Good morning and happy Monday. Aren't the eyes amazing? Think about how they work. It's mind boggling. And what what about all the pretty things in the world? So much to see and take in. It's a beautiful world we live in. It's been made so ugly by man. Not all of it but a lot. But back to the good stuff. Have you ever seen something so pretty you couldn't stop staring at it? For a little bit, your full attention is on it and nothing else. You have to tell others about it. You can't keep it to yourself. You wished you could take it home and have it to look at all the time. Our world is filled with so many things that catch our attention and hold it. Some are intentional by man and his need to seduce us to his product or service. Simple ads and things like that. But what about when you see God ? We've all seen Him in one way or another. The natural beauty of this earth is enough for most. Does He have your attention the way other worldly things do ? Do you want to take Him home to have all the time? It's so easy to get lost in all the distractions of life and forget about what should be holding our complete attention all the time. It's never too late to start and we're never too far gone to go back. It's a matter of the heart being willing to. That hole and emptiness we feel, that we try so hard to fill with life, can only be filled with Him. He made us and left a place for Himself to reside within us if we just let Him. How beautiful is that? Start seeing with the heart and not with our eyes. Thank you Father God for your love for us. In love always <><

Good morning and happy Thursday. I got a chance last week to go do something I've never done, snowmobiling. Man was it fun. Beautiful scenery and a good company of friends. I also learned that snow covers up hidden dangers. Yes, I crashed. Banged up a little bit and not thinking it was too bad we carried on. Next day, can't raise my arm. One week later still the same but on the mend real slow. So I was getting some fast food and it was quite embarrassing when I couldn't use my arm to get the order or even pay for it. I had to use my other arm to help it out the window. All this to say how amazing God made us. We were designed by Him to help each other in times of need. It's just a matter of whether or not we do it. You see someone fall, not a friend, you rush to help them. A friend you laugh first then help. Someone trying to get a heavy item in a truck at the lumber store, you help them. If we have been designed by God in His image and instilled with His love and Spirit, why wouldn't we believe Him to help us in our times of need. When the world crashes in, we tend to retreat to our own safe place and bunker down to ride it out. Why? In order for a blacksmith to make a beautiful piece of steel into something, he has to put it in the fire. From that fire comes beauty. It melts all the ugliness away and brings out its beauty. God is there with you in this trial of your life. He is shaping you from the fire into a beautiful piece of work for the world to see that God is alive and well in us still today. It's been sung best, "My God's not Dead". Face your struggles with a smile knowing God is using this time, this season of your life to do something amazing with you. Make sure you give and point all glory to Him when all this happens for you. He loves you more than you know. He is there to lift your arm, to lift you up. In love always. <><

Good morning and happy Monday. Well, the Super Bowl is over and the buzz is the last play called by the Seahawks. Pete Carroll isn't a dumb coach, and many today will disagree. He's been around football a long time. He made a decision based on few things that they saw on the field and went with it. On most days days and tries, that play scores or gets knocked down. I watched that replay and saw Malcolm Butler watching Russell's eyes. He knew it was coming. He reacted without hesitation and saved, not won, saved the game for his team. How many decisions do you think you make in a day? How many big decisions do you make in a day? How many life changing decisions maybe? We won't get them all right and we'll make most based on information we have or on past experience. And some people are gonna judge our choice and not have a clue one as to why. Pete Carroll owned up to and took all blame for making that call. Who's giving credit to a great play made by Malcolm Butler? What choices are you making that aren't helping team "you"? Why are you making them? Which ones are glorifying God? Everything we do is to be a reflection of and a pointer to God the Father. I own up to mine. I have several things I've done and will probably do others that aren't very good ideas. The world I live in will judge me to an extent but God is who I'm concerned about instead. Praise Him for His forgiveness and grace. Make your decisions based on Him and winning the big game of eternity. It's hard and doesn't seem to be the right call sometimes, but you know in your heart it is. He's there inside you dwelling within. Make the choice to follow Him and no matter what, it will be the right one. In love always. <><

Good morning and happy Monday. My dad is having surgery today to fix his knee. It's not being replaced just repaired, but still an endeavor none the less. I've asked the folks on FB to lift him up in prayer today and the response was immediate and growing in numbers. I like that we can bring our trials and struggles to a place and have a community of people stand with us. I'm amazed too, though, at how quickly we will come to each other's aid in these things, which is good, but won't say much on a post that may be a little convicting. I read a lot of stuff on here and I'm always observing the nature of people. I'm a people watcher, and what I find in our "nature" is that we are quick to help others and very slow to help or ask for help for ourselves. I was just like that once. I'm not saying that this page or any other will be what helps you, but I would hope that if it does you talk about it. Don't let pride get in the way of you finding the path again. God created us to be communal and to help one another. We most certainly need and require His help and guidance daily. I've always wanted this page to be a place that someone can ask or say what ever they feel and create a dialog that can help everyone. We're all in need of something, but once we've turned our lives over to Jesus the biggest part is done but then it becomes the maintaining that can get rough. Routines and what not that keep us from a daily talk with God. Maybe this post today sparks a talk with a friend about how far off the track you may be. I know it helps me greatly just to talk about it now. It helps keep me in the right frame of mind with putting God first. I love that I have friends praying for my dad right now, but I'm more excited that they, we, are talking to God. Lift yourself up in prayer today. Bring it to others to pray for you as well. Don't let the devil use your pride to keep you in the dark alone. I like to pray. I will pray for you and with you any time. In love always. <><

Good morning and happy Friday. Have you ever wondered what heaven will be like? The beautiful colors and majesty of it all. Not even to mention the awesomeness of the glory of God. It will be amazing. Have you thought about hell any? I had a vision the other day of a person being welcomed into Heaven by the Angels. It was amazing. And as I stood there looking at it all I could see the tormented past this person had lived. It looked like what hell might start off looking like. But the person was coming out of darkness and into the most beautiful light. The angles were protecting them from even a glance back at what used to be their life and only could look ahead. The light was so bright but yet so easy to look at. There was singing that cannot be described at all and so beautiful on the ears to hear. I stood just outside and not allowed to see any further than I was standing now. With just the bit of what I saw I never want to be out of that place again. But just as the person entered in, their face was reflected back to me in the shiny golden streets and walls, and it was my own face. As I turned to leave with an unsure of what I saw feeling, again I was looking back at the life of the one who entered. It was so ugly and horrible. I couldn't help but wonder how this person made it to heaven. The doubt soon subsided when I saw events of recent past that I knew then were mine. It was me. But how I do not know. It gives me great hope to know that no matter how far away from God I may get, He's always one turn around from holding me in His arms. Never let anything or anyone or any circumstance keep you from the loving grace of God. In love always. <><

Good morning and happy Monday. How much reverence do you give God? In other words, how much do we really understand about how big our God is ? That all things, ALL things, not just some are His creation. That He and only Him deserve praise. A friend of mine, Joel Vaughn, has a cd out with a song called "Bigger Than Me". In it he sings about how big God is. That He's bigger than all our problems, all the wars, all the disease. He is God of all creation and we cry out His praise, ( and now the heart of it all ), And even if we didn't Lord, the stars would do the same. Think about that for a moment. That even if we didn't praise Him, the rest of His creation would. Because the rest of it doesn't have the struggles we have. The issues of life we have. He burdens of other things like we have. Man that was an easy list of excuses right there. Sure, life can be, and is hard, but that's not a good enough excuse to not praise Him in the storms of life. And as big and as powerful and mighty as God is, He still cares about every single hair on your head. He knows you on a level that no one else can. He knitted you together in your mothers womb. Why are we not shouting His praise from the mountain tops? Why is He not in His rightful place in our lives today? Make it a point to see His creation around you this week. Look at all the birds and trees and sky and stars and moon and sun and soon the flowers and grass. It's endless. But even if we don't praise Him, all these things still do just in their being. Shout out to God and give Him praise and glory in all you do. In love always. <><

Good morning and happy Friday. The first full week of a new year has passed. How do you feel? How was yesterday ? Do you think you could take the days report card to God and have Him sign it for ya? Yeah me either. I've been in a few conversations here lately about how hard it is to do good. How hard it is to follow Jesus. How I know I need God in my life but I don't think I can do it. What's the common denominator in all that? "I". We forget so easily, and I admire those who don't, that God is here with us in the moment all the time. I know we forget because of the report card we don't want Him to sign. If we lived in His presence, we wouldn't have a thing to worry about. But here's the good news; you ready for this ? He forgives you. That simple. He wants you doing everything for Him. But when you stumble and fall, and the world is laughing at you, He's picking you up and helping you get back on track. He loves you that much. So no, the report card isn't too good today. But a loving Father is there to sign it anyway because His son's blood made it clean again for Him to see. Let Jesus be the one who stands in your place. He's died for the right to do so. And He has a perfect report card. Stay in the shadow of His wings and live everyday for Him the best you can. Give Him all the glory and all the praise and it will much easier to stay focused on your "school" work. Let God have your card today and sign His name to it as your Father. In love always. <><

Good morning or afternoon depending on where you are today and happy Thursday. Time, seems to be one of our most valuable commodities. It's a rare thing. Not much of it around; or at least not enough for most of us. Who invented time? We can't blame God for it. He has all the time one could ever imagine. How much time do we give away you think ? It's what it's for really, is to give it away. How much do you keep for yourself? It's not a bad thing until you run out with none to give when it's needed by someone you love. I'm a waster of time. I waste a lot of time as my wife who will read this can attest to. The problem I have is I'm not giving my time to the ones I should be. My wife and family obviously, but what about friends and people in need. And then most importantly how much am I giving to God ? Of all the things we can give Him, our time is one of the most valuable. Time in His word. Time in prayer and time in listening to our Father guide us. I'm sorry for wasting time. I hope to do this better. We're all a work in progress. Surround yourself with like minded Christ following people and spend time with God and fellowship with family and friends. Use you time wisely. In love always. <><

Good morning and happy Wednesday. I was watching my little dog nuzzle and paw and work pretty hard at getting his blanket just right before he laid down in it. Working that hard just to get comfortable, crazy. How many times has your sleep been bad because you couldn't get comfortable. And it's not the comfort we need, it's the rest. But to get to the rest we have to be comfortable. A song that comes to mind says we "yearn for peace and rest". Why? We sleep all night. Took a nap during the day. We should be plenty rested. But I bet your not. I know I'm not. Is it because I can't get comfortable? Is it because I let life take over instead of letting it go? And I don't mean let it go as in being irresponsible. And just what is rest really? We don't know how to find quiet time from the world. We don't know how to take that time to find comfort in who and what we are. We don't know how to use that to help us find rest. So my suggestion is this; find that place where you know God has met you before and stand there in His presence. This is the place we all walk away from and have no idea why. Shut the world off and listen to Him speak over you, the words of His peace and there you will find rest. The kind of rest you have never had before. Only God can give us true rest. We need that rest more than we know. We kid ourselves that we're ok we got it under control, In this day of instant gratification, we don't how to be patient. It takes a little work to get the blanket just right to find that rest we so desire and so desperately need. In love always. <><

Good morning and happy Tuesday. So we all know the story of Mary. We hear it this time year around Christmas. But what about Joseph? What about the man named Joseph?The angel of the Lord came to Mary one time. He came to Joseph four times. Joseph had a very big role in the bringing up of Jesus. He had a huge test of faith in continuing on with Mary. How would it go over today if a man's promised wife was to come to him and say she was pregnant with someone else's child? It wouldn't be so hard to believe in this day and time as it was back then. But it was a big deal to be betrothed to someone and to be carrying a child. There was a lot that Joseph had to endure. We really don't hear much about Joseph in this whole story. And I think that's why I'm so drawn to it. He was a man really working behind-the-scenes. I've never heard of the hail Joseph Or heard a prayer to him at all. And I think that's just the way it should be; doing the very best you can do when God calls you to do it. Never making a big to do. Simply being faithful and steadfast in what God calls you to do. Today I would simply ask that you just be still and know that He is God. He has great plans for you and your life, and they may not be the headliner of the big show. But they may be just as important as anything that's in the marquee lights. Keep the faith and follow God's plan. In love always. <><

Good morning and happy Monday. Darkness; the absence of light. By itself darkness doesn't exist. At at least in the sense that you can't make darkness darker or less dark. That can only be done by using light. Either by adding it or taking some away. Darkness is at the mercy of the light. Did you know that the human eye can see a single candle flicker from nearly thirty miles away? Light has power. Jesus came into the darkness of this world and gave it light. He has given us that light by dwelling within us. Just like a candle can be seen from so far away, your light of Jesus can be seen as well. Jesus said that no one lights a candle and hides it under a basket. It is to be set out to light the room. We have been called to shine our light. And now, more than ever, is the best time to do so. The world is losing light and becoming darker. We have have the power of Jesus within us to change that. Let your light shine in the world of a loved one or friend or stranger today. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. In love always. <><

Good morning and happy Friday. I'm going to be using pictures in these posts from time to time. So here is the first one. I hope it works out like I want it to. This is picture of a part of a picture. A picture we are all very familiar with. There will even be one at the end of this post. Like, comment, share; very simple and to the point tool to express a felling. So a lot of us profess and try hard to live a life God will be proud of. We love to talk about Him when the time is right for it. We stand up for Him when it's necessary. But is that what we're called to do? If your life was put down on facebook as a post how many friends would "like" it? And I mean the whole real truth of our lives. How many would comment on it? How many would share it ? What would be the best thing, is that no one would like it because of some of those "things" and no one would comment because they've done the same and for sure no one would share it; except for the One who bought it. At the high and expensive cost of His blood we have been bought and paid for. With all the mess we've made of our lives and the best we've done to fix it and make it right, only He can do it. So how about this; we all like and comment and share the Good News of Jesus with our entire "friends" list. How about sharing this simple little message today? Find a place to start and start. Choose to like His life and share it with everyone you know. In love always. <><

Well, good morning and happy Thursday. I hope that you had a happy New Year's eve and a great start to a happy new year. With all this white moisture we've had over the last couple of days, it really got me thinking about how many snowflakes it takes to cover a pasture. We've all heard the old thing about no two snowflakes being alike. With that being true, is there any individuality among them. Or, are they all formed to serve a single purpose. In the field, no one ever sees a snowflake; not very many of them at all really. But as the snow melts, they form into one stream and flow towards a common goal. Along the way vegetation is watered, animals drink, and some simply flow on and never seen or used at all. But even those that don't seem to be used at all, had to be formed and used along with those who happened to be used. It takes all of us working as a community of people that God created, to further his kingdom throughout the world. There are places some will go and reach people of all kinds with this Good News. There are places in our own homes where we can make a difference. We can be a snowflake that turns into a water droplet that waters the life of someone with the Good News of Jesus. Or, we can simply flow away and never be seen or used at all. The choice is ours to make. No one may ever see what we've ever done in this world, but the effect that we have can impact by simply choosing to serve our Lord can leave a lifelong impression that can never be measured. Don't feel like you have to make a big splash in this world, just jump in the water. In love always. <><

Good morning and happy Tuesday. Fall is here and the corn fields are tall. With my job I pass by a lot of these fields. I see them start off as just a bunch of rows of dirt and then the seedlings sprout. From there it doesn't take much time until it's a pretty tall plant. So with this expertise in watching corn fields grow I've noticed something, the weeds that grow in them. When they're young plants and not too tall there are a lot of weeds that sprout up. The farmer sprays em and they're gone for a while and then a few come back. But as the plant becomes more mature, the weeds are fewer. Sounds like a great parable, but what I noticed is this; the weeds are still there just harder to see. The plant is hiding the weed. As we begin to follow Christ and make that decision to do so, we usually have a lot "weeds" with us. His blood wipes them out but being the imperfect beings we are more weeds show up. But as we become more mature in our relationship with God things in us become more apparent. We are either standing out alone in full view so our weeds can be seen or we huddle together so we can hide them among the cover and safety of others. So close no one can see our weeds. We need the comfort and support of others and the community that it brings. But we need desperately to be alone with God and have our weeds sprayed. It's become too easy to just stay comfortable in the fold. Whatever weeds are growing around you today, I pray you will step out into the light of Jesus and let them be taken away. None of us are without them. That's why we need Him, the Great Farmer and Redeemer of our lives. Don't hide the weeds of your life among the tall plants so they are not seen; expose them and let them be removed. In love always. <><

Good morning and happy Monday. I wanna be God's dog. Stay with me now. A friend of mine had a sick dog. Mine was sick at the house while I was gone at the same time. Between my friends and my wife's conversations about our dogs being sick and the worry we had for them, God shows up and brings this to light. Now I wanna be His dog, not because of the care I know He'll give me, that's a given. Think about your dog, if you have one. They love you so much and they can't wait to see you. They miss you when you're gone. I know this because of the videos my wife sends me of mine pouting while I'm gone. Even the ones abused by people can still have a love for us that goes beyond understanding. Now that sounds like the love God has for us, and it is. But what if we were the dog and had that kind of love for Him; can't wait to see Him, don't want to be away from Him? What would that be like? So the picture is this, the Master at home in His chair and the ever faithful and loyal dog at His feet as both are happy to be with each other. I wanna be God's dog. I want to love Him and desire to be with Him the very same way my dogs are with me. I already know how much He loves me. And if He takes care of the animals of this world as good as He does, how much more will He care for me? I owe Him my love and my loyalty. In love always. <><