Dust Settles

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement

 

Dust Settles

 

 

When I was little, my grandmother often used the expression, “When the dust settles, I’ll——–” fill in the blanks. The expression meant that when whatever was stirring the air enough to cause the dust to float suspended in the air stopped and the dust settled down, then the dust that had hovered and swirled in the air would be lying quietly, and we could then wipe it up. In other words, when the situation was over that was stirring our lives, preventing time or ability to dust, we would get back to our regular routine which included cleaning, reading, writing or whatever the activity was that we were currently delaying because of the swirling atmosphere that stirred up dust in our lives.

 

 

The first month of the New Year is a good time to look for the mental or emotional dust in our lives. What swirls around in our minds and lies on our activities, reactions, and thoughts? What prevents or distracts us from doing the things we need or want to do or how we want to be? What swirls in our thinking that sends us on an unhealthy train of thought? If, with the Lord’s help, we can discover what patterns of emotional dust swirls in our minds, we are better able to wipe these configurations of thinking away, eliminating each dust mite one by one as often as we detect them.

 

Wipe away the dust of condemnation, defeat, or despair. Say we are sorry and ask God to help us leave whatever condemns us behind. Then we can substitute those thoughts which bless our being and bring strength to our mental state. Train ourselves to set our minds on the love God has for us every moment of every day.  We can reorder our lives by refusing unhealthy thinking and embracing beneficial thoughts. We hear about repetitions of various forms of exercise and/or religions. We, Christians, have one worthy of regular repetition. It wipes away condemnation and regret. Repeat after me. “God is good, and He loves me.” In every dilemma, wipe your thinking with this thought. It removes the dust of defeated thinking.