THE NEW BATTERY – Nourishing The Soul
Three times within a three month period......when I have gone to start my car it would not start. Each time I would sit there in my car and pray that God would start my car. I would put my hand on the dashboard......envision God's light coming through my body into the car. The first 2 times I had prayed after I finished the car immediately started. But on the third incident I prayed 7 times and I prayed with a friend of mine on the phone. Finally after the seventh intensive prayer the car started up......purring like a kitten. I think of the story of Elijah when he was praying for rain and 7 times..........believing God even when you don't see what you are looking for. But there was more God wanted me to see in this simple dead cell battery.
A car's battery is the energy source of the car. Your soul is the energy source of your body. God is the energy source that re-boots the soul......and keeps it charged up. Sometimes our soul is just like that battery.....there is one dead cell in it. Not only do we not know there is a dead cell within us......we don't know where it came from.
I've had three dead cells within my soul. The first 2 I believe are healed and I will have to tell you about them on another day.........But the third dead cell I am still morning over. It was the death of my Grandmother Terry. For some reason I can't seem to shake her death. Before she died, she had alheimers, and every third weekend I would go down to Hampton, SC and take care of her. So many people would tell me what a shame it was that she was losing her mind and wasn't the person she used to be. I however found solace in her condition. For once In my life I could tell her anything I wanted, and she would just smile at me and say, "Well I'll be." There is comfort in knowing you can tell someone you love anything and know that they will still love you, and because they won't remember what you told them, there is no record kept of wrong. All is, as it was before the conversation. But there is more...........
You see my grandmother was the glue to our family. She nourished all of our souls even though some did not realize it. Every Christmas she prepared the meals. We would sit down to the table and eat together as a family. We would share our lives at the dinner table, as we stuffed our bellies with pure homemade Southern love. She made quilts for all of the Grandkids. Every Christmas she would show us the new one she was making. She was so proud of her handiwork. I didn't appreciated all the things she made with her hands.......the food, the quilts, and the tablecloths......until now. Now that she's gone I see how her loving hands nourished my soul by preparing food......and by making me gifts from her heart.......so now as I speak to you there is a dead cell in my battery.....a dead cell in my soul that I don't know how to heal.
So I asked God......"How do you intend on healing my soul Lord?" I heard His still gentle voice in my heart say, " Let me nourish your soul." I thought to myself, "How does he intend on nourishing my soul?" Then the Lord opened my mind and it all came to me. The answer simply put is this, "With His creation of Earth, Air, Water and Fire."
Let me explain. Last night after waking up from my Sunday afternoon nap I went in the kitchen and made homemade, chilli beans, turnip greens and cinnamon apples. Cort, (my son) and I love to have our special candlelight dinner on Sunday nights, but I have been lax here lately due to a busy schedule. We set the table, eat together and light the candles. it is our special time together. I realized that now the baton has been passed to me. I have create traditions in my home that will nourish my soul along with the soul of my child. Now how does this apply to earth, air, fire, and water? When you plant a garden and tend it or when you prepare a meal with fresh vegetables.....you are touching the earth. When you light candles there is an ambience that is created with fire. When you sit down and eat a meal together and converse with one another there are words and sounds of laughter that fill the air that God created for you to breathe. Finally when you drink a glass of water or a fresh glass of homemade lemonade or southern sweet tea made with distilled water and turbinado sugar you are drinking the delicious water that God created on this earth. God uses His elements to revive our soul.
Let's dig further in Jeremiah he told Jeremiah go to the potters house. Have you ever made pottery and felt the clay between your fingers.......or planted flowers in your garden? (Earth) Have you ever gone and just laid on the beach not to get a suntan but to feel see the power of the waves as they come crashing upon the shore. (Water) Think about how good it feels on a cool crisp morning to bundle up and take a book and read it on the porch with the sun shining on your face. (Fire) What about that beautiful fall day when the leaves are brilliant colors and you feel the wind blow them off the trees. (Air) What about the horse you rode on the beach that day......the majestic-ness of his neck .......his mane .........his power........Did you know that God made that animals with the earth......just as He made Adam with the earth? We originally came from the ground. Wouldn't it make sense that sometimes it just feels good to stick your hands in the soil? There is nothing more sensational than feeling, smelling, tasting, seeing, and hearing God's creations!
This Christmas take time to nourish one-another's souls. Forget about what you have to get done and just be. Create traditions that incorporate nature......God's creations into your holiday. Make gifts with your hands and heart. Light Candles. Go Christmas caroling in the cold air and drink hot chocolate. Cook together. Play with your animals and dress them up in homemade sweaters. Knit and Crochet. Paint a picture. Sing and make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Above all fill the air with your words of encouragement and love and laughter. The condemnation, the shame and the pictures of your past that are dark and foreboding.........they don't exist anymore. When the Lord forgave you He reached into the past and took a shovel and dug them out and cast them into the fire, in order to change your present and future. They are not dead......they never existed. So live in the present and dream and create a beautiful life with what you have today......this is the abundant life! God has taken out the old battery with the dead cell. He has put in a new battery.........Its a soul that is alive! So live! This Christmas, just Live!
May THE FORCE (Jesus) be with you. Until next time or Once upon a Time....
His Evening Star,
Natalie Foreverland