I hope you take a moment today and fill your soul with beauty and peace.
It’s ok to rest. You can’t give from an empty cup.
Refresh, restore, renew and give those lists and worries to God. He can handle it.
Photo credit: Ahmet Yuksek
Photo credit: Corentin Henry
I’m up early with hot coffee, watching the garden wake up. Sunlight filtering through the apple tree branches washes the Jasmine and Lavender in a soft, feathery light. I can smell their soft scent perfuming the air – so soothing and calm.
The birds sing, scold, and flit through the trees and butterfly bush waiting for their turn at the feeders.
Today I plan to cut fresh flowers for the vase on my patio table. The bright cheerful colors makes me happy. It fills me with a quiet, peaceful joy to collect them, with their different colors and fragrances, in my garden basket. My little basket of blessings!
I love that God handpicks those things that He knows we love and enjoy to bless us. It is so healing and restful to find bits of joy and lovely surprises as we make our way through each day. How He loves us!
I love the imagery in this verse .The Lord is my cup of blessing.
When I imagine a cup, I immediately think of my favorite coffee mug. It’s familiar, comforting, filled with something warm and soothing that makes me happy. It feels peaceful and safe.
Of course Jesus is SO much more than a mere coffee mug, but He is comforting, safe, and soothing. He delights in bringing joyful, happy, lovely things into our lives to help soothe and comfort us when life blindsides us, wounds us, and we walk in seasons that are overwhelming and so tiring.
Walking with Him and being in His presence is the true blessing. That He loves us enough to give us even more is an undeserved, yet beautiful kindness.
He guards all that is ours and draws a boundary around what He’s given us. Those we love are guarded, protected, and hemmed in. We can let go of the fear and exhaustion of trying to control and manipulate life and circumstances to keep our loved ones safe. He’s got them. They are safely tucked up into the folds of His robe. He knows what He’s doing. We can breathe out, let our shoulders settle, and allow the joys from His cup of blessing to pour over us – healing, delighting, and comforting.
Photo credit: Pete Weiler
As I sat with this verse and my comforting hot coffee this morning, I could hear the daily choir of birds in my backyard garden singing their little hearts out.
I have many different birds that love my garden. They all have beautiful songs that are unique to them. If you listen carefully you know exactly which bird is singing what notes and even though they are quite different, they all blend into something lovely, happy, and joyful.
It made me smile to picture God on His throne listening to the songs of His creation. He knows exactly what bird is singing and where. I imagine it is beautiful to Him. He carefully crafted each creation-song to blend perfectly, in the exact way He wanted it.
I believe He created our voices to perfectly and uniquely fit our physical features and personality quirks. When we sing to Him or hum as we go about our daily routine, our voices blend and swirl together into such perfect and flawless harmony to His ears.
Creation using the sounds we were given to praise, thank, and love the One who gave us life. Jehovah Jireh.
It is right and good to sing to Him because He is good.
Photo credit: Alexander Popadin
New growth, the air perfumed with flowers, and buzzing bees are some of my favorite things about spring.
What are your spring favorites? Flowers? The weather? Days getting longer?
GIVEAWAY TIME!
Guess the number of gummy candies in the dish. Leave your guess in the comments on my FB author page ONLY.
Head over to my author page to see the pics!
https://www.facebook.com/MelissaGiomiauthor
The closest guess wins a signed book of your choice that I will mail to you.
Contest begins today, 4/8 – 4/11 8am PST.
When I envision the Lord being my shield, it transforms how I imagine myself walking through this day of unknowns.
I think we are often completely unaware of the pitfalls, near misses, and battles going on around us that we are protected from daily. The Lord shields us from so much.
The fender bender that ruins our day, makes us late, and costs us money…did the Lord shield us from something far worse?
The random encounter with an unsavory stranger that left us shaken…did the Lord block the evil intentions that could have gone a different and terrible way?
The beautiful and precious time spent with Him that was uninterrupted…did He shield us from distractions so we could be filled up, loved on, and encounter Him?
This verse really spoke to me. It’s been a hard around here lately. We’re tired and rough around the edges. I wonder what else Jesus has shielded us from?
I am so grateful that the Lord of Heaven, Prince of Peace, and King of Kings sees me and chooses to shield me and lift my head when the harder days come. It’s a beautiful and comforting thing to be seen and deeply loved by Jesus. He loves you, too. Peace be with you.
“Bearing fruit each season without fail.” Hmm… Reading this verse feels hopeful. It feels encouraging; relief that despite seasons where nothing goes right, one difficult, trying thing after another happens, and you feel blindsided, and exhausted – even then we bear fruit. It may not be loud, obvious, beautiful fruit, but the scripture DOES say “each season.”
Maybe you are in a season, like me, where things are not going as planned or hoped, and you feel disappointed , and blindsided by events you never saw coming. It’s not an easy place to be.
I wonder if we slow down, breathe a minute, and look around us, we will see that there is fruit here. Perhaps it’s a fruit called trust, rest, patience, hope, letting go, or compassion for another who’s struggling.
God is with you in whatever season you are in right now. I know it doesn’t always feel like it or look like it, but He is. He promises to never leave us alone. He is the Promise Keeper. He is faithful and He keeps His promises.
Wherever your path leads you today remember that Jesus is walking it, too. He won’t leave you alone to navigate what’s ahead. He’s been there already and knows exactly what you will need to steadily travel on.
There will likely be twists and turns along with ups and downs as you go. When you feel uncertain or worried about the blinds spots, perhaps try and view them through a new lens of adventure, excitement, and anticipation of good things coming. Blind spots don’t always have to be bad.
For me, I often anticipate bad things and overthink all the ways a twisty part of the path will play out in a negative way and exhaust myself trying to get ahead of the bad news. I don’t want to keep doing it that way. I’m tired and worn down. It is stealing my joy. This isn’t that way He wants us to live.
Maybe you’ll join me in trying to flip the negative narrative that so often obscures and diminishes all the good things Jesus HAS done, IS doing, and WILL do for me and for you. We won’t get it right all the time. How thankful I am that He gets it, gets us, and doesn’t stop loving us when we let worry blind us to the small blessings, bits of joy, and pops of beauty He scatters all around us, hoping we trust Him enough to see it.
I don’t want to miss out on hidden blessings, glimmers of heaven, quiet times of sitting with Him, and rest, beautiful, blessed rest.
Psalm 37:34a NLT
Photo credit: Petra Nesti
Extravagant Hope 