what is heaven to you

A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul. ~Author Unknown

The past few days have contained extra slices of heaven.

Great laughter, extra hugs, prayers, worship, my own garden salad, and painting. Ahhhhhhhh……beautiful moments.

Maybe some of that was knowing I some time away from the office… Do you think there are office jobs in heaven? I’d prefer the landscaping dept!

I don’t think TV, radio, or internet will be needed. I imagine we have our own beautiful music and it won’t be all one style. As a kid I did not want heaven if I had to sing hymns….ick. I do feel a bit differently now.

Wind, rain, snow? We all have such different ideas of what our heaven will hold. My 80 degree preference would be distress for some.

This made me wonder what kind of images you have of heaven?

Care to share?

creative wonders

It’s not the season for prime colors but it certainly a beautiful part of His creation. So often like people around us…part of Him but not revealing His true goodness.

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.
Romans 14:1

The river often helps me work out questions, process feelings, often diverting me from anxious thoughts. Which keep coming as I wonder about life and next steps.

Nature brings me more wondering…like how does a little beaver cut trees with his teeth?

Or why do turtles stay in the cold when they really love the sun?

We don’t always get easy answers but if we look – His beauty always shows through.

a beautiful day

Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out.
Is there anyone around who can explain God?
Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?
Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice?
Everything comes from him;
Everything happens through him;
Everything ends up in him.
Always glory! Always praise!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Romans 11:33-36

Hearing of good weather coming, I hoped for an afternoon to kayak. I took a full day off and went to the river early. There was a haze all around but treasures were unfolding….sharing His beauty.

Sometimes its just a matter of seeing the simple things.
He is in them all.

beauty seldom seen

Our focus is usually straight ahead and quick. The book Blink shares amazing studies of this process.

How often do you look under a flower or up through a tree? Our speedy mode makes us miss so much. New beauty awaits…

I remember driving home from art class and realizing EVERYTHING had such depth, color and richness. Why didn’t I notice before?

This isn’t just about nature…look for that hidden beauty in people too.

Take some time…study things around you. I often ask, “What do you need me to see Lord?”

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Phil 1:9-11

what will be…

Lately my life has been a time of listening, absorbing and taking in more than writing or speaking.

Makes me think of the flowers starting too… how they are absorbing the sun, water and coming to life. They will speak their story soon and then go through another season of change.

This painting is doing that too. I have several photos as it was evolving and what I had planned is not what is happening. (So like our lives!) We don’t know what tomorrow will bring…not fully…even if every moment is planned, life is not at our command.

Be sure to just take some time to “be still and listen”, take note of the beauty around around you and see if a course correction is needed. You might be missing the best scenery if you are moving too fast.