Evergreen

I had the most amazing experience over the last couple of weeks to travel with my man to Breckenridge, Colorado.  Any time I have the opportunity to see different ways that our Creator has crafted creation quite honestly makes me giddy with joy!  As we drove our rental car from Denver on I-70 west towards Breckenridge, I quickly realized that there would be a theme in what my heart would gravitate toward the entire time we were there.  Everywhere I looked, all I could see were evergreens.  Evergreens on the mountain.  Evergreens draped with snow.  Evergreens bending in the weight of Winter.  Every day I thought about the evergreens, took pictures of them, and asked God what He wanted to teach me through them.  I look forward to sharing with you in the next few posts what God has taught me.

I come from the South where the seasons are pronounced and plentiful in variety of trees that make bold statements with each change.  We have evergreens in the South, but if I'm honest, they weren't my favorite (except for the smell), until now.  God gave me a new perspective of Himself through the evergreens that will forever change how I look at them.

Evergreens are constant, just like God.  No matter what the season, they are constant and green.  They are hardy through the seasons and don't sway in the winter.  They continue to grow even under the weight of snow and cold.  In comparison to other trees that bloom, fill with leaves, lose leaves, and then are dormant through winter, the evergreen isn't. The evergreen is just like God...EVER present, EVER constant.  God doesn't tire of being God.  He just is.  When I look at other trees, oftentimes in the winter I am unable to figure out what kind of tree it is when it's leaves and fruit are not present, but with the evergreen you always know because for the most part, it's unchanging, just like our God.

Many suffer from seasonal depression in the
winter.  So many things appear dead in the winter.  The evergreen is an exception.  As we hiked, the evergreens were a shield and comfort from the howling winds of the cold, just like our God.  If I were alone, cold and needed shelter in the winter, I would take refuge under the comfort of a evergreen, not an oak.  The evergreen is a protector, just like Jesus.  It is vibrant with LIFE, just like Jesus.

I am thankful for the diversity of our God and how He is our constancy when seasons seem lonely, dark or even lifeless.  He is LIFE and life abundant.  So thankful for the evergreen, but most of all for Jesus.

Baby Oh Baby

So much has happened since baby robin was born a little over a month ago.  Life has flown at a shutter speed pace, with our 18 year old winding down her Senior year of high school...prom...CATS...graduation...oh, I'm getting sidetracked.  I'll talk about her later.  Back to this bird...God has shown me lots of lessons through this small life.

Lesson #1  Time passes so fast... It seems like just yesterday that my kids were babies.

Lesson #2  Along with this bird, there was another egg that never hatched.  As baby continued to grow, momma robin realized that her other baby would never be a baby, so she kicked it out of the nest to crack on the concrete.  What God showed me about this is that so many times we focus on what might have been that we miss out on what already is.  If momma would have continued to sit on the nest trying to hatch the other egg, she would begin to neglect the baby that already lived. 

Lesson #3  A momma's work is never done...nothing more to say about that!!

Lesson #4  Sometimes life scares the bejeebies out of us, but God still holds us in the palm of His Hands.  On day 12 of this new life, we had a bunch of people over to our house for Kinsey's graduation celebration.  As we were preparing, we scared the baby just one too many times and it literally jumped out of the nest and ran off into the bushes.  It wasn't quite ready to fly!  We never saw baby again...We kept checking the nest, watching for momma, and praying that she found him, but resting in the fact that God cares about all of His creation.  I honestly don't know what became of him.  I'm just hoping that he got to try out his wings!

Lesson #5  Life moves on...4 or 5 days have passed, and I was shocked to see momma robin come back to the nest and what does she do?  She lays 3 MORE EGGS!

Fly FREE!

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free"  (Galatians 5:1)

God gave me two words yesterday. "Fly Free"! Each time my eyes would land on a bird soaring through the air, my heart said, "Fly Free!" The word "free" has such a sentimental place in my heart and has since 2003 when Jesus set me FREE from the sin and shame of having an abortion. My heart longed to truly be free, but somehow I just didn't know how as long as I was carrying the chains of shame behind me.

Watching birds is so soothing for me. Flying from tree to tree, methodically manuevering between branches, knowing where the food is, and singing all the while. My heart was drawn to birds that I see in the pet stores. I feel so sorry for them, because the cage is all they'll ever know, and in reality, if they were released into the free space of the sky, they would probably die from the predators that lurk, waiting for the weak.

Up until seven years ago, I was that caged bird, willingly bound, because I felt too weak, too ill-equipped, too worthless to "fly free", but oh, how wrong I was! For every truth, there is counterfeit, a lie, waiting to take up residency in our hearts. Through the Truth of God's word I have embraced that...

I am God's child (John 1:12); I am Christ's friend (John 15:5); I have been justified (Romans 5:1); I am a saint, a holy one (Ephesians 1:1); I have been redeemed and forgiven of ALL my sins (Colossians 1:14); I am complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10); I am free forever from condemnation (Romans 8:1-2); I cannot be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39); I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Ephesians 3:12)

The door to the cage is open...FLY FREE!!!!

The Path of a Raindrop

I am absolutely THRILLED to have a guest writer today. My sweet middle child Madison loves to write, and she shared with me Sunday what God showed her through the raindrops.  It is so cool to see my kids grasp the legacy being passed down to them.  To see God in nature is a daily reminder of His perfect faithfulness and the assurance that we are never alone.

As I'm going to church, looking out the car window, I'm watching the raindrops trickle down acrossthe car, and I picture those tiny, innocent raindrops being humans, and how a raindrop always has to go first and the other ones following the same exact path.  As humans, we look at other people's walk with God and try to mirror it, so my dad or mom being the first raindrops that trickle down their walk with God.  Sometimes I want to follow the same exact path with God.  So, looking back, are you the follower or will you branch out and be on your own with God?  Jesus has a specific path for all of us and when the "pour" of people come asking you how your life with God is, are you going to be ready for the storm?

Lifeless Limbs

So, I've been staring at this tree with a broken limb for days.  It happens to be in my view as I watch the sun rise.  With all the strong limbs around it, my eyes are continually drawn to the broken limb, the limb that no longer has life in it and just needs to be cut off.

"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." (John 15:2)

The truth that keeps invading my mind is how in our lives we have broken places, even places that are completely severed, and totally lifeless, that need to be "cut off", but we continue to drag them behind us like a lifeless limb.

God promises us that "He has made everything beautiful in its time", (Ecc. 3:11) even that broken limb.  Maybe it needs to be cut off so that it can be made into a fire to warm someone, maybe it can be used to build something, or maybe even chopped up into mulch to nourish the earth.  Whatever the use, that broken limb can be used for good, just as our brokenness can be used to minister to others.

Are you carrying around dead limbs?

Breath of God

" The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

It's taken me a few days to digest all that has happened in our city over the past few days. One moment I was cleaning out flower beds with my husband, and the next our city was in crisis from a tornado that rummaged the earth for 22 minutes. I have two families that are dear to me that will have to rebuild because their homes are unliveable from the storm.

Spending the next days racking my brain to find ways to help, something occurred to me. This devastation occurred on Good Friday, and it was amazing to see the Body of Christ be His hands and feet of service over these past days. I have seen Jesus, in the form of His people, all over Murfreesboro. I can't help but think that God at times has to allow these devastating things to remind His creation that we were meant for something more in this life besides serving self. We were meant to live a life of service to Him. That's exactly what I've seen. Service out of the overflow of Christ living in us. Is this time excruciatingly hard to watch? Of course. But, I know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him.

I posted this picture because of something that my friend James said to me as we were surveying his devastation. He lives in an older neighborhood with very mature trees...actually an oak in the front and back yard. With the sound of chainsaws in the background, he said these words to me, "The mighty oak is no match for the breath of God." So true, James, so true.

I am thanking God today for the good that I already have seen coming from this storm in our lives. Just as the rubble leaves the scene of devastation overflowing in the trucks that carry it, our lives continue to overflow with the love of Jesus Christ, who is with us in the midst of every single storm we face in this life.

Rain

I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. (Leviticus 26:4)

Spring, just as in life, has its share of rain. Rain has many purposes...it nourishes the ground; prepares new life to flourish, it acts as a storehouse for drought; it makes what was dry, wet, and what was thirsty, a drink. Rain also can "rain" on our parade. It keeps us in, it makes us wet and irritable, it obscures our vision, makes us "blue", and thwarts our plans.

The rain in our lives has many purposes as well. It can make us blue; thwart our plans; come unexpectedly; and be an inconvenience. There is beauty in the rain because God is always in the rain.

God can allow rain in our lives to nourish us; to cloud our vision so that He can show us His; to bring about new life after a season that seemed dead. God's rain can offer us a drink after a season of drought. No matter how we look at it, God is always for us and has a purpose and a plan for our lives. His rain in our lives is ultimately to bring forth growth and a harvest in our lives. Hallelujah! Bring the rain!!

Foggy Road

"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."
(Psalm 16:11)



On a foggy day, it is extremely difficult to see much in front of you. Your focus must be on the road in front of you, and nothing else. The road farther in front of you is unclear, and hard to discern. Our lives are a lot like a foggy day. All we can see is the day in front of us. The days beyond today are foggy and unclear. But as with our drive on the foggy day, we have no other option but to focus on the road directly in front of us. Our comfort has to lie in the fact that God is in the fog, and that all things are clear to Him, even as we're straining to see.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34)

Only One

"You are the only One I need

You are the only God for me

I cannot move, cannot breath

unless You exhale in me."

(words by Antonio Neal)

As I think of the God of the Universe exhaling through me, I am reminded of the power my words have as they come out of my mouth. Throughout the course of the day, how many times do I battle God's exhale when I choose my own? He urges me to build up and not tear down...He sweetly cautions me to choose my words carefully...Very simply, our words have the power to give life or to destroy. When I choose me over God living through me, I cut off my only true life source.

"It is so sweet to know that you have drawn so close

And in return I lay my life down at your feet

Your desire is the song i want to know

You are my song, my melody"

Magnificent Glory!

Our trip to St. John celebrating 20 years of marriage was absolutely the most magnificent display of God's Glory that I have ever beheld. The sweet and vastly different mix of translucent aqua blue waters against the backdrop of rocky mountains with a splash of green from the rain forest took my breath away every single day that we were there. While visiting, I got the awesome opportunity to take my first stab at snorkeling. I have been a water lover all of my life, but have never had the chance. I could not help screaming through my snorkel with absolute delight as I saw fish that I had only seen behind glass at the aquarium. The Nemos and Doris and so many others that I had never seen were right below my face nibbling at the coral below. Just another awesome display of God's creativity that He blew me away with. I told Mike as I came out of the water, "There's a whole other world under there that God wanted ME to see"!!!This starfish is alive and about the size of both of my hands with fingers spread apart big! He was right near the shore, but I was trying to keep my composure and not jump up and down with excitement at seeing something that I had never seen before! I was a bit scared snorkeling at first, because being the Gladys Cravitz that I am, I was listening to others say that they had seen huge turtle, octopus, and barracuda under there! I didn't know if I was ready to be immersed in that! I just wanted to see the pretty fish that wouldn't hurt me.

The end of each day always left my heart clapping for the Lord at His beautiful creation. From sunrise to sunset, He is in it all...all you have to do is just look for Him.

This view is from atop the mountain near where we stayed. The small dots in the bay are huge sailboats. From each direction there are views just like these. Mike and I took books and magazines to read, but didn't read any of them because we went to a different beach each day and there was a different view. We didn't want to miss a thing, and we didn't!! Yay God!!

These were the views from our back porch. In the evening picture, the mountain in the distance is St. Thomas. Isn't God marvelous!! His Name be Praised!!

God knows my soft heart towards His feathery creations. I love the yellow finch and the cardinal of course which are not in St. John, so He showed me a bird that I had never seen before...the Bananakeet! We filled a bowl full of water and a little sugar to attract them. They are so used to looking for you to feed them, that the first day they landed on Mike's coffee cup. Precious God birds...

Every facet of God's creation is so amazing...

The Desert Song

This is my prayer in the desert,

When all that's within me feels dry,

This is my prayer in my hunger and need,

My God is the God who provides,

And this is my prayer in the fire,

In weakness, or trial, or pain,

There is a faith proved more worth than gold,

So refine me Lord through the flame,

I will bring praise,

I will bring praise,

No weapon formed against me shall remain,

I will rejoice,

I will declare,

God is my victory and He is here

This is my prayer in the battle,

When triumph is still on its way,

I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ,

So firm on his promise I'll stand,

All of my life,

in every season,

You are still God,

I have a reason to sing,

I have a reason to worship,

And this is my prayer in the harvest,

When favor and providence flow,

I know I'm filled to be emptied again,

The seed I receive I will sow