Evidence

I am so frustrated.  God has taken my voice.  Well, most of it, anyway.  My husband jokingly says that it's just more evidence that God is a man.  Ha.....Ha...

All kidding aside, what evidence of God have you seen?  Do you ever think that the interruptions in your life are orchestrated to put you in the right place at the right time?  Do you ever watch something in nature and think to yourself that someone MUST have created it?  Do you stand in awe of the circle of life barely able to comprehend it?  That's God.  That's evidence of His existence. 

Pay attention.  Your testimony is the data.  The data adds up.  You just have to be willing to collect it.

^{Romans 1:20} 

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Luke 19:40

 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Check out this awesome version of Ain't No Rock!

Spring Fever!

In Central Florida, Spring is whenever it feels like not being winter but isn't ready to be a hot and humid summer.  Winter has been fairly mild this year, so we have been having really nice weather for the last several weeks.  As with all of life's transitions, there are progressions and regressions, but for the most part, it has been continuously sunny and comfortable.  Temperatures are mostly in the 70's, dipping into the 50's and 60's at night and up into the 80's at the high point of the day.  I know....that's summer in the north....Here's another way to put it.....we're not sweating yet.....


So, wanting to be outside brings on the urge to landscape and garden.  This is going well except for the pollen.  You see, we all learned in school that Autumn is also called Fall for the falling leaves.  You know....weather cools off, leaves die and fall off, spring comes, they grow new ones...simple, right?  Not in Florida.  In Florida, the trees get confused.  Is it warming up or cooling down?  The result?  Cool Weather = Drop the Leaves.....Next Week, Warm Weather = Grow New Ones.....Repeat... 

The trees aren't the only ones confused.  The plants pollinate like crazy, and as a result, even people without allergies have allergies.....or maybe they have a cold or virus....After all, it's all the same season! 


With Spring, comes new life.  I personally am looking forward to starting a new count in the Spring- Babies born and lives saved.  I'm tired of the Winter.......Are you ready?!?

Eclessiastes 3

New International Version

1There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

You Can Count on God

And He knows your name.

And He's always the same.

No matter how life may change,

You can count on God.

This is the chorus of a song that I wrote in the heartache of watching, through Facebook and weekly church updates, the journey of an old friend. My friend is from when our church was small. We were part of the original youth group. His dad is still the pastor. I don't know him much now, but I have a daughter only a few months older than his. Except,

he and his wife lost their daughter. They discovered her brain tumor, shared with all of us, demonstrated incredible faith, and said goodbye all in ten short weeks. It was heartbreaking and amazing all at once. God used them.

But....I still cried. I'm still sad. I was scared.

One night when the pain was deep, in the throes of their journey, a song came to my heart. I never quite got the verses (or maybe I threw them away), but the chorus remains. It speaks truth, a truth I discovered in an earlier life valley. It is a truth I continue to hold on to.

I bring back these words because, since then, his brother, also a youth group buddy (my little sister's age) has died. This time it was by choice. I still grieve.

Yet, their family still shines as an example of faithfulness. Ironically, it was their mom that taught me about the book of Job in the Bible.

Today, I am sad because yet another youth group friend has died. I'm not even sure what happened or what had become of him in the last 20+ years. I do know that in high school, I saw Christ in him and looked up to him. He used the resources given to him to include people and was one of the few I called friend. After high school, I don't know if we would have been friends. I gather that my friend still did great things and loved people well. I am proud of that. I read that maybe he made choices I would have disagreed with, and I wish that he could have been the man of God that I dreamed him to be (maybe he was, I really don't know). I grieve for my friends that were closer with him than I, and I am saddened that we, as a society, seem to miss that the people who are most charismatic and giving to others are also hurting and in need of support.

Today, I mourn my youth and the loss of innocence.

So, right this moment, I continue to "count on God", because I have realized that He's truly all I have to count on. I've had great, giving, faithful people in my life and continue to do so.

But.....life changes.......