Be still and know

"Be still and know that I am God," the Psalmist says. That's a tall order for me most days. But last week camping in Big Bend, it was easy. The silence in the Chisos Mountains campground was like listening to God's heartbeat. I felt surrounded by the silence like a warm embrace. Here in my ordinary life, I am blessed with a good bit of silence, and I've learned I need that for my soul's health. The time in the mountains was different somehow. I found myself simply enjoying sitting and being for a time. One of my favorite seminary professors said once that "it's hard to hear God's voice in a place such as this," i.e. the world in which we live. In the Chisos Mountains it was easier. I felt God's presence all around us. I also found reading the Psalms to be a different experience, more immediate perhaps, as we lived in a tent and hiked the mountains. I think perhaps living in circumstances more like those of the psalmist made the words more powerful. This was our first visit to Big Bend out in West Texas, and we will go back. I'm trying to hold onto the silence and memory of God's presence as I reenter daily life here, for daily life is where I'm called to serve God most of the time.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

Spring explosion

I don't think I will ever become accustomed to the way spring simply explodes out of nowhere here in Central Texas. Somehow spring's arrival seemed more gradual in the north where I grew up. Only a couple of weeks ago, we had snow and all was grey and dreary when it melted. Then I realized that the neighbors' red bud trees were blooming, and the native plants in our yard are sporting spring green. Yesterday when I walked the dogs, it was warm, almost 80, and a hint of the summer that will be here all too soon. I have learned that spring here is fleeting so I try to soak it up while I can. Not long ago I was having trouble remembering what it felt like to be warm outside, as last August I could not remember what it felt like to walk outside and be cool. I am glad for the regularity of the seasons, which come and go no matter what else changes in my life. They are a reminder of God's faithfulness. Just like the coming of spring, I can count on God always being there, no matter the circumstances of my life. I'm grateful for that knowledge.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

God's promises are new every morning

After I fetched the dogs from the vet where they stayed while we were visiting grand kids this weekend, I took them for a walk. What with the weather and the travel and too much to do, it had been several days since our last walk. As I looked around I saw lots and lots of robins feasting on the neighbors' yards as well as green shoots pushing up through the ground, a few daffodils and one tree that has burst into bloom. Even though the weather has once again become cloudy and colder, I'm content in the knowledge that spring will come once again as it has every year of my life. Somehow that reminds me of God's faithfulness and the reminder in Lamentations in the Bible that God's promises are new every morning. I like the idea that I get a new start with each new day.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue