I was so privileged to attend a gathering last weekend where Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel was teaching. I have been a part of Jeremy and Ari's "Land of Israel Network" for several years and have been in awe of their pioneering spirit in establishing a farm on the mountains of Judea and their wisdom and knowledge of the Scriptures. Jeremy has a new little devotional-type book entitled "Waking Up!" I cannot tell you how profoundly it affected me when I read the following entry from his book. You will remember what I just wrote in my last two blogs, about learning to leave the past behind and discover who I am becoming.  It was as if the Holy Spirit wanted to truly confirm that point to me, putting the words in italics and bold type! 

Jeremy wrote, "As a person grows stronger and begins to rise up, he lifts up everyone around him. When someone chooses to take responsibility for their life and decides to make their situation better, their light shines into the lives of everyone connected to them. WHO AM I NOW? AND WHO COULD I BE? "

It was another powerful and literal "wake up call" for me! I am thanking the Lord for filling my heart and spirit with such a sense of hope and possibility.  Who am I now? I am one of many, recovering from life's trials and challenges. Who could I be? Ah, there lies the treasure! Possibilities I have not even thought of; dreams I haven't had the opportunity to pursue. 

It is good to be waking up from such a long slumber.  In another of Jeremy's devotions he mirrors my own feelings about "waking with the dawn." That's something I've never cared to do! Apparently it wasn't his favorite thing either! He quotes Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 1,1: "Man should strengthen himself like a lion, to stand in the morning in the service of His Creator; so that He should awaken the dawn." To this Jeremy responds, "Wake up like a lion? For most of my life I could barely wake up like a sloth. I was the guy who defined himself as 'not a morning person.' So, first I committed to stop hitting the snooze button. Snoozing is not lion-like. "

That cracked me up! But it also made me stop and think. I've been a bit sloth-like in the mornings myself. Maybe this is where I need to start in seeking God to find who I could be.  Jeremy also wrote, "Every morning we start our day answering a question: 'Who is in charge of my life, who's guiding my ship?" Excellent question to start the day, don't you think? If I wake up intending to guide my own ship, and get everything done the way I want it (since I'm in charge) it will probably be a frustrating day. Yet if I begin my day focused entirely on the One whom I choose to guide me, purposing to set my sails in HIS direction, it will most likely be a fruitful and a joyful day - and it might even lead me into something completely unexpected.  As I allow the Lord to steer my ship and direct my path, I sincerely pray that He will cause my light to shine into the lives of everyone I'm connected with.  And that includes you!

​Note:
If you are interested in ordering a copy of Jeremy's wonderful book Waking Up, I highly recommend it! Here is a link on Amazon to order:  
https://www.amazon.com/Waking-Up-Jeremy-Gimpel/dp/B0DSQBJB54/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3C4MBSVZ8N6OP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.XVIHIKYf-l3-yxOjzeQ-uw.peA4lOveezAsUO6a2ZlwDIMcP2r-1ccoIjoI3nGFOkc&dib_tag=se&keywords=waking%2Bup%2Bby%2BJeremy%2BGimpel&qid=1784341655&s=books&sprefix=waking%2Bup%2Bby%2Bjeremy%2Bgimpel%2Cstripbooks%2C188&sr=1-1

Well, dear ones, I got so many responses to that last blog that I arose this morning in great encouragement. Did you ever think about that word "encouragement"? It means something has brought you COURAGE! For me, I felt a new courage to start writing again, something I had almost laid in the dust. It was amazing to get so many emails from those experiencing the same loss and floundering that I am in. Perhaps we can now "flounder" together as we make our way through this season of rest and restoration.

Part of the big breakthrough, for me, is discovering the very small ways in which I can take delight. Instead of looking at the pictures on the wall in my study of me ministering to thousands of Africans in Nigeria and leading worship for a huge conference in St. Louis, I take the time to marvel at what God is doing through the works of my hands in planting a garden. Oh, how slowly this little garden has grown this year after five months of total drought in Colorado. Squash that would normally be taking over half my yard is JUST NOW bearing blossoms. Instead of picking 20 cherry tomatoes for my salads in July, as I used to do,  I was excited this morning to find five of them red and ripe! One big, bold bell pepper is hanging on a vine and I cannot wait to chop it up into my chicken curry tonight!

I felt the Lord was showing me that my garden is really a picture of me right now. I am not twenty tomatoes, I am five. But the five are delicious and a gift from God. And oh, the green beans! They were planted last mid-May, and now in July there are finally dozens and dozens of little white blossoms and the tiniest tips of green beans. It looks like a garden of Hope, a display of Promise!  It is taking much longer than normal to develop and to produce, but that's OK. I have been through a long drought too and I am taking much longer to accomplish something and perhaps producing much less. But like those little blossoms I too am full of promise!  

And that's you too. Be EN-COURAGED! The drought is not lasting. The River of God is still making a way through the desert.