Summers last hoo-rah....

This morning I took a moment to relish in summers last hoo-rah....please walk through the garden with me....

67. dew drops and daisies....

68. one last picking.......

69. things that look complicated...but still are so beautiful....

70. hope of what is to come...

71. the unexpected.....
May your weekend be filled with unexpected blessings.......

Still counting my blessings

I know its been a while...please forgive me. With the changing of the season comes more things to occupy my time it seems. Youth group kicks off again...and I feel like I am in a whirl wind of chaos. A good kind of chaos, though. Even so, I am still counting all those many blessings around me...

58. deer who quietly cross my path on my way to work

59. the crispness in the air that seems to breath new life into me

60. Paths He makes straight for me....61. His beautiful seasonal decorations.....

62. His light shining bright in my darkness...
63. Fresh peach pie...

64. a retreat with the Father of my heart and soul.....

65. the smiles on the faces of the children that I help lead

66. for the gift of time

Lord, thank you for these gifts, may I never ever take a single one for granted. This is the cry of my heart. In your name, Amen!

Out of My Hands

There is a parable of a rich young man who comes to Jesus asking what he must do to get eternal life.

Jesus' answer was simple and to the point. "Obey my commandments".

I snicker at this mans response..."Well which ones?"

My response to the rich young man would probably have been a little more sarcastic than Jesus' response.... I would've said something like..."Try ALL OF THEM, Buddy!"

But Jesus was calm, cool and collected and listed them out for Him. Of course, the rich young man said that He already upholds all those commandments so, why does he still lack?

Jesus then goes on to explain that if he wants to be perfect he should go and sell all his possessions and give them to the poor and then he should go and follow him. When the young man heard this he lowered his head and walked away. His valuables were too "valuable" to him.

His disciples were astonished at this and then kept asking him "Well then who can be saved? And what will we be left with?"

And Jesus in his infinite wisdom says the most beautiful words I have ever heard...

"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible!"

Beautiful words that I needed to hear at just the right time...at just the right moment.

Lately I have been lacking. Worried and consumed with thoughts that I am not where I should be in my walk with my Savior. I have been trying to do it on my own and not letting God lead. Trying in my own strength and not giving it over to Him and allowing Him to strengthen me. He lead me to this passage and it was here that I realized that no matter how much I try I will never be worthy of all that he offers me. Much like this young man- nothing I ever do will be enough. Nothing I can ever do or be can change what He wants for me. He has already done it all.

And now when I am still I hear Him whisper so quietly to my soul...

"Take it out of your hands and place it into mine....."

And I say "Thank you, Jesus!"

Seasons

There is a crispness in the air lately.

And it stirs me.

The end of one season and the beginning of another. A dry, hot season being replaced by the cool night air -natures refreshment.

I have been dry lately. Too many things happening -too many questions that I can't find the answers to. Too much of me and not enough focusing on Him. I find it hard sometimes to find the good in all the bad going on around me.

In the last month I have watched people around me go through seasons of change in their life. A co-worker who fought liver cancer with all he had for the last year was cleared of all active cancer cells in his liver only to have the rest of his body shut down and Him to be taken home last week.

A dear woman who was my husbands neighbor when he was growing up has been diagnosed with leukemia and told that she has maybe two months to live. This is two years after she had lost the oldest of her three daughters two years ago to breast cancer. This woman one of the most courageous people I have known and she is never without a smile on her face or a nice word to say to those around her.

Seasons.

Not only in nature but in life.

Physical life. Spiritual life.

Even in the sadness, I catch His refreshment.

We spent Sunday afternoon with the beautiful woman I mentioned above and her family. It may perhaps be the last picnic she will be able to spend with her family and friends. There were no tears- just happy recollections of memories passed. She was always a woman with many talents. She loved to paint, as did her daughter that passed away. She has not picked up a paintbrush since she lost that daughter and a project that they were working on together remains unfinished. She tells me that the spark is gone since her loss. She looks at me and simply says..."When I get to Heaven we will paint together again." To see someone who has known great loss and is in the midst of pain and sickness- she still looks forward to what is to come. To be reunited with those who have gone before her and wait patiently to help guide her into her eternal home with Jesus.

I want to be able to be that kind of person. To place my hope in what is to come and not what is going on around me.

I turned to Ecclesiates the other night when doing my evening devotions. Once again, God knew I must have needed a push. Here the author (Solomon?) resounds with the message that life is not a puzzle to be solved. It reminds us to view life as God's good gift to us, rather than to bog down in the analysis of our life and circumstances. God wants us to enjoy life and to find purpose and meaning to it. But the only way he can accomplish His purpose is when we allow Him to fill the emptiness of our searching hearts with himself.

My prayer is that he does just that for me...fill me in this season until my cup is overflowing.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

More Gratitude Gifts

46. lunchtime laughter with a cherished friend.
47. forgiving hearts
48. a day of absolutely nothing, yet filled with everything.
49. the aged hands of my earthly father who loves to help me garden
50. the love of a man that God set aside just for me
51. the gift of choice
52. a heart that loves to make others smile
53. mornings spent in devotion
54. the gift of prayer
55. learning to move past insecurities that try to hold me back
56. for a bench to rest
57. for a song in my heart

**this list is a continuation of the Gratitude Gifts list that Ann has going on over at Holy Experience. To learn more about it please click on the 1000 Gifts link on the right hand side of my page.

Do you think He's trying to tell me something?

Lately, I have been wrestling with some things. I have been having a hard time giving things over to God.

Why? I don't know...He above anyone can certainly handle the issues I struggle with better than I can.

Other times I think I should be farther along than where I am at in my faith journey. I want to know more, I want to do more and then ....I procrastinate.

Then I struggle to hear God's voice in the midst of my chaos and I wonder is it Him? Or is it my head making something else out of it?

Well, a few months back I had taken on Proverbs 3:5-6 as my "scripture for my season":

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Whenever I let my worries get the best of me...I say it to myself to help me get my thinking back on track. So as I was driving home last Thursday...I was saying this to myself and as I said it I looked up and there it was....

a period.

And just as clear as day I heard "Why are you putting a question mark where I put a period?"

A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

Isn't it funny how certain things look so good from a distance but when your up close you realize that there is really a bad thing lurking behind a seemingly innocent facade?

Well meet the wolf....
Or ......
"Satan in feathers" as my dear hubby calls him.

This little bugger (well actully he is not so little...) has been trying to dine in our pond the last few days. And I am sad to say that he has gotten a few of our beautiful koi. Some that we have had over 8 years.

You see he is beautiful...but he comes to kill and destroy.

AND

He is pretty smart...hanging out on a neighbors fence to see if we are around......

Then when we least expect it....he comes in for the kill.

However....now he can't figure out what the heck we did to his smorgasboard. Between you and me...we covered it. Now lets see him try to get them!

This guy is a beautiful creature however, he wreaks havoc here at the homestead. He causes panic and confusion...in the fish....and in hubby. Hubby tends to our finned children like his life depends on it. He nurses them back to health when they are sick and heals their wounds when they are hurt.

This reminds me so much of my faith journey. Things look real good at the time.

You know what I mean....

"Oh, I really want to watch that show.....I will do my devotions a little later". A little later comes and goes and guess what? I am too tired and end up falling asleep.

or

"Just this once....it won't hurt to do that. It seems innocent"

Later the panic, the fear, the desperation creeps in. Wondering why you can't handle the everyday. Next thing you know everything that once seemed beautiful has wreaked havoc in your heart and soul.

Wondering....how do you protect the innocence that used to be there? How to protect that which God has given you?

Simple....

You cover yourself in prayer...you cover yourself in His Word and cover yourself in God's love. And just like my hubby tends to his finned children like his life depends on it...God tends to us like His Life depended on it.

oh..thats right..... it did!

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10