Moutains and Valleys

Floods and droughts

Summer and Winter

Hope and doubt

Dreams that shatter

Visions that pass

Live disasters

Storms that last

The crest of the hill

The lifting of fog

The first wind of Spring....

I always wonder about the highs and lows in life. It's when I find myself on a high and realize that there's no ground left under my feet that it hits me again.  I've never ridden on a straight and level line, ya know?  Somewhere in the Christian life I think I've gotten the flavor that I should be on a definite and steady incline; never going down, never deviating....  and then I wonder, is it shameful to be at a low point?  Does it mean I've back tracked?...

When you crest the top of a hill there really isn't anywhere to go from there but down, that doesn't mean that you can't keep going forward though.  No, in fact you do have to go down in order to get to the starting place of the next higher incline.  It's like hiking.  I've got a hunch that the feeling of defeat after reaching a crest and plunging forward is not from God at all, but just a sneaky little trick from the devil.  Broken may be right, but not defeated!

And even if the trip down into the next valley is a fall, it's not about the fall; it's about getting back up again.
...a just man falls seven times, and rises up again...

...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Summer time y'all

I Love CALFORNIA!!!!

And other places too.  Just thought I'd let you know. :-/>

He Has Done Great Things!

Bang on Truths from Spurgeon this morning:
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The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.
-Psalms 126:3
Some Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to dwell more upon what they have gone through than upon what God has done for them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts, yet with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and help which God has vouchsafed them.

But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy state, will come forward joyously, and say, I will speak, not about myself, but to the honor of my God. He hath brought me up out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings: and he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. The Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad. Such an abstract of experience as this is the very best that any child of God can present. It is true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is true that we have our corruptions, and mournfully do we know this, but it is quite as true that we have an all-sufficient Saviour, who overcomes these corruptions, and delivers us from their dominion.

In looking back, it would be wrong to deny that we have been in the Slough of Despond, and have crept along the Valley of Humiliation, but it would be equally wicked to forget that we have been through them safely and profitably; we have not remained in them, thanks to our Almighty Helper and Leader, who has brought us out into a wealthy place. The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to God, who has led us through all, and preserved us until now. Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our praise, we reckon them to be the bass part of our life's song, 'He hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.' -Charles Spurgeon

~ I read this on someone's facebook the other day and it struck me too, that if I truly do believe that God is my Master, Creator and King, and that He is overseeing every aspect of my life, doesn't it follow that when I point out all my woes I'm dishonoring Him, as opposed to if I'm looking instead on what He's doing for me?  I don't think I could remember the last time I consciously made an effort to honor God with what I said about myself, because maybe I was thinking too much about myself to realize that my testimony has a direct connection to His honor, but I'm sure thinking about it now, and I'm excited about the goodness that I do and will see! 

  

"...I will praise you with joyful lips when I meditate on you in the night..." and, "to him that orders his conversation aright, will I show the goodness of God." 

 

For the Birds

 Birds on the wire -such a timeless idea.

It's what you see when you look up.  
It's what leaves evidence of wild life here in the city.  
It's what you don't stand under...  
It's what you listen to when there's no music playing or people talking.  
It might inspire you to use fireworks out of season... 
What might wake you up in the morning, or lull you into a nap in the middle of the day.  
It's the object of a Pixar cartoon.  
It's just birds... on the wire.  -and other stuff.    

That moment when it hurts to let go, but you know that it will hurt more later if you don't now.  

That moment when your heart cries in desperation to find true thankfulness in what God has put before you.  

That moment when you grasp for the joy you can't see now by voicing the words, 'thank you' in hope of being able to see it all in real thankfulness later.  

That moment when your efforts seem fruitless and it seems an eternity this step your trying to make.

That moment when the sun breaks through the clouds and you feel the warmth of One looking down on you.

That moment when you know the tender comfort of the One who sees and feels all you've seen or felt.  

That moment when your soul is touched by the unseen hand that held you and led you to where you are.

That moment when you know the voice of the One who says, 'well done'. 

Sunset over Palos Verdes

   

 You have searched me and known me.  You understand my thoughts far off... there is not a word in my mouth that you don't already know.  Where should I go from your spirit?  Or where could I go from your presence? ...If I dwell in the middle of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, and your right hand will hold me...