On the "MY WINGS ARE MADE OF FAITH" blog this week, God impressed me to share examples of how we can know we live in a perpetual state of renewal from the nature of sin, and I stuggled a bit to write it in such a way that I hoped Satan would not turn what I was saying into something I was not saying.  For instance, someone might believe that I was saying that when you go to sleep you awaken each day sinless.  Well, no.  We can pray any time of day or night on the literal sense to receive the gift of renewal in the spiritual sense.  But it is like resting from our sin nature and waking as refreshed as if we never sinned.
Since the Lord uses the day and night as a reference himself in Hebrews 4, I found it difficult to escape the appearance that we go around living part of the time in sin and part of the time sinless and I knew that was not what the Spirit was teaching me.  It was the nagging twist of Satan to confuse my understanding of what God was saying.
So to resolve this, I asked God how I should easily see clearly what He was trying to tell us. And he made it so simple.
If we see ourselves like the earth, not as a being on the earth the image is clear.  The earth is constantly turnng before the sun. If we are earth and God is the sun, the sunny side is not in darkness which we will define as sin, and the dark side (sin) is never in the direct view of the sun, (God).  In other words, we are constantly in the presence of sin and God at the same time, but God put sin away from him. He is always at work shedding his light on the darkness. Sin cannot withstand the Son. And the side of earth that is in darkness may also be at rest, in confidence that the light will soon touch it's face. We are in a constant state of turning from sin to sinlessness.  And the Sun always, causes the darkenss to flee. It is a perpetual, constant state of renewal.
What's more, in this scenario, if I am made by God and this is how he made things to be, then I can be content that I don't have to make changes in the plan. Instead I can rest in the perpetual state of being turned from darkeness to light. I should regard the time I am in darkness as an opportunity to sleep, and not worry about my sin. Because God is in a perpetual act of taking care of my sin.
Isaiah 60:1
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

Thank you Father, that although I can clearly see myself totally in the darkenss of sin without your light, I can rest that, in your light, it is as if I were totally without sin. And that the side of me that you look upon is the side on which you see only your reflection. You see YOU in me. Not my sin. Just as if the earth would be lifeless without the sun, I am lifeless without you. But if I walk not in darkness but in the light, I live in renewal and rest.   AMEN

So many uses for smooth flat stones

This tiny shell with coral attatched is so cute.
It reminds me of a little lamb curled up, or a baby's bootie.

Since my blog has changed its format, it doesn't seem as familiar, and I don't enjoy blogging as well. Also, like most updates, things that were once very easy are more like another blog I use and are hard.  Sometimes progress just isn't progress. But I have been spending alot of time doing some things I have wanted to do for a long time.  One is to take pictures of my seashells.  There are a few logistics to getting pictures of something like seashells. One is that you need a container that is low and flat and doesn't cast shadows. Two, is you need a surface that allows you to move all or some of them at once. Three, unless you use sand or water, most backgrounds take away from the pictures.  So, the reason I haven't already taken pictures of my shells, is that I had not figured out the logistics. Well, the answers dawned on me this week, and it turns out, that I didn't have to buy a container like I thought, and I had everything I needed to make stuff disappear and not get caught up in the pictures. Plus, I did't have to spend hours on my knees, breaking my back and neck bending over sand.  What I needed has been here ever since we brought home our smooth river stones.

These are about the size of a dime, but
I love how white they are.

I love my bucket of rocks. They are good for so many things. But what I found out, was that they are excellent to stand around the edges of my tray as a background.  They look so natural.

As I went back to my set up, again and again over a couple of days, the light changed and I rearranged the stones and shells to make different groups of shells and I attempted to get in every shell I loved. While I worked, a song from our children's church years ago ran through my head. 
"Only a Boy named David....Only a little brook. ....Only a boy named David and 5 little stones he took."  I have no idea who wrote  the song, but we sang it often to teach the children that whatever task God gives us to do, he will provide what we need to get it done.   David needed stones for his sling shot, and though he would use only one, he took from the abundance of small smooth rocks, 5 to be assured that he was prepared for now and later as well.
I have learned over the years that I ususally have access to what I need, I just need to be inventive, or open my eyes and look around. 
Thank you Lord for your provision, and for the beauty of things like seashells.  Like the pink clouds that are clinging to the evening sky, every little thing you made in this world amazes me and gives me delight to see.  Help me use the pictures in some way to bless someone. AMEN

Joyfully Ignorant, but Learning to Learn

It is going to rain for 4 days they say.  I cannot be sad for the rain, but I hope it doesn't do damage to crops the way it destroys my flowers to have so much at once.  Yet the thirsty ground and the trees will benefit greatly.  I too may benefit, because I can't be outside so much.  I would almost rather be out than in lately, and my house is beginning to show it.  With clothes to wash and so much organizing still to do in my basement, I should be glad not to feel obligated to the gardens.  This year I am wishing more than ever that we were able to plant a veggie garden.  Because of the mildew here, anything in a container gets the mildew, and I hate to eat it.  We have passed by the fields on the mountain and there are no tomatoes in the gardens there.  Purhaps they are rotating the crops, but we can't find them open yet.  I so want to have some green beans this year to can. May have to ride to NC to get the ones I like; no one grows them here.
Only a short time now til Jimmy retires. And he is so excited. And I am excited for him. We are looking forward to getting on a schedule that means being awake in the daytime hours.  At least most of the time.  I have a camera in my hand about half my waking hours these days.  It is as if I take a picture, I will have a better memory of it than my mind will keep.  I don't download the pictures nearly often enough, because it takes so long to go through them all. So I have gotten in the habit of going through them on the camera while I have a little idle time, and deleting the less than perfect ones. At least what I can tell is blurry or not as lovely as I supposed it would be on the tiny screen.  But I am slowly learning what I like about an SLR camera as opposed to a point and shoot. Each day I try to learn something new.  I spend a lot of time while Jimmy is sleeping learning how to use the GIMP program I downloaded.  It gives me great joy to keep learning. But I have to make sure I spend enough time moving around as well. We have talked often of spending more time on our bikes once he retires. I hope that happens.  We so need some better exercise.
Since it is raining, I have thought I might spend some time playing with watercolors and paints.  Some things are so challenging when I use watercolors.  For a very long time I couldn't paint a rose, then finally I could see it in my mind, and I could paint a rose.  Photos help me so much.  I have oodles of photos that I want to paint. But then I thought I might just open them on the computer and paint them from there. Finally, it occured to me, that there were ever so many other pictures of - mountains for instance - that I could find inspiration in online, that I downloaded several from around the world. So I have plenty to look at.  No excuses, I need to tackle just doing it. Like every thing else lately, I learn from the experience of just doing it.  And I am so blessed to be able to find something new to learn every day.  I am so glad for the daily opportunity to be challenged and grow.  And I love that God blesses each attempt, whether I am good at what I am doing or not.

Thank you Lord for the newness of each day, and the realization that if I don't know how to do something, I can still try to learn. Thank you for challenges, and opportunities. Thank you for time and tools. Thank you for rainy days to change my pace and direction. Thank you for a continued desire to grow and awareness that there is so much to life that continues to give me reasons to wake in the morning, with a childlike attitude of "I can't wait to get at it."  What ever you place before me Lord today, I rejoice for the challenge to just do it.  May someone today, who is lonely or afraid, discouraged or depressed, find the inner peace to enjoy a simple act of letting themselves know its OK to start from what they don't know and learn something new.  May the simplicity of just challenging themselves be its own reward. In Jesus Name, AMEN