Friday, November 16, 2012

Blessed by God’s Beauty


Count Your Blessings Month
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“From Zion, perfect in beauty,

God shines forth.” Psalm 50:2 (NIV)

God’s beauty is all around us during each season of the year. As I compose this, autumn has come to visit us. While here, she will bring us cooler and colorful days. The broadleaf trees will display a bright array of gold, reds, and yellows.

Two years ago, Hubby and I went out to the state park near our town and took pictures. I also shot a couple of pictures of a tree at the north edge of our part of town. Last fall, during one of the calls from our son, he said he had told his co-workers that he missed seeing the leaves change. Thanks to email and cyberspace, I sent him pictures of those trees in their fall regalia. 

While I like the colors of autumn, I believe my favorite time of the year is spring.  God allows His earth to awaken after a winter’s sleep and chooses to adorn it with new clothes.

Summer is the season of mini-seasons. By this I mean that there is a rotation of fruits or vegetables that are ‘in season’ throughout the months. The colors of the fruits and vegetables are bright. The flowers stand out against the green grass as they seem to say, “Look at us.”

God’s beauty is all around us in every season. It was in His plan that we have His beauty to marvel over. One winter, I got to take a class in flower arranging. We spent one of the class nights working with cut flowers. When I took my arrangement home, I had to clear a place for it on the coffee table. But a day or two later, as Hubby and I came in the front door, he said, “It’s so nice to smell fresh flowers in the wintertime.” Just remembering this has set me to thinking. I will do this fresh flower thing again because it does remind me of God and the beauty He makes.

 

 

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Blessed with Sunshine


 

Count Your Blessings Month

 

 

“‘You are my lamp, O Lord;

the LORD turns my darkness into light.’”

2 Samuel 22:29 (NIV)

Because of the way God made me, I enjoy sunshiny days. An overcast day can send me into the doldrums-nothing seems to go as it should.

Several years ago I voiced my concern about having no sunshine for days on end one winter. It went like this:

 

   ME: Why doesn’t the sun shine? I’m getting tired of this.

   SON: The sun always shines. It’s the clouds that get in the way.

 

My son was in junior high school at the time. I didn’t consider him an upstart for this comment; he had heard it at church, so had I but it didn’t register.

One of the blogs I frequent had a question about how we managed through the overcast days of winter. I left the comment that I started out each day by spending time with God. This helps me more than I realized.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Blessed with Close Friends


Count Your Blessings Month
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“A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity.”

Proverbs 17:17

 

God brings people into our lives to allow His goodness to show through them. In our hurried lifestyles, we sometimes don’t see this action of God. It’s when things seem to pile up against us that those friendships become our lifelines back to ‘normalcy.’ They remind us of God’s love for us and that we are His children. They love us in spite of what we are going through and ‘stand in the gap’ for us, by interceding for us in prayer, by listening to us as we voice our fears or complaints. 

Sometimes, people relocate to another town or state. Those relationships become different but they can still be friendships.

Some ways I have been blessed by friends:

               *A phone call,

               *a card or a sweet note in the mail an email or a Facebook message,

               *a hug at church,

               *someone stopping in the pharmacy or grocery store to talk.

               *a friend helps me when I have a need.

Have you been blessed by a friend lately?

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...