Thoughts From An Afternoon With Jesus…
At the Chicago Botanic Gardens…Amazing day, amazing God. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus…
Here are my thoughts:
1. My dad taught me how to play golf. Doesnt seem like much if you look at my scores. Yet more than how to hit, he taught me how to play. He taught me to count every stroke, to call penalties on myself (not wait for others to catch me), to leave bad shots in the past & to never quit.
2. The sound of a swift waterfall is the applause of nature 2 the greatness of the Triune God. Pause, listen & add your own clapping to the chorus…
3. Having flowers on a table shows we can grow/dominate/purchase plants–its no surprise, then, that they live only for days; cultivating/nurturing a garden shows we can co-exist side-by-side our leafy friends & bring out each others best; thus they thrive year round.
4. Sometimes doing the right thing requires us to force ourselves into an awkward posture, just as a plant bends “unnaturally” towards sunlight. But the bending, while initially painful, is what keeps the plant alive and flourishing…
5. “in a japanese garden, the path…controls how you see the garden. A narrow/uneven path makes us slow down & consider where we place our feet instead of all that is around us” (sign at the Chicago Botanic Gardens).
Thus, when we go thru hard times (Narrow/uneven path), we are not supposed to look at the chaos aroung us but instead to focus on where we lean our weight–the Truth and the Person of Jesus Christ.
6. There’s more to reaity than our 5 senses. Just as a person just “knows” when theyre being watched, so do many just “know” we are being loved by God.
7. I love the crunch beneath my feet of a gravel/scree-filled pathway. Reminds of popcorn popping in a microwave…
8. Sometimes when we finally stop to smell the roses we get stung by a bee on the nose. But dont stop sniffing the Savior! There are more scents to savor than stingers to stave off, theres more beauty to behold than bumblebees to battle. The pain eventually dies off but He lives on forever!
9. Pitchers were meant to be filled up then poured out;
wisdom was meant to be learned then taught;
money was meant to be received then given away…
10. The new ipads battery requires a short time to drain and a relatively long time to recharge. So too are we damaged in a moment but healed over a lifetime.
11. The knots in whitespire birch trees look just like human eyes, reminding me that my heavenly Father is always watching over me…
I pray these have been a blessing to you…