Oh my goodness I'm sitting here trying to gather my senses and collect my thoughts before I write and to be quite honest it's hard to do either of those things let alone both of them, I know it's been a long time....sorry! I've been distracted once again. I could blame the enemy, I could blame a number of other issues but in total honesty....it's my own fault. I could take the easy way out and place blame on others but that's a lie for me, most of the times distractions occur, its my own fault. Distractions are real and they can propel me away from some of the most important people in my lives. I seriously fall for the distractions way too much! It infuriates me and frustrates me that at my age I still fall for these stupid distractions but what's interesting about these distractions is what I am learning about myself and what I'm learning about God's amazing grace and forgiveness.
It's rather comical when I look back at my life and take an inventory of the junk that has wasted my time. I could sit here and condemn myself and make of list of all the wasted time I can't get back but instead I choose to concentrate on what I need to learn and how I need to grow. I repent of my selfishness and my pride and I give myself over to God, I surrender to His guidance and His will every day. I need to do this, I want to do this and I must do it every day because I constantly battle the distractions that draw me away from Him and His will for my life. I always have a good plan for the day then the distractions raise their ugly head and I'm sucked into the vast cavern of wasted time.
As I travel down this road called, life, things happen that I don't expect, situations occur that I don't like, circumstances change that I don't want to change. Curves, potholes, bumps and dead end streets make my path interesting and sometimes scary and even frustrating. I sometimes want to pull myself into a fetal position and climb back in bed and pull the covers over my head. The path of this life is not always easy but I have to trust that God has a plan and a path for me to follow. A Bible verse keeps coming back to me every once and a while that knocks some sense in my head and the reality of life speaks volumes as I read this verse.
It's rather comical when I look back at my life and take an inventory of the junk that has wasted my time. I could sit here and condemn myself and make of list of all the wasted time I can't get back but instead I choose to concentrate on what I need to learn and how I need to grow. I repent of my selfishness and my pride and I give myself over to God, I surrender to His guidance and His will every day. I need to do this, I want to do this and I must do it every day because I constantly battle the distractions that draw me away from Him and His will for my life. I always have a good plan for the day then the distractions raise their ugly head and I'm sucked into the vast cavern of wasted time.
As I travel down this road called, life, things happen that I don't expect, situations occur that I don't like, circumstances change that I don't want to change. Curves, potholes, bumps and dead end streets make my path interesting and sometimes scary and even frustrating. I sometimes want to pull myself into a fetal position and climb back in bed and pull the covers over my head. The path of this life is not always easy but I have to trust that God has a plan and a path for me to follow. A Bible verse keeps coming back to me every once and a while that knocks some sense in my head and the reality of life speaks volumes as I read this verse.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.
A few weeks ago we started planning our annual road adventure out to Mesa, Arizona to spend time with my mom. Because of the winter weather we normally take the southern route across Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico but God has a sense of humor and decided to throw a monkey wrench into our travels. A monstrous winter storm stretched from southern Texas to Michigan and everywhere in between. The states we normally traveled through were being bombarded with freezing rain, thunderstorms, snow, and even a few tornadoes. We had a decision to make....delay our travels until the storms passed or change our route. We woke up on the day of our departure and decided there was a clearing over Chicago so we did what we didn't expect to do in the winter months...we traveled the northern route. Yes through the plain states where winter can be at it's worst. But God had a plan and we had a 4 wheel drive truck.
We canceled reservations, we packed up the truck and followed the path God had for us. We planned every mile to avoid the snow, we did hit some snow but not as bad as it could have been. The thing is this...God took us down the road less traveled. A 2 lane road in New Mexico that took us to Salt River Canyon. The road was surrounded by mountains on one side of the road and dangerous cliffs on the other. The view was breathtaking and this photo doesn't do justice to the scenery. The thing I have learned through this is that when I rely on God to guide me down this road called life, He may take me down a road I am not comfortable traveling but the rewards I experience are simply and profoundly breathtaking. When I trust in Him, when I submit my life to Him, my path is so much more rewarding and the weight is lifted off my shoulders.
God has a plan for my life, for your life, that will gift us with amazing views and amazing rewards, but there will also be dangerous curves, scary sharp curves and preposterous potholes. Are we willing to risk it all for Jesus?
A few weeks ago we started planning our annual road adventure out to Mesa, Arizona to spend time with my mom. Because of the winter weather we normally take the southern route across Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico but God has a sense of humor and decided to throw a monkey wrench into our travels. A monstrous winter storm stretched from southern Texas to Michigan and everywhere in between. The states we normally traveled through were being bombarded with freezing rain, thunderstorms, snow, and even a few tornadoes. We had a decision to make....delay our travels until the storms passed or change our route. We woke up on the day of our departure and decided there was a clearing over Chicago so we did what we didn't expect to do in the winter months...we traveled the northern route. Yes through the plain states where winter can be at it's worst. But God had a plan and we had a 4 wheel drive truck.
We canceled reservations, we packed up the truck and followed the path God had for us. We planned every mile to avoid the snow, we did hit some snow but not as bad as it could have been. The thing is this...God took us down the road less traveled. A 2 lane road in New Mexico that took us to Salt River Canyon. The road was surrounded by mountains on one side of the road and dangerous cliffs on the other. The view was breathtaking and this photo doesn't do justice to the scenery. The thing I have learned through this is that when I rely on God to guide me down this road called life, He may take me down a road I am not comfortable traveling but the rewards I experience are simply and profoundly breathtaking. When I trust in Him, when I submit my life to Him, my path is so much more rewarding and the weight is lifted off my shoulders.
God has a plan for my life, for your life, that will gift us with amazing views and amazing rewards, but there will also be dangerous curves, scary sharp curves and preposterous potholes. Are we willing to risk it all for Jesus?
