Dragonflies and Butterflies

I waded in the river bed and watched the ripples gleam,

And stood with arms outstretched and my feet submersed in the stream.

An upward glance revealed the sun above the cliffs and trees,

Its golden warm caresses only broken by the breeze.

I closed my eyes and reveled in the whooping of a hawk,

While wond’ring what its call might mean if it could truly talk,

When fluttering past my lashes and then twice around my head,

An iridescent dragonfly consumed my thoughts instead.

My eyelids sprung wide open and I instantly could see

Its dainty body hover, then decide to land on me.

Photo Shoot with Pres

After work this afternoon I had the pleasure of babysitting for my friend, Michele. Her daughter is precious and very photogenic. Angela and I had fun taking pictures and playing with her at the lake and at the city park. Before returning Presley to her mom we stopped by CVS to print the pictures for her. (Click to enlarge)

Our Trip Home Part II

I took over 200 pictures this weekend. Here are just a few more from our trip.

Our Trip Home

We had a wonderful three days with my dad this past weekend. It was great seeing other family as well. My dad and I spent some time riding around and taking pictures. My sister has a lovely home and the wildlife is amazing around their home. We are back home and it's back to work tomorrow. Here are some photos from our weekend.

Tobacco Barn in Gadsen County, Florida

Tobacco Barn in Grady County, Georgia

Corn Crib that is at least 81 years old

An old country house in Grady County, Georgia

Going Home

In just a few more hours we will on the road to Tallahassee! It's going to be a great weekend seeing my dad and the rest of the family.

Our Week

It has been a long but fun week. This week our church has been doing Vacation Bible School and as always it has been fun being around the kids and being a part of this great outreach program. Although the days have been long (at work by 8:30 a.m. - at home by 9:00 p.m.) there is no place I would have rather been. I pray that children were presented the Gospel and that through the efforts of those who taught classes that seeds were planted in their hearts.

Visitors

We had visitors yesterday and they came demanding to be feed. They were so cute you couldn't resist.

Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the Cross I Cling

Ponder this: "If he could see how small a vacancy his death would leave, the proud man would think less of the places he occupies." - Ernest LeGouve

Pride is contradictory to humility. Pride is at the root of all sins and is an enemy of a Christian. Proud people seldom realize that pride is an obstacle in their life, although everybody around them realizes it. God despises the pride. That's why, when it pops up in our lives, God allows and brings things into our lives to humble us, and make us more dependent upon Him.

Just as pride was the downfall of Adam and Eve, it is also our downfall. C.S. Lewis in The Question of God says, "It was through pride that the devil became the devil; it is the complete anti-God state of mind. Pride is essentially competitive in a way other vices are not. Pride is a spiritual cancer." Pride is embedded in our human nature; we trust in our own power to make it through life. Yet all we are and have comes from God. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. None of us have reason to be proud. Augustus Toplady wrote "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the Cross I cling."

So the question begs to be asked, how can we overcome pride and replace it with humility? By putting ourselves into proper perspective, seeing ourselves as Gods sees us in relationship to Him. When we look to God, we grasp our unworthiness. Yet humility does not come from putting ourselves down. It comes from acknowledging and glorifying God, seeing Him as the source of all we are and and all we have. In His love, God accepts us unconditionally and lifts us to higher ground. He shows us that we are His children, made in His image, adopted into His family as sons and daughters of the King!

Another way to overcome pride is by expressing gratitude. Whenever we accomplish anything in life, we can choose to be proud or grateful. As we realize that we accomplish nothing without God, we must choose gratitude, giving glory to Him for all He does for us.

We can't have prideful hearts and maintain a right relationship with God. God does not need our accomplishments, nor is He interested in our vain glory. He wants us! Christ wants us to cultivate humble hearts that bow before His grace and His cross - the ultimate example of humility.

A Lesson in Humility

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-6

Love is not self-seeking. Many times when we love others we are constantly thinking, "What am I getting in return for loving this person?" Instead, we should love others more than we love ourselves.

Christ showed us an example of this when He washed the disciples' feet in John 13:1-20. Jesus had finished eating dinner with His disciples when He got up and began to wash each disciple's feet. In those days, if the people wore shoes at all they wore sandals. Think about the area they were in (sandy and dusty). . . so we assume their feet were dirty, nasty and the disciples were men (so manly feet). But Jesus didn't care, He knew the time he had left on earth was short and that this was the last time He would be with all of them. John tells us that Jesus had His love for the disciples on His mind.

Out of that love He taught them one last lesson: HUMILITY! This was an important lesson for the disciples to learn. Jesus had already said that loving your neighbor as yourself was the second greatest commandment and it is only second to loving God with all our heart. Jesus knew that in order for the disciples to love others and fulfill the mission of spreading the gospel they would have to be humble and love others more than themselves. Jesus wanted His disciples to know that humility and service to others is evidence of love.

We are quick to line up to do the things that are considered to be important, glamorous, or respected. But Jesus demonstrated true love through humility by doing a dirty job that was usually performed by the lowest ranking person in the room. Jesus was not the lowest person in the room. Jesus was Lord and He knew that He would soon be at God's side in heaven, but He didn't think that washing feet was too lowly of a job for Him.

Many times it's the dirty, smelly jobs that need to be done to show our love to others. As Christians, we need to be willing to do whatever is needed of us (regardless of whether it's below our pay grade or social status). Jesus was not only willing, but He was prepared to serve. It is our responsibility to fill the needs we see, whatever they are. James 4:17 says, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."

Jesus showed that He cared for others more than He cared for Himself by humbling Himself to love them with His affections. By loving others with our affections, we forget about what we're getting out of it and are willing to be there for others. When we begin to love our neighbors as ourselves, we show it with our affections. A pat on the back, encouragement, a smile, a hug, mowing their yard, cooking a meal, all these demonstrate a humble spirit. Humble service to others through our affections is evidence that we love others as ourselves.

The Power of Weakness

". . .Whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." ~ Mark 10:44-46

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9


God's ways really aren't our ways. We talk about authority, and Jesus talks about serving. We want to have political power so that we can make things right; he makes us of no account that we might see him make things right. We want to be strong that we can help, and he makes us weak that we might be powerful. We take pride in our accomplishments that we might praise him with our efforts; he allows major failure that people might see him. We bask in our purity that we might bear witness to his dominion; he allows us to sin and shows us the sin that we might bear witness to his grace. We really do think that helplessness is a liability. It may be if you are a soldier, a policeman, or a teacher, but in spiritual matters just the opposite is true.

When you read the Gospels, you find that Jesus never refused help to the helpless, that he never refused forgiveness to the sinners, that he never turned away from the unfit. The people Jesus didn't seem to care about - no, the people who really "ticked" him off - were the secure, the strong, the pure, and the self-righteous.

- Approaching God, Steve Brown

As I was with Moses, so I will be with you;
I will never leave you nor forsake you. ~ Joshua 1:5

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Imagine going to heaven and standing by God as He lovingly shows you His plan for your life. It begins the day you were born. Once you received Christ as your Savior, every day that follows is outlined in red. You see footprints walking through each day of your life. On many days, two sets of footprints appear. You inquire, "Father, are those my footprints every day, and is the second set of prints when You joined me?"

He answers, "No, My precious child. The consistent footprints are Mine. The second set of prints are when you joined Me."

"Where were You going Father?"

"To the destiny I planned for you, hoping you'd follow."

"But, Father, where are my footprints all those times?"

"Sometimes you went back to look at old resentments and habits. Sometimes, you chose your own path. Other times, your footprints appear on someone else's calendar because you liked their plan better. Sometimes, you simply stood because you would not let go of something you could not take with you."

"But, Father, we ended up OK even if I didn't walk with You every day, didn't we?"

He holds you close and smiles, "Yes, Child, we ended up OK. But, you see, OK was never what I had in mind for you."

- Breaking Free, Beth Moore (pg. 187)