WONDER-FULL LIFE

Thoughts, Prayers and Words of Encouragement: Today as I read God Calling the words resonate with the Hope of the future. "I am Lord. Lord of your lives......Leave all plans to me. Only act as I bid.....you have entered the God guided life." Well it goes on to talk about being God taught and God guided...what a wonderful life. My reflections are filled with all I have experienced since leaving Bay St. Louis 2 weeks ago.

My senses and soul have been so challenged. Life in the Bay is simple and complicated. Life outside the Bay seems complicated screaming out for simplicity. Our goals there are to obtain the basics of life...food, shelter, clothing and sense of belonging. Very Simple...obtaining them has become very complicated. No grocery store, homes not rebuilt, no room in the FEMA trailer for clothing or possessions anyhow and the loss of sense of community still dominate daily focus. YET...these very simple basics are the desire. People are not rebuilding bigger homes, in fact many are downsizing, even though it would be great to have a real grocery store...people can survive without 10 flavors of Ranch dressing. As community is re-established through the opening of coffee shops, gathering meetings and churches people are forming new relationships and connecting to old friends as well. The whole process is complicated by insurance companies, lack of assistance, etc. yet people are so thankful for the people God has brought to them, the help they have received and the promise of hope for the future.

Traveling around the "unaffected" northeast brings an interesting perspective. Homes are getting bigger and bigger, grocery stores are getting bigger and bigger, the hours people work are getting longer and longer...rarely do you hear many exclamations of thanksgiving, haven't heard a God bless you as part of regular exchange (like in the grocery store etc.), lots of comments as I walk through stores of how people are wishing for MORE.....very complicated life.

All this brings me back circle to the thoughts of a wonder-full life. In the Bay each day we look for God Sightings....wow it makes life so simple when you see HIM in everything....He is so BIG that you really can't see anything BIGGER :) because it does not exist.....I pondered this AM how invisible God seems here and how visible He is in Mississippi. I am challenged to live this life as simply as possible so that God can always be the BIGGEST!!

Father let me see You daily and the Wonder-Full events as You lead and guide me. You have spoiled me so MUCH....air to breathe, sunshine to give me light and warmth, life itself, the ability to walk and run, to talk and listen.....You indeed are GOOD and BIG...fill me always with Your Spirit...let me always be filled with WONDER....the WONDER OF LOVE. Extravagant, exceptional, outrageous and WONDER-FULL LOVE.