Always looking out for us

Good Morning Friends!  Mighty awesome is our God, Monday!!  This morning, I needed to get some fire department paperwork to Chad, our FEMA director (he takes care of certain aspects of business for volunteer fire departments), so that he could take it to County Commissioners meeting for us.  He works right down the road from me, so it would be great if I could just stop by there on my way to my office, but he is hardly ever there yet when I go by.  Oh, he is also a resident of Lula and we take the same route to work every day, but again, I rarely ever see him on my way in.  Anyway, I figured I would call him and have him call me as soon as he got to the office and then run down there real quick…..I was happily tootling down 1600 right on time, jabbering to Kathyrn when guess what I saw!!  Yep!  There, right before my eyes was Chad, pulling up to a stop sign, preparing to turn onto 1600….woo hoo, maybe he will be there at the same time as me today!  I waved as I drove by him and then called him.  After the usual good mornings, I asked him if he was going straight to the office, to which he replied, “uh, well….I might stop somewhere.”  In other words, he was planning to stop for breakfast….I told him I had some paperwork for him to approve for the meeting….after just a short pause he said, “where are you now?”  I told him “Owl Creek….should I pull over and we can do it now?”  “Yea, I will be right there,” was his cheery reply.  Wow, I was so excited, this was the perfect solution to the top of my ‘things to do TODAY list!’  I drove a little farther until I found a safe place for both of us to pull over and watched for him to pull behind me.  Wasn’t but a few seconds and I spotted him in my rear-view mirror!  I gathered up my paper work and headed to his truck, he greeted me with a big smile as he took my paper work, and added “you look nice today” which always brightens my day!  He said he would call if he needed anything else and we both went on to work!   As I pulled out I thought….what a stroke of luck for me today!  BAM!!!!  Hit me full on….that was no luck….that was one of those, how blessed I am to be HIS child….the recipient of HIS “special little miracles”  when we least expect them, but really need them!  That’s our Father for you….always looking out for us, brightening our days, warming our nights….filling our lives with love……we just need to vigilant so we don’t miss one….And remember the next time you think you were lucky….be still and thank our Heavenly Father for the blessing of HIS special little miracles!  Father we are so blessed, forgive us when we are too busy, frantic or worried to see YOU in everything!  Bless my friends with eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts that yearn for YOU!

 

Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.  Psalm 111:2.  The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:  “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”  Jeremiah 31:3.  Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.  Psalm 118:1.  Give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds.  Psalm 107-21. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24.

Love you all!

Our God, the master artist!

Good Morning Friends!  Forever HIS Friday!  WOW!  Our God is an AWESOME God!!!  That’s all I could think this morning as I sat down to breakfast and looked out the kitchen window…the sunrise was awe-inspiring!  I hope you had a chance to see it…..the sky was alive with color, shades of pinks and lavender,  as the sun rose slowly lighting the sky….the sky appeared to be glowing…..like hot embers in the wood stove…..God’s miraculous love glowing for us, warming us in this seemingly, at times, cold world.  I sat still for a moment…pondering…..HIS LOVE for me…for each us….how could anyone deny how HE feels about us after seeing the miracle of HIS creation in the morning sky!  A perfect reminder for us that the heavens and the earth were created by HIM, for us!  We miss so many miracles of HIS creation because we are in such a hurry, or simply do not pay attention….So, this weekend, let’s slow down….open our eyes, ears, and even our noses and take in every miracle we can find!  And more importantly….let’s open our hearts and our minds to the warm glow of HIS love….I close my eyes and see vividly the morning sky….Oh Father, there’s no way we can thank you enough….we know we do not deserve YOU, but Father we praise YOU as big as YOUR little children can.

 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  And God said, “Let there be light, “ and there was light……And God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1.  You  alone are the Lord.  You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them.  You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship You.  Nehemiah 9:6.  He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.  He bestows rain on the earth; He sends water upon the countryside.  The lowly He sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.  Job 5:9-11.  Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.  Psalm 34:8.  This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24. 

 

   I want to share a quote with you that I read this morning from Gloria Gaither, “I’ve heard a lot of sermons in my day, but the best sermon I’d heard in a long time was preached in one word by a busy waitress as she poured a cup of coffee.  God has given us this.  I don’t want to miss it.   ENJOY!”  My prayer for each of you is that you are able to “ENJOY” this weekend.

Love you all!

 

Small miracles around us

Good Morning Friends!  Totally trusting in HIS love Tuesday!  My goodness, hasn’t our environment turned to winter drab in a hurry?  Seems like just a week or so ago there was still green grass in the pastures and leaves on the trees and now….the pastures and lawns are brown, the trees empty just brown branches sticking up in the air….drab.  My commute to work…well when you look around and only see dead grass and empty trees it can get a little, well you know it’s just not the same as spring.  Bleak…..like our lives without our Savior, bleak and dead from sin……But hold on…..look out the window by the chicken coop…..bright red, magnificent cardinals….one, two, three, four….gosh five beautiful, red cardinals on my fence.  Gosh I just love the bright red birds of winter…..they overtake the bleak…..As I stood at the window my heart filled with gratitude….The red birds…..red like blood….the red birds take the bleak out of winter…..Jesus blood gives us life….The cardinals are a small miracle from our Father, a dash of color in an otherwise drab environment…..Jesus’ death and resurrection is the miracle of miracles….life everlasting for us if we simply accept HIS mercy and grace.  Oh Father….my goodness, forgive my whining and help me see Your small miracles all around me, You are an awesome God.  And Father, more than anything, thank you for loving us so much that You gave us Your Son…..the red of HIS blood makes us white as snow. 

 

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.  We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.  We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Romans 6:1-11.  Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!  2 Corinthians 9:15. 

Love you all!

The Creator and Performer of great and glorious things

Good Morning Friends!  Full of His Greatness, Friday!  “You are, O God, The Creator and Performer of great and glorious things.”  A friend shared this quote with me today…..On first read, might seem like one simple sentence, but if you will “be still” for just a moment and read it again…..Wow!  Of course we all know that God is the “Creator” of our world, just open Genesis 1 for a magnificent recap of the 6 days in which He created-made out of nothing- our world.  It’s the “Performer” part that got me to thinking…..We think about Jesus “performing” miracles, you know healing the blind, turning water into wine, casting out demons, but how about today…..right now…..do we believe that our God still performs miracles or in our weakness do we  tend to forget….forget that HE is the Maker and DOER of all….What “things” do you need “Performed” for you?  Great and Glorious things????  Feeling trapped?  Worried?  Stressed? Anxious?  I think about my son, sick in the hospital in California….I hate to think how much time and energy I have wasted worrying about him rather than Praising our God, our Father, for the great and glorious things He is planning to Perform for Shawn….for you, your family….friends…for me…..Great and Glorious beyond our human imagination….we see His magnificent world in front of us….the works of His hands and still can’t understand how He did it….just imagine….be still and let your mind be full of HIM and be blessed by the great and glorious things our Performer has in store for us!  Thank you Father, forgive our worry and our simple minds! “ To YOU, O God, The Creator and Performer of great and glorious things” be all Honor, Glory, and Praise, now and forever. 

 

Therefore, we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  2 Corinthians 4:16-18.  Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.  Know that the Lord is God.  It is He who made us, and we are His/  we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.  For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.  Psalm 100.

Love you all!