Shadows -- Light

       Last Sunday afternoon Bill took me for a drive through our beloved Morrow Mountain State Park. It's been an unusual autumn-- cold, warm, wet, dry--  and so the colors around our house have been muted at best. We hoped gaining a little bit of elevation might make a difference. As we approached the gently rising hills not much change was evident, yet we enjoyed the familiar curves in the road, the paths through the woods we had hiked so often in years past. We shared memories of lying in the fallen leaves gazing straight up through brilliantly-colored trees to a sapphire sky. We caught glimpses of the nearby lakes -- such an explosion of God's artistry abounds in our little-known "neck of the woods"! Yet even from the top, the colors still disappointed. 

      As we turned around and headed back down, rounding the same turns, we both shouted, "Look!" at the same time. There, among the dusty-brown shadows, a golden glow drew our eyes upward, ever upward. Bill stopped the car as we gazed at the sight: the angle of the sun, just so, was backlighting trees that from the other direction had appeared dull, making us think they were dead, past being beautiful to our eyes. As he snapped the  picture below, Bill commented, "Now isn't that just like us? We're dull, even dead, until we let the light of the Son shine through us!" Now how's that for Truth?!

      My life has seemed pretty brown the past couple of years, but yesterday we had a glowing Thanksgiving, thanks to the presence of beloved family bringing the Light of Life and Love into our home. It wasn't a fancy meal-- we ate on paper plates. No roasted turkey came out of my oven-- Johnny's barbecue from the microwave filled our tummies just as well. But oh, the joy that filled my heart, making me smile even now. Love, hope, and the Light of Christ shining through. What more could I possibly need or ask for?

   "Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes."  (Ephesians 3:20 TLB)

      "Don’t hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father."  (Matthew 5: 15-16 TLB)