LIVE: Thoughtful - Whatever! Thoughtful, defined: contemplative; meditative; reflective; heedful; mindful Whatever is: True - conforming to reality or fact; genuine Noble - of an exalted moral or mental character or excellence Right - in accordance with what is good, proper, or just Pure - wholesome and untainted by immorality Lovely - very pleasant or enjoyable; delightful Admirable - arousing or deserving respect and approval Excellent - extraordinary Praisworthy - commendable ...think on these things. This wonderful admonition doesn't just come from the sweet plaque gracing the shelf above my kitchen sink, it comes from the living word of God in Philippians 4:8. According to Google, the ultimate authority (hee), a person has approximately 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day, which is approximately 2,100 to 2,900 per hour, which is approximately 35 to 48 per minute. WHOA AND WOW! ...that's exhausting!! STOP FOR JUST ONE MINUTE. STOP! THINK - it comes so naturally - WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS HAVE BEEN FOR THE VERY LAST MINUTE. YOU SHOULD HAVE HAD ABOUT 35 TO 48 OF THEM! What did this simple exercise reveal about your thoughts? Are they contented? condemning? critical? complaining? cheerful? compassionate? It's six a.m., and as usual, I am thoughtful, contemplative, mindful -- or more appropriately, random and all over the board: (my thoughts are in pictures and my thoughts are in blue) Mail Alex's (first son) birthday gift on time. If I were a good Mother (that's what he calls me), I would fly down to St. Augustine and surprise him...he will be 25, after all. Yay, it's sunny today. Downton at the Biltmore was so much fun! Really need to plan Andrew's (second son) graduation party. If I were a good Mamma (that's what he calls me), I would have already planned something super elaborate...he is graduating from the Air Force Academy, after all. Excited for Mom 2 Mom leaders' retreat! Going to miss my Mom 2 Mom girls! Love, love them!! Off work today, yay, I can walk the dogs and see spring. I pray, Lord, for my friend whose daughter is struggling. Oh, and remember to transfer some money for Ben’s (third son) college expenses. If I were a good Mom (you guessed it - that's what he calls me), I would just write a check for his college so that he didn't have to work and search for scholarships to help pay for it...he works extremely hard in school and he is in the honors college and he just made the Auburn Engineering Honor Society, after all. So thankful, Lord, for Ben's (my youngest son) internship and that he’ll be home for the summer. Get going, Tami! Edit Dr. Smith’s deposition, it's due Wednesday, you've had two weeks to get it done; don’t forget to pay the electric bill or else you'll get a late fee and they’ll cut your power off and you’ll be living on the street with your two dogs; and the dogs need dog food...yesterday. Why are you such a procrastinator? Really need to finish my blog post. Hair appointment...your roots are hid. de. ous. David’s waiting for me - morning coffee! What’s for dinner? I don't have a plan. What kind of wife am I? Quinoa burgers? And all of that, all of those illogical and nonsequential thoughts, in less than 30 seconds, before I have even gotten out of bed. Imagine what the rest of the day holds! Imagine the “thoughts” I have while my feet are on the floor, when I’m surrounded by traffic or happy people or unhappy people or deadlines or difficulties or FEARS! Thoughts, I don’t know about you, but they’re inescapable. Try as I might to clear the screen or close some of the open thought tabs in my brain...for us women with the nail in our heads (must watch, viewed over 10 million times), it's an impossible task. Sometimes the thoughts aren't daunting, just random and relentless. During my season of grief, however, the thoughts were not only daunting, but so loud, so alarming, that my solution was to turn the worship volume up louder than the thoughts so that I couldn’t hear them! Ingenious - and much better for my soul! Amazes me how at times I can hear the Lord through turning up the sound - of His truth (whatever is true, whatever is pure) - to replace the thoughts that don't align, as well as through turning off the sound of my life so as to hear His still small voice as I describe in my last blog post on fasting from noise! But to live, not simply with thoughts, but to live thoughtful as referenced above I’ve known requires some work, requires some attention and intention - some thoughts can stay but others, they got to go! I suspect you know the ones I’m talking about! The thoughts of comparison, the thoughts of self-pity, the thoughts of how life is out to get you, the thoughts of that person that just plain gets under your skin. The thoughts are coming regardless, so I challenge me and I challenge you, either replace some with: whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, whatever is excellent, whatever is praiseworthy - or crank the volume up! I don't know about you, but I've got some work to do! Would love to hear from you! LOVELY... PLEASE CONSIDER "SHARING", "COMMENTING", AND SIGNING UP FOR EMAIL DELIVERY.
2 Comments
4/24/2015 10:10:45 am
thanks tami, one of my favorite scriptures:(as i am in the throws of grief, i needed to be reminded to think on these things, would love to hear how you walked through the grief process @such an early age:( i am taking a grieving class, but every week i think i am not going back, but somehow i go! you and ben are very close to your mission trip~~will be praying as i have been from time to time! Tami you are a wonderful mom, and a great encourager, love u girl, sharon
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Gary Armstrong
5/27/2015 03:16:45 am
My favorite verse for attitude - and antidote for satan's lies and bullying. Thank you for the personal reminder!
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Tami Webb Redeemed child of God CategoriesArchives
April 2015
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