fuel up

Ever feel kind of empty this time of year?

I don't mean your stomach - if your house is like most, there are plenty of cookies around to take care of that.

I mean your soul.

It's Christmas:   "Joy to the world, peace on earth, goodwill toward men" and all that.  But if reading that leaves you feeling more hungry than happy, if it brings a bitter retort to your lips about
               family feuds
                        and low checkbook balances
                                 and ungrateful children
                                           and harried servicepeople
                                                    and other impediments to peace, joy, and love ....

.....then lay down your credit card and your grievances and hear this:


"Come,  all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;
                and you who have no money,
                                              come, buy and eat!
                       Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.


"Why spend money on what is not bread,
                             and your labor on what does not satisfy?


"Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
                             and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
                                 Give ear and come to me;
                                      hear me, that your soul may live. ..."

Isaiah 55:1-3, 6

"whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst."  

John 4:14

"Come to me, 

all you who are weary and burdened, 

and I will give you rest.  

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, 

for I am gentle and humble in heart, 

and you will find rest for your souls.  

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  

Matthew 11:28-30

an ounce of prevention .... again

Two nights in a row now, I've stayed up late doing unnecessary things (sitting in a parking lot with friends, painting a suncatcher, and watching a movie, if you must know).  I just felt like it.

Not that I want to base my life on what I feel like doing, but for someone who lives largely (or, more accurately, "small-ly") within the confines of her children's needs, staying up late was oddly liberating for me.  Normally I go to bed in good time to prevent feeling sleepy the next day.  A good habit and one I heartily recommend breaking from time to time.

Maybe conscientiousness is like exercise - if you do the same routine too frequently, your body falls into a rut and stops being trained by it, sort of develops an immunity.

In my post yesterday, I quoted The Princess Diaries' Eduard Christoff Philippe Gerard Renaldi, Crown Prince of Genovia:  "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something is more important than fear.  The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all."  In this recent season of my life, I have been living in the ranks of the cautious.  

What, then, is more important than prevention, that can propel me out of caution and into liberty living?

Letting the baby explore, no matter the dirt and (unlikely, after all) disease.
Staying up late sometimes, to see an eclipse, fireworks, or just the magic of lightening bugs.
On special occasions, serving sugar with enthusiasm!!
Allowing a margin for liberality in the spending plan.  Then, being liberal!
And sometimes, daring something big.  Pray, then leap!

(original post on this subject here; follow-up post here)