Trail Walking

 "I wish I knew where we are in relationship to where we started! 
 I guess I'll just have to trust..."

I said this out loud while walking a complicated network of trails earlier this week,

surrounded by beauty but feeling quite "lost" in the maze and perplexity of unidentified paths. 

Very occasionally, a trail marker appeared telling us we were on a trail.
Just not WHERE!

I would have much rather have known where our current position lay
in relationship to the start and finish!
As soon as I'd said it, I realized how much my trail experience was like LIFE!
How I'd love to know the beginning from the end--
and where I am in relationship to them both!
Most of the time, (as on the trail) all I can DO is trust.

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6

 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

The Timing is Perfect

Three chapters in, and I'm blessed!  

***

"If we have surrendered to the fact that Jesus was telling the truth,

then the world in which we live is really a exciting place.

It's a place of romance and adventure, a place of promise and possibility,

a place of confidence ad joyous expectation.  

But more than that, our world is a place of love."

"Procrastination is perhaps the worst, the most damaging failure of all."  

"In the final analysis, the real challenge of Christian growth is personal responsibility."  

"What the world longs for from the Christian faith is the witness of men and women daring enugh to be different, humble enough to make mistakes, wild enough to be burnt in the fire of love, real enough to make others see how unreal they are."

"Jesus....Let Your Word not shine in our hearts but let it burn..."

***

Manning's style is intense and intimate; personal and probing.

It's difficult to be satisfied with less than more in one's relationship with Jesus 

after reading his words.

This is not a new book and contains reflections from Manning's early life.

I picked it up awhile ago at a thrift store (I think) and sat it aside to read at a later date.

That date is now.  

As usual, the timing is perfect.

Little Things

....folded bedsheets and a pillowcase...

What follows is a post I wrote Friday.  I wasn't sure I would EVER hit the "publish" button.  It was written primarily for my personal sanity.  Six weeks after breaking my hip and the subsequent hip replacement surgery, I find my activity level still quite diminished.  This afternoon, though, I read Brenda's post on "Littling".  Encouraged by it, I hit the button!  I "littled" my way through Friday by...

• Putting coloring books back into the  drawer they belong in
• Hand-washing a pair of elasticized stockings
• Cutting up some fresh fruit to serve to my husband
• Filling the water containers
• Throwing away a bouquet of wilted tulips
• Watering the houseplants
• Signing, addressing and mailing a sympathy card
• Putting away a couple of dice that were in the bottom of my purse
• Sorting the change in my billfold
• Throwing away a couple of candy wrappers 
• Starting the dishwasher
• Emptying the clothes dryer
• Folding a couple of bedsheets and pillowcases
• Creating powerpoints for Sunday's music

It seems like I don't/can't do ANYthing major these days.  

But little things DO add up. 

That's what I keep telling myself.
 Who dares despise the day of small things...(Zechariah 4:10)