What a beautiful day it was turning out to be. Not a cloud in the sky was seen as we traveled over the Blue Ridge Mountains towards home. Two more hours to go and to be honest I was getting weary of the journey. “Is that hail?” Yes! That loud, annoying sound was drops of water mixed with hard small pellets of hail. Our beautiful day had gone to a not so beautiful day in a matter of seconds. I watched as my younger brother crept close to my dad, his eyes bigger than meatballs in a big bowl of spaghetti. “Daddy, turn back” he confidently spoke. I wondered too if we should turn around and take another road home. Although knowing my sense of direction, I’m not sure how fast we would meet our destination. Strong and steady, he continued to drive on. “We are not turning back; we are going to be ok.” I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew we would make it now. In no way would my father put me in harm. Are you finding yourself in the middle of a storm that came upon in a matter of seconds? Are you thinking, "I know God has called me to this or I know He has a plan but I can't go on? Listen, I get it! You have got a friend in me and I've got something God wants you to know. You're gonna make it! Keep going! Sometimes our feet stop walking in the direction God has for us because the fear of the unknown seems larger than the consequences of disobedience. Maybe you feel in bondage to something God has laid on your heart. Let. It. Go. God sees the storm ahead or the storm you … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2017
Resolving To Be Resolute
“Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Prov. 19 :18) How many of you have ever made a “New Year’s Resolution,” and completely followed through? While there are people who have done just that, there are many more of us who have been so determined to do a certain thing – and circumstances changed – causing it to become impossible, the “resolution” was a bigger task than anticipated and we became discouraged, or the simple, hum-drum of everyday living took away our beginning resolve! Resolve – in it’s noun form, means – “fixed purpose or intention; firm determination.” When we are beginning something new, often we find ourselves “resolved” to complete the task, or “fix” the situation. The importance of something to us often determines the amount of the “resolve.” When I think of resolve, I think of a story my husband, Mark tells about an experience he had in his younger years. When he was a teenager, he traveled together in a quartet. Although there is a much longer version of the story, we’ll just tell the “short version” here. Being scheduled to sing in the state of Colorado, they decided to climb Pikes Peak. This is America’s most visited mountain – and reaches14,115 feet into the Colorado sky. Being just a bit uniformed as to what they would face, they took along three apples, three candy bars, and one canteen of water. Off they started in the early morning to conquer this mountain. It wasn’t too long into the journey when they realized perhaps they … [Read more...]
The Solid Rock
Last Saturday a lady walked into the hotel I was staying at and began talking with the man at the front desk. I didn’t intend to listen to their conversation but couldn’t help over hearing that she had been in the Ft. Lauderdale airport the day the shooting occurred last week. She was loading her plane upstairs when the shots were heard below her in the downstairs level. Talk about too close for comfort! She said that if she had not been loading her plane, she wouldn’t have gotten out of there. I was shocked as I was hearing this, it just so happens I was reading a devotional on Edward Mote’s hymn “My hope is built on Nothing Less”. Coincidence? I think not. Look at this verse: When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. Refrain: On Christ the solid rock I stand All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand. Can you get more real than this? On that horrible day in Florida, darkness showed his face. It hurt so many people and scared us all but I am so glad that this world isn’t where my hope lies. I can rest on God’s unchanging grace. We all can. We don’t have to fear the plans of the evil, God is our hero. His love is constant and He is everlasting. He is the foundation for our lives and so is His Word. “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. … [Read more...]
Breathing Clean
Sometimes it rolls in steadily, unexpectedly. It can delay a trip, completely change travel plans, cause a complete halt in concern of an accident. Fog. It robs one of its vision and even turning on “fog lights” alters the way things appear. Watching a series on the English Royalty, I was amazed at the terrible events which took place in 1952. This was different than “fog rolling in” which would lift in a few hours. But, who knew that? The weather conditions combined with the heating conditions of the day collided, causing death and injury of thousands. The realization of such a tragedy left me with a feeling of shock. Not only were they affected by impaired vision due to what some thought was just “fog,” but as they breathed in “dirty air” their bodies were unable to fight off the polluted conditions. Passing the “Clean Air Act” was one of the government’s responses to such a disaster. As we come into this brand-new year, let’s pass a “clean air act” for our minds. In Philippians 4:8 God tells us what we should think on. “Finally . . . whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Sometimes the fog of life begins rolling in, impairing our vision to see clearly. But smog creates even more problems. Smog threatens not only our vision, but endeavors to choke us … [Read more...]