Blower

 

Saturday, I mowed my yard.  And with my riding mower, I got grass clippings all over my sidewalk, my front porch, my steps, and my driveway.  But I have a gas blower given to me by my son-in-law, Eric B.  Eric had a powerful gas blower but just needed a small battery-powered blower.  So he gave me his big gas blower.  And I love it!  So, each time I get that blower out, I think of Eric, and I pray for him and for his family.  My short prayer helps Eric and it helps me because it reminds me to be thankful.  I am thankful for the blower, I am thankful for a great son-in-law, and I am thankful for the dear Lord Who makes all of this possible.  Paul said in I Thessalonians 5:18, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”  Hey, take a moment to be thankful right now.  Take a moment to pray for the first name that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind … then text them or fb message them and tell them that you are praying for them.  It will bless them, and it will bless you.

Bottlecap

 

I was sitting on the couch Monday afternoon eating some beans and rice.  Good stuff!  I unscrewed the lid from a bottle of Mountain Dew but in my clumsiness, I bumbled the little lid and it fell to the floor.  My first reaction was to look to see if it landed inside down or outside down.  Outside down was preferable, but either way, It would have gone right back onto the bottle to return to the refrigerator.  Sorry, that’s just me.  I didn’t see where it went, so I had to search for it.  I passed my hand as far as I could under the coffee table and then under the couch, but to no avail.  But I had a plan: I stepped down the stairs behind the couch until my eyes were level with the living room floor, and as clear as could be, there was the cap, inside down (oops) under the coffee table.  Hey, often in life, it’s good to step back and get a fresh look at a problem.  As they say, “Think outside the box.”  And even better, get the thoughts of the good Lord.  After all, God has the perfect perspective on life.  He said in Isaiah 55:8&9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  How reassuring to know that God has everything all figured out.  Even where my bottle cap is … up or down.

Detour

 

Sunday afternoon, we left church and went down US 41 Hwy towards Ringgold.  I needed to stop by the store, so I stopped at Food City on the way.  When we got back on the road, we took the scenic way, since it was a relaxing Sunday afternoon.  But when we came around the corner approaching Peavine Creek, we encountered a detour.  GDOT had constructed a temporary bridge to allow traffic to bypass the old bridge that they were replacing.  Often in life, there are detours too.  Four years of college may be interrupted by a death in the family.  An unplanned pregnancy may sidetrack a career.  A car accident may be a financial detour, a physical detour, or an emotional detour.  But did it ever occur to you that nothing has ever occurred to God?  God knows the future just as well as he knows the past.  In fact, God is in the future right now smoothing things out for His dear children.  Oh yes, He gives us detours to teach and test, but all are within His permissive will.  Even when Satan tempts spreading evil, God turns it around for His good and for our benefit.  Joseph was a powerful person in Egypt when his brothers came begging for food.  Joseph remembered his brothers’ treachery, selling him as a slave, but Joseph was not bitter.  Listen to his words in Genesis 50:20, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”  Joseph knew that God had used his misfortune to rescue his entire family!  And God is using detours in your life for your good and for His glory.  Hey, trust God.  You’ll be glad that you did.