I Am That Woman

I had a dream the other night I was driving my car and the "check door" indicator was on the dash. I was trying to open the door to re-close it and the door was stuck. So I kept driving with a warning light on and unable to do anything about it. I was reminded of times in my life where that has been my life, knowing what was wrong but having no ability to fix it. It is like the story of the woman with the hemorrhage who touched Jesus in Mark 5. She had chronic bleeding for 12 years. She was an outcast, cut off from people and from attending the temple. Doctors couldn't help her, friends couldn't help her, money couldn't help her. Books, support groups, and the church, couldn't help her. She was at the end of the line. She had no other alternatives but Jesus. She reached out to Him knowing nothing else had worked and what did she have to lose? Her faith in action, reaching out to Jesus. Just a tiny reach, maybe the last of her faith in her fingers brushing against His robe. I am that woman. For me, it was a chronic physical illness, grief of lost loved ones, struggling with difficult relationships, sins of others against me, and the long term affects of my own sin. I tried everything to take away the hurt and pain but came up empty every time. We all have something that requires healing in our lives-some things linger for years in remnants of our struggles and in the forms of bitterness and unforgiveness. Sometimes we need to get to the bottom of the barrel of ourselves and realize that all it takes is that simple reaching out to Jesus, who is the ONLY one who can heal us.

Birdseed and Blessings

Two months ago I bought a bag of birdseed that sat in the garage until last week. The bad weather and lack of time prevented me from refilling the bird feeder in the back yard. A month ago, this area had a terrible Nor'Easter and the yard items had to be brought in. And there the bird feeder sat, not far from the bag of bird seed. Finally, as the green buds started to appear and spring decided to come about, I decided to make the time to fill the feeder and hang it back up outside. The very next day brought new birds flocking to the feast in our yard. And not just any birds; some of the most beautiful, colorful birds we have ever hosted in our backyard. We have a gorgeous, cheeky woodpecker with a bright red head who comes to the bird seed buffet! We have also seen cardinals, robins, chickadees, blackbirds, , grackles, wrens, and a yellow goldfinch! Not far from the bird feeder is a bird house we just discovered baby birds have recently hatched and we watch the mother get food and take to her babies. We are amazed and blessed by God's creation right outside our windows! And to think we have been missing this for the last two months. This is like what we do with what God has given us. Do we leave our time, talents, and money hidden away to collect dust or are we using all God has given us to bless others? The birds would still have been fed, but we would have missed being a part of it and all the beauty of it in front of our eyes. Who does God want you to bless? Don't wait another day...You are missing it!!