Springing Forth ...

I love this time of the year...Spring...the weather is warming, the flowers have pushed their way up from the earth, the flowering trees and bushes are showing off with their splendid display of color. It is truly my favorite season!

And, I love to sit outside on my patio. Sure, it’s an old patio but there’s a certain charm about it. It was built by the previous owner of our little humble abode. I never knew him but he and his wife were the original owners of this home that we bought from his widow 8 1/2 years ago. He was a master gardener so I hear. He laid the patio, paver style, in the early 70’s. Needless to say some of the bricks are loose and broken and uneven. Still, there’s something endearing about relaxing on this patio. I love my patio!

There’s also something enjoyable about sprucing this old patio up. It doesn’t take much. And, just like a new outfit can spruce up our physical appearance so it is with a patio. You know like a new potted plant, or fresh cut flowers for the table top. Maybe a new cushion for a chair or new wind chimes or a birdhouse.

Sometimes, though the beauty must be brought from a deeper place. At some point the soil was broken, blended, tilled, worked so that a fragile seed or a seedling could be planted, watered, and nurtured. All of this done with the hope that something beautiful would spring forth.

So it is with life. Our life. A new outfit only dresses us up on the outside. And I love a new outfit! But God is more interested in doing a deeper work. He longs to cultivate the soil of our broken heart and contrite spirit (Ps. 51:15)...these are the offerings that He will not deny.

And when He puts His masterful hands to the gardening work of our lives, breaking and blending the soil of our hearts and carefully placing the tender seedlings of our days and our circumstances, well simply put, breathtaking beauty will be the result. The flower and the fruit will point others straight back to the incredibly creative, Master Gardener ... your Creator.

Oh God, spruce us up from the inside out. Use us for your eternal glory. Teach us to submit to Your mighty hand allowing You to be the Giver and Sustainer of a new thing springing forth in us each day!

Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
Isaiah 43:19

Let Him have His way in you, my friend.

Blessings!
Cindy K.

Looking in the rear-view mirror ....

I’m looking in the rear-view mirror of life today. Looking over the past 365 days to be exact! That’s how long it’s been, one year ago today, since I heard the words, “I’m so sorry Mrs. Kessler but it is indeed malignant.” In that short period of time, my God has comforted me in ways I never knew possible. My world wasn’t “rocked” you see, changed forever, yes, but my foundation stands secure. My hope is in Christ alone! He has given me more strength than I ever knew I could possess. Our God has revealed Himself to me in countless ways and has given me such courage to face the fact that “man is like a mere breath; his days are like a passing shadow”. (Ps. 144:4)

David knew the joy of this security of the soul ... certainty of life beyond this life. He knew the provision and care of the Lord upon his life and he believed that even the grave could not rob him of life. Listen to what he says in this Psalm of trust ....

Psalm 16: 6-11

6. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
         Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.
7. I will bless the LORD who has counseled me;
         Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.
8. I have set the LORD continually before me;
         Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
 9. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
         My flesh also will dwell securely.
10.  For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;
         Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
11. You will make known to me the path of life;
         In Your presence is fullness of joy;
         In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

I continue to stand and marvel at God’s goodness to me. I continue to bow at the feet of the One who orders all of my days and the content of those days. I continue to give Him all of my fears and apprehensions regarding my future. Oh yes, I have those .... it’s a daily act of the will for me to take every thought captive and not be given over to the “what if” questions. They can drive one insane!

Yes, it is a day-by-day, moment-by-moment decision to bring every thought under the authority of the Lord Most High and some days are more successful for me than others. Cancer is a wicked, sneaky disease and I will not be so arrogant as to think that it could never strike me again. I will, however, defer this possibility to my Maker. I will be confident that He knows my coming and my going, He knows the content of my days, He knows the beginning from the end. Simply put...He knows!

Even with all the human fears that come against me, I declare that it is my great privilege to walk my journey with Him. I accept the “good” and also the “not so good” from His hand....all the while holding tighter to His hand for it upholds me. It is here that I can bask in the knowledge of the love and mercy of our Savior. The Lord of Heaven and earth who continually bends His ear to us (Ps. 144:3), hears our cry and answers from Heaven’s throne. Oh my, my, my. What a Savior!

April will be a month of milestones for me .... there will be other “one year ago’s” coming my way before the end of the month ... so my goal for April is to begin to memorize some entire chapters of scripture. I’ve never been very good at remembering large passages but I’m going to start with Psalm 16 and Psalm 144. They speak to me right where I am; right now.

Would you join me? Maybe you have a different verse or passage of scripture that is touching you deeply. Let’s commit them to memory ... hiding them in our hearts. For when we do, He uses their truths to transform us and reveal more of who He is. I want to be found sitting at His feet, learning of Him....all the days of my life!

Now it’s time to turn my glance from the rear-view mirror and keep my eyes focused ahead ...

... one thing I do,
forgetting what lies behind
and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal for the
prize of the upward call of
God in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 3:13 & 14)


Keep pressing in and on!
Cindy K