Abundant Life

Our encounters with life around us can be routine and unnoticed by even we ourselves. We walk to our car, head to work, walk from the parking lot to our place of work, leave at the end of the day, all without noticing life around us. We get so focused that we are oblivious to what surrounds our world. Our concentration is zeroed in on one or perhaps two things so much so that we miss out on real life. The smile of an elderly gentleman walking by, the laughter of a child when they see the curls of our hair blowing in the wind at the same time the sun glints in the child's eyes making pretty rainbows of light across his glass of water.

Each day goes into the next and we find emptiness in our lives because we fail to see the teaming life in our midst. I believe it was Isaac Asimov, a scientist (turned science fiction author) said that as he became more specialized in his profession as a scientist, the more he was removed from people. He eventually walked away from this world he created and became an explorer, one who sought to know the lives of people and things around him. He then incorporated their lives into his stories and the result was phenomenal.

Take time each day to discover what so many of us are overlooking, that of life around us. It can change how we see the world. Take a moment in the beginning of your day to ask God to help you see his beautiful world. Jesus said in John 10:10

I came that they (you) may have life and have it abundantly.

My Brother's Keeper

We struggle much of our lives to understand the many complexities of life and much of the time we are left wondering about them. Our routes that we choose are at best sometimes left wanting and we feel discouraged over the lack of choices presented to us, and sometimes when looking back we feel that we could have done better. 

In thinking back a few years ago we had two twin bucks that grew up around our home. We watched them grow and we felt privileged to be a part of their lives. Then one day as they came by our house we noticed that one of the bucks was blind in one eye. The brother with complete sight stayed close by to guide his injured sibling to the woods. He would stand and patiently wait for his partially blind brother to find his way to the path that his loving brother had chosen for him to go. We would watch in awe when this scenario would play out many times over. 

Just like the twin buck who watched out for his injured brother, Jesus too does that for us if we allow him to lead us. Psalm 23:1
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Luke 12:30
"For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.

Our paths may not always be easy, but we can have confidence that God has a plan for us and he cares for our welfare.

Tenuous Life

I don't get back to my hometown of Jackson, Minnesota to often anymore. On one such visit several years ago I was visiting the cemetery with my brother. We were stopping to visit my dad's grave and as we were walking past the headstones, I noticed several people whom I knew had died. I was a little shocked by the discovery and without noticing it, I stopped by one such grave, a man that I used to know. Speaking out loud while lost in my thoughts I said, "I didn't know that he died!" I glanced up at my brother who was standing near me and I saw a quizzical look on his face. Since my brother lived in Jackson, he knew that this person had passed away and it was no mystery to him of this person's death. For me though, it was a mild shock to see this man's gravestone before me. I then looked toward Jackson and said in a mournful tone, "I know more people out here than I do in town." It made me realize more than ever of the tenuousness of life.
David says in Psalms 144:4 "Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow."
This verse spoke to me at that moment in time. I realized now more than ever what David was saying about our lives. When one is young, it seems like we will live forever and we are shocked when someone we know dies unexpectedly. We come to realize that life is fragile at best, and as we grow in years we hopefully see that each day becomes a gift and tomorrow cannot be promised to us. David came to realize this when he said the following in Psalms 139:16. "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." God knows then the exact number of days allotted for each of us, even before we were born. For some, it might be months in length, for others, years, but for us we do not know the number of our days, only God knows that. 

As I looked over at the stones, I wondered, "How many here died without knowing Jesus?" Salvation's hand is knocking at our doors, how many are and will be listening to the Master's voice calling to them?
“Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20. If you do not know Jesus, invite him into your heart today. None of us can guarantee tomorrow, eternity awaits your decision.

Giving Thanks

1 Thessalonians 5:18

In every thing, give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I have found it very difficult at times to say to myself that it is God's will when a bad occurrence has just taken place.  
When thinking it through though, I've seen that it is not God who condone's that occurrence, it was done by our broken humanity. 

It is in relinquishing this occurrence into God's hands and giving thanks for hearing our prayers concerning this event.  As well, trusting that he will take care of what follows next, as if our requests were already answered by him.

Imagination

There is a hiking/bike trail right above this photo caption. It passes near Woodlawn Cemetery here in Winona. When our children were smaller, we would look for Leprechauns on the forest floor right here in this area. The wind would blow and leaves would move and Anne would excitedly say, "Look kids did you see the leaves moving, it was a leprechaun running by." Imagination would take over next and Will and/or Abby would swear that they saw the leprechaun running past. Because they saw so much in their mind's eyes as children, today they know in their hearts that the impossible is possible if one believes hard enough. There have been times that life has pulled me away from this vision and I have felt less so to believe, but now our children are the ones who cheer me on and encourage me to once again believe.

Rekindling imagination is what has brought so much innovation to our society as a whole. Risk taking, and venturing out into the unknown is what makes our lives exciting and worthwhile. If one could ask Edison, Einstein, or other explorers and innovators what made them excel, I believe their common theme would be, "Imagination!"