The Best Way To Spend 10 Minutes (Blog By Elissa)

title_10-min-blog

Every morning I wake up to tap-dancing. Yes, tap-dancing. Our doggy, Emma, sandy-furred lab with a grin as big as her face, has all four paws prancing on the hard wood floor with excitement that someone is awake.

Energy filling the living room, the sound of four paws is a happy, adorable rhythm.

Emma’s list of priorities every morning includes a bowl of delightful dog food, a scurry outside to “go”, and topping that list: attention. The morning isn’t complete unless we give some touch and affection.

Tap-dancing is sure to repeat when we return home later in the day. She is anxious to get some time with her favorite people and all she can do is dance until she gets that love!

Falling into my favorite armchair, I invite her to sit next to me. I stroke her head and she calms enough to rest her head on my lap (she’s just the right height for that). I giggle. There is something so innocent, so endearing about her looking up at me as she rests her head there. She will melt in the moment and I will too.

This week, as her head was in my lap, I saw a picture of myself. I was a child resting on the lap of my heavenly Father – excited and full of joy to meet with Him – being my first thought for the day. When did that happen last?

simple-act-of-coming-closeAre you like me, thinking, I wonder how life can be so fast paced that sweet time with my heavenly Father gets left to the end of the day or sometimes forgotten?

I can rush around in prayer, but it’s not the same. I can find my to-do list and get off into things, while God is sitting, ready for my attention and to pour His love into my life.

In the middle of a conversation, my friend recently said, “I’m just so stressed out I feel like I’m going to be sick”. Maybe that’s you, or you can remember a time like that. The chaos of life crowds in and it’s just too much to bear.

I can guarantee that a few minutes in the arms of your Father God will soothe and heal you like nothing else can.

As I sit here and type, Emma is tap-dancing over for another stroke,

Come-Close-James-4to lay her head against my chair and wait for me to respond.

We have a clear path to follow, shown in James 4:8. “Come close to God, and God will come close to you….”

In the simple act of COMING CLOSE arrives a huge promise.

… That God WILL come near to us. When He does, in the presence of God, is fullness of joy. (Psalm 16:11)
James continues, “Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”

My heart feels a divine call to be more about dwelling in God’s love than being in love with what the world offers. Coming away to the arms of the Father throughout your day is what’s missing. Not more time, more coffee, more resources…

Emma returns to my side often. It’s not a planned ritual, not forced, but a simple puppy love. I pray that God makes me like that – as my heart continues being drawn to sit. By His side. In His Word. Deeper in His Presence.

That’s when I will be fully alive.

Maybe I should take up tap-dancing, too.

-ElissaEmma & Elissa

 

 

10 Minute Playlist

1. Closer To Your Heart – Desperation Band

 

2. Singing Over Us – Worship Central

 

3. Breathe On Us – Kari Jobe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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