My Cup Overflows!

My Cup Overflows
My cup overflows. It’s a biblical reference (found in Psalm 23:5) It’s used, in my mind, as an expression of gratitude for God filling my cup. Some days my cup overflows because God continues to pour out His love, grace and wisdom into my life. Sometimes I think it overflows from the living life in constant motion – think swirling effect from stirring your hot chocolate.

Today is a little of both.

Life has been a continual motion lately. Friday I spent 10 hours cleaning my house and running a few errands. It was crazy and I’m so thankful to my mother-in-law for her wonderful help. Friday night the snowfall kept our company from joining us. My husband was sad for me that I’d spent the day cleaning, had rooms and beds prepared, and a dinner party prepared but no one came. I was bummed that our plans didn’t work but thankful for a quieter night and some time to hang out with my parents. Saturday morning we got up early to do a few dishes and hit the road. We met our company half way to exchange “the gift” as Israel referred to him. Isaac, who’s been in Iowa for over two weeks, was finally coming to Elgin! (For those who don’t know, Isaac was the guy who quickly became like a brother to many of us on our Mexico Missions trip last August). We made a quick stop at Upper Iowa University to snap a photo of Isaac with the peacock and continued home. After a totally Americanized Mexican meal of taco salad, we sat down to chat and Kara came over. We chatted for a bit before bundling up and heading out to the sledding hill. Cutting short the sledding, we rushed back to the house to change and jumped in the van to leave. It was then that I heard a voicemail from my mom regarding supper plans. Yikes, two places at once. Not possible. Since we were already in the van with friends, we decided to head to the spaghetti supper – a fundraiser for our friends going on a missions trip to Belize next month. While there Isaac got to visit many of the people that he met in Mexico City. After the kids were covered in spaghetti sauce and the adults had ingested way too many noodles, we headed back out in the lovely above-freezing cold. Made a quick stop at mom’s to see my aunt who arrived from California to visit. Stayed long enough to give her a hug, give her grief and walk back out the door. Back at the house we had 6 or more guests over to play a few games. We played Quelf, which was hilarious and super fun. After that, we played UNO, the game most easily understood by the various cultures sitting around the living room.

Sunday didn’t simmer down. It was another full day. Worship at church was rough but good. Seriously, do my kids really need to act their age? Can’t they be more mature in public places? During the service, Isaac and Shane sang “Inside Out” by Hillsong. While Shane sang in English, Isaac sang in Spanish. It was great to see a brother from another country where we’ve ministered worshipping right along side of us! Realizing I was beyond my max, I opted to take lemonade to the potluck meal that a few select persons served on Sunday. Nice. Because the meal was related to the church business meeting to follow, I sent Isaac home with Kara to hang out. While my friends enjoyed coffee and a game of ____, I moderated a business meeting where I felt like I was also acting as sergeant at arms. Okay, it wasn’t that bad but I did have to put my foot down and be firm multiple times. At one point I even had to inform a member that his blurting things out after I asked him not to was totally inappropriate, twice. Not fun having to talk to someone your elder like that! We left the meeting, grabbed the kids from my moms, said hi to my aunt again and headed home for naps. Though I needed a nap, I got approval from my hubby to leave him with the kids and go hang out at Kara’s for an hour before we had supper plans. It was a long hour, whoops, and I stopped at the house long enough to use the bathroom, remove my burning contacts, pick up Bethany and walk back out the door. At supper, we gathered with the Jensen’s at their home full of friends. It was great to hang out, chit chat, take some pictures, sing some worship songs in Spanish and English and chase kids around. As the night started winding down, I was more than ready to hit the sack!

In all of that, you might see why I had the overflowing cup based on the constant motion. But it was so much more than that. My cup has been overflowing with things that I’m reading as I journey with Paul and other committed guys through the book of Acts. It’s been overflowing as Ryan pours his love out on our family. It’s been overflowing as I’ve gotten used to eating smaller, healthier portions and feel better about myself. It’s been overflowing as I visit with people who are passionate about pursuing Christ. My cup has been overflowing as our old Mexico Missions Team and a few other like-minded friends have been gathering daily to hang out. This morning I read www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com and it was a difficult but good reminder of where I want to be in life. I don’t want to be the American she refers to in her post – the person who merely says that I’d be willing to do it in a heartbeat. I want to be the person who acts on it. As I came to work, I kept that mental picture of the overflowing cup. How can I work with purpose? How can I pour into someone else’s life? Can I do that while at work?

God, I don’t know where we’ll be 10 years from now. My prayer today is that we’ll be serving faithful, giving EVERYTHING, and growing to be more like you. As the God who created everything, Who cares about the intimate and mundane details of my life (yes God, another gray hair… Happy 30th to me) God my hearts desire is to serve others. God would I be a tool for You in the small things so that You can trust me. Similar to Paul, I don’t want the damnation of others on my conscious because I wanted to live comfortably! And in so doing, would you open doors of opportunities to be used by you and SLAM shut doors that would be of selfish desire on my part.