Purity

Soccer on a snowy Saturday...The beauty of falling white snow is purification for me. It's as if God's cleansing, perfect Self is covering me. All that is blemished and imperfect covered by the white snow. The snow will melt, and all that's underneath will be exposed, but I am so thankful that Christ's purification through His blood on the cross will never leave or ever melt away. I am pure because of Him. Nothing that I will ever do or not do will change His total acceptance of me. Because of Him, I am transformed as the snow transforms the Earth. Praise Him!

"To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand in the cold."

My Birds

The male and female that look sort of damaged its because they are!  Both of them hit my back door and laid under my carport stunned.  Praise God they flew away, otherwise I would still be wearing black and in a state of mourning!!

Worthy Is The Lamb!

Wow!  It has been forever since I've posted!  My heart is so full and ready for 2010!  Many make resolutions or goals for the new year, and I personally like it.  It's as if the New Year says "fresh start", "clean slate", "a chance for a do over".  I personally get excited over all of those phrases because it means that I am grasping the fact that I can look at the past to help me learn from my mistakes or keep doing the things that worked for me, but it also means that I, by my own choice don't have to take those mistakes into the future.  GLORY!!

My beloved red birds have been congregating at my house over the past weeks and my heart has been singing!!!  One particular day I counted 14 males/females.  I was absolutely screaming in my kitchen.  Something that God has shown me in the new year is how it feeds my soul to see Him in creation and then write.  Everytime I write, my focus is totally on the One who is so Worthy, and I know that gives Him Glory!  I know that God has called me to write in worship to Him, and my goal in 2010 is to write every time He shows me a truth about His Creation, so please pray that I will be obedient!  I don't love the computer, so it will definitely be a sacrifice, but HE IS SO WORTH IT!

Obstacles to Worship

I've recently started training for a 1/2 marathon. I have done several in the past, but haven't done one in several years. Today's run was 3 miles. It is a beautiful, crisp, sunny day today, and as I started to run, I began listening to my Ipod. Music is my heart's language, so it feeds me to zone out to the words of my favorites.

As I traveled along, I came to a hill (which I despise) which changed my breathing patterns. It was not as easy, and became quite difficult to regulate it again. During that time, one of my favorite songs "Lead Me to the Cross" by Hillsong was playing in my ears, and what I realized was that the entire song passed without me even thinking about the words or worshipping to them, all because I was preoccupied with my breathing.

Our lives tend to be that way as welll. When the road is even with nothing to waiver our breathing or be an obstacle to us, it is easy to keep our mind stayed on the Lord, but bring those hills, obstacles, or frustrations, and it is very easy to take our eyes off of the One who wants to help us, the One who loves us, the One who wants the very best for us.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2)

Worn Out from eatin'!

I honestly think this is the same bird that was asleep in the bird feeder in an earlier post that I wrote! This bird has been feasting off the Birdy King buns that are still hanging outside my kitchen window. The other hanging buns have been devoured already, and slowly but surely, the feast continues. It just makes me laugh that the bird doesn't even have the strength to make it off my shed's roof to the tree for a nap. Sometimes, we're just so worn out, we just need to collapse where we are! Too funny! I love it!!

"Be still and know that I am God". (Psalm 46:10)

More

"More of You, less of me". ( John 3:30) I have had the blessing this Fall to watch baby cardinals grow. I had no idea until I witnessed it myself that these beloved birds are not red when they are young! No beautiful red coat, no red beak, no red tail feathers. GRAY!!! Just gray!! Nothing really that would ever turn my head when I've been bird watching. My heart knew they were cardinals though, by their shape, and of course by their call. As weeks passed, I noticed this scene...a little red here, a little there, each feather filling with the crimson red that warms my heart every time I see one. As I watched, I kept looking for what God wanted me to learn from this gradual transformation that I was witnessing. The gray that I saw represents the "me" in me. Those places at times of my flesh that I would like to forget or those tendencies that seem to surface when I least expect it. As I talked it through with a friend, I realized that each day that I walk with Jesus, become more like Him, allowing myself to be transformed by Him, I am, like the young cardinal, getting another red feather and another, and another. Ultimately, to be complete in Him and completely transformed into His likeness when I meet Him in Glory!

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1John 3:2)

Birdy King

I am confessing that I am a lunatic. Labor Day came and went, and my sweet husband ended up buying too many buns for the cookout. They have been sitting in my pantry for weeks, and oddly enough, mold had not set in. I am always looking for ways to "treat" my flying God friends, so i decided to set them up for a "Birdy King" meal of buns, peanut butter, and their favorite bird seed. A sweet friend of mine, who just so happens to be an engineer, guided me in the process and encouraged me to attach a stick at the bottom so they could perch. So, I waited, and waited, and waited. Two days later, a brave flying friend decided to take a closer, yummier look. I am reminded of the choice we make to follow God. The table of plenty is set for all that will take that leap of faith, realizing that He is safe, coming to get their fill. It was funny to watch the other birds below, waiting for the extra seed to drop so they could eat. I feel like that's how the world looks on at times...seeing something a little different, but not getting close enough to get the true "filling" that only Christ can give.

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. (Psalm 34:8)