wow, all i can say is...wow...

so we're on vacation! road trip and it is an amazing time... timmy and i have followed dan and vicki up to oregon and are greatly enjoying being with the double-whammy, family AND friends...it doesn't get much better than that, getting along with people that you're actually related to but also loving them as friends...God is good:)... so as we travel along and the literal journey has been lovely, scenic and a very grand time of texting, playing games and LOTS of conversation...i enjoy that we all have so much in common but that the ultimate thing is God... it truly is mind-boggling to think that He has created all this beauty and all these individual components of life that we can literally immerse ourselves, and just "be"...

once we actually arrived in our oregonian destination we discovered that vicki had made reservations at a tiny little haven of a motel right on the beach...we were greeted by a kind young man that obviously knows the meaning of hospitality, just the right blend of local tidbits and information in tandem with allowing us to make ourselves comfortable and discover the local area...our motel room is on the second story overlooking the ocean, yes, we can literally lift our heads off the pillow and look out the window to a glorious coastline view... a little tiny balcony area houses two chairs that are perfect to get away, play a guitar or ukelele (guitar is played beautifully by timmy, uke is played VERY badly by me...) or enjoy some devotional time... a quick walk down 100 steps to the beach allows us to enter a peaceful evening with seagulls crying overhead and seashells just waiting to be turned into treasured memories...and the very first night we were presented with a gift as we walked along the beach...it wasn't quite dusk but there was a mist in the air darkening the sky...we looked back at the shoreline and the most beautiful rainbow was emerging in the sky...it glowed with a muted light and literally reached the sand...the end of the rainbow... God's promise, right in front of our eyes... and with all the words that He has given me? all i can say is... "wow"...

happy...

so today i had a slight epiphany, i was in church this morning and my tears (for once) were replaced by a smile:)...seriously... when my heart is overflowing with the words from some beautiful worship songs, my normal reaction is to cry, yes i am an old softie, but this is my "normal", this is how i react to beauty and God's overwhelming love... this is how i respond to individual's that are so gifted from God to lead others into His presence...

yet this morning? i found myself with the kind of smile on my face that is reserved for basking in the sun, cool breezes, floating weightless in some body of water that makes me feel safe... not feeling gravity at all... this was the feeling this morning when i closed my eyes and let the music and words make me completely aware of God's presence, He was right there, enjoying the moment with me... maybe this is what we will feel when we enter eternity with Him... it was just a glimpse, a moment? but it was enough for me...

"that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith: that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge: that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19

POLE!!

so i recently encountered an interesting life example:
i was riding my bike to work one morning and was stopped at a stop light at a rather large intersection...it was a gorgeous, cool morning absolutely perfect for riding and enjoying the day...a grizzled looking man walked by in the crosswalk and said, "how's the ride??" i smiled and replied, "it's beautiful, just beautiful..." he responded (while staring at me...) "beautiful, just like you..." he managed to step up on the curb as he continued to "eye" me, and then promptly ran right into a pole... hmmmm, ya think he was looking where he was going?? and i wasn't much help either, as he started to run into the pole i shouted (MUCH too late) "POLE!"... this story came to mind the other day as i was reading colossians 3 in the message (i love that translation):

He Is Your Life

^1-2 So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.

i described this to a friend as looking through our Jesus lens... his perspective... not looking around and "eyeing" something that may momentarily interest and distract you... but looking around and being aware of our surroundings, our opportunities and envisioning these through God's eyes, His thoughts of us, His caring for us... hopefully we won't be blindsided and hear a voice just a bit too late saying, "POLE"!...