Cups Overflowing

"Look at all the mugs!," my friend said as she looked about my messy kitchen. It was true; mugs littered every surface. There must have been forty mugs out, and it was only 1:00. Right then and there I made a decision, quickly followed by a proclamation:

"That's it! Each person gets one mug. One! And I'm dealing with this right now!"
As I frantically searched for a box to put mugs in, Ami explained how she invested in dish sets, a color for each family member. I liked the idea, but I didn't want to go out and buy new mugs. So I assigned each child a mug from the ones we already had and packed up all of the other ones.

The first three days of our new "mug system," I became the cup Nazi.

"That's not your mug. Where is your cup?"

"Dad used it for his coffee."

"Travis, this is your mug. You have to use it! And you're not allowed to use the kids' mugs!!"

And you know what? I now have a wonderful husband who is also using an assigned mug!!
..Now, if I could just remember to use my mug!!!

All the dither about mugs and an abundance of children, the desire to serve seeming to clash with the need to simplify had me stymied.

My mind is crowded with cups and abundance- the overflow of cups in my life that I continually try to fill, the longing to do it all, feel it all, be it all, when ....

when only one cup is necessary.

I need to live my life with one mug. It's that simple. If I hold out my cup each morning and ask God to fill it, he will. He will never leave my cup empty.

Yes, surely "my cup overflows." (psalm 23:5) And yours will too, if only you allow him to fill it for you.

And when I allow him to fill my one cup, I find that the other cups are no longer needed....

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
~Matthew 6:33

Treasure

A family walk on a warm February day...
Hunting for treasure, hiding in camouflage...
And one day, hopefully, they will know that the real treasure found on that day was each other...
The gift of shared memories and God-painted canvas forever etched...
And knowing that despite the daily grind of life...bickerings..and working things out...
they had what was most important.

Can you find Sam?
He bought a ghillie suit with his birthday money...

The prize.....

What Mama Decided

Naked toes curl in the ooze of mud, fists clench berries all dripping with ripeness and swell a little boy's head with notions of a steaming pie....

Another boy is a hunter; he is serious. He will feed the family with the new skill he is acquiring, and young girls are intent on cramming baskets with Summer's bounty....

A mama walks behind, slow...and thoughtfully taking it all in, drinking mirth and delight of childhood..heart filled with the meanderings of her own mind...

And this time...This time she's thinking about labels...
How labels are good for cans, and appropriate for tags on clothes, and perfect for identifying animals and plants and such...
Yes, labels identify; they tell us exactly what we're getting. I know that when I open a can labeled "dog food," I will not find tomatoes inside (hopefully!)
I know that when I order a size "small" dress in the mail, I will not get a size "extra large."
So labels can be a good thing....for things.
Labels are not helpful for people.

He's lazy. She's dumb. They are ignorant. I'm fat. He's a troublemaker. On and on it goes...until we stuff people in cans, like a bunch of sardines, and slap a sticker on them. We all do it. It's part of human nature to want to define and categorize others by appearances or even actions:

"But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.' " (Samuel 16:7)

Isn't it good to know that God doesn't label us? And if He doesn't label us, why do we insist on labeling others? When we label others, we cannot see the richness and depth of who they truly are; we do not see them with dignity, as beloved creatures made in the image and likeness of God. When we label others, we are actually refusing to see others as God does...with eyes of love.

I've had it with labels...
It's time to stop using them for people and keep them on cans and dress tags....where they belong!!!



That's what the mama decided on that walk...
and that thought made her heart happy.