Imagine with me walking down a hidden trail. Endless trees all around and the limbs branch out to the sky as if they are reaching to hold the sun. Some trees are covered with green leaves, some with pink petals, and some with purple blossoms. And as I look closer I notice soft little bunny tails popping out of the pussywillow branches. I am amazed as I start to notice all the different shades of
green,
pink,
yellow,
purple,
the colors are truly endless. I am at awed by God’s wonderful design. I find myself whispering; “Lord God you do creation so beautifully!”

Then I notice the sound of the gentle breeze moving throughout the forest. Tickling the honeysuckle, and lilac blossoms bring the sweet aroma to my nose. I take a breath in and let it out slowly. Ahh

In the far off distance I can hear a woodpecker picking away at a tree, the sound echo’s through the wooded area. As I continue down this trail I hear a bull frog on my left, then one on my right, and still another ahead of me. I have to wonder to myself, are they telling one another that I am there?

As I make my way down this trail I am lead to an open field covered with white and yellow daffodils. A part of me has a sense of sadness that no one else can see this beauty that my eyes behold. Though, I have think that maybe this secluded splendor was created for God to admire. How many times do we go past such beauty and never truly appreciate creation and/or the creator? I find myself again whispering; “Forgive us Lord.”

As I stroll even farther I notice a creek feeding into a pound up ahead. I start to feel excitement as I walk closer to the water. Like a little girl I start to skip as I imagine freeing my feet from the shoes that I have on and dipping my toes in the cool water.

I slowly slip my feet into the water and as I look down I see a flat, smooth rock. Picking it up I remember how I once skipped rocks across the water. I  then toss the stone giggling inside with delight.
One, two, three, four times it skips across the water. I watched the water ripple out at each point of contact in amazement that such a small rock could do that. Then I thought of all the people that I come in contact with each day. It may only be for a brief moment; then again I may be in their lives for several months, maybe even years.
And I have ask myself; am I a positive ripple in their lives? I got my answer.

A week ago I extended a simple act of kindness, not thinking it meant a whole lot. However the ripple effect returned to me today and I was truly blessed with the most beautiful Easter arrangement that I have ever received. That just goes to show you that you have no idea how your point of contact will impact the person that you extend kindness to. The ripple effect will bless you beyond words.

God is so good!

What would happen if people really ‘worshiped’ God with a true heart of worship?
What if more people truly prayed and ‘believed’ God heard their prayers?
What would happen if people truly seek the Lord with all their strength?
Would we see…
More love toward one another instead of hate?
More joy in people’s lives instead of sadness?
More peace in this world instead of strife?

I think so

It is so nice to just slow down once in a while and relax at home. It doesn’t happen too often for me, especially being home alone. However I was able to take yesterday off. Even though I didn’t have to be anywhere, I could sense my anxiety levels increasing as I kept glancing up at the clock. I was trying to figure how much time it would take me to complete each task on my ‘to do’ list.

Then a thought crossed my mind; why take time off from the stresses of work if you are going to be all stressed out at home? Seriously, I had chuckle at myself in that moment. I wanted to take time off to relax, de-stress and enjoy the serenity of having the house to myself. However my inner voice that was telling me, I need to hurry up, was disrupting my peace.

Who puts these demands on me? I do it to myself. Most of us have read or heard about the ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren. However people like me, which have a tendency to push ourselves, need to purposely slow down. Take the foot off the gas pedal, if you will. It is not always a race.

When I think of the life of Jesus, and all that He accomplished in the three years of His ministry, I never once read that He was anxious. Jesus never rushed people away, or told them He didn’t have time for them.

Jesus did have a calmness that just radiated off of Him onto others. Why? Because Jesus knew He would accomplish all that God had designed Him for. I want to have that peace, and calmness within myself. When I am around others I would hope that I could radiate calmness onto them. However, I cannot accomplish this if I do not have peace and calmness in my life.

So, needless to say, yesterday I did not put any make up on my face, my face thanked me. I left my hair ‘natural’ with no styling products keeping it stiff, my hair thanked me. I did not even put on shoes and feet thanked me. I did glance at my ‘list’ a few times, and I even got to ‘check’ off a few things, but I didn’t let my ‘list’ push me. With that being said I can honestly say that I enjoyed my day off.

My prayer would be that God would bless you with peace this weekend.

The past week I have just been overwhelmed with gratitude to my Lord for blessing me with my beautiful family and friends.

You have given me words of encouragement when I felt discouraged.

You have loved me when I felt unlovable.

You have allowed me to cry without a reason.

You walked along the side of me, sometimes holding me up, as I moved slowly forward.

Each one of you in my life has shaped my world.

And you know what?

My world is not so bad, in fact it is pretty awesome.

I say this with all sincerity; I am TRULY BLESSED with ALL of you in my life!!

May God bless you this New Year!

Love & Hugs,
Georgia

Have you ever really looked at a snowflake? It is absolutely stunning, every detail of it is awesomely beautiful! If God does that for a snowflake that is here on earth but a short time, just think what HE can do with us!!