Two Walks

The special light that sunsets create are to me like the peace and joy and strength that come from knowing God and walking closely with Him.

This walk is familiar, it is the sunset. Many before me have enjoyed communion with Him. 

Yet, times come when the walk isn't so close. In those times the peace and joy and strength waiver. 

© Victoria 2012

I think He means for it to be that way. 

In this world that has been corrupted by the sin that we all hold so dear, we desperately need to feel the unsteadiness, the misery that comes when we are not walking with Him. 

Until we know what is to walk with Him, we cannot really know the misery of walking without Him. 

He was always there and yet, 

"...we esteemed Him not..."

Isaiah 53:3 

© Victoria 2011

Without the sunset of walking with God, that special light of truly knowing Him simply isn't there to be enjoyed.

Without the presence of God, lasting peace, joy, and strength simply aren't there to be enjoyed. 

How good He is to give us Himself as well as the ability to find fulfillment in Him.

Walk with Him...Bask in the light of the sunset and take the time to enjoy the beautiful light His presence creates in your life! 

Peace and Quiet

I am convinced that just about everyone everywhere enjoys watching winter take its leave each year. 

Everyday this week between 7 and 8pm I have noticed something. It's been a happy feeling. I can compare it to the feeling I used to get just before the school bell rang to signal  lunch time or better yet, the end of the school day. 

Even now that I haven't sat in a classroom for nearly 10 years, I tend to think of 3:30 as my favorite time of day. 

This week may have changed that. These quiet moments as the sun is setting, I have been looking out of the window to see its final rays peaking through the trees. The street lights begin to come on, the sounds of civilization begin to quiet down, and the wind dies down. 

Before I know it, the sky is dark and filled with stars. 

What I have been enjoying isn't the sunset itself - I can't see that from my window. What I have been enjoying is the light that it casts. It's a different light, surely, you know the one that I mean. A light that reminds me of warm summer nights and lightning bugs and porch swings.


The difference between this...

Cape Cod © Victoria 2010

and this.

Cape Cod © Victoria 2010

These pictures were taken on the same day, at the same beach, just moments apart. 

I love how something so common, something so familiar, can be so beautiful! 

Ooops

Well, I was attempting to make a new post earlier this evening. Somehow I managed to get rid of the old template I was using. Not the background but the whole, complicated, behind the scenes format of the blog. 

I still can't figure out how to get that old one back. I actually think it is gone because of the way blogger has "upgraded". 

Needless to say this entire thing looks A LOT different. 

Some things I like. Some things I don't. I hope to get more color somewhere, some way. 

Either way, come back later this week I've got some posts planned! 

He Makes Beautiful Things

Once again, we have been enjoying a warmer, dryer, sunnier winter. Sure, it's February, but it certainly does not feel like it. Yet, here and there we have had snow and wind and ice and cold.

Extremes always remind me how needy I am. Every breath should be a reminder that I need God. It usually takes something more drastic to get my attention!


Acts 17:28 "In Him we live and breath and have our being."


My needs, my neediness have been given to me. I have been made to need, to depend on something outside of myself. There is only One who can sustain me. By God's grace, my needs continually bring me to the place where I look to Him.

By God's grace, my needs continually bring me to the place where I know Him.

He has given me life. He gives me breath and He will provide all that is best for me for all of eternity. I am at my best, I have the most joy, when He is front and center. When all my eating and drinking and prioritizing revolve around His glory and becoming like Christ in being concerned about the salvation of those around me....There I see the fulness of His grace.

For on my own without God's grace, the beauty would be there but I would not have the eyes to see it for what it truly is.

Community

Growing up in a small town, I didn't really think much about community. Everyone has some form of community. In my little town, we all know each other but very few people truly KNOW each other. Very few people actually share life together. When people gather, they do not seek counsel from one another. They do not share their own hardships and struggles. They do not offer words of encouragement.

This is part of being a sinner...We always want to get our fingers pointed at someone else and their problems.

Perhaps that's what's really wrong with gossip. Sure, it's wrong to talk about others, especially when you are speaking things that you do not know to be true. But, more importantly, why waste the opportunity to build one another up in Christ?

If you meet with a believer, share with him the riches of the Gospel! Encourage him with God's Word, truth, and love. Ask him specifically what God has been teaching him or what he has been struggling with. Pray with him and for him.

If you meet with an unbeliever, share with him the riches of the Gospel! Encourage him to know God, explain to him God's Word, truth, and love. Listen to his questions. Pray with him if he will. Pray for him if he won't.

No matter who you meet, he will either be walking with God or not walking with God. Either way, he needs more Gospel!

Take the time to build community, gospel community. Building one another up in Christ is the foundation. Gospel community begins with the daily interactions we have with people.

Proverbs 10:11&13a "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found..."