LIFT UP YOUR HEAD

My parents own 150 acres south of the town where I live.  It’s some of the most beautiful land in the area… partially groomed… partially left natural.  Part of the reason I love that land is just because of its shear beauty.  Part of it is because of the number of lifetime memories I have that took place there. 

I had been suffering from some muscle pain last Sunday and decided to go for a walk instead of my usual run.  Thought it’d be fun to take my camera out to the farm since i hadn’t done that in awhile.   I started out at “exercise pace”(of course) and then asked myself when the last time was that I slowed down and just took at stroll through the farm to enjoy the beauty.   So began my stroll.  I prayed out loud to God “Please show me your beauty, Lord… “. 

There’s an area of pretty dense woods that we call the “back 40”… my favorite place to walk on the farm… but it’s also where I have bumped into numerous snakes.  Now one thing you need to know about me is that I’m scared of snakes.  Not just scared… but s-c-a-r-e-d.  Many childhood experiences have left me with a phobia of sorts.  About a ½ mile or so into my walk, I noticed that my eyes were glued to the ground directly in front of me… scanning the ground for those critters I’m so fearful of.   It was then that it hit me.  I can ask God all I want to show me His beauty… but if I don’t get my eyes off the ground… if I let my fears consume me… I won’t see what He wants to show me.    

I have been going through a time in my life I call “the desert”.   Dealing with some personal issues and unsettledness… and have been desperately asking God to show me his plan for my life.   What a shame if all this time that I’ve been frustrated with not hearing answers to my prayers… if the answers were actually all around me… but I was too consumed by my own situation to look up… look around… and SEE what He wants to show me.   The life God WANTS to offer me is much broader than the scope of “my issues”.   In order to see it though, I need to look beyond my fears. 

So my stroll continued… and hard as it was, I took my eyes off the ground and started looking around.  Amazing what you can see when you do.  Photos to follow…

"PEEP SHOW" (note green bug on other weed)

BEAUTY IN BROKENNESS

HIDDEN TREASURE

REFLECTIONS

I love you too, God.