Being Light

I was listening to some teaching the other day and heard something that stuck with me and has given  a new way of looking at things. Perhaps you will find something you can take away from it as well.

Family can be hard to share your faith with, they know you, they know what you believe, they don't want to hear it. I've heard the comment "Quit trying to save me" So I pray, Lord send another Christian into their Life to share their faith with them, share the Gospel with them.

What I never thought about though, is that there may be a family member of someone I have regular contact with in my day to day life that is praying the same prayer  for their loved one. We may be that person someone is praying for that will bring light into their family members life. Gave me a new perspective on being light in the lives of those I have regular contact with, maybe this will resonate with you as well.

Caught Off Guard

When you live on the coast your ears perk up anytime there is mention of a Hurricane or Tropical Storm off the coast. You tend to listen to the weather report a little more often, maybe tune into the local news to see the latest track of Hurricane whoever. It's pretty typical for storms this time of year, that's what happens when you live on the coast.

Last week we were watching Matthew as it was making it's way in the Atlantic. in the beginning of the week it looked as if we could be a target, so we began our customary preps. We took our patio umbrellas down, removed most of the hanging plants and started tidying up a bit. The forecast didn't show anything happening till the weekend, so we figured we had a few days to finish our preparations.

Our local weather guys announced Wednesday that a cold front was moving through and would push the storm away from us. Matthew wasn't going to effect us after all, we were in the clear.

Since the storm was no longer a threat, we went about our normal day to day business, we would finish our preps later, there was no longer any urgency we had a couple of weekends yet to get the summer stuff put away. I really didn't pay any attention to the news anymore, everything seemed good.

Fast forward to Saturday, my husband and i had separate things going on, he was helping a friend with some home repair and I went to an Estate Sale, going about our normal business.

What no one was expecting was the cold front and the tropical storm kind of collided and turned into a Northeaster and it was a doozy. The 1-2 inches of rain that had been forecasted turned into 12 inches and the wind was twice as bad as they thought it would be. Add the factor that we had tow high tides during the storm. Our city had flooding everywhere.

We both got home before the flooding was bad and we didn't have any damage. We had left our car out in the street and it took on some water but it started and will just need some time to dry out. Why didn't we put it in the driveway, because we never expected our street to flood. We lost power for about 12 hours as well and like the car we didn't prepare for that either, all our little devices, like my phone were just about dead when the power went out because I had neglected to charge them. I didn't expect that we would lose power.

I was thinking about this whole event yesterday and how it can have a Spiritual analogy. How often do we get so caught up in the business of today that we forget or neglect the things of the Spirit. Are we living each day as if the Lord could come at anytime or that we could be called home at any moment? Are we preparing for the return of the bridegroom? Are we in prayer for those that may not be Saved (especially those we love) with the urgency that he has called us to have. Are we preparing our hearts daily, are we keeping our focus on Him, looking for his return?

I am guilty of getting caught up in the day to day, of being complacent. Feeling thankful today that he continues to remind me, even with a storm, where my focus needs to be.

Closure

Last week we made a trip to the Mountain House, that's five trips this year. It's hard for me to believe we have made that trip so many times in such a short span, but we did. Our trip last week will probably be our final one and one of the purposes was for Closure. Does "Closure" really even exist?

My husband wanted to pick up the split black walnut logs that were stored in the basement of his parents home. His grandfather and my husband had split those logs years ago back on the farm when he was growing up. The wood represents a memory for my husband of his grandfather and of times they spent together on the farm.

The house is empty now, the household goods sold months ago. The outside has been kept up and mowed regularly but the flower beds that they were so proud of, are weed filled and overgrown and the fountain they loved so much, hasn't been used in almost eighteen months. Everything is a shell of what it once was.

There has been so much the Lord has shown us through this process. The biggest thing is how fleeting life is. Everything you strive to obtain in this life will be picked over by perfect strangers and sold to the highest bidder or donated to wherever or just tossed in the trash. Think about that please! How much better it would be to invest in the eternal instead of the temporal. 

We were able to take some things that held memories. Things that wouldn't mean anything to anyone else or have any value to anyone but us, that have been a blessing and a comfort to my husband. Many of those things were from his grandparents farm and stored in an attic.

The Lord has used this and continues to use this event to shown me how desperately I need a Savior. Feelings and hurts that had long been buried came to the surface with each visit. Wounds that only Jesus could heal, sin exposed that Jesus stands waiting to forgive. It is a work in progress but our Lord is so faithful in our need for Him.

It's and end of an era of sorts. My husband has had family living in that little town for over a hundred years, they are now all gone. Nothing last forever except eternity.

The house will be on the market soon, as will the small farm with the falling down buildings my husbands grandparents owned. We were able to rescue a clump of daffodils from the farm last spring, I'm hoping to see them bloom next year, it will help remind my husband and Sweet Lady of their grandmother. I'm told that little piece of property looks nothing like it did years ago.

The one thing I want to emphasis is how FAITHFUL God has been through all of this.  There were so many "but God" moments. Things that happened that shouldn't have happen, grace upon grace upon grace was given to us. So even though it is sad to see this chapter close we know God is and has been directing this and will continue to do so, this we can be sure.