Curlly Willow: March 2011

Monday, March 28

my sweet li'l nieces in oxford

Two dear little ladies, Norah Jane & Harriet Dyne, I wish

I could hug & kiss them right this minute, and I wish they

could play with their cousin Charlotte Mae any old day.

Norah

Harriet

Saturday, March 26

a little wine tasting & scenery

The Ciatano Winery at Rock 'n River Day Resort in Lyons, CO was an excellent place

to stop and take a few sips in the wine tasting room on our way to Estes Park with our

great friends Jesse & Andrea Wald, who came all the way from Fargo, ND for a visit.

The pond is filled with trout. In the summer you can catch and keep

for a dollar an inch. They'll fillet 'em and fry 'em with herbs over a

wood fire grill. A little spendy, but that's about as fresh as it gets.

I enjoyed this quaint little patio.

Charlotte absolutely loved the resident cat, who happened to be quite

friendly and didn't seem to mind a little girl's endearing squeezes.

Friday, March 18

look, listen, & live

Today I was looking at this picture of road signs that my husband Jon had captured during his travels. My mind wandered, thinking of the signs of the times in which we live, specifically the struggle in Japan as devastation sweeps over their land. I thought about Bible prophecy which speaks of natural disasters occurring with more and more frequency as the time of Jesus, when He comes to obliterate evil and to rescue His own, draws nearer and nearer. My simple existence often seems untouched by the drastic things happening around me, but every now and then I catch a glimpse of how disasters such as this seem to be happening at a quickening pace. And hitting closer to home (radiation possibly even reaching the coast of California). I am compelled to look at the signs; listen to the warnings.

Looking for answers, I checked out where the word hear appears in my Bible. This simple small word sheds abundant light and truth on our present and future reality.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your might.

Deuteronomy 6: 4-5

He is the one true God. He deserves all our heart, soul and might. Forget all the other stuff we worship in our daily lives--money, prestige, possessions. Get over it. God is so much bigger than any of those things!

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn

from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

The God of the ages makes us this huge promise. Why don't we immediately take Him up on it?

Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge,

for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.

Proverbs 22: 17-18

And again He pleads with us:

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Matthew 11:15

Why don't people listen?

Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.

John 8:47

But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in

him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

Romans 10:14

Those of us who have heard the good news need to share it for the benefit of those who don't know simply because it has never been told to them. All signs point to the fact that we have a hope.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:7

God will clean up our mess!

In that day the deaf shall hear...and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.

Isaiah 29:18

The world under Christ's rule, will not experience the gloom and darkness of our current world. It will be safe and protected from sadness, disease, evil, and despair. The alarming events around us are meant to cause us to turn to God, make us realize what a mess we've made, make us run to His arms, seek His face...the only place where it is safe. Let Him rule your heart, mind and soul already. If you let Him do this, even in this crazy world, you can experience the peace of God.

All the signs point us to Him.