The Wilder Place

I haven't written since November... where does the time go when we're all having so much fun?

After I wrote last.. came Thanksgiving... Christmas... New Years... and tomorrow is Easter... on this specific journey God took me to the very edge of my faith... It was the middle of February... we still hadn't sold the house... hadn't found a new one... both my husband and I were getting tired of driving back and forth every weekend... my youngest son was in some sort of trouble... we didn't know where he was or really know exactly what was going on.... I was afraid... oh yes, and the 3 month extension my company had giving me was running out... we felt 'led' to step out on faith and schedule the movers to pick up our household goods... they were coming in five days... but we didn't have an address to give them on where to deliver our stuff... my husband was in a barber shop getting a hair cut... I stayed in the car... I was so afraid... for myself... my son... my family... I cried...

I went to my Lord... I didn't want to sin... which is what 'worry' and 'anxiety' are... sin... I wanted to be like Job and trust the Lord... I confessed my anxious fears... and turned it all over to Him... basically I stepped off the cliff... not knowing what would come next... I gave Him my fears... and recalled wonderful verses of provision... I thanked Him for all that was going on... even though I didn't understand why it had to be so hard... and after a few moments of prayer... of talking with my Lord... a peace that "surpasses comprehension" engulfed me. Why does it always take me so long to get there?

I received a phone call explaining my son was in the hospital... he'd had an allergic reaction the night before to some medications he was taking for the flu.... and he'd stopped breathing... they'd taken him to an emergency room, he was in the hospital... but he was OK... then, that day... we found a house here... the next day our offer on it was accepted... now we had an address to give the movers... that week we also received an offer on our house back home... and... of course... we accepted it... within 14 days... two short weeks... we would find all of our belongings picked up and moved... delivered to our new home... moved in.. my husband and I were finally back to living in the same town...

Here we are.. in our new home... week before last we closed on both... my son's doing well... another son coming home in May for a 4 week visit with his family... my mom's coming to visit... so is a third son... and we're almost unpacked...

God is GREAT!!

He has never taken me to the edge of my faith... and just let me fall... not once... not ever in my entire life... why do I waste my time getting anxious? I should gladly walk to the edge of the cliff called "fear" and step wonderfully into His outstretched hand...

I've come to understand that faith is like a muscle... in order to grow it must be exorcised... and not once has the One who is leading this expedition called "my life" let me fall... He loves me.... WOW!

You see... it's not how much faith I have... or that any one person has... it's what a person (me, you, whomever) places their faith in that's key... if I believe a piece of plastic or stone or wood or whatever is "a god" and it's not alive and real... what good would that do?... Nothing... nothing would happen... But if I believe in a living, real, involved, all knowing, all powerful, all present God... what can't He do? He certainly can lead, guide, protect, love, and save me.

Tomorrow's Easter... about 2000 years ago... God came to earth as a man... named Jesus... he'd lived a sin free life... he was beaten beyond human recognition... he voluntarily laid down His life... to pay a debt he didn't owe... because I owed a debt I couldn't pay... he created me in order to have a relationship with me... but sin made it so we couldn't... His death paid for my sins... and now...

I serve a living Savior, He's in the world today... I know that He is living no matter what men say... I see His hand of mercy... I hear His voice of cheer... and just the time I need Him, He's always near... He lives... He lives... Christ Jesus lives today... He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way... He lives... He lives... Salvation to impart... You ask me how I know He lives... He lives within my heart... (Alfred A Ackley)

The new direction? Oh yes... well... I'm a J.R.R. Tolkien fan... and I've delved deep into a study of Christian mythology writers.. I also love C.S Lewis (a very close friend with Tolkien) and his Chronicles of Narnia... my current plan is to expand this blog to be more than just an individual's journey.... I'm hoping to be able to discuss not just "The Lord of Rings" but other Tolkien stories as well that present the very real battle, which is actually being waged today, between good and evil.... I think a lot of people just see the fantasy of the story and perhaps miss what Tolkien was really trying to do and say.... Did you know...

Tolkien was a philologist... he studied word "history", if you will... and worked on the Oxford English Dictionary after returning from the British Infantry and World War II... he then went on to being a professor of literature and language at Leeds in England.... he loved words... more to follow...

May God bless your Easter..