Ever So Thirsty...

            Doesn't this look inviting?  I would never want to leave!



Oh, I know it has been a long time since I had a real post on here...but it has also been a long time since I had any real time to be able to sit down, take my time and complete a post! :)

Today I am on vacation, visiting family in L.A., and I'm just L-O-V-I-N-G it. 
I will be here until Sunday, and then I head back for home...back to life as a mommy, a student, and all the other things too...It's a good thing, but I cannot say enough how sweet it is to be able to have a vacation like this, to unwind, relax, refresh, and just sit if need be!!

It's times like this, when I get to really slow down, and look inside the part of me that doesn't get much attention in the business and busy-ness of my life, and today, I have gotten to do that. 
It occurred to me that I am thirsty.  And I have been thirsty for quite some time, and trying to water my heart, and "me" but doing so at the end of my day, or my week, and it is the last thing to get done, so by that time, I'm to tired to realize how truly thirsty I have become.

So here's the deal:  I drink lots of water, and crystal light (Mojito is to DIE FOR!!!)  Because I do tend to get thirsty ALL the time, especially in the summer. 
But that's not really the thirsty I'm talking about.  I'm talking about how thirsty my soul is. 
Sometimes, you get to the point to where you feel like a ceramic vase, that was in the process of being finished, was left to dry, but left out for far to long; maybe even forgotten about momentarily. 


this is how supple it looks with enough moisture, water, and care...

      


This is how it feels sometimes when we don't quench our thirst, and we feel used up, and dry.

It no longer has that gummy, pasty feel to it, there's very little moisture left, in fact, it has even started to crack in various areas that were left unattended. 
It's feel is rough and rigid, not yet smooth by the maker's finishing touch, and by the looks and feel of it, it seems it has passed that point of being fixed, because clay has a very short "shelf life" once the creative process has begun, and each pice must be finished on a strict timeline to be completed, and look like new.   



  

 

I choose this beautiful, bohemian collection as my "finished pieces" because they fit me...my personality...my free spirit!! 

And where do we go when we allow ourselves to get to that point?
When my spirit is thirsty and weary, I know of only one place to go that fills me up.  I go to the river.  it's a river unlike any other I've ever known.  No other can ever compare to this one.  And all I have to do to get there is to pray.  No matter how cracked, dry or broken I get, the water in this river restores my soul, it refreshes me and I literally feel like brand new.  

I found this prayer in my worship bible, and I love it.

" O my God, My soul thirsts for You, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water"..."You bring not just a drop of water, not just a single drink, but a river which we can return to over and over again, a source that not only quenches our thirst, but that makes everything around us fruitful and beautiful.  Oh Lord, when I am poor in spirit, when i reach the desolate places of this journey, you meet me there with the living water of Your spirit."

And that is the kind of water I desire...something that will not only renew my spirit, but that will also GROW my spirit, and allow it to flourish, as opposed to just let it go along, never changing, but flourishing!  

The song sung (not originally) by James Taylor, How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You...seems to work nicely in here.  it is so sweet to be loved so deeply, that I'm not left to quench my own thirst, but that I can get nourishment and flourishment from the Only One who can love me so much.