Christ in the Clouds

It was an overcast morning, but by 3:00 the sun was out and the wind a bit gusty..."should be a good day for a wedding," I thought to myself. There was quite a lot of anticipation(and a little curiosity), and some uneasiness, in the air. My nephew was to become a husband on this day, and we were going to gain a new family member. The two had been a couple since high school, over 5 years ago. Now they were tying the knot and making the commitment to  Love and cherish...      for better or for worse,             for richer, for poorer,                 in sickness and in health,  from this day forward...                       until death do us part. As the minister gave his brief, but unique, presentation on ...

How far down do roots go?    What do bridges connect us to? Wha t benefit do es light have ?  These were a few of the questions that swirled in my head recently.     This past weekend we went and visited our son in southern Indiana. We spent one day walking and observing some very unique places in nature and another day in darkness . Roots: As we walked t hrough a park-like setting, we noticed a tree near a stream. I thought of how determined that tree was to reach the water from it's high bank.  It looked as though the grou nd had washed out beneath it, but it still held up and the bran ches had beautiful green leaves growing on them above. "For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. " (Jeremiah 17:8) I thought of h...

  “When life is good, enjoy it. But when life is hard, remember; God gives good times, and hard times and no one knows what tomorrow will bring.” Ecclesiastes 7:14 Several weeks ago, I wrote about a book I 've been stu dying for my ladies Bible s t udy group c alled "Cultivating Conte ntment" ( H ere ). The most recent chapter we've been studying is on being content, "e ven if" tria ls and hardships come into our lives . I think for most of us, that is somet hing we struggle with, no matt er how strong our faith is. To find joy and conten tment while in pain and suffering is just not a natural response. Our natural tendency is to be angry, resentful, even depressed. But, not only does God call us to be cont ent, but He also instructs us to con sider it "pure joy" in James 1:2!    " Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds," Umm, o.k., you may be asking(like I did), "Did...