Welcome!
My name is Layla Payton, and I am: "The Carpenter’s Daughter." This is my very first post, and I would like to start out by telling you why I call myself this. Actually, I would like to point you to the following song. This is where I found the inspiration for my blog title (I can still remember singing it in Sunday school/VBS):
HE’S STILL WORKING ON ME
By: Joel Hemphill
CHORUS:
He’s still working on me to make me what I ought to be.
It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars,
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars.
How loving and patient He must be, He’s still working on me.
1. There really ought to be a sign upon the heart,
Don’t judge her yet, there’s an unfinished part.
But I’ll be perfect just according to His plan
Fashioned by the Master’s loving hands.
CHORUS:
He’s still working on me to make me what I ought to be.
It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars,
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars.
How loving and patient He must be, He’s still working on me.
2. In the mirror of His Word reflections that I see
Make me wonder why He never gave up on me.
He loves me as I am and helps me when I pray
Remember He’s the Potter, I’m the clay.
This is the verse that keeps my eyes on the One who will never leave me, or let me down:
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 1:6~
I feel that this simple post will be enough for today. Please let the song and the verse sink into your hearts. We are all called to be fashioned by the Master’s loving hands. What an honor. What a source of joy.
Until next time,
The Carpenter’s Daughter
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The LOUDEST Quiet
Standing on the cold rocks in a river bed, I feel the chill of swirling waters. They sound as if they are talking to me...but it's His voice I hear.
My Father has a way of speaking in the strangest of places. Sometimes in stillness, sometimes in the vast caverns of devastation, and sometimes in the multitude of business...but He always speaks. The thing is...am I listening? Am I listening for HIS voice, or paying more attention to the other sounds spilling out around me?
I bend over to pick up a piece of broken glass. It sparkles like a jewel, and I wonder what it was before it was broken. Can it be useful again? I skip it across the water, and then wonder if I just tossed away something important, which is silly. What can you do with a piece of broken glass anyway? If I pocketed it, I would surely cut my finger. Or, I'd find it in the washer, snagging my favorite sweater. Yeah, who needs brokenness?
Wait...
...listening...
I wonder how much water it takes to fill up this space? How much coolness does it take to soothe the hot rocks, and nourish the plants? A fish swims near, making little sounds with his tail. Unimportant sounds. I wonder how many times a day he swishes his tail, and heaves his feathery gills? A dragonfly takes cover...he's privy to the fish...he heard the "unimportant sounds." I guess those sounds were pretty important to the dragonfly. I wonder...
..did my Father plan EVERY swish of the fish's tail? EVERY buzz of the dragonfly's wing? Those little sounds, most of which would never be heard by anyone but Him...
...are important to Him, because every sound of creation cries out His Name!
"HOSANNA! GLORY IN THE HIGHEST!"
I've walked about six feet along the winding water-path. Something stings my toe.
Glass.
And then I feel the cut. The consequence of a careless step.
All things are made new. Nothing is wasted or forgotten. Nothing sits unnoticed by the Author of the Universe...so I just wait...
...for healing.
You cannot be healed until you are broken. Until you are broken, you cannot sit still and listen. I sit on a big rock, hold my toe, and listen.
It takes time for the bleeding to stop, but in that space of time, I hear my Father speak. The sound of His words are sweet. Soul medicine. Things I would not have heard if I had been skipping rocks, or splashing in the mud. No, it's the LOUDEST quiet...
...unmistakable Voice..
...worth every cut and scrape. And when my careless steps are put back on solid ground, I know that it was I who threw the glass in my own path. The Healer had the clean, clear Water at the ready...
...washing all wounds, and carving a letter of Grace into the flesh.
And my soul leaps like the little fish, making sounds that are important to my Creator.
But he said, "If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise." (Luke 19:40) ~The Message
"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." (Psalm 23:1-3)
"In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." (Job 12:10)
"A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)
"Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live ..." (Isaiah 55:3)
Until next time,
The Carpenter's Daughter
My Father has a way of speaking in the strangest of places. Sometimes in stillness, sometimes in the vast caverns of devastation, and sometimes in the multitude of business...but He always speaks. The thing is...am I listening? Am I listening for HIS voice, or paying more attention to the other sounds spilling out around me?
I bend over to pick up a piece of broken glass. It sparkles like a jewel, and I wonder what it was before it was broken. Can it be useful again? I skip it across the water, and then wonder if I just tossed away something important, which is silly. What can you do with a piece of broken glass anyway? If I pocketed it, I would surely cut my finger. Or, I'd find it in the washer, snagging my favorite sweater. Yeah, who needs brokenness?
Wait...
...listening...
I wonder how much water it takes to fill up this space? How much coolness does it take to soothe the hot rocks, and nourish the plants? A fish swims near, making little sounds with his tail. Unimportant sounds. I wonder how many times a day he swishes his tail, and heaves his feathery gills? A dragonfly takes cover...he's privy to the fish...he heard the "unimportant sounds." I guess those sounds were pretty important to the dragonfly. I wonder...
..did my Father plan EVERY swish of the fish's tail? EVERY buzz of the dragonfly's wing? Those little sounds, most of which would never be heard by anyone but Him...
...are important to Him, because every sound of creation cries out His Name!
"HOSANNA! GLORY IN THE HIGHEST!"
I've walked about six feet along the winding water-path. Something stings my toe.
Glass.
And then I feel the cut. The consequence of a careless step.
All things are made new. Nothing is wasted or forgotten. Nothing sits unnoticed by the Author of the Universe...so I just wait...
...for healing.
You cannot be healed until you are broken. Until you are broken, you cannot sit still and listen. I sit on a big rock, hold my toe, and listen.
It takes time for the bleeding to stop, but in that space of time, I hear my Father speak. The sound of His words are sweet. Soul medicine. Things I would not have heard if I had been skipping rocks, or splashing in the mud. No, it's the LOUDEST quiet...
...unmistakable Voice..
...worth every cut and scrape. And when my careless steps are put back on solid ground, I know that it was I who threw the glass in my own path. The Healer had the clean, clear Water at the ready...
...washing all wounds, and carving a letter of Grace into the flesh.
And my soul leaps like the little fish, making sounds that are important to my Creator.
But he said, "If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise." (Luke 19:40) ~The Message
"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." (Psalm 23:1-3)
"In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." (Job 12:10)
"A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)
"Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live ..." (Isaiah 55:3)
Until next time,
The Carpenter's Daughter
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