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"

Daffodils

The daffodils bend as the wind pours over them. They sway, but they never lay down. They are resilient...they continue to bloom no matter how much they are blown...if it rains on them it doesn't destroy them. In Christ we have the strength to be like the daffodil. The winds, storms, and rains of life may try to make us buckle, lay down, or even be destroyed, but in Christ we can always rise above and bloom.

"The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." Matt. 7:25

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...

Seeing Past

As you first looked at this picture, were your eyes drawn to the clouds or to the light??? God reminded me this morning as I was waiting to drop kids off and I was looking into the sky at this scene of how many times I focus on the clouds and can't see past them to see the brilliance of the sun behind them.

In the world we're living in right now, it's easy to get caught up focusing on the dark clouds of our circumstances. Maybe you're out of work, money is tight, you have marriage problems, sickness in your life or the life of one dear to you...all of these and more could be object of your focus like the clouds,instead of seeing the Light behind the clouds who is always Jesus.

God has something to teach us in every circumstance that we find ourselves in, and we have a choice every day to see past the clouds to the Light. Jesus is the Light.

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

New Life

It's Not Time

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

It's only February and the redbuds are trying to bloom! It's not their time! A few days of warmer weather and all of creation begins to ready itself for Spring. God reminded me of how often I try to bloom a lot of times before His timing. God has a purpose and a plan for all seasons, and in order for things to bloom and be fruitful, they have to go according to His timetable. Chances are these beautiful blooms will be zapped by frost, but fear not, God can bring beauty out of all circumstances.

Obstructed View

Sometimes the trees get in the way...other times it's clouds, but whatever the obstruction, I always know that the sun is behind it all. Some days there is nothing to get in the way of the sun's brillance, other days the clouds are so thick that although you know the sun is resting behind them, I am missing it's warmth.

Jesus is like that. He says, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness." (John 8:12) Life may obstruct our view and problems may get in our way, but we can always rest in the eternal hope that the "Son" is always resting behind them.