Scribbling Spiritual Sand…
For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
Psalm 51:3
On pavement clings
sweet butterfly wings;
broken bitter things.
MAN’S SIN
Cold slowly shuffles in
withered leaves a brim
as sunny piles grow dim;
GOD’S FORGIVENESS
hence no where to fly.
Tears of joy to cry;
sacrificed Lamb to die.
ETERNAL LIFE
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God
I Corinthians 10:31
During this time of the year, there seems to be a call to meander country roads. Wide spaces are filled with golden corn fields and woodlands shout with a multitude of fall colors. It is the last hurrah before winter winds blow in with long weeks of more indoor living.
Living is and odd word. Does it mean to be alive and breathing? Is it the paycheck one brings home and how we make a living? Is it the pursuits in one’s life style? Maybe it is how we live.
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Apparently, the Bible asks us to use our lives to glorify God. This can be done by how we do everyday simple things in our lives. All is to honor God.
Whether it’s a stroll through a maple tree forest, a bike ride along a river or a slow car ride down a country winding road; it is a beautiful time to enjoy God’s endless creation. It’s also a time to contemplate and reflect on any changes that might need to be made. Every season of life can see improvements.
As the natural world around us is changing, consider what God may be directing you to modify. Everyday can be a road trip adventure!
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrew 4:15
They change before my eyes:
translucent, transparent telling
of coming changes chanting
their farewells across the sky.
If trees could talk what would
be said of their transformation?
Would willows weep or birches
balk as their leaves are wisp away?
Maples seem to chatter in wind;
while oaks remain stately and only
rumble, rattle, roar as autumn exits
clinging to their crisp leaves till spring.
My life could be as those sturdy oaks
torn by stormy winds on darken days,
as seasons change by hand of God I
choose to cling to Him until spring again!
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another,and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25
My sister-in-law and brother-in-law came to visit from New York along with last Sunday’s threatening down pour. Charcoal grey skies welcomed them after their long journey. At the same time a certain football team looked like amateurs. On that same day, we celebrated a milestone birthday. What a filled Sunday.
As we enjoyed our week of renewing family relationships, something I think everyone should do to keep channels open and make memories, I thought of Sunday.
Sunday’s are special. Once upon a time, when I was a child, most businesses were closed on Sundays. Mama made chicken soup, we played table games and mostly rested. Those days have disappeared from our society.
Some, who still attend a church, have the opportunity on Sundays to reunite on a weekly basis with people. Working together to better a community, to give testimony of what God is doing in their lives or to help build one’s faith often is the heart of church.
Sunday afternoons can be a time to grow relationships up over a simple meal. Even Christ had His inner group of people He shared meals with. Yes, it can also be a time of cheering or complaining of your favorite sport’s team. I usually listen to the family’s conversation between the plays. They go far past sports talk.
I did have a wonderful week of reconnecting with family; people we see but once a year. However, the week’s events also gave me insight into the importance of nurturing all my relationships on a regular basis.
Think of how you can grow in Christ and in the relationship you have with others.
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:13-14
The coolness of the
forest on a fall day
embraces my very soul.
It is where I ran when
you no longer breathed
the breath of life.
The birds sang,
as ripples of sorrow
stained supple spots;
embarrassed for the
tears which lingered
along the brook.
It is there grief
washed away with
dirt, dust and debris.
The scent of autumn
leaves crackled with
each sauntering steps.
Eager I was to forget,
move on and leave
behind my mourning;
It is what I want you
to do, when it’s my turn
to return to the earth.
Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you. And in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.
I Corinthians 6:1-2
Yesterday, I was reminded how quickly life can change. At seven in the morning I was walking my dog. It was a clear morning. Mourning doves cheered me on as they sang. There was a bit of a breeze. It was going to be a rather warm September Saturday. It was peaceful.
I met up with a neighbor. We talked about our dogs as we walked pass the house which had just sold. The man there had committed suicide in April. His mother and wife’s lives changed forever. Last week, they started new journeys in different places without the man they both loved.
We continued walking and talking about trivial things. It was then she mentioned Hartford Culver’s was on fire. As we walked, the lives a many people were being changed forever. The owners, employees and customers were not going to Culver’s today. Sports events, birthdays or anniversaries would not be celebrated at many customers favorite restaurant. It all happened in an instant of time.
Today is the day to live out your faith, for there is no promise of tomorrow.
First a flutter, then a stir and I smile,
a hiccup and roll, then finally birth!
I tremble and shutter in great wonder;
waiting in fear, confused as seasons come.
Chill of winter to spring, blooms of spring toward another sultry summer, dog days of summer on to artistic autumn and then, as expected, the winds of winter return in full force.
I am left standing with a chill down my spine. The flutter has returned, as well as the fear, for my first born turns forty today and my last season of life, winter remains as I tremble.
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.
Isaiah 41:10
“I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons. Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Psalm 16:7-8
As Winter Comes…
September’s bustling chatter
echoes throughout the wood.
The drone of slick-back crickets,
whizzing of late cicadas,
and jabbering of sly chipmunks;
resound and ring in humid air.
Hydrangea’s bow bulky, blushing heads
and stately goldenrod glimmers
attracting bustling bumblebees
loading pollen for the making.
Time trickles with all things.
A babe is born and old men die.
September comes…
and goes as geese fly south.
Yet, He remains at my side.
One early morning last week, as a slice of light roused the darkness of night, I listened to a sleepy old owl hooting his droning call.
It was lovely.
Early morning has always been a treasured time for me. There seems to be a stillness settled on the earth. Well, until the crafty crow craws.
I don’t sit sipping coffee on the back porch. Nor do I run around accomplishing tasks. I linger, still in bed, writing or reading. My favorite read, you guessed it, God’s Word.
Is it easy to dive into the Bible at the break of dawn? No, sometimes I need to just ‘do it’ as I am aroused from my sleep. Almost always alertness follows, even with excitement, as God teaches me something new.
In the morning’s stillness, my mind is like a sponge sopping up all it can. Clutter from the day hasn’t crowded my thoughts. Maybe this is a picture of being still before God.
May each new morning bring you a yearning for the Word of God!
Slow and steady flows the day,
the seasons now at hand
where owls hoot before break
of dawn and crows crowd skies.
Slow and steady passes day,
that some, so busy, miss pleas
of elderly loved ones frozen
in time waiting, waiting, waiting.
Slow and steady a babe wails
for milk or change or warm embrace;
as mama’s cell phone chatters
like scolding chipmunk in a tree.
Slow and steady is the broken heart
who longs for commitment now gone,
washed away in the storm of difference;
yet hopeful one day to be cherished.
Slow and steady the grieving heart,
as loved one has departed this busy
world; where geese fly south and leaves
tumble to earth returning to dirt.
Slow and steady?
My feet have been set upon the Rock,
the miry clay has washed away;
slow and steady, yes! Also, truly
established and steadily growing.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.
Psalm 40:2
We were designed to go at a slower pace, to ponder, to process thoughts one at a time, to focus on the face in front of us with tender care. And when we try to go at computer-speed, we miss out on what’s important in life.
Glynnis Whitwer
In the iconic parable, Aesop tells of a race between a fast but often-distracted hare and a slow but relentless tortoise. Readers are supposed to be surprised when the tortoise manages to defeat the hare, coining the phrase “slow and steady wins the race.”
Sciencedaily.com
Patti Wolf