More like the Savior every day...

It's cool how this sweet baby, that just a few weeks ago only had a small resemblance to a cardinal, but his beak is now turning more orange, and his feathers are transforming into the red that the cardinal is designed to be.  I feel like this cardinal at times, where my life only has a small resemblance to the Savior and the gray of the world dominates my life.  But I am thankful that because of the sacrifice, once and for all (Romans 6:10) that when God looks at me and you who are in Christ, all He sees is Christ.

2Cr 3:18

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Reflect the Son

My absolute favorite part of this day was to get a text from a friend saying, "Whoa, look at the moon!"  God gave me a neat glimpse of it through the neighbor's trees.  I was freaking out, trying to get my settings on my camera right to take a decent picture of it.  There have been many times that I have missed pictures of a sunset, because it changes and moves so quickly.  I was able to take picture after picture of God's gorgeous creation.

The only way that the moon can shine any light, is through the reflection of the sun.  It's because the sun shines on the moon, that we can see it at all.  The only way our light will ever shine for Jesus is if He is shining His Light through us.  

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "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)

I Am the Moon (Sara Groves)

"And I am the moon with no light of my own

But still you have made me to shine

And as I glow in this cold dark night

I know I'll never be a Light unless I turn my face to You.

No, I'll never be a Light unless I turn myself to You."

The Harvest Is Plentiful

This is the first year that I've been able to attract hummingbirds.  I have put out the same feeder year after year, and have even put enticing red sweet stuff in the feeder to lure them, but with no success.  Just this year, my mom brought me a new feeder, and within a day, the hummingbirds started coming.

Something that I quickly began to notice with these Hummingbirds is that they are very territorial.  It is rare to see more than one on the feeder at once, because as another comes, the other will chase it off.

There are like 8 feeding holes on this feeder, but yet only one, two at the most are ever on the feeder at one time.  That's my growing heart for the Body of Christ.  That we would be a people united for the Kingdom of Christ, pulling on the same rope in order that "no one would perish".  I know that is Christ's heart for us.

You are Complete

On a rainy afternoon about to sit down to finish my Bible Study, I hear my familiar beloved sound of the cardinal.  He sounds so close, so of course I get up to look for him.  I go to my kitchen to look in the Crepe Myrtle that I often see him lounging in, and there he is on my window sill.  To my surprise, it's not one that I expect to see this time of year.  It's a baby!!

I had just been studying in God's Word in Colossians 2:9-10 that we have been given all the "fullness of Christ" and that we are totally complete in Him.  When we receive Christ as our Savior we are given, according to 2Peter 1:3, "everything that we need for life in godliness".  That doesn't mean that we are totally mature in Him, but we can be confident, as said in Philippians 1:6 that Jesus will mature us, as He completes His work in us.

So...back to the cardinal.  By looking at him, if you aren't a cardinal lover like I am, there is nothing about his appearance that would let you know that he is one.  He has to mature and be made more complete as he grows.  Does that make him any less of a cardinal?  No.  His identity as a cardinal is secure.  No matter if he looks like a cardinal or even acts like one, his identity is still that he is a cardinal. As is our identity in Christ...many of our lives may look like this cardinal, but He is still completing His work in each of us.  As this cardinal grows and matures, his features will become who he's been created to be...but not without time and maturity.  Soon, the gorgeous red feathers and the vibrant orange beak will emerge, but not without a lot of growth.

We are all in process, being formed and transformed more into the likeness of the One who created us and loved us enough to save us.  You are COMPLETE in Jesus!

New pictures of Tanner Michael

My heart leaps every time I go out back :)

He multiplies and divides spreading his beauty.

At the end of the day he wilts slightly...tired

Thank you God for Your Beauty for ashes!

This is my favorite picture right now.  Roses (along with cardinals) remind me of Jesus.  The bright red symbolizing Jesus' blood shed for me, the thorns representing the crown of thorns that was mine to wear, but He chose to wear it instead in order to save me.  The way the rose is behind Tanner, I picture him sitting in Jesus lap, in the palm of His Hand, closer than I could ever imagine.  Thank You Jesus for your restoration in my heart and in my life. 

It's so cool to hear my oldest daughter Kinsey, as she told me just the other day that when she gets married, that she wants the Black Eyed Susan to be a part of her bouquet and that all the family will somehow have one, in honor of her brother Tanner.  Can I just tell you that there is immense freedom in sharing our deepest hurts?  To know that I don't have to look over my shoulder because I'm fully KNOWN?  Hallelujah!

How do you prepare for HEAT?

In Middle Tennessee over the past few days, we've been under a heat advisory.  As temperatures have peaked close to 100, people are clamoring for a cool place, and others are on the lookout for people who are in need of shelter and water.  For me, I have two choices: either be in a pool, which is like bath water, or be inside.  Even walks to get in and out of the car make me break out in a sweat.  

I don't have much luck with ferns, because by July, they are half dead because I've gotten tired of watering them.  This year has been different as I made a pact with myself that they live and look good!    I have impatiens that colorfully decorate the front of my house, but they NEED water.


So, during these 100 degree days, I tell myself, "I need to water my flowers every day, or the heat will kill 'em".  I've even changed my timer on my backyard flowers to water twice a day.


As I watered I began to think of my walk with Christ.  When I'm in a season of "heat", and things are coming at me from all sides, is my tendency to intensify my dose of "Living Water" so that the heat won't consume me, or do I whine and complain and neglect the very One who will sustain me through the heat?  If I'm honest, there are times where I live in that place where I try to rely on myself instead of my Jesus, who I know will give me all that I need to get me through the heat.


Something I've also seen from my flowers and also my own life is that when I am giving them extra drinks during heated times, they actually flourish and grow instead of wilt and fade!  The past 6 months for me has been an intense time of "heat", but also probably some of the greatest growth in Him that I can remember.  The heat can be very damaging, but it can also, if you allow it to, be the greatest drink of "Living Water".  


Don't resist the heat.  Embrace it.  But always make sure you prepare for it with extra drinks of Living Water.  He will never leave you thirsty.


John 7:38
Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”


John 4:10
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”


Revelation 7:17
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ ”

Bloom Big!

People have certain expectations of how they want flowers to bloom.  If you go to the flower shop, most of the flowers look a certain way, with long slender stems and blooms bursting at the the top.  Not many people would be willing to buy flowers from a bush, because they just don't look like we expect.

You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit. (Jeremiah 12:2)


I saw this tree with these blooms on it this Spring, and my heart just screamed with excitement!  Of all the blooms I saw this Spring, this one was my favorite, because it's not your ordinary bloom, it just bloomed wherever it could.  It's like this tree was screaming, "I can't bloom quick enough so I'm going to pour out of every orifice of my being!"  


Lord, let me be this kind of tree that blooms for You.  That every crack and crevice of my being blooms with the sweet aroma of Christ.  Lord, I may look different, but what is seen and felt and 
experienced through me, may it be beautiful like
You.  May I look and bloom so different in the world,
that it will stop, take notice, and be drawn to You.  
Amen


"For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing". (2 Corinthians 2:15)