation to Facilitate Clarity and Abundance." Honestly, that sounded a little hokey to me, AND number 5 was "Take a Cold Shower" which is NOT happening; but I tried to have an open mind and read the whole article. Surprisingly, I really related to it. The author (Ben Hardy) says : "If you don’t purposefully carve time out every day to progress and improve —without question, your time will get lost in the vacuum of our increasingly crowded lives. Before you know it, you’ll be old and withered —wondering where all that time went."

So, does it all just have to do with refocusing, with dealing with stress and busy lives? With carving out a bit of time to just BE? Again, I asked myself, what are people actually doing when they meditate? How do I do this? Can I do it at home? With my dog around? When I need to be cleaning? While I am cleaning? What are the guidelines? Why is it beneficial?

So, of course, being a believer, I thought to myself: I have read about meditation in the Bible, so I'll look there for the answers. Surely the answers to all of life's mundane questions are written out in the Word of God. (Sarcasm- the Bible won't tell you what color you should paint your meditation room). But it is the inspired word of the Lord, and so I went there.

Joshua 1:8  "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it." 

Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."

Psalm 49:3 "My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding."

Psalm 104:34 "May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord."

After reading and pondering for a little bit, I decided to just give it a whirl. I went outside with my puppy and sat on the front porch, closed my eyes and attempted to meditate. It felt kind of weird. I am a terrible prayer and I typically just journal my thoughts and prayers. It is hard for me to stay focused when I am just talking into space..or so I say. 

As I sat there, feeling a fool, with my eyes closed, I was amazed by where my mind went. I stopped being distracted by small, personal, and petty things and my mind kept going wider and wider, deeper and deeper. I ended up in prayer for a few people at my church who are encountering some intense spiritual warfare. Generally, if I had prayed for them at all, it would have just been for the worldly concerns like sickness, healing, marriage, parenting, etc. But for some reason closing my eyes and letting my mind focus on things that are truly important: eternal things, made a world of difference. 

I look around my house and I see piles of distractions everywhere: dishes that need to be cleaned, clothes that need to be put away, thank you cards that need to be sent, repairs that need to be made, a puppy peeing on the floor. I could spend all day, every day focusing on these little distractions. Same goes with what we read and interact with. How much time do I waste reading facebook and how much emotion do I waste getting riled up about things that, honestly, do not affect the eternal in the slightest. Sitting on the front porch and closing my eyes kept bringing me back to that: the eternal, the lasting, the things that truly effect our souls. I kept coming back to spiritual warfare and how the fallen world we live in should not distract us from heart issues. 

My meditation brought me to Paul's letter to the Ephesians; 6:12 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

How often do we think that EVIL is people who are pro-abortion, or people who like the confederate flag, people who are racist, people who are against gay marriage, republicans, democrats, transgenders, people who don't fight for gender equality,  people who don't vaccinate or people who want to own a gun, Christians, or atheists? 

 

I am a Bible-believing Christian who thinks the Confederate flag has historical significance. Non-Christians have been getting married for years so why should it bother me that gays, who also don't profess to follow Christ, get married? I hate that people have abortions, but I don't think the problem can be solved by the government. I believe that all people are equal, but I am initially uncomfortable around those who aren't like me until I find something we can connect over. I like traditional gender roles, but I get that not everyone fits in a box. I don't understand transgender. I believe we are made by God, in the image of God and should honor Him with our lives and our bodies. I don't align myself with any political party, because I think both get it wrong just as often as the other. I just registered for a weapons carry license. I'm sure some people think I am evil.

EVIL isn't the people who disagree with me. There is evil in all of us, to be sure. We are the products of a fallen world. But true evil is so much bigger than these many issues. We get so worked up tearing down the confederate flag, closing an abortion clinic, preventing a gay couple from getting married, creating hashtags for social justice, making harsher punishment for parole violators (had to throw in some Miss Congeniality). Do we think that will solve something? That's like killing an ant and expecting the ant hill to just go away.

So, what is the good fight? What are the battles that matter? Honestly, I don't know the answer, but I know it involves a lot of prayer and meditation on what the Lord's will for our lives is. And the place to start is the gospel. Prepare yourself for the battle so you know it when it's here. Just like going on a date night won't fix a marriage, creating a hashtag won't do anything to stop the hatred in peoples hearts. But God can, prayer can. 

"Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day...praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication...keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints." Ephesians 6:13, 18

So that is where my meditation this morning leaves me. Meditate so that you can refocus on the bigger picture, on the eternal. Don't be distracted by the dirty dishes or the finger pointing in the news. Don't miss the true evil in the world.

  

Just as Ben Hardy said "your time will get lost in the vacuum of our increasingly crowded lives," so will true evil get lost in the infinite faces we choose to put on it. Don't forget who the real enemy is as you fight with your husband, parents, or friends, as you stand outside planned parenthood with a sign, as you rejoicingly take down the confederate flag, or as new gun laws are put in place. How better would our world be if we truly prayed for one another, if we considered one another, if we loved one another and if we meditated on God's will? 

 

"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." 

To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by doing so you will heap burning coals on his head." 

DO NOT BE OVERCOME BY EVIL, BUT OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD." 

Romans 12:19-21

And if you need help on what to meditate on, start with this:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." 

Philippians 4:8

That's all for now. Have a great day!

Baby and Puppy Photo Shoot Day

Here are a few of my favorites of my nephew, Matthew James and my puppy, Scout Meriwether. I really am living in beautiful.

29 Weeks Today!

Peachtree City baby shower: Safari Themed!

My First Love

I love my husband dearly. Sometimes I love him so much it hurts in that good way. And sometimes I love him in a covetous, self-serving way that hurts us both because I am not loving him rightly. My love can become toxic. My love can become everything it shouldn't be: impure, impatient, self seeking, whatever. Often, I make J's love and treatment of me an idol. I depend upon him to fulfill me and make me feel complete. I set high expectations of him and am bitter and resentful when he inevitably lets me down. In short, I expect him to make me happy. Expecting your husband to make you happy sounds so harmless, right?

Wrong. It is so easy for sin to seep in when I think I am having perfectly normal, sweet, ooey-gooey thoughts. But, I guess that's generally how it is, all of my normal, human emotions are still a product of my sin nature.

As many of you know, J and I got married VERY quickly. We dated for 9 days and were legally married a month and 3 days after our first date. Three years later we have a puppy and a baby on the way and, as you can imagine, we know SO much more about one another than we did when we said "I do." One thing that made me extremely confident in this VERY quick major life decision, was that I didn't feel like I needed J. That may sound counter-intuitive, but I had to be sure that I wasn't jumping into a marriage because I was overwhelmed by need for another person in my life. And it is something I have to tell myself as life gets more and more overwhelming.

J will be graduating from his PSYOP course in August. I will, Lord-willing, be pushing a baby out of me in that same month. We really don't know what life will look like after that. J could deploy right away, or it could be a couple of months. But, either way I can expect him not to be around 6 months out of every year for the next 3 years, at least. That sucks right? I am really not looking forward to it. I can say things like "it could be a lot worse, he could have longer deployments," "we have been so lucky to have 3 years of marriage without a deployment," yada yada yada. It still going to be hard, and lonely, and frustrating EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And it will be hard when he gets back, and our son has grown and changed and we all have to get to know each other again.

And when I tear up thinking through all of the difficulties, sighing "if only..." I have to remind myself what I said when we first married. I don't need J. I want him, surely. Having him around makes life easier and more enjoyable. I love sharing things with him. I love getting to know him better every day. I love learning new things about him and from him. I love hosting parties with him and building relationships with him....but again I say, I don't need him. The moment I say I need him, I am rejecting my first love.

When I covet the things other relationships have, or compare my husband or our circumstances to anyone else's, I am sinning. When I blame my lack of joy on the failings of my relationship, then the sin of coveting is growing in my heart. That isn't to say I can't be unhappy or miss my husband, or wish things were different. It means letting those feelings control my emotions and my joy, causing bitterness and resentment, then it's gone too far; then I am rejecting my first love; then I am not believing in His sovereignty and goodness.

So what do I do to prevent sinning in this way, and getting caught up in the ease of coveting and comparing and constantly desiring more? I go after my first love, I seek the Lord.

Here is a great quote about how our love for God positively affects our love for our spouse:
"When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed, but increased." CS Lewis

28 Weeks Today!!

Warning: if you scroll down, you will see a pic of me in a bathing suit. You can't unsee it. Just saying.

I drove down to Atlanta 2 days ago (Friday) and I am happy to say the drive went great! Scout handled the 7 hours total of travel time with such class. I am soo looking forward to doing that solo trip with a baby too...right. 

Yesterday I went to Liz Mott's shower and had a great time celebrating baby Norah. It's always such a gift to come home and spend time with my lifetime friends who I love so much. I am having a shower in PTC next weekend and the following weekend I'll have one in Johns Creek. It's gonna be fun celebrating Edward (Teddy) with everyone.

Here is Scout being good and not jumping on the table with the chips and guacamole. And below is me at Melissa's pool rocking my belly. Don't judge- I warned you not to look ;)

I am staying with Melissa in Dunwoody if you want to come visit ;) Scout is loving the fenced in backyard...and so am I.  

27 Weeks (as of May 31st)

I am 27 WEEKS! Baby Teddy is probably looking relatively human these days. He's almost 2 pounds and would most likely survive if he was born today! That's really nice to know. We have been blessed with all of the clothes we will probably need for the first 3 months of his life. A friend of J's from college had a super huge little boy who skipped all of his newborn wear, so she sent it all to us! And a good friend from church gave us some of her son's cute preppy wear. I can't wait to dress up Edward for church and outings and photo shoots ;)
 

Here is Scout chilling on my 27 week belly

When we got back from Hilton Head on Monday night, we picked up Scout from our friend's house and she seemed to have really missed us. That night she was having some issues and we were worried and I took her to the vet Tuesday morning. They said everything was fine, so we think it was just stress from being apart from us. As crazy as it may seem to all of your who know my feelings about pets, it really warms my heart that she loves us and missed us. Jonathan was jealous that she gave me more kisses ;) He is doing his best to be her favorite. Ha. We'll see.

Scout's first trip to the vet at 10 weeks. She is already 15 pounds! She already seems so much bigger than when we got her.

26 Weeks (as of May 24th)

My 26th week of pregnancy found my laying stones in our front yard to create this beautiful patio that Scout is modeling! This project has been in the works for ages and it is so exciting to actually see it finished. Jonathan did all of the actual work and I came in when he was done to play Tetris with the stones until they fit in the space and looked semi-presentable. We also went to Hilton Head over Memorial Day Weekend with my parents and Jonathan's parents. It was the first trip with all of us and it went really well. The girls spent time on the beach while the boys went kayaking and biking on Dafuski Island. I also might have hit up Janie & Jack (the most adorable baby store I've found) at the outlet mall and got a few more things. I simply can't resist white linen shorts with suspenders for a 1 year old! The next things on the agenda are patio furniture and a new front door! And eventually our house will be painted so I will be able to show you a before and after picture soon.