shadow

Traci Huff

No Heavy Lifting Required

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“Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:13-14 ESV

Men and women lined up with five-gallon buckets, while children came carrying empty juice bottles. They brought anything that would hold water. Standing next to the water truck in a rural Honduran village, I was overwhelmed at the poverty and great need around me. We filled bucket after bucket with clean water. Attempting to alleviate an enormous burden in the smallest way, we carried the 40-pound buckets down dirt roads and into their homes. The water sloshed around in the buckets, hitting the dirt beneath us. Deep in my soul I was reminded that this precious resource is fleeting. Soon they will be thirsty and needing clean water again.

The extreme physical needs of this village were overwhelming. Sadly, our team could only meet a few of them in the form of water and shoes, but as believers in Christ, we had something far greater to offer – the hope we have in Christ.

In John 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the well. She may have been there to quench her physical thirst for water, but Jesus cut straight to her heart, contrasting the water available at the well with the “living water” He offered. Jesus knew her thirst was much deeper than a physical need – it was a spiritual need.

Possibly overwhelmed by her need for love and acceptance or feelings of unworthiness, the Samaritan woman had turned to the arms of men. For us, might we be overcome by the desire to acquire success, wealth and material things? Maybe we long for the love and approval of others? Nothing of this world will quench our earthly desires. Any attempt we make will be in vain. We’ll be left dry and empty, searching for one more thing we believe will finally fill us.

Like the Samaritan woman, our souls are parched apart from Christ. This “thirst” within each of us is not a bad thing. It was created by God and only God can satisfy it.

Jesus tells the woman what you and I already know – drinking that water will leave her thirsty again. Luckily, He offers something much better – living water. Whoever drinks of this water will never thirst again.

To drink this living water means coming to Jesus with a faithful and repentant heart. No heavy lifting is required. No rules and empty rituals, no heavy buckets – just faith and repentance. His yolk is easy and His burden is light.

Savoring the Living Water,

Traci

 

Photo Credit: Sarah Thomas

Choosing Better

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But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:41-42 NASB

_IGP6151She is my first born by one minute and my only girl in a house full of rowdy boys. Time alone, just the two of us girls is rare, and after our hectic morning was a welcome treat. By the afternoon, my house showed all the signs of a busy morning of school and playtime. Household chores seemed to be mounting by the minute. My Type A Personality was beckoned by my to-do list. I wanted to dig in, get busy, cross some things off my list, and feel like I had “accomplished” something. After all, I only had one child at home with me and that should mean I could get even more done!

But this girl of mine, she looks at me and asks if we can just snuggle.

In that moment, looking into her blue eyes, I had a choice to make. My responsibilities certainly needed to be addressed, but so did she. In this divine moment, when the Holy Spirit pressed in and placed a stillness in my soul, I knew the right choice. The dishes would still be there and the laundry (unfortunately) would not fold itself. Those things could wait, but this moment would not. God has given me this precious child. Growing and changing faster than I could ever imagine, there will be a day when she will no longer want to snuggle with her mom. In the scope of eternity, our lives are nothing more than a vapor and can change in a moment’s time.

So I snuggled. At first, I felt restless as my mind raced to my responsibilities. But as the Lord quieted my soul, I knew I had chosen what’s better. In fact, I’d chosen the best. This moment, this God-ordained moment, was the only place that I should be.

Sadly, I get it wrong too many times. I get swept up in the current of this fast-paced life we all live, choosing service over stillness and work over worship. I want to choose what’s better and I want to choose it more often. My heart’s desire is to live with intention, being present for those whom I love the most and for the God who meets me where I am and brings me to where I need to be.

On that day, He met me knee-deep in to-do’s and brought my busy soul to a place of stillness and worship. And with a thankful heart, I snuggled my gift from above.

Choosing better,

Traci

A Cheap Substitute

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“For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me-The fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”

Jeremiah 2:13 NLT

file1361301586907Everything seemed overwhelming. The idea of packing another lunchbox made me want to run screaming. Sure, it is a bit dramatic, but that’s where I was. Running on empty, in every sense of the word, I was struggling to keep my head above water, and desperately needed to feel in control of something.

While emotions can be indicators of something brewing in my heart, they are terrible bosses and shouldn’t be trusted. So what’s a gal to do when she finds herself wanting to curl herself in the fetal position when she thinks about packing a lunchbox? Pinterest, of course.

More organization was going to solve all of my problems. I needed to know how to keep my house clean in under 15 minutes each day, how to stock my freezer full of nutritious meals, how to organize my toiletries, and chore charts for the kids…and reward jars for their good behavior. Oh my goodness, how had I survived so long without them? Certainly, that would be the magic bullet for all of my parenting woes…and my life woes come to think of it. If I could just get everything under control I could put the cuckoo back in the clock, breathe normally, and pack lunches with a smile.

This may seem a bit melodramatic because it is, but don’t we have a tendency to get that way when our emotions go unchecked? We find ourselves overwhelmed when the demands of life exceed our limited supply of time and energy and our days leave us feeling empty and discontent.

Sure, I was running on empty and my soul was parched, but what I needed was not a board full of pins on Pinterest. What I needed was more time with the Lord. Sadly, I had taken matters into my own hands, entrusting my sense of peace to the idol of control instead of allowing Him and His word to refresh me and fill me. The fountain of Living Water was right there, waiting to quench my thirst and refresh my soul, yet I had settled for what the world could offer: nothing more than a dirty pit that collects rain water-a broken cistern.

Savoring the Living Water,

Traci