Oh how I cherish my monthly tea gathering of widows. I always leave feeling loved and renewed in my spirit. Yesterday one of the Scriptures brought to us was Psalm 139:17-18 that reminds us how special we are to God. He loves us greatly and desires to walk with us daily. In the verse it speaks about how God thinks about us more than the grains of sand on every shore! Vonna gave us an eight ounce jar of sand yesterday with this information: In 8 ounces of sand there are approximately 7 million, 6 hundred 92 thousand and 38 grains of sand. Wow! I don't know who counted all those grains of sand to come up with that number but that's a lot of grains of sand! God loves us MORE than all the sand on this earth! Every time I sweep the house, shake out the car mats, etc. there is a ton of sand. After reading these numbers instead of grumbling about the sand I will praise God for His love. This picture was taken one morning in October at Hunting Island at sunrise. What a special time to go out there in the dark and watch the earth come to life for a new day. When we first moved to South Carolina, Hunting Island soon became my happy place. I would go out there with a book and read for hours as I listened to the waves and dug my toes into the sand. It wasn't until recently that I started enjoying sunrises and sunsets in that area. God is so good to bless us with such times. He knows what we need and provides. Earlier in the week when it was too foggy to see the sunrise it was still a beautiful morning. Each and every day is a gift from the Lord. We must choose how we will unwrap it. As we open up the gifts given to us from Him we will realize His love to a greater degree. When we go through the 'junk' this life throws at us, it can be like walking on wet sand. There are days we feel like we are sinking and can't make forward progress. There are also days when we feel like giving up but we must remember God is with us. He is giving us such times to grow our faith. He allows 'tough' times to make us realize we need more of Him. I am reminded this morning of the song "Sink 'n Swim" that Plumb sings.
We will sink and
We will swim
'Til the ocean turns to sand
We will laugh
We will cry
'Til there's no more breath inside
Cause we will sink
We will swim
I was,
A tender reed
Bent in the wind
And then the storm passed
And you helped me stand upright again
There is a palm branch in this picture laying on the ground. It appears to have died and fell off the tree. The best thing for us to do is to die to self to allow God to fill us with more of Him. This palm branch could have died from the weather blowing it off. The lesson from it is that we need the nutrients from our Source of Life to stay living just as it needed. We can wither away in our soul when the enemy comes knocking at our door over and over again but when we stay with God we will stay strong.
Dear Jesus, Thank You for Vonna and the love she pours into our group! Thank You for the reminder from the jar of sand of just how much You love all of us! Thank You for the blessings of yesterday and the ones ahead today! Cleanse me so You can fill me to overflowing with more of You. May those who are going through trying days realize You as their Source of Life. Andy and his family with Katelyn's cancer; Kaye and her family; Rachael; my Momma; my sisters Linda, Sally, and Mary; my brother Richard; Ben and Colleen; Pete and Delores; Steve; Cait; Rhonda; Mike; Norma Hall; Sharon Sebolt and her parents; some young ladies with anxiety; a young man out of rehab who needs strength in his daily walk; Mary Lilley; a husband/father separated from his wife; Brooklyn; Kristen Batten; Amber; Ashley Foor; families in turmoil; Gay and Doug; Sherry; and many others. I also pray healing prayers over many who are dealing with 'c' and/or going through treatments...Katelyn; Chrissy's cousin; Shirley Jones; Cait's friend with leukemia; my pastor friend with daily chemo; Little Ivy; Little Judson; Little Roselynn; a young girl in our community; a lady whose breast cancer has returned; a lady diagnosed with stage two breast cancer; a lady diagnosed with throat cancer; Sue Danhoff's husband Harv; Michele with breast cancer; Susan; and a dear friend awaiting an oncologist appointment. I pray for: the Long Family, Becky, Russ, a couple contemplating divorce and another couple having serious issues. Thank You for continued healing for: Pastor Tommy and Pam and Darryle and his family. I praise You for continued reconciliation for a father and his prodigal daughter. I pray for Melinda and Todd with all they are going through and Mr. Baldwin with oral surgery today. Thank You for being My Source of Life! Amen.
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