Skip to main content

The presence of my maker

Last night, I was reminded of the simple and astounding fact that I was created to worship the almighty, living God. In the gospel of Mark (12:30-31), Jesus explains the two greatest commandments, “Love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all you strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.” The Lord brought this well-known verse to my mind and, although I had heard it countless times, I realized the extreme significance of it. So often, I become plagued by anxious questions: Am I truly serving others as well as I can? How can I show other’s God’s love today? Do others around me need encouragement? The common theme among all of these thoughts involves others. I focus on others, when my first focus should be God. The Lord told me that I do not need to constantly be looking for ways to prove my love for Him; merely spending time in His powerful presence is enough. With a to do list mindset and a heart to love others, I so easily forget that my Heavenly Father loves me and desires for me to worship Him. I am at peace, pausing to soak up the wonder of my Lord, praising Him for the majesty of who He is.
May you find time today to sit in the peaceful presence of God, knowing that you are honoring Him by drawing near to Him.
All my love,
Gennavieve

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hampton Court Palace

Today, I toured Hampton Court Palace, an official historic, royal palace. Following are some of the sights I saw, history I learned, and favorites I enjoyed. The guard chamber of King William III. The magnificent display of 2,871 items of armor and weapons displayed a message that William was a great soldier and peacemaker. William's Presence chamber. Only high-ranking individuals were permitted into this room. William would be distinguished by sitting on a Chair of Estate. Those who entered his presence were required to remove their hats and make three low bows to the King, or even his empty chair. I'm grateful to serve an accessible King, who is with me wherever I go. William's eating room. He was expected to dine here on occasions "in front of persons of good fashion and good appearance," in order to display the sumptuousness of his food and to reassure everyone he was in good health. He was served by three servants on bended knee. William's P

Oopsy Daisy

Today I learned a cultural lesson through my daisy chain making. I was just being typical Gennavieve, frolicking in the fields between the rose geranium and picking daisies. I decided to make a chain and, before long, I had quickly assembled a round daisy necklace. I held it for a bit and then one of the workers, Mikeal, came up to our group and I decided to give it to him, so I put the flower garland around his head and it plopped on his neck. Little did I know that my actions meant much more than I had intended. Mikeal's eyes lit up and he screamed in Zulu to his coworkers, proudly showing off his chain. I giggled at first and then after the eruption of laughter from the workers, I realized that I had done something unusual. I swiftly found Pendele, one of the women who I've grown to trust and love who also translates for us, and asked her to explain why the men had been laughing. She began to laugh herself when I told her and after she regained composure she sai

JCR Welcoming Dinner

As part of New College, I was cordially invited to a welcoming dinner in the JCR Private Dining Room at St. Catherine's College. This invitation is considered an incredible honor and, after talking to the presidents, many students never receive the privilege of a formal dining experience in a college hall. The evening called for black tie attire, which meant tuxes for the guys and formal dresses for the girls. Luckily, I packed my sister's pink cotton candy gown. The evening began in a welcoming chamber. We entered and, having been handed a glass of sherry, began making small conversation. After a social bit, we were lead to the dining hall, where we were seated at a table purposely designed higher than the other tables in the hall, symbolizing its importance. The plates had individual name cards, designating seats. I sat to the left of the special, middle head-chair which seated, Deepak Mukhi, our program director. I took one glance at my place setting, noting the multi