Despair -- Hope

      I'm not proud to admit that recently I've let the state of the world and my own situation sit like a boulder on top of my head, pressing my mind and body into a place of hopelessness. Even though I don't read or watch "the news" these days, I would have to live in total isolation in the wilderness to escape knowing and being affected by what's going on. I mean, what's normal about having to sanitize every piece of food or mail that comes into the house from off our own property? What's normal about not seeing friends and family for weeks or months even though they live just minutes away, or if you see them giving "air hugs" instead of the life-giving feel of someone else's strong arms holding you together for just a moment?

      Anyone who knows me at all will affirm that this negative outlook is not the norm for me: I can usually see a touch of grace in most any situation. Yesterday, though, was one of those days I just couldn't; I just wanted to get to the end of it, go to sleep and wake up in Narnia! I did fall asleep, but I woke up and nothing had changed-- I was sad to the core. So sad I couldn't even speak of it. And yet, God heard. I picked up my phone and there, from my Jamaican "sister" Jeanne, was a song, and it spoke my broken heart. (I'm posting the link below and praying it will minister to you as it did to me.) 

      I listened, and then I walked around my own yard. And you know what? "There Was Jesus"...  in the beauty of each brilliant color of each delicate flower or butterfly wing, in the numberless shades of green in the forest backdrop, and in the music of each bird song that accompanied my walk. My friend, without you uttering a word, God hears the cry of your broken heart, for He has indeed "put [your] tears in [His] bottle...." (Psalm 56:8)

"I have asked one thing from the Lord;

it is what I desire:

to dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord

and seeking Him in His temple."

(Psalm 27:4 CSB)

      Please enjoy these photos of what I discovered, allow yourself to revel in the comfort of the entirety of Psalm 27, then listen to this beautiful song.

There Was Jesus

"He must increase, but I must decrease"  (John 3:30)

♱