Our family has gone through the wringer lately with illness in this household. After 2 weeks of tending to sick kids and repeated doctor's appointments, I guess it was somewhat inevitable that Mom and Dad would catch the bug.

This winter has been unusually wet and warm compared to previous years. We have an outdoor wood furnace that we source wood for from our woods and supplement from a semi-local wood place that sells scrap lumber.  Usually, we can start getting wood from the time the crops are harvested (there is a field between our house and the woods) and all through the winter. It's our "family thing" to do on the weekends.

But not this year.  We have places to get the wood, but are not able to get TO the wood to get it to the house. One week of our farm truck taking a "vacation" in the woods was enough, thank you very much.  It's just been too wet. And our semi-local scrap wood place? They're having the same problem.  I'm glad the Lord gave us the foresight to order an extra load or two late this last summer, because it's held us up to this point.

On to my point.

The Lord has been working on me on some issues.  Part of me wants us to be self-sufficient (insert a Tim the Tool-Man Taylor "arr-arr-arr") and able to take care of ourselves no matter what happens and Have Everything Under Control.

If you've not figured it out yet, being sick enough that you feel like someone beat you to a pulp (I think "death warmed over" was the description hubby gave...along with "Horrid") makes one very Not In Control.

Hubby and I were talking last night, trying to decide what to do.  What can we do??? We need wood.  What can We do???

Guess what? The Lord of all, the owner of everything we know on this earth, had it all under control. Not that I ever doubted that, or maybe I did and do and that's why I worry about things sometimes...

This morning, our neighbor called to tell us he was cleaning up near a creek and had some wood if we wanted it. I told him that we would love to have it, but that my hubby couldn't come out to help unload and why.  He was fine with that and brought 2 (!) loads of wood over for us. He had his strapping young boys there to help him unload. I went out to thank him and told him that he was an answer to prayer.

It was a very humbling experience, getting to the point that we probably would have ended the week with no wood for the furnace (we do have propane as backup, but it's quite spendy--hence the wood furnace. Not to mention it just doesn't heat as well.). BUT, it was also a very comforting experience, knowing that our God knew of our problem far in advance and moved within our neighbors to gift us with the wood.  An act of God for sure, gracious, because this was something we could not do ourselves.


This provision brought my mind to how God offers us the gift of salvation through Christ.  There is nothing we can do in and of ourselves to have eternal life, except to realize we are sinners, believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sin and rose alive and victorious over sin and death three days later.  The blood He shed on that cross is what cleanses us from every single sin we ever did, do, and will do in the future. He died to pay for the sins of the whole world.  We each have but to turn away (repent) from that sin and turn to Christ.  He offers the gift to us. It's up to us to receive it.And it's only through Him that we might be saved.

Philippians 4:19

   But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

This means our spiritual need for a Savior......and our earthly physical needs on this earth---yes, even firewood!

Time for Pruning?

A Gift from God:  God's Word shown in everyday things, speaking to my very soul...

I have been contemplating these plants of mine lately.

After a glorious summer in the sun, I had cut them back a bit and brought them in for the winter.

For awhile, the blooms flourished and the greenery was full and bright.


Now, though, the beauty of the blossoms is but a distant memory and much of the greenery from the summer has died...but all are holding on to the stem still, stubbornly insisting that they still belong there...just a while longer? Please?  Or perhaps the main part of the plant hasn't quite discovered that it's time to let go.



I can identify with these plants of mine.  I have things in my life that were once of use to me, a part of me even, much like these dead leaves and blossoms. I have held onto these things and held some of them close, stubbornly and perhaps a bit fearful of letting them go.

Perhaps, as with my plants, these things are causing me to look ugly and unkempt in the eyes of God. Perhaps, as I longingly look back and remember and give my energy to that and miss out on what is happening in the here and now, unable to be present with my loved ones... Perhaps He shakes His head at me for my clinging-on.

Perhaps it's time for a pruning, so that there can be new growth. Perhaps it's time to allow the Gardener to take up the pruning sheers, and along the lines of John 15:1-2, lop off the things that don't produce and allow for the rest of the plant to flourish and grow.


Notice that the parts of the plants that are alive and green are reaching, begging almost, for more light, that which they were created to seek, to somehow know will sustain them and help them grow.

I too, like the plants, am seeking the light. Only the Light I am seeking is Christ, and His will for my life, because I know He is the source of my strength (Psalm 27:1).  I am reaching and growing, and perhaps in this process it is necessary for me to reevaluate the "extra" things in my life. To pray for His guidance as to what to keep and what to let go of.  Some of those things are things of beauty (or have been), and are generally "Good Things", but are they of enough importance for me to keep around now? Or are they things that are pulling me down, a hindrance, filling my time and space to the detriment of what is truly important?

Perhaps, along with some pruning, I need to be re-rooted, so that I can start anew. Much like I should have done with the geraniums when I brought them in months ago, and should perhaps do now. Might be worth my time and effort...an act of reflection, consideration...

Praying for His will to be  made apparent in my life and yours as you seek Him.

Blue Orb...

 

I saw this glass orb at the thrift store the other day, and couldn't resist taking it up in my hand (and ultimately purchasing it).  For whatever reason, I was drawn to it. 

What came to mind as I held it, its weight perfect and centering, was the thought of God my Creator holding the world in His hands. Rather, of God Himself holding and pondering what was to be the Earth and the universe and all that we know of (and more)....and all the things that He planned would happen....both pleasure and pain...and He created it anyway.  He gave us our existence.

"I have a plan for the whole earth, for my mighty power reaches throughout the world."  Isaiah 14:26 (NLT)

I am reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp this month, and I am finding it to be just what I need. In this phase of my life, it is good to read of a fellow believer's own heartaches and challenges in life and to hear her share how she is seeing God's grace and loving hand woven through it all, even in times of pain and anguish, if we would but open our eyes and hearts to see it.

There is so much more to it, but I thought I would share this part of my day and one of the first of what I am writing in my own gratitude journal of Gifts of God, some of which I'm sure will find themselves on this blog.

May we choose to realize the grace of God around us each and every day, and seek to serve Him above all. May we set our eyes on Christ, the Light of the world, and squelch the darkness that threatens to overcome us.