365 People Photos: Number 114 -- Rain, Rain Go Away

Where Brielle and Evelyn had been happily playing in the driveway an hour ago, now a deluge has begun. Little Evelyn was fascinated by the downpour.

365 People Photos: Number 113 -- So Summer

Evelyn and Brielle playing in their family's driveway this morning as I weeded the front gardens. God is so good to give us the warmth and color of summer! Shorts, sundresses and flipflops. Life just doesn't get much better!

Twice a Day, Every Day

Sunrise as seen from Castine, Maine, on the Atlantic coast, 21 August 2013

Thoughts from my time in the Bible this morning:

"They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of your signs;
 You make the dawn and the sunset shot for joy."
Psalm 65:8

Twice a day, every day, God gives us a sign that He is -- each morning's sunrise followed by evening's sunset. Our days are bookended by a reminder of the wonder that there is a God. Even the farthest reaches of the earth are privy to this message of a mighty God--maker of heaven and earth. Oh may I stand in awe--not just of the signs--but of the Signmaker, the Creator. He is God. He is. Praise Him!

Downhearted?

Strutting on the grounds of Warwick Castle, England -- May 2008

Make glad the soul of Your servant,

For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

Psalm 86:4 NASB

Each summer our pastor, Dave Sowers, preaches from the book of Psalms. He calls the series "The Summer Psalms." We have been richly blessed as he takes us deeper into individual Psalms Sunday after Sunday. However, not only do we grow to understand specific Psalms at a more profound level, but we also learn new ways to pray. Pastor Dave has instructed us repeatedly that if we see one of the Psalmists cry out to God in a particular way then we can use that as a model for our praying.

A couple of weeks ago, the verse above caught my eye. When I'm feeling dragged down, I can lift my heart to the Lord and make the Psalmist's cry my plea: "O Lord, please make my soul glad. To You I lift up my soul."

I have already prayed this way on a couple of harder days when I have felt pulled down by my circumstances. Within the next hour or two it slowly dawns on me that my spirit has been buoyed. I feel hopeful again. Not so overwhelmed. Despite no change in what's happening around me, I find I'm able to relish the day, instead of merely trudging through it.

Project 366 -- Unheard of!

Day 68 - March 17

Buds on the trees in mid March in northwestern Iowa?!? Unheard of! Trees don't normally begin to show signs of growth for another month--at least. Our average high is still just 47 degrees F, but we've been running more than 30 degrees above average! Tomorrow the high is predicted to be 83 degrees! The lilac bushes already have small leaves. Last year, which was unusually cool and wet, the lilac leaves finally made their appearance in late May.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1