Last night I dreamed about the biggest vacuum cleaner ever. You’ve gotta love the dreams of a homemaker. Yes, sometimes I dream of blenders, too. And also occasionally of butter.
In my dream this time, the huge vacuum came down from the sky and began to hover (no, not Hoover) over my yard. I watched in awe and wondered what exactly it was planning to do. After all, it did have a miracle to work in my home after a lively Christmas holiday in which we had taken several days off from cleaning.
The vacuum looked exactly like this, except that it didn’t actually resemble this one at all
because it was a dream and they don’t make vacuums like that in real life.
The enormous contraption continued to hang out in the air above me, as if waiting for me to do what I was supposed to do so that it could perform its duty. But I was preoccupied with several other matters that were making me uneasy. Worry about my kids had been creeping in as I was trying to figure out how to handle each situation. What to do, what to do? And now I had the problem of a giant vacuum buzzing over my yard.
I finally decided that I would need to stop worrying about all the other matters so that I could instead deal with the monstrous vacuum. Since I couldn’t deal with them both at once, this meant that I had to let go of all the worried thoughts floating around in my head. So I did. And umm (this was a dream, remember), when I let go of the yuck that I was anxious about, it all scattered all over my yard. Don’t try to picture it.
Burden released, I then turned to the vacuum that I was now ready to deal with. But the vacuum ignored me because it already knew what it was supposed to do, and could now get down to business. It lowered it’s powerful hose, and with its amazing suction force, it quickly sucked up every last bit of my yuck and worry. Then it went away. Eureka!
I saw my problems disappear along with the vacuum as I woke from the dream. And I also remembered that we had watched Despicable Me 2 last night (while eating nachos) and the big vacuum thing that sucked up all the Minions is probably partly where the lovely visual in this dream came from.
So what does any of this have to do with 31 Days of Praise? Well, it’s time to learn to let go of what worries us, and to instead embrace Truth, resting in the peace we receive through Jesus. We can not hold on to both at the same time.
It’s obviously also time for me to vacuum my house.
I had two books on my Christmas list this year. Yay for me – I received them both! I spent a relaxing afternoon yesterday reading the introduction to both books, and decided I absolutely needed to recommend them to you. I love them already. These books are full of TRUTH!
The Bible is our ultimate source for Truth, right? So keep on diving into the Word. Take time to chew on the words, savoring the words of Jesus and the lessons to be learned.
I believe 31 Days of Praise: Enjoying God Anew, by Ruth Myers, and Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence, by Sarah Young, are wonderful additions to our growth and encouragement as we seek God and learn to listen to Him, praise Him, worship Him, and live a life of peace in Him. Care to join me in reading these books this year?
I read Day One of 31 Days of Praise: Enjoying God Anew this morning, along with all the scriptures that went along with the truths she shared. It was powerful. And I want to say more, but really, I just want you to read it. This stuff is rich.
Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence, by Sarah Young, includes a short devotional thought for us to read each day of the year. I’m waiting until January 1 to start reading through this book. But a few months ago when I was having a difficult few weeks, a friend of mine who owns this book, shared some of the thoughts she had been reading from this. I was incredibly encouraged to read these truths and to be pointed to scripture that applied to my struggles. I love it.
You may also be encouraged while reading through a series I wrote this fall called Raw. It’s a story of my journey during the past year of truly accepting the peace Jesus longs to give us!
I also plan to begin a series in January to encourage simplicity in eating a Real Food diet. Watch for more info coming soon. But starting the new year at the feet of Jesus is most important of all. Join me in this journey to Truth!
Have you heard of these books? Read them? Interested in reading them with me?
Kendra Burrows says
Good morning! I’ve been reading Jesus Calling for over a year. It is very encouraging first thing in the morning. I’ll definitely look into 31 Days of Praise.
On an entirely unrelated note, my son LOVES Settlers of Catan (Christmas gift based on your endorsement).
Blessings!
Meredith says
Jesus Calling is a WONDERFUL, short, simple reminder every day of how amazingly loved we are by Jesus and how desperately He wants to be our all! This little book has picked me up and encouraged me time and time again!
Julie says
Laura,
Please do some more research on the Jesus Calling book. I’m not sure I would call it Truth. See here:
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=14118.
Roma says
Yes be careful with this book. Definitely not biblical.
Laura says
Thanks for sharing your concern and this link. I definitely agree that we should always be very careful about what we read and what we consider to be truth! I have found that so far, Jesus Calling has pointed me to Jesus and pointing me to Scripture.
Dottie says
Laura, you have such a clear, encouraging, entertaining way of teaching lessons. I totally get the message the way you describe it. AS for the books, I’ve been thinking of what books to add to my reading list this year and I’ll be looking into these two. Thank you so much for all you do and may God continue to bless you in 2014
Katie says
I only have a few minutes every day to read and I love the verses Jesus Calling gives every day. Some days are redundant, but I forget so quickly where I am and where Jesus is, I need the reminder! Today and yesterday made me think of you, Laura, since John 15:5 was one of the verses.
Crazy! I just read the intro to 31 Days of Praise this week too! My Spirit is loving it already! Nothing on this earth is perfect but some things are a heck of a lot closer to Truth than others. I’d love to have a cup of coffee/tea with you after reading the first few days in the book!
God Bless you!
Sarah says
I’ve had Jesus Calling for several years & went through it several times….I love it!!! It was always amazing to me that almost every day related, in some way, to the exact circumstances in my life. I always said it was a “God thing!” Not sure about the reference to the lighthouse critique….I hope it’s false & misinformation! When I went through it, I was always brought back to Jesus…the one & only!:)
Haven’t read 31 days of praise, but sounds wonderful. I got several new books/devotions for Christmas, & have several good ones currently on my night stand…I’ll be busy for awhile! Hope y’all had a Merry Christmas!!
K Ann Guinn says
Thanks for the recommendations! I have heard about Jesus Calling but not 31 Days of Praise. Both sound like great devotional readings.
(I will check into it more, but after my first glance at the lighthouse article, I don’t see stated anywhere who they actually are, or what their credentials are to make these statements…..so I will take it as a “grain of salt” for now.)
Julie says
Could you clarify what you mean by “credentials”?
K Ann Guinn says
I don’t want to encourage an argument here (as it would not be appropriate), and I appreciate the sincere warning. I just couldn’t see what sort of training or experience the writers of the website had. So for now, I will weigh all the info. here equally, until I have time to research the material myself.
Julie says
It was never my intention to argue. I was just wondering what you meant. I do encourage you to research it further though. We need to be careful judging something by how it makes us feel.
Julie says
Here are a few more articles to consider:
http://www.solasisters.com/search?q=Jesus+calling