Last night I dreamed about the biggest vacuum cleaner ever. You’ve gotta love the dreams of a homemaker. Yes, sometimes I dream of blenders, too. And also occasionally of butter.

In my dream this time, the huge vacuum came down from the sky and began to hover (no, not Hoover) over my yard. I watched in awe and wondered what exactly it was planning to do. After all, it did have a miracle to work in my home after a lively Christmas holiday in which we had taken several days off from cleaning.

The vacuum looked exactly like this, except that it didn’t actually resemble this one at all
because it was a dream and they don’t make vacuums like that in real life. 

The enormous contraption continued to hang out in the air above me, as if waiting for me to do what I was supposed to do so that it could perform its duty. But I was preoccupied with several other matters that were making me uneasy. Worry about my kids had been creeping in as I was trying to figure out how to handle each situation. What to do, what to do? And now I had the problem of a giant vacuum buzzing over my yard.

I finally decided that I would need to stop worrying about all the other matters so that I could instead deal with the monstrous vacuum. Since I couldn’t deal with them both at once, this meant that I had to let go of all the worried thoughts floating around in my head. So I did. And umm (this was a dream, remember), when I let go of the yuck that I was anxious about, it all scattered all over my yard. Don’t try to picture it. 

Burden released, I then turned to the vacuum that I was now ready to deal with. But the vacuum ignored me because it already knew what it was supposed to do, and could now get down to business. It lowered it’s powerful hose, and with its amazing suction force, it quickly sucked up every last bit of my yuck and worry. Then it went away. Eureka!

I saw my problems disappear along with the vacuum as I woke from the dream. And I also remembered that we had watched Despicable Me 2 last night (while eating nachos) and the big vacuum thing that sucked up all the Minions is probably partly where the lovely visual in this dream came from.

So what does any of this have to do with 31 Days of Praise? Well, it’s time to learn to let go of what worries us, and to instead embrace Truth, resting in the peace we receive through Jesus. We can not hold on to both at the same time. 

It’s obviously also time for me to vacuum my house.

I had two books on my Christmas list this year. Yay for me – I received them both! I spent a relaxing afternoon yesterday reading the introduction to both books, and decided I absolutely needed to recommend them to you. I love them already. These books are full of TRUTH!

The Bible is our ultimate source for Truth, right? So keep on diving into the Word. Take time to chew on the words, savoring the words of Jesus and the lessons to be learned.

I believe 31 Days of Praise: Enjoying God Anew, by Ruth Myers, and Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence, by Sarah Young, are wonderful additions to our growth and encouragement as we seek God and learn to listen to Him, praise Him, worship Him, and live a life of peace in Him. Care to join me in reading these books this year?

I read Day One of 31 Days of Praise: Enjoying God Anew this morning, along with all the scriptures that went along with the truths she shared. It was powerful. And I want to say more, but really, I just want you to read it. This stuff is rich.

Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence, by Sarah Young, includes a short devotional thought for us to read each day of the year. I’m waiting until January 1 to start reading through this book. But a few months ago when I was having a difficult few weeks, a friend of mine who owns this book, shared some of the thoughts she had been reading from this. I was incredibly encouraged to read these truths and to be pointed to scripture that applied to my struggles. I love it.

You may also be encouraged while reading through a series I wrote this fall called Raw. It’s a story of my journey during the past year of truly accepting the peace Jesus longs to give us!

I also plan to begin a series in January to encourage simplicity in eating a Real Food diet. Watch for more info coming soon. But starting the new year at the feet of Jesus is most important of all.  Join me in this journey to Truth!

Have you heard of these books? Read them? Interested in reading them with me?