Daily Allowance

Upon reading the title of this blog your heart may be experiencing palpitations of unexplained excitement. For some who know me well, you may be saying, "Finally! She's going to write for the public eye." Well, sort of. Much like me in the eyes of my Creator, my books are a work in progress. For others, it may appear that I have developed a site for daily devotions. The first group would be closest with their assumptions, but I promise the rest of you will not be completely disappointed DAILY :) So why such a title? To that I would ask, "Have you met me?" Busy is an understatement. I am only 29, not married, no children, and YES my life is still busy.

On the Internet, you will find a plethora of definitions for the word ALLOWANCE. It is a fixed or allotted amount of something. Jesus Christ is my promised manna. I'm sure at times it would appear that He's not enough, either in my words or actions, but at the end of the day, that statement holds true. If you're honest with yourself, the allowance given you isn't always enough in your eyes either. So yes, Jesus will be talked about on this blog, as will my Father in Heaven. In fact, I have always found it much more comfortable to publicly say God, than the name of Jesus. But His name is powerful so I allow myself to take in the awkwardness and loudly live for His name. In life you give allowance, much like God gave us Himself in the form of His son. I think my parents gave me 25 cents for dishes and $5 to clean both levels of our house. The difference is seen in the expectations. God freely gives and the outpouring of His provision can neither be contained, nor matched. You are a steward of EVERYTHIING placed in your path, whether that be time, money, or even people. You cannot produce more time in your day, but you allow time for what you desire most.

What if you chose to do this day differently? What if you woke up and decided to allow five minutes to cry every kind of tear? I would struggle to make my deadline. I would cry tears of sadness over the loss of a man I chose to believe in for over 3 1/2 years of my life, who never reached a place to love and lead me well... even while in prison. I'd cry tears of joy over the beauty added to my life as I now step into the stories of kids in our local jails and prisons helping them to see that with God they can scale any wall. And I would smile to know that I have been obedient in everything and it was because of that man that God allowed me to see an open door. Not one word, one letter, one prayer wasted...for in ME God grew gumption giving me the character to commit and complete something I would know by no other avenue. I would cry tears of frustration over relationships, work, debt, an overabundance of uncertainty in life. But then God would drown out all those tears with Himself and His certainty in that very same life. I would begin to cry tears of gratitude that I am beautiful because I know I AM. Being thankful for the cross, undeserving of His love, and overwhelmed by His relentless pursuit...I would cry. What if God changed the order of my tears? Perspective is EVERYTHING.

You make an allowance for what you most desire. What if you allowed time to send an encouraging message over Facebook, or picked up a pen and wrote a friend? What if you allowed time to invest in a child in a far off land who doesn't even speak your language? What if you bought popsicles for your son or daughter to hand out to the neighbor kids as they got off of the bus? What if you purchased a package of waters and fresh grapes for the hard-working men along side our roads? What if you allowed time to visit a man, woman, or child in a local jail or prison just to show them the love of God? What if you allowed time to observe a child's wonder discovering his or her hands? What if you allowed time to educate yourself on something new? What if you allowed time to visit a new restaurant in a town you know nothing about, and sat down with a people you never took the time to notice? What if you asked God to help you accomplish just ONE of these things today? Don't focus on the number of words I wrote but the POSSIBILITIES that lie within. What if you actually lived a life of John 3:30? "He must become GREATER; I must become less."