growing up together

 I remember that day, not much bigger then a doll, he spun her round on his neck.

It seems I blink and the image replays…except now, she’s a LOT heavier. 


But now he's a lot stronger; so their still having a blast.

Reminds me of the great importance we have to grow up together. 

If we didn’t we’d be off balance.

If Preston didn’t grow stronger as Bethany grew heavier they still couldn’t enjoy each other as they are today.

God made us to grow up together. When one is not growing…it affects another.

It prevents a blessing that could have been if things would have gone as they should.

Yes, we are all at different ages in Christ; which makes things wonderfully enjoyable, as long as we continue to GROW UP with one another. 

“So we are no longer to be children…. But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body grows in love."

  -Eph. 4:14-16

frosty reflections

I wake to a blanket of white crystals. I marvel at the beauty of it, shimmering in the sun’s first light.  

I’m reminded of long ago when the Israelites woke to something that resembled this… “thin flakes like frost”. Manna. The bread of angels.

 I wonder…did it to sparkle in the morning light? 

I can almost see the women bent low on hands and knees gathering flakes for the new day.

He still sends His Manna and He still sends it early. To gather it we must bow low.

“…I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions…”
“When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.”


“This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent. The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed.”

It could have grown on trees where it would have been effortlessly picked…easier on backs and knees.

It could have come in bigger chucks, quicker to gather. 

You’d think God would have thought of this.

 But of course He did.

Castle Building

“Castle building” that’s what Fenelon calls it. 

You’re living in a log cabin, but you’re building a castle in your mind. It is dangerous. It might not feel dangerous, but there is one major problem with those seemingly harmless imaginations….they mostly benefit me, they put me in a good light, arrange a nice future for me.

And then there are those imaginary dialougues in which you always seem to come up with the wisest, wittiest things to say, leaving the other person somewhat in awe…of you

We are blinded to the Enemy’s bait.

It is not just effecting you alone, thoughts detained in our minds leak out through our actions.

But there is Hope and a very effective cure!

It is possible to have a mind set on Jesus alone, where Reality reigns and the Spirit directs what is permitted in your mind and what is not.  

What to do then, when you sense your mind beginning to wonder away to fantasies near or far? 

" try and stop them forcefully and you might as well try to stop a torrent... "

Simply begin to change the way your mind views such imaginings. Don’t voluntarily except them.

 Turn your mind to Jesus. And drop off castle building and become useful in another way. 

No, the above picture is not mine! As of yet I have never seen a 'real' castle, but thanks to National Geographic I had a wide selection to choose from. Quotations are from Fenelon's Spiritual Letters to Women

Beauty Revealed

He placed the color inside each leaf... in dying they were revealed. 

In our dying HE is revealed. The Master Artist, the Beautiful One. His colors IN US are exposed...the ones that take their breath away.

Fall's Flowers

Sitting crossed legged on the picnic table and spread out on the fading grass a friend and I notice…fall has its flowers. 

The brightness of the changing foliage captures the 

eye first but on second glance you’ll see them tucked away here and there.

 Each season creates an environment that causes some flowers to flourish and thrive. 

It’s a good reminder to me.  

There is potential in my life that only this season can unwrap. The 'weather' of this season is perfectly designed to cause maturity to come to certain areas in my life.

The environment that God has me in; is the environment He wants me in.

If my eyes are wistfully turned towards summers fading light, I would miss it all. Miss all the beauty He desires to create in me today.