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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Back to Basics

I am a Mom, Wife, Friend, Co-Worker, Daughter, Sister, Sponsor, Sponsee, Debtor, Obligee, Blogger (trying anyway), Couponer, Gardener, Volunteer, Treasurer, PTO Board Member, Facebooker who occasionally sleeps.

Sometimes life just needs to brought back to basics.  Today I think I need that reminder.  Maybe you need to hear this too.



God gave me a message in the form of a thought that crossed my mind regarding a situation a couple months ago.  "Don't re-invent the wheel".  Okay, pretty simple right?
 

Well the more and more I've mulled that sentance over it continues to change, deepen and become more complex.  This phrase is alive in my heart with the power of the Spirit behind it.  Today, not reinventing the wheel means I need to go back to basics and remember to meditate on the "Serenity Prayer" when I am feeling stuck in a certain thought pattern.  I need to go back to my foundation.  The foundation is the most important part of a building.  You don't build a foundation and then later when things get shaky decide it's the shiny penthouse on the top floor that keeps the building standing.  You go back to the basics, under the ground floor.  The foundation,

Jesus tells the parable of the house built on solid foundation and the house on an unstable foundation.  What was Jesus referring to as the foundation?

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27

A default answer is that the foundation is Jesus.  What he REALLY said though is "who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice".  He's talking about following directions, being obedient.  The firmest foundation is one built on discipline and obedience to follow the Advice and instruction we receive from our higher power.  For me, that wisdom comes through the Holy Spirit.

How do we know what that good advice is?  For me, a "back to basics" measuring stick is the serenity prayer. 

Here it is in it's unabriged form -

God,
Grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the Courage to change the things I can
and the Wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.


Amen.

May you find some peace in your heart, firm foundation under your feet, and your eyes looking up with hope. Don't Reinvent the wheel.

Thank you God for my sobriety today.

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