A Boulder

 

Monday, I was late for cardiac rehab because I had a boulder in my shoe.  Well, at least it felt like a boulder.  Each step was painful, so I stopped halfway in and sat down at a bench and took my shoe off to shake it out.  Then I put my shoe back on and continued in.  But the rock was still in my shoe.  I stopped again, took off my shoe, brushed off my sock, and shook out my shoe vigorously.  Then I put my shoe back on and continued in.  The rock was still there.  So, I stopped a third time, took off my shoe, took off my sock, and turned the sock inside out and shook it … vigorously.  I turned the sock right-side-out, shook it again, put it back on, shook my show once again (vigorously), put my shoe back on, and continued my way in.  And … the rock was gone!  But so was my time!  Ephesians 5:16, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."  Hey, I did the best that I could!

Pinecones

 

The Lord has created and set into motion an awesome creation.  I was reminded of this Saturday as I raked up the pine needles all over my driveway.  Mixed in the needles were pinecones, most of which were open having dispersed their seeds.  But a few were still closed and had been blown off the tree by high winds and heavy rain the night before.  And then there were some pinecones that had been chewed open by squirrels, and their seeds had been breakfast for those little creatures.  The squirrels like to eat sunflower seeds under my bird feeders because they are easier work.  But when I am slow to refill the birdfeeders, the squirrels are hungry and must resort to the pinecones and work for breakfast.  Thousands of pine seeds fall and a few sprout into new pine seedlings.  Then others become breakfast for the squirrels.  Then just a few pinecones become Christmas decorations for my house.  And the dear Lord provides all of them!  When Noah came off the ark in Genesis 8, he was grateful to be on dry land once again.  He built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed of the extra clean beasts and fowl that the Lord had sent into the ark over a year earlier.  And when God smelled the sweet smelling sacrifice burning, He remembered mankind, the animals on the ark, and the vegetation that had just sprang back to life on the dry land.  And the squirrels were glad for the pinecones that provided seeds for them.  God said in Gen 8:22, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”  I’m so glad for God’s provision for us, and for the animals, and for the trees!  And I am extremely grateful for God’s provision of a way for me to live forever with Him in heaven.  What a wonderful plan for all eternity!

Stuff It In

 

Saturday, I raked my driveway; not my yard.  My driveway is steep going up to the back door, and it was covered with so many pine needles that the car was sliding around.  Not good.  So, I raked and bagged the pine needles.  I got a huge pile but was able to squash all of those pine needles into 3 tall kitchen garbage bags.  I pushed and pushed, and it seemed like I could always get just one more handful of pine needles into the full bag.  Those pine needles remind me of the hard times in my life.  Sorrow seems to grow out of control.  Grief often overwhelms me.  But God is faithful and powerful!  The dear Lord can take those sorrows and bury them in the depths of the deepest sea!  Hey, there is coming a day when God will resolve all of my problems!  Revelation 21:14, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."  What a day that will be!