Saturday Seeking Flashback - "Tiny Bubbles"

When Saturday rolls around, my mind automatically asks the question, "How is God revealing Himself to me in my everyday world this week?"  It started back in 2005 when the routine of doing a weekly devotional writing began in my life.  Over the years, God has taught me many a lesson, and continues to reveal Himself in fresh and new ways.

Today, however, my mind is tired and when I looked for a new message the only response I received was, "Look for one of the old writings to share".  And so it was, I pulled up the document file of writings and paged through, looking for things I was facing during other September weeks in years past.

The writing which resonated with how I was feeling today was first written four years ago.  May it speak to your heart today!

09/11/10 Tiny Bubbles

There are people who love to wash dishes. For the most part, I am not one of them. When faced with the task, a special memory from my past makes the process endurable. After squeezing the dishwashing soap into the running water, my mother taught me how to quickly turn the bottle upright and gently squeeze to produce a spray of tiny bubbles. Doing so not only reminds me of my mom, but also gives me the joy of seeing the bubbles float gently above the sink, looking for a spot to land.

 

This week has been a challenging one. To describe my mood, it felt as if I was living inside one of those bubbles, floating around, doing my thing, with no one to notice or care. After a long week-end with my family, relaxing in the beauty of the Black Hills of South Dakota, it was hard to get back to the reality of work. On top of a busy work week, our fall schedule started up, with Northwest Chorus practice on Tuesday night and our outreach to the children of our community on Wednesday night. Many people crossed my path in the course of the week, so why did I feel so alone? 

Thankfully, I was able to work through my pity party and things got brighter as the week went on. Friends assured me my life did make a difference, even when my mind was telling me otherwise. What a blessing to have these encouraging people in my life! On our coffee table was a book by Max Lucado to remind me “It's Not About Me”. It challenged me to reach out to others instead of focusing on self. At the same time, there was a small part of my mind wondering if there might be someone out there who could include me in their list of “others”.

My Bible reading today found me in the book of John, chapter 13. The story was about Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. In verse 15, Jesus told them, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” Summed up simply, we are to have a servant's heart. Instead of focusing on self, we are to find someone with “dirt” in their life and help them wash it off. Later in the chapter Jesus gave His followers the commandment to love one another. This would be how others would recognize them as His disciples. Loving service. . .really quite simple and easy to accomplish once we take our eyes off “self”.

To change my mood, it helped to think of bubbles in another way. One small bubble floating by itself doesn't offer much cleaning power. Bring together a bunch of bubbles, however, and you can easily say good-bye to the dirt. If the week finds you feeling alone in a bubble, look for another person who might be experiencing the same thing. Together, seek to find a way to make a difference in the life of someone else. Love as Jesus loved. Serve as He served. The reward is found in verse 17 of John 13, where Jesus says, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”