Pilgrims In Progress

Fellow Pilgrims - Reason #429

We are all pilgrims passing through......right? This world is not my home........but so often I forget this truth. So while I pay storage fees to 'protect' our unused 'stuff' these fellow pilgrims have dispersed most of their earthy goods and are embarking on a new adventure mindful of the fleeting time and their heavenly residence. Welcome to the next step in your faith journey Mom and Dad!

Tooty & Fruity

Fruit (finally).....reason #428

Mark Twain said...'Why not go out on a limb? That's where all the fruit is.'

And no matter how much consolation that has brought in training our children to value the fruit that will last, often times it was 'tooty' attitudes we reaped, not fruit. And then one day, the Lord shows the 'farmer' (or exhausted parent in this case) the beginning signs of precious, ripe, legitimate fruit......and hope is resuscitated......A 'thank you' offered by your little one when it was not required, a brother helping the younger up the playground set with a hand held......all precious reminders to press on. 

Our Seasonal Reminder

A Beautiful Death....(Reason #427) 
The colors of fall remind me, teach me, exhort me.......dying (in a spiritual sense) is breathtakingly beautiful. 
The leaves change color......because they are dying.
I witness an explosion of jewel-shade hues....because they are yielding up their life. I am witnessing the process of surrender.  Surrender to God's purpose to use them in another way. A way that is 'exceedingly, abundantly, above all I could hope, think or imagine.' 
I am schooled by the view out my window. 
I must decrease so that HE may increase in my life. 
May the yielding of my life be as beautiful as the fall.

Curious George

Our Built-In Learning App (Curiosity)
Reason #426 - Albert Einstein once said, 'I have no special talents.  I am only passionately curious.' Praise God for giving us an insatiable desire to explore and see how things work!

The Big Daddy

Big Daddy Reason #425.
Grace. Grace. Amazing Grace. I once was lost, but now I am found. I was blind, but now I see. It cost Jesus everything so it wouldn't cost me anything. The divine swap. Jesus' life for mine. It is by grace that you are saved through faith. It is God's gift to you.....nothing you could earn even if you tried. Thank you Lord Jesus for your gift of grace. 

Beautiful Little Box

Bought Air Reason #424.
Dear Thermostat,
Thank you for the steadfast job you do day after day to make sure we stay cool. It is so hot outside that corn stalks are transforming into popcorn but somehow you are unmoved. You also seem immune to distraction from your singular task securing a spot in my heart as a beautiful little box. 

Rain Maker....

Reason #423 - The RainMaker.
The National Climate Data Center states that the Midwest is in an 'extreme drought'. 
Our outdoor thermometer reads a steady 106 degrees (in the shade). 
Who holds the storehouses of the wind, rain and snow?  - The RainMaker.
Job 37:5-7 
'God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; He does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ So that everyone he has made may know his work, he stops all people from their labor.' Thank YOU, Lord for the rain.