stumbling blocks and stepping stones

Dear Lord remove my stumbling bocks. These are the words we long to utter and have answered right away. These are the wishes of my heart. Make clear my path and guide me along.

That morning we left was cold. I was chilled - chilled through flesh right to bone. The sky, grey and wet. Jackets and sweaters adorned our shoulders. We knew that we would some be able to shed these layers, but for the time they offered warmth and comfort, until such a time . .

The plane took off through rain and fog. It rose higher and higher until at last we passed through those dark clouds. And then it filled the entire sky right through the windows of the plane and into cold flesh. The sun - it is always there. This thought so obvious, yet never pondered. No matter the .... that loom over head, behind all of that, always, and forever, the sun shines on, never ceasing.

Life is filled with all sorts of days. Some are filled with blinding light, yet many are filled with sorrow, weakness and pain. Our job is to never lose sight of the sun and when at times it is lost from view we need remember it is still there and it with always burst through those clouds.

He is always there. We may be left to feel the chill for a time, but that does not mean that he is not there. Nothing dims the sun. It is all perspective. We need to learn how to rise above, reaching for that sun that will live our lives with light and hope and peace and joy. 

We walk forward on straight path heading forever forward, but this is not enough.



We must head upward as well.

We turn these stumbling blocks into stepping stones when we approach them in faith.

The choice is up to us. These hard things, these ugly trials, out tests of faith are the very things that become stpes up to heaven if we but view them with eyes eternal.

Our vision is cleared, our perspective is solidifided and as we arise we begin to discover that the sun always shines. It is constant ans strong, and always there even if we cannot see it. behind those

 clouds, up above those stumbling blocks it shines on, forever giving its warmth and brightness and light to all who will make the climb. 

a mother's intuition and a bouncing baby boy

Five out of five - those are pretty good odds. Never have I been wrong! I have known somehow, somewhere inside what each and every child I grew under my heart was going to be before any test or medical professional confirmed my feelings.

When I was expecting my first child they would not tell me whether the baby was a girl or a boy, but so confident was I that we decorated every inch of the nursery with the expectation of pigtails. As my due date approached, I had one moment of panic as I stood in her room and realized that I did not know for sure. What if our baby was a boy? Nevertheless, 10 days late, Noelle finally blessed our lives and started our family with a much anticipated daughter.