So I'm cleaning up the house for my nephew's going-away party and my daughter is getting ready to go out with a friend.  The two of us have been talking about how she's going to be unbelievably loaded with homework and projects this semester at college.  "I've got to write a story for [Filling up Space] and I don't know what to write or when I'm gonna have time!  Hey, Mom, why don't you write one?" 

Oh, yeah, right...what am I gonna write that anybody would be interested in, I thought.  After my daughter went out the door, I went into the kitchen and started doing one of my least favorite jobs: the dishes.  As I did the necessary, mundane task I heard God say, "Write what you know...where you are now.  It will help somebody."

So here goes.

Well, I wondered, does God want me to write about where I am geographically -- the kitchen; or where I am spiritually -- a sinner saved by grace and striving to change and grow to become more Christ-like; or where I am in my life -- 47 years old with two grown children and a wonderful husband (wait, I can't believe I just told you how old I am) and with questions like "What should I do with my life now?" going on in my brain; or..or....Just what is it that He was talking about?

So, I went back into the kitchen thinking, Maybe He'll say something again.  That first time was so clear, but this time as I listened all I heard was the oven timer ringing, telling me that the cookies were done.  God, what's happening?  Hey, if you don't tell me, I can't tell them.  Still nothing.  Back I went to the sunroom to stare at the computer, waiting for some divine inspiration.

Here I have to tell you that God and I have a really different relationship.  Not that I don't worship and praise Him and believe that He is an awesome and holy God; but our relationship goes beyond that.  It's more like when you're wearing that old sweater or sweatshirt that you've had since you were a freshman in high school.  You know, the one that you put on when you want to get comfy, relax, and do nothing but bum around.  Maybe to read, maybe to wash your car or clean the house (although I usually put on the sweatshirt and wait for that urge to pass).  Or maybe your sweatshirt is so much your favorite that you sleep in it, or maybe... Okay, okay, you get the idea.  But wait, it's more than that.  It's the one article of clothing that if one of your stupid siblings (and let me say that ALL siblings are stupid when you are a freshman in high school) even thought about wearing it, they would be dog meat. (And not a national brand.  A really cheap, stinky, generic brand of so-called dog meat.)

Actually, the relationship God and I have is unexplainable.

Have you ever had a really good friend?  No, I mean a REALLY great friend?  Someone that you've done some truly dumb stuff with, some that has inspired you to greatness (like burping the ABC's), someone that helped you through that time when you thought you'd made an absolute fool of yourself in front of like sixty-eleven of the most cool people that you'd ever known, someone that helped you memorize the Gettysburg address (and why, pray tell, did we have to do that?), someone that knows special secrets about you but isn't telling them, someone that doesn't mind all your little quirks (or big quirks for some of us). 

Well, that's not even the way I can describe our relationship.  It's better, so much better.  Maybe telling you my life verse can help you understand a little bit.

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  Proverbs 3:5-6

Is there a sould here on earth you can fully trust?  No, they are human.  They will fail us.  We will fail them.  Can we really understand ourselves, our world?  I don't know about you, but sometimes I can't figure out this wicked, sinful world, why people do what they do, and what it is that I am supposed to do about it.  But, oh, to be able to talk to God!  To tell Him my secrets and to ask Him my questions.  To tell Him of my joyous triumphs and my devastating disappointments.  To tell Him all my weird ideas.  To know that He accepts me as I am.  To know that He and He alone is in control of things.  To know that I can fall back into His loving arms totally relaxed, confident that I can give it all to Him and that He will work it out for my good.  He loves me, listens to me, guides and protects me, and most of all He is my Savior, my Friend. 

That is my God.  I hope and pray that if you don't have a relationship with God like this, that you get one right now.  Don't let any more of this life go by without it!
 

Wait a minute...
Hey God!  Is that what I was supposed to write about?