faith – Through My Eyes

Christmas, More Than A Day!

Wikipedia defines Christmas as “an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ”. I can tell you it is so much more than that!

Yes, there probably are festivals in some places. A lot of people do get caught up in the traditional things like music, parades, pagents, lights and gifts but that is not the “why” we celebrate.

We don’t even really know when Jesus was born. We just know he was. Wikipedia says December 25 but if you really read the Bible it suggest that may not be when he was born. Ultimately the date is unimportant. The traditions and celebrations we enjoy are unimportant compared to the event itself.

You may or may not know that Mary also was a virgin birth. Her birth in no way has the significance of the birth of Christ but may be a link as to why she was chosen to carry God’s son. Even though her place in society may have been insignificant at the time in God’s eyes she was very important. She held a place of honor among all women. Still, she was just a women.

It was a normal birth but not a normal event! God so loved the world that he gave a part of himself to humanity. He survived on earth as a man but taught us so much about life and spirituality. He gave us the tools of salvation and suffered for us. He was no ordinary man! His birth forever changed the universe. Whether you are a believer or not the reason we celebrate Christmas is not that he was just born but that his entry into our world was to save humanity.

This Christmas while you are enjoying the traditions of Christmas make sure you include Christ in the reason you celebrate. Have a wonderful Christmas.

God bless you all.

The Meaning Of Love

Don’t let the title fool you. This is not about romance or is it? When God created man I’m sure he had a lot of hopes and dreams for what man would accomplish. Imagine now the beautiful garden of eden and then there was man! God then realized man could not exist on his own so he yanked out a rib and created woman.

The woman was the opposite of man in areas that made them a perfect fit. This was no jigsaw puzzle but a creation of design. Then Eve screwed up and listened to the serpent who was also male. You got it, disaster struck! That was just the beginning of conflict between men and women.

Well man gets off scott free while woman is cursed with childbirth. While Eve became a devoted wife and mother she set the tone for the women that followed her in her faithfulness to God and her obedience to man. But you know the old saying “behind every good man is an even better woman” proved to to be true.

Despite the fact Eve made a terrible error in judgement, she proved to be a great example of love. That love was certainly tested when Able died. What was this thing called love that in a fleeting moment it could rip your heart to shreds. When her son Seth was born she again found that deep emotional love..

Through generations that followed women stayed in the background but were a driving force. Moses might not have ever gone to the mountain had his wife not encouraged him to draw closer to God…the Jews would still be in bondage without her. George Washington might not would have been the leader that he was had it not been for Martha. The deep emotion of love can be a beautiful foundation. Women have been the carriers of the torch of love but that doesn’t mean that men don’t feel love.

Some of the greatest musical scores were about love and were written by men. Women love long but men love hard.

These days that power and beauty of love is fading. The future of this country and our planet cannot continue to exist unless we go back to that one simple emotion and allow ourselves to love. The Bible puts it simply LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Make no mistake you are not always going to like the person next to you but you have to look past that and share a moment of love. It can be powerful!

Have a wonderful and blessed day.

Getting Back To The Basics

Listening to someone new on my Amazon Music app, Iron And Wine, I couldn’t help but be transported back to a different time.

The song had a catchy title….something about being naked but don’t let that deter you from listening. Instrumentality it was mello and the lyrics made sense. The sound was soothing not unlike something I might would have listened to during the Woodstock era.

It made me appreciate once more the music of the past. You just don’t find artists or music like this anymore. This was refreshing. It took me back to my teenage years when unlike today there were moral boundaries. Life was simpler and people were actually happy. Yes, we loved to cruise around the hottest drive-ins and I even got caught coming home late on occasion but life had meaning.

It’s reflection on better times that will strengthen our desire to not just settle but to strive to get back some of the values we had back then.

Do I want to give up my new car or Wi Fi? Probably not but if it would mean we could live in a less violent world and a world that has a strong value system, then yes I would. Progress is not always in our best interest.

The last few years have more than ever shown that it’s not the wealth of this world that matters. We need to get back to the basics. It’s really simple, put God first. Next to God is family. God from the very beginning laid out a value system that works. LOVE

May God bless you abundantly.

Good Morning

Yes, I guess you could say I’m a morning person. I love to go out on my back deck with coffee in hand just to talk to God.

Just as we have just celebrated our earthly father we need to take more time for our heavenly father.

While a lot of churches are failing to keep their flock together, they need to look at the reasons people are leaving. While people in the church are quick to point fingers at the people who do choose to leave, they never bother to ask why.

Now I used to enjoy going to church when I was younger but as I got older I began to see another side of this institution. I will give credit to those churches that are as they represent themselves to be.

Twice I have been assaulted by members of a church. Upon joining one church people were calling me constantly to join one committee or another. The final blow was when they hired a new organist who decided it was time to refurbish the 100+ year old organ. Then I get this letter in the mail that said “my” portion of that bill was $5,000! You can imagine my outrage. I sent them an email telling them to remove mine and my husband’s name from their roll.

Instead of focusing on keeping their flock together and more importantly teaching and interpreting the Bible, churches have strayed from their mission. They are houses of gossip, theaters of entertainment, and hiding places for sexual predators.

It wasn’t until I left the church that I sat down and actually read the Bible from cover to cover. This was true confirmation I had done the right thing. I was beginning to not just “read the Word but feel it”. That was what was really missing from church. I now had a spiritual connection.

It is that spiritual connection that ties us to God and the universe. In 2 Corinthians Paul tells us we have two bodies, the physical body and the spiritual body.

If you throw yourself into learning, and I mean open yourself up to making that connection you will be amazed at the endless possibilities.

Have a wonderful day.

Signs From A Divine Source

While this little guy may not seem relevent to you there is a story here. Early in the year I began to see slow subtle changes in the environment. Prior to this time even the air smelled bad. Blame it on jet fuel, industrial waste, whatever you want to but you could tell something was toxic. Anyway, in early march we started to see these little rabbits. While you may say that is not a red flag for me it was. You see we have lived on the same property for 36 years and have rarely seen a rabbit until now.

Then with Spring came new grass. Maybe it was just my old eyes deceiving me but it seemed greener than usual. I don’t have a lot of flowers so I take heed of small environmental changes.

We see the rabbits daily now, morning and night. While the news media paints a dillusional picture of what is happening in the world, I choose to ignore them and see what picture God paints. Lily’s in my garden container will soon be blooming. Last year they only had one bloom on each plant. This year there are four blooms on each of the two plants. Like the rabbits, they are voluntarily multiplying.

You may be laughing this off right now but what is a matter of fact is that God sends of signs of things to come. I believe these few signs along with the increase in birds points to the fact that better days WILL COME!

Don’t get caught up in daily drama and the lies of the main stream media. Trust God, trust that he has a plan for Heaven On Earth. It will come but only in His time.

Have a rich and blessful day.

Knocking On Heaven’s Door

When I stepped outside on my deck this morning, I thought I must have stepped into Heaven. The grass was greener than normal, the sun brighter and the clouds just plain Heavenly.

After a brief morning shower it could not have been a better scene. Just when you think this world has “snapped”, something reels you back in. With the state this country is in and the recent shooting in Texas, it is easy to question “why continue”. It is not for us to question why life continues but it is for us to manage what God has created! So far we have done a poor job.

We have got to get back to the basics people. We have allowed evil people and politicians to dictate how we live our lives. NO MORE! It is not just about politics. It is about life, love, faith. These are the principles we grew up on that have quickly faded away.

You know the old saying “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” There is so much truth in that statement. While there is little to no fix for our government, there is hope for life itself. It begins with me, you, your neighbor, your community, the world! We have to change our attitude and our vision for what we want out of life and what God has envisioned for us.

This world and the universe was not built in a day and only by God’s hand will it be cleaned up in a day. We have to start with cleaning up our environment and getting rid of the evil in it. God did NOT create this beautiful world for us to trash it like a kid with a new toy.

If you want to be “knocking on Heaven’s Door”, you might want to think about what you have done to even be standing at Heaven’s Door. As we draw closer to a time when judgement will surely come, don’t you want to be looking at a field of clouds instead of the Lake of Fire?

It is possible to have a Heaven on Earth but a lot has to change. It begins with waking up to reality and creating GOOD in this world. God wants us to Love and Love unconditionally. Does everyone deserve to enjoy a perfect world? Probably not but we are not judge and jury, we are the caretakers.

It begins with positive motivation. Regardless of how things are in your life find something positive to focus on even if it is only one moment. Share your smile with someone who can’t. Give to those who have nothing…and I am not talking about money. Those moments can and should change your life.

Have a great day in Christ!

When God Winks!

You have probably heard the term Godwinks but you may or may not find in your dictionary. Squire Russell who first used the term in one of his books touched on something most of us experience but may not realize it.

Take a moment to really examine your daily life. I don’t mean births, graduations and that kind of thing. I’m talking about those little unexplained moments or periods of time when things appear or happen that can’t be explained through general logic.

Haven’t you ever lost something only to have it reappear in a place where you would have never put it? A check arrives in the mail from an unfamiliar source at a time when you are about to be evicted. Your plans to accept a new job falls through and yet an offer from a source you never considered appears. These are those little miracles referred to as Godwinks.

You don’t have to have a Lazarus event to be reminded that our loving God is always around us. He shows us in these little Godwinks that he provides all things if we just pay attention and acknowledge them.

I have seen a lot of Godwinks in my lifetime. The next time you question how something happened….you may have just been Godwinked!

Have a great day and watch for those Godwinks!

Down The Proverbial Rabbit Hole

Yes I know, it’s not really a rabbit hole. It is really an expression to say I am following a trail that may lead to nowhere. For months I have been following patriots and “truth seekers” on a journey that has truly led to nowhere so far. What it has done for me though it has lead me on a quest to seek a stronger sense of self and my own consciousness.

While some of my investigation into what is going on around the world has proved to be alarming at best, it also asks the question “how good could this world be if all the evil was gone”.

While there are all kinds of theories as to what the future will look like, I believe in basing things on fact and not theories. Yes, a lot of facts have either been covered up or destroyed.

Take the Bible for instance. I have always known the Bible was not complete, some don’t they just take it at face value. That does not mean the existing Bible doesn’t give us clues as to what lies ahead. I have read the Bible cover to cover and still I find I have missed things.

We all need to come together to promote peace and unity. God will take care of the bad stuff. We cannot undue the child trafficing and the evil that has left its mark on this world but we can make a commitment together to make it a better world, to protect the children now and in the future, to protect the environment that God provided for us, to keep an open mind to what we can accomplish.

It starts with each one of us…”Love one another”.

Have a blessed day.

A Window Into Heaven

This morning, like a lot of mornings, I went out on my back deck to greet God. For a change it was nice out. With camera in hand I got these few shots.

Eyes Of God

I have been called smart by some and crazy by others. First and foremost, I am faith driven. As an artist I guess I tend to see things differently than a lot of people but I consider that a good thing.

These photos are simple enough but the feeling I get when I take them is much for complex. Daily we are reminded of God’s love even though we may not even realize it.

Just for one day, make a note of how God presents himself to you. Use your senses to identify that small miracle, feeling or event that could not be explained any other way.

Don’t be so busy in your life that you fail to acknowledge the presence of God in your life because he will remind you he is there! Now more than ever as we fight a spiritual war it is important that God’s people unite together! It doesn’t matter what your race is, what you normally believe, what your sexuality is, it matters that you stop what you are doing right now and ask for God’s forgiveness. Ask him to be a part of your life. Ask him to walk with you through this spiritual war so that you won’t be alone.

God is not too busy for you….don’t be too busy for him.

Have a blessed and wonderful day!

Fighting The Good Fight

I remember well when my Dad was fighting his battle with cancer that he remarked on just that. He said when he read John Doe fought the battle of cancer they were not kidding because it was a daily battle.

As an observer of a friend who is now going through this same battle I am seeing another side of it. With my Dad I guess I was too close to the situation.

While my friend has had surgery he has chosen to not undergo further treatment. That being said, I have to tell you this is a man of amazing will. His wife has acknowledged some of the terrible days that he has had and yet…he amazes me physically and spiritually. A lot of people are praying for him daily and the results are amazing. The hair on his head has grown back in just a few short weeks to cover his large incision. He went from being unsteady on his feet to dancing with his wife in five days.

While his doctors may have given him a short time to live he is showing he is planning on LIVING with the time he has left.

Doctors don’t know all the answers and they don’t know the limitations of the human spirit and faith. While doctors may tell you your time is up…God says NOT YET!

It is so important to not just be physically healthy but to also be spiritually sound. I don’t mean to just show up in church on Sunday I mean you have to build a deep spiritual connection with God. That kind of connection is truly amazing!

God bless and have a great day.