The BE attitudes

When I was in my younger years I used to have a stuffed animal collection and I always wanted all of them to sleep in my bed with me so that none of them felt left out (too much Toy Story...?).  One time my mom came in to tuck me in for bed and I was standing next to my bed, and through sobbing breaths said, “there’s.. no.. room.. for.. Audrey....”  The "no room for Audrey" theme continued to play out through my middle school and high school years... and 15 plus years later and I still haven’t learned how to “make room for Audrey...” 

A few years ago I read an devotional about the problem with "busyness" and how it doesn't leave "room for cream" in our lives.  The devotion used the analogy of ordering coffee and how the barista always asks, "would you like room for cream?"  The writer talks about how the "cream" is the good stuff in our lives, but sometimes we fill our lives to the brim, and we leave no "room for cream."  I have had at least a bazillion thoughts based off this devotion....  and I have come to realize the vital importance of leaving "room for the cream" to be stirred into my life, and lighten up the darkness;)  It kind of goes back to "leaving room for Audrey" to sleep in my own bed.  Ironically, in my life right now, that cream is symbolic of REST.  

Life is full of to-do-lists.  To do lists can range from things that we need to do, to things that we feel like we need to do, to things that we want to do, to things that we hope to some day do.  The most common excuse that I hear for not being able to make a commitment to something.. or someone... is "I'm just too busy.. or I have too much to do" (and boy do I fall prey to this as well).  Our generation is enslaved to "busyness," more than it is to business.   It seems like we fill our days with "doing" so that we can either feel important, accomplished, or worthy.   And even though saying that we are so busy is often expressed in the tone of a complaint, it's almost as if we are simultaneously encouraging ourselves.  It's as if we are subconsciously looking down on people who are not busy, and making ourselves feel better because we are.  

What is it that makes busyness what we aspire to?  Why is it that our brains are programed to think that the amount of stuff that we do directly corresponds to our success, popularity, power, and value?  Our generation is capable of doing more things at one time, or in one day, than ever before.  Our capacity to multitask is rapidly increasing, and is universally praised and embraced.   But what if the amount of stuff that we are doing, is consequently robbing us of doing anything well.  Over the past year I have had an ongoing revelation about this phenomenon.  I am in the process of BEing transformed by the renewing of my mind, (Colossians 3:10) and the rewiring of my heart and life to DO less, and BE more.  I made myself too available to too many things, commitments, and people for too long, that I gave up making myself available to the Lord.   And it took Him stripping me of everything else in my life, so that He could finally have my full attention.  

I am going to start writing about all the different things that the Lord is teaching me to "BE."  It will be my own version of The "Beattitudes."