An August Clearing (08/08/2025)

This morning as I sat on my porch in prayer, journaling about my life and asking the LORD for help, I wrote my prayer to the LORD for inspiration for the blog. I’ve been writing daily for over four years now, and recently I’ve struggled. I wrote, “Open my eyes, my mind, my heart so I can welcome You in more completely.” And it hit me. What room was I giving the LORD? How welcoming have I been? And I knew it was time for a clearing.

My mind and my soul can get as cluttered as my desktop. Not many people have ever stood at my desktop in my office area and realized that it looks like an abandoned troll station. Every item on it means something to me, but to the passerby, it must look like a war zone. As I journaled, as I realized I’d let myself get “cluttered up” with non-essentials, I realized that I wasn’t allowing room for the LORD. I ask the LORD to remain in me as I seek to remain in Him and yet I don’t give him any room. How welcoming is that?

And so, before I could write this morning, the LORD and I reviewed those non-essentials that are cluttering my mind and heart, clearing them, and setting up a welcoming spot for the LORD. I threw away the fretting about a multitude of things I am not in charge of but have an opinion about. I got rid of the list of things I wish others would do and swore to the LORD instead to love them as they are. I gave the LORD the hurt that had come from my interactions with others and their judgments of me; I know He can carry them better than me. And together with the LORD, I whittled down my “to do” list to include just two things today: Love the LORD, Love others.

And then I invited the LORD in. And I sat with the LORD in contemplation.

I share this with you because I wanted to explain my lateness in posting but also because I thought you may find yourself at times where I found myself today, asking the LORD to come, promising to welcome Him, but giving Him no room in your mind and heart. We can get “cluttered.” There is so much that seeks to grab our attention and then linger. “Remain in me as I remain in You.” That essential relationship requires accommodations.

As we journey through this life towards a life lived abundantly in, with, and through the LORD, let us take time now and then to clear away the non-essential, setting it aside or giving it to the LORD. And let us make certain that as we invite the LORD “in” we’ve cleared a spot so He can remain.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.