Ssshhh Listen to the Trees!

Yesterday I visited Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks. The beauty that I saw was breathtaking, especially the trees. The most "important" tree was the Sherman tree which is considered the largest tree in the world according to wood content. It is now something like 115 feet around the trunk at the base. Some of the trees in the park are said to be some 2000+ years old.

As I saw many of the majestic sequoias my mind went back about 2000 years ago to Jesus. How all those years ago, God sent His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for sins, all sins, your sins, and my sins. Jesus came and lived a sinless life and freely gave it for us because He loved us so much. Upon a tree, an amazing tree the cruel cross was made. Although that tree wasn't the size of the sequoia, it was the most important, majestic and meaningful tree that has ever been upon the earth. It was the tree where Jesus died.

But in His dying, He brought life to all those who would accept His sacrifice. Praise The Lord that death couldn't hold Him and He arose victorious and glorious on that first Easter Sunday.

Can you hear? Ssshhh Listen to the Trees! They tell the most amazing story of love!

Hold to God's Unchanging Hand

I was reminded today of Isaiah 41:10 (KJV): Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

As we go through life, we will have struggles. Sometimes these are on a daily basis. However, we must keep our hearts and eyes focused on Jesus. He has promised us in His Word that he would give us the strength to make it through those tough times. God loves us so very much that we can trust Him to help us as we go through with whatever life throws at us or those fiery darts from satan.

Even in the toughest times that I've faced in my life, I have found that God is faithful. Even when I didn't feel like He was there, I can reflect and know with a certainty that He was and he cradled me in His loving arms until I could stand on my own two feet and move forward through pain and adversity.

When you feel like you are at the end of your rope and your strength is gone, you can rely on Him and "Hold to God's Unchanging Hand."

It's in These Moments

I wake up and I see the beauty of spring around me. I've sent Tony off to work and Treila off to school. Taylor and our dog, Molly, are sleeping quietly until Taylor leaves later today for the last day of FFA Convention tomorrow. I've looked at them and I look outside with the birds singing and the sun shining and I can’t help but be in awe of God. He has created all things beautiful.

I’m trying to concentrate more on the people who are in my life than the ones I've lost. Although some days are harder than others, Barry has been gone over two years and Moma has been gone almost three years and my sister, Judy, has been gone almost six months. I have others who have been gone longer. But as the time flies it still seems like it was just yesterday that we were all together.  As much as I miss them and love spring, I am reminded of the song “It’ll always be, springtime in heaven.”  What a wonderful thought that truly is for me. As much as I see spring in the newness of life and beauty all around, it is fleeting after a few months. But in heaven, it’s always spring. There is always newness of life. There is always Sonshine and beauty. So, it’s in these moments that I reflect on the past, but primarily it’s in these moments that I look to the future that gives me hope and a renewed spirit for today.

May God bless us all as we look toward to the kingdom to come where Jesus' light will always shine!

Passions

What evokes passion in you? Do you often fantasize about various things that you love or would love to do? Are you focused on your passion or is your mind playing tricks on you telling you that the thing(s) you are passionate about is never going to happen and you will never find the fulfillment you are looking for in that passion?

For me, the things that I am passionate about are sometimes illusions or delusions. Such as, I would love to never have to work again at a public job but instead travel the world and see all the beauty of God’s creation. For you see, I am passionate about travel. However, I won’t live long enough to see everything and I know that I will have to work to make the money to pay for all that travel.

I also am passionate about making my home an inviting place where my children, when they are grown, will want to return and bring their families. I don’t want them to come only on those obligatory holidays and such. I want them to want to come home often. So with that passion, I want my home to take on different characteristics. I want it to be clean and organized; since I’m not inherently one who masters in this aspect, I have hired a housekeeper one day per week.  I also want to change the exterior of my home by adding a nice parking area/garage, backyard pool and spa, finishing my outdoor pavilion with the fireplace and built in kitchen. I also want to add a large fountain in my front yard and a plethora of plants and fencing. I have the complete picture in my head. I am passionate about what needs to be done and I will need to work to make money to pay for those things.

I am also passionate about wanting to help others. I find great joy in being able to walk alongside others who may be struggling and offer hope: a shower, clothes, food and other necessities as well. I want to encourage them to be all that they can be and to become passionate about whatever that may be to them.  As an introvert, I often have a problem connecting with people, so fulfilling this passion is more of a struggle. However, if I really want to achieve this, I must work to have money to be able to do this.

I am also passionate about writing, designing and sewing. Oh me, these are the things I would love to do that could potentially help me to make the money that I need to fulfill my other passions. I could enjoy what I’m doing along the way. This passion is probably the one that scares me the most as I get the big "oh this is just a delusion, you will never be able to make money doing the things you love" head blocker. But wouldn't that be wonderful to be content in your work? These passions remind me of being a Proverbs 31 woman.

This leads me to my greatest passion; that is, to see people come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. I am passionate about missions, whether it is home missions or foreign missions. Although God didn't call me into a life of full time foreign missions, I know His call for me is in being a part time missions worker and a full time Christian.  Being able to minister one-on-one with people here in my own proverbial back yard and in short trips to those foreign mission fields, my heart is forever changed with each word of encouragement that God gives me to say, each kind gesture that I do, and each person that I hug in the name of Jesus. I long for those days.

But or if I ever achieve all of the things that I am passionate about, remains to be seen. However, my one hope is that in everything that I do, I point others to Jesus whose passion for all of mankind was displayed when He died for all of our sins. It was truly the Passion of the Christ that led Jesus to the old rugged cross where He gave his life willingly as a ransom for many. He does not want any to perish but to have eternal life. God was passionate about you and me. So passionate that He sent His only begotten son to die for us. Wow, what a compassionate God we serve that has done so much for us.

I pray that your passion is to share the Good News of the love of Jesus to those around you. You have a role to play in their coming to a saving knowledge of Him. May God bless us all as we remember the ultimate passion!