Lord, I give thanks for this day and for the fresh breeze that blew through my life tonight to refresh my spirit with gratitude for Your creation and for the simple things in life that show me Your love. You are so awesome, and I know You are always with me. It has been frustrating these past few days for me, and I have forgotten to find my comfort in You. Forgive me for losing my patience with myself and others as I try to 'plan my life' forgetting You have a plan for me. I have forgotten so quickly even again today to remember that You will guide my life and keep Your hand upon me and my family. Thank you for the gentle reminders. Thank you for giving me Your strength and peace. Thank you for giving me comfort that I forget to seek and find in You many times too often. You are my Father looking out for me. I know that and need to remember that more. Thank you for ending today without worries about tomorrow --for the evening filled with peace.
And God, if You wish....send a little rain to refresh Your beautiful trees and grass and flowers. But even so, the dry grass and trees remind me that I will wither without continuously seeking your refreshing Spirit. Your are my Fountain--my continuous source of life and peace through the ups and downs.
sshhhpprrrr................sshshhshshppprrrrrpprpppshprprr....
That was the peaceful sound of the FOUNTAIN hose pouring its water out onto the dry brittle grass this evening. Who turned on the heat around here? Tonight was the 1st evening I really enjoyed outside since I last looked for lightning bugs while cutting the grass. It has been HOT! Did I say 'really hot!" Its a 'furnace baking me like an oven melts chocolate in chocolate chip cookie dough'! Except....I don't turn into something very good like cookie dough turns into! In all this heat, I feel like cookie dough long-forgotten in the oven! Except, I wasn't being forgotten! I was the one doing the forgettin'!
So anyway, I was outside this evening before dusk. We decided to let the dishes sit unfinished in the kitchen to get outside for some needed fresh air. Despite the lingering warmth, the humidity had dissapated and there was a beautiful warm evening breeze. Noticeably, all the pesky bugs were gone too --which is a rarity--guess they have hidden away from the heat lately like the rest of us! So my wonderful husband and I walked about the yard enjoying the evening. I think he is a little more like God in the yard---he loves to walk about and look at each of the trees and bushes he has planted to check on them to make sure they are doing okay. While he was caring for them, I was watering them. It was a luxury to pour water on very thirsty plants and grass and then be able to watch them spring back with energy in them. Even the birches and oaks were drying up with leaving browning and falling. Who rakes falling leaves in mid-August???(not in SC!) A gently steady fountain of rain is needed right now in many places.
It was very peaceful to walk about just enjoying the sun set to dusky skies and watch the moon come out. (Tonight it was a sliver of a moon but very bright yellow with an orangy-yellow hugh to it.) As I continued walking about with the hose, I noticed a bird sitting on the fence--not on top of in but squeezed in in the middle of a hole. As I took note of its peculiar stance, I realized this was a BABY BIRD! Oh! A Baby Bird right here in my back yard too now for me to see it trying to fly! I think that just before I had detached the hose from the sprinkler, the water must have hit its nest hidden up in a thick evergreen. Poppy quickly saw big mama bird fluttering about as I approached the little bird, so I kept my distance. But there it was, just sitting on the fence and I was standing 2 feet with my hand outstretched towards the dear little bird. It then fluttered unsteadily off the fence and attempted to land on top of the truck's tire, but it then fluttered to the ground and then to a small tree in the front yard. It was apparent that it was struggling. My husband watched too and commented that it was learning to fly. Oooh...another little bird learning to fly. Oh my! How I would have loved to just pick it up and hold it in my hands to love and protect it from everything. But, it needs to strengthen its wings to fly.
Watching that little bird struggling made me look about to make sure there was no cat prowling about...an odd flashback to our kittycat made me recall his zest for chasing birds when he was living. Oddly, somewhere in my imagination there always seems to be prowling cat somewhere in the shadows. So I hoped there weren't any cats about and noticed that the 2nd time the baby landed on the fence, that our big vicious dog who is afraid of cricket noises did not remotely notice the bird sitting on the fence right next to where he stood. So then I looked about for "Watchdog"; she wasn't concerned with the bird's presence at all which is rare because nothing usually gets past her territory! So, it appeared that if no critters could get to the baby bird, she would be able to flutter and flit about learning to spread her wings to obtain full flight. Wow. Just like the other baby bird is still doing.
Isn't it amazing how things learn to grow and live and live and grow? Matthew 10 says "Are not 2 sparrows sold for a penny? Yet, not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." It promises us that God knows what is happening to each little sparrow, and that even so much greater, He knows what is happening with His Children, so well so that He knows each of the hairs on our heads! This is a reminder I can be comforted knowing He is watching over my family and that He is taking care of us. He knows when we stumble or are sick or are having a hard time flying. He knows when we are happy, ready to move, ready to be challenged with the next level of flight. This is so cool....to watch this baby bird and think of the other little bird whose wings are getting stronger for flight, so that when she is ready, she will soar like an eagle! We all need to do that, but too often we forget!
Our value in Christ as His children --above even the sparrows that He created and values--is meant to remind us of our place in Him because Matthew 10 talks greatly in depth about conflict that will arise because of our faith in Christ. Like a cat out prowling for a bird being hindered in its flight, Satan 'prowls about like a roaring lion here on earth', looking for someone he can consume. God reminds us of our value as His child to remind us that no one can take away from us what God has given us through Christ--even if our bodies our destroyed by prowling evil. The great thing about God is that God is OMNISCIENT
and OMNIPOTENT
and OMNIPRESENT!!!
This is where our comfort zone is! Not the comfort zone we are seeking on our own during the present worries or present situations, but in knowing that we are reconciled with God and have a place in heaven because He has blotted out our sins and 'falls' through Christ's death on the cross. No one can separate us from God's love if we have chosen to accept God's gift of love which is Christ Jesus's death and resurrection to conquer eternal death for us.
So have you found your comfort zone yet?
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